Turn leftover Thanksgiving turkey bones into a flavorful stock using your pressure cooker! Instant Pot turkey stock is a delicious homemade stock that you can make in a fraction of the time it would take to use a stove or slow cooker.
You’ll have a rich homemade turkey stock ready in record time, perfect for soups, stews, or as a base for gravy and sauces. The Instant Pot quickly extracts flavor and nutrients from the turkey bones, vegetables and herbs for a hands off stock brimming with fresh flavor.
Key Tips
Be sure to check out the step by step instructions
Don’t overfill the Instant Pot. I know it is tempting, but don’t go past the fill line.
Don’t try to do a quick release. The pressure cooker will be full and you might end up with liquid coming out of the pressure valve.
Reader Review
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I have never made broth from the leftover turkey carcass before because I thought it was too time consuming. The instapot make it super easy. Highly recommend it
— Anne
Key Ingredients
For exact amounts needed see the recipe card below
Leftover turkey carcass – Include smaller bones like the legs and wings. Take as much meat off the bones as you can and separate them into pieces.
Onions, celery, carrot – Using fresh vegetables adds flavor to the turkey broth.
Fresh herbs – Parsley, thyme or rosemary are all good herbs for turkey. Use what you have. Don’t use dried herbs because they are difficult to filter out. You could also add garlic cloves if you like.
Peppercorns – Use whole peppercorns so you can easily strain them out after pressure cooking.
Assuming you seasoned your turkey with salt when you originally made it you shouldn’t need to add any salt!
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How to Make Turkey Stock in a Pressure Cooker
1. Prep
Separate the leftover bones into smaller pieces so that they fit into your pressure cooker. You can break larger bones like the breast bone if you need to.
Cut the celery and carrots into two inch pieces. Slice the onions into quarters. You can peel the onions or leave the skin on, whichever you prefer.
The whole spices will be easier to fish out of the finished turkey broth if you use kitchen twine to tie them in a bouquet.
2. Pressure Cook
Put all the ingredients in the Instant Pot. Then add cold water to cover them and go all the way up to the fill line. An 8 quart pressure cooker is ideal for making turkey stock, but if you have a smaller one you will just end up with less.
Put the lid on the pressure cooker making sure the sealing ring is in and the valve is shut. then set it for Manual, high pressure, for 60 minutes. It will take about 15 minutes to reach pressure.
Once it is done cooking do a natural pressure release. When the pressure cooker is full it is best not to do a quick release.
3. Strain
I like to strain the broth twice. First I strain it through a colander, which gets out all the large pieces and bones. Then I strain it again through a mesh strainer.
If you just use the mesh strainer it takes longer to get everything out because it drains slowly. Once the broth is strained ladle it into jars or bags for storage.
If you want a low fat turkey broth you can refrigerate it for a few hours and skim off the layer of fat that solidifies on top of the broth.
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How to Use Instant Pot Turkey Stock
You can use this anywhere you’d use chicken broth or stock. I usually use it in recipes for soups and stews. Conveniently the Instant Pot is amazing at making soups and stews! Other favorite ways to use it is in making risotto or gravy.
If you use this in turkey recipes it makes them taste even better since it perfectly enhances the flavor. These are some of my favorites recipes for using it.
Instant Pot Turkey Soup with Rice
How to Freeze Stock
Homemade turkey stock keeps for about 1 week in the refrigerator. If you aren’t going to use it right away then it freezes very well.
Just package it in quart containers, mason jars or ziploc bags and freeze it. I like to freeze it in one or two cup servings, so I can easily get out of the freezer for future recipes.
You can also freeze it in ice cube trays if you want small quantities of broth. When you are ready to use it let it thaw overnight in the refrigerator or microwave it if you need to thaw it quickly.
FAQ
I pressure cook it about 1 hour. The longer you cook it the thicker it will get. I find an hour is long enough to give it a nice consistency after it cools.
These terms are frequently used interchangeably. But technically broth is made with meat and seasonings, while stock is made with bones. This results in broth being thinner and stock being thicker and more gelatinous.
As the leftover bones are cooked the nutrients and collagen are removed and enter the water. This makes stock richer and also gives it a thicker texture as the collagen makes it gel.
Bone broth is just another name for stock. It has become trendy to call it bone broth because it is literally made with bones. But it is just a different name, they are the same thing.
Yes, if you are too tired after all the Thanksgiving festivities you can freeze the turkey bones and make turkey bone broth in a few weeks. Just store them in an airtight container in the freezer. You don’t need to thaw them when you are ready to make your Instant Pot turkey stock, just use them frozen.
Instant Pot Turkey Stock Recipe
Ingredients
- Turkey carcass including leg and wing bones separated into pieces
- 2 medium onion quartered
- 5 celery stalks cut into 2 inch pieces
- 5 carrot cut into 2 inch pieces
- Sprigs fresh parsley thyme or rosemary tied in a bouquet
- 1 teaspoon black peppercorns
- 6-8 cups water
Instructions
- Separate the turkey bones into pieces. Slice the celery and carrots and quarter the onions.Turkey carcass including leg and wing bones, 5 celery stalks, 5 carrot, 2 medium onion
- Place all your ingredients into a the Instant Pot. Cover with cold water up to the max fill line.Sprigs fresh parsley, 1 teaspoon black peppercorns, 6-8 cups water
- Put the lid on the pressure cooker, making sure the valve is closed and a sealing ring is in place. Set for Manual, high pressure for 60 minutes. It will take about 15 minutes to reach pressure.
- Once it is done let the pressure release manually. The Instant Pot is too full for a quick release.
- Strain the turkey bone broth twice into a large bowl. First strain it through a colander, then strain a second time through a fine mesh strainer.
- Use immediately or cool and store in the refrigerator for up to 1 week, or freeze for up to 4 months.
Notes
- If you seasoned the body cavity of the turkey carcass when originally cooked with salt and pepper you shouldn’t need additional salt for the turkey stock.
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Nutrition Information
Nutrition facts are estimates.
Did You Make This? Leave a Star Rating!
I used your turkey stock recipe to make my turkey rice soup and it tasted amazing!! Thank you for the recipe!
This turkey stock made all the difference when making dinner – thank you!
Can you can this turkey broth? If so..how many minutes and degree of pressure
I have never made broth from the leftover turkey carcass before because I thought it was too time consuming. The instapot make it super easy. Highly recommend it
I don’t have a turkey carcass. Can I use raw turkey legs?
You can but you would want to roast them first.
No, you cannot use raw turkey wings, you must roast them in the oven first, and then you can use them for the broth in the InstantPot.
Great recipe! I know my recipes will turn out fabulous with this stock and I ended up with about 10-12 cups which means multiple meals.
I used the stock and left over turkey meat to make amazing gumbo!