We've been making turkey stock from the Thanksgiving turkey for decades, long before I ever heard of GAPS or Nourishing Traditions. It's the perfect opportunity to make a large amount of broth, and then we're set for several batches of soup. I always save the neck, gizzard and heart to add into the stock pot to make broth. I also save any juices left in the pan after the turkey is done baking.
I've recently discovered these awesome Ball Jar Wide Mouth Pint and Half Jars *Amazon Affiliate Link. They are tall without a shoulder and this makes them perfect for using in the freezer! Not only is there less chance of them breaking, but it is so much easier to get broth out of the jar when it isn't completely thawed!

I just set the broth into a warm pan of water and leave it and pretty soon there is a thin layer of broth thawed all the way around and pretty soon I can dump the frozen broth right out.
I'm definitely going to be investing in more of these!
You'll also need a large stock pot. I recommend using a 16-Quart Stainless Steel Stockpot *Amazon affiliate link (please don't use aluminum) with a thick bottom layer. This will help to prevent food from burning. In the past I could only afford to buy the stock pots with the thin bottom and I was burning food all the time.

You can also make turkey broth in your Instant Pot, but I found that I needed to break the carcass into two pieces and make two separate batches. You could freeze the second half to make broth at a later date.
Turkey Stock from a Turkey Carcass
- 1 turkey carcass
- turkey neck, gizzard and heart
- 4 ribs celery, preferably with leaves
- 1 large onion
- 4 carrots, peeled
- 1/4 cup parsley [affiliate link] flakes
- 1 teaspoon sage
- 8 peppercorns
- 8 cloves [affiliate link] garlic
- 1 bay leaf
- Remove as much of the meat as you can from the turkey carcass to be used for leftovers, sandwiches, or to be chopped up and place into a pot of soup once the broth is done. Ideally this task is completed following Thanksgiving dinner. Save carcass in the refrigerator or freezer until ready to turn into stock.
- Place the turkey carcass in the stock pot.
- Add in 4 ribs of celery, cut into 3″ pieces. I like to put the vegetables in big pieces so I can pull them out to save to add to a pot of soup.
- Add 1 onion, quartered.
- Add four large carrots, peeled and cut into 3″ pieces.
- Add parsley flakes, sage, peppercorns and bay leaf.
- Add filtered water to cover the carcass and vegetables.
- Bring to a boil, then lower heat until simmering.
- Cook for several hours until the carcass is falling apart.
- Pick out cooked vegetables, reserve for making soup.
- Strain broth.
- You can use it now to make soup.
- For the leftover broth, allow to cool for an hour or two, then refrigerate or freeze.
- 1 turkey carcass
- turkey neck, gizzard and heart
- 4 ribs celery, preferably with leaves
- 1 large onion
- 4 carrots, peeled
- ¼ cup parsley flakes
- 1 teaspoon sage
- 8 peppercorns
- 8 cloves garlic
- 1 bay leaf
- Remove as much of the meat as you can from the turkey carcass to be used for leftovers, sandwiches, or to be chopped up and place into a pot of soup once the broth is done. Ideally this task is completed following Thanksgiving dinner. Save carcass in the refrigerator or freezer until ready to turn into stock.
- Place the turkey carcass in the stock pot.
- Add in 4 ribs of celery, cut into 3" pieces. I like to put the vegetables in big pieces so I can pull them out to save to add to a pot of soup.
- Add 1 onion, quartered.
- Add four large carrots, peeled and cut into 3" pieces.
- Add parsley flakes, sage, peppercorns and bay leaf.
- Add filtered water to cover the carcass and vegetables.
- Bring to a boil, then lower heat until simmering.
- Cook for several hours until the carcass is falling apart.
- Pick out cooked vegetables, reserve for making soup.
- Strain broth.
- You can use it now to make soup.
- For the leftover broth, allow to cool for an hour or two, then refrigerate or freeze.
Do you use the turkey carcass to make stock?
I have to say that broth made from the roasted turkey carcass is my favorite! Maybe because we have turkey so infrequently, but the flavor is so wonderful.
I also love those 1-1/2 pint wide mouth jars. One thing I learned recently from another blogger (I would give her credit, but I can’t remember which blog it is, sorry) that if you leave the lid off the full quart canning jar for the first 24 hours of freezing, it won’t break the glass. So far that has worked for me. Of course you can’t slip it out easily like with the straight sided canning jars.
Thanks for all your wonderful tips and recipes. Have a very merry Christmas!
Hi Jennifer! That’s great to know about the other canning jars! I will keep that in mind. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and yours, too! ~Starlene
I found where I learned that and just wanted to give her credit. Here is the blog post: http://www.raisinggenerationnourished.com/2014/08/nourishing-broccoli-soup/
(I’m having turkey soup for lunch today). 🙂