Homemade Turkey Stock

October 12, 2023

4.8

(16)

Turkey stock is poured into a mason jar.

Photo by Elizabeth Coetzee, Food Styling by Tiffany Schleigh

While you can certainly make homemade turkey stock using a leftover turkey carcass (in fact, we encourage it), the problem inherent in doing so is that most people don’t have access to one until after the Thanksgiving holiday. For folks who want turkey stock to use day of, we’re delighted to report there’s another way.

This turkey stock recipe is made with turkey wings, which are relatively inexpensive and available throughout the year. Call it a hack or chalk it up to the power of advance planning. Either way, simmering roasted turkey wings with fresh herbs and other aromatics delivers a rich, deeply flavored stock you can use for your favorite stuffing recipe or to make your famous turkey gravy. But be warned: Once you learn how to make turkey stock, you’ll want it on hand all the time to make turkey soups or stews or to swap it in for a store-bought chicken broth in any weeknight recipe. Luckily, in the days following Thanksgiving, you should have a few leftover turkey parts to make a second batch.

Test-Kitchen Tip: Turkey wings, with a good combination of skin, meat, and bones, make great stock. The wings should be chopped up before adding to the pot—they’ll fit better in the pot, develop more browning, and release more gelatin and collagen to give the stock richness. If you don’t have a heavy cleaver, ask the butcher to chop them for you. Otherwise, chop the wings as best you can, dividing at the natural separations at the joints. Don’t try to hack at the thick turkey bones with a knife, as you will likely chip the blade.

Recipe information

Total Time
4 hours plus chilling
Yield
Makes 10 cups

Ingredients

3 lb. turkey wings (about 3 large wings), chopped into 2" pieces

2 Tbsp. vegetable oil

1 medium onion, chopped (about 2 cups)

1 medium carrot, chopped (about ½ cup)

1 medium celery stalk with leaves, chopped (about ½ cup)

6 sprigs fresh parsley

½ tsp. dried thyme

¼ tsp. whole black peppercorns

1 dried bay leaf

Special Equipment: Large flameproof roasting pan

Preparation

Step 1
Place a rack in top third of oven and preheat to 450°. Spread 3 lb. turkey wings (about 3 large wings), chopped into 2" pieces in roasting pan and roast, turning with tongs after 20 minutes, until deeply browned, about 45 minutes.
Step 2
Meanwhile, in a 6-quart large stockpot over moderate heat, heat oil until hot but not smoking. Add 1 medium onion, chopped (about 2 cups), 1 medium carrot, chopped (about ½ cup), and 1 medium celery stalk with leaves, chopped (about ½ cup), and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, about 10 minutes. Add wings and any pan juices and reduce heat to low.
Step 3
Straddle roasting pan across 2 burners on high heat and cook until browned bits are sizzling, about 1 minute. Add 2 cups cold water and bring to boil, scraping up browned bits with flat wooden spatula or spoon. Pour liquid into pot and add enough cold water to cover ingredients by 1", about 14 cups.
Step 4
Raise heat to high and bring to boil, skimming foam from surface. Add 6 sprigs fresh parsley, ½ tsp. dried thyme, ¼ tsp. whole black peppercorns, and 1 dried bay leaf. Reduce heat to low and simmer, uncovered and adding water as needed to keep wings covered, 3 hours.
Step 5
Strain stock through fine-mesh sieve into large bowl, discarding solids. If using immediately, let stand until yellow fat rises to surface, 1–2 minutes, then skim off and discard fat. If not using immediately, place bowl in larger bowl of iced water. Let stand, changing ice water as it warms, until stock cools to room temperature, about 30 minutes. Cover and refrigerate until chilled, then scrape off and discard fat.
Do ahead: Stock can be made ahead and refrigerated in an airtight container, such as a mason jar, up to 2 days or frozen up to 6 months. Reheat in saucepan over low heat.

Editor’s note: This recipe was first printed in October 2007. Head this way to find out the difference between turkey stock, turkey broth, bone broth and more →

TagsThanksgiving Turkey Poultry Onion Root Vegetable Vegetable Carrot Celery Dairy Free Nut Free Gluten Free Keto Make Ahead Simmer Epicurious Stock Soup Soup/Stew

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Reviews (16)

This recipe makes fabulous Turkey soup. It’s very time consuming but most of the cooking time is hands off. I tripled the recipe, didn’t brown the wings, cooked everything for 5 hours and it came out golden in color with an incredible taste. This is my go-to Turkey soup recipe from now on!
- Laure
- Bayside, NY
- 11/27/2021
I am using this recipe for my left-over Turkey, which had a lot of bones, and lots of meat left on it too! So it may not have the same flavor profile in the end. I also browned the carcus in a little butter oil combo, did the same with veggies in a seperate batch. Then combined all this with some thyme and parsley. I'll post and update in a few hours.
- vlondhe
- Huntersville, NC
- 11/29/2020
This recipe produces a stock with a strong turkey flavor and a beautiful color. However, the 3 hour simmer time was far too short to extract collagen. We let ours simmer for 6.5 hours, and the bone pieces were still too hard to break. Additionally, for us the yield was 6-7 cups. Plenty for our needs, but disappointing after the time investment. Four forks for flavor, three for my willingness to make it again, and two for the accuracy of the stated directions.
- mathteachnync6465
- Roanoke Rapids, Nc
- 11/22/2020
Wonderful, wonderful base for gravy. I have been making a version of this stock for at least 6 years, and made it again today to get a jumpstart on Thanksgiving. Deeply roasting the turkey pieces is key. My few suggestions--I include a few turkey legs, in addition to the wings. I also roast the vegetables in the oven, although they should be added to the roasting pan when the turkey pieces are about half done. I also substitute turkey or chicken stock, instead of the water, to get a head start. And, after 3 hours of cooking, I strain the stock and then boil it down some more, to further intensify the flavor. (Because of that, I double the recipe but still use two separate pots.) By the time it's done, the stock could almost be used as gravy by itself.
- sharonfrombaltimore
- Baltimore
- 11/14/2020
I made this for the first time and now after doing some research, understand that stock should not be salted. Been cooking for many years and I did not know that. The end product should be salted. Anyway, it is a beautiful stock, best flavor that I’d ever made. I’m using it for my gravy today and look forward to making some tasty soups.
- escience243
- Boonton, NJ
- 11/28/2019
I’m making it now. It looks delicious. It’s on the 3 hr simmer at this point. I’m just wondering why there is no salt and no recommendation to salt to taste?
- escience243
- Boonton, NJ
- 11/27/2019
I have used this recipe for the past 5-7 years. In the past, with stuffing and gravy we just used canned chicken stock, and added drippings to the gravy. Now, I can make gravy ahead of time with turkey stock, and make stuffing that tastes like it was made in the turkey. I typically make the stock in October, and freeze to use for Thanksgiving. I actually don't skim the fat because it naturally comes to the top and freezes, which I then scrape off and use for the roux for my gravy. Also, before I start the stock, I put bottles of water in the freezer, and when the stock is cooked and strained, I put the pot with the stock in water, ice, and the frozen water bottles. Also, just to be on the safe side, before I use the frozen stock, I bring it back to a boil for a few minutes just to keep away potential bacteria.
- rsb6
- Boise
- 10/11/2019