Golden Turkey Bone Broth

A nourishing, flavourful turkey bone broth made with a turkey carcass, vegetables, fresh ginger, garlic, turmeric, and a Parmesan or Romano cheese rind.

This is a wonderful way to make use of the entire turkey while creating a nutrient-rich broth that can be sipped on its own or used as the base for soups, stews, sauces, and other recipes.

Why Make Bone Broth?

Slowly simmering bones and connective tissue creates a broth naturally rich in gelatin and amino acids. Using the carcass, bones, and connective tissue from a quality turkey helps you get more use from the whole bird while creating a versatile kitchen staple.

Adding turmeric gives the broth its beautiful golden colour and provides curcumin, a naturally occurring compound studied for its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. Adding a small amount of black pepper can complement turmeric as well.

The Parmesan or Romano rind adds a delicious savoury, umami flavour while the broth simmers. It's also a great way to use something that might otherwise be discarded.

The Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 turkey carcass, with as much meat removed as possible

• Optional -turkey wings, necks, or additional bones, if available

• 4–6 quarts filtered water, (or enough to cover the bones by 1–2 inches)

• 1–2 tsp high-quality sea salt, plus more to taste after the broth is done cooking

• 1–2 tsp ground turmeric

• 4–8 organic black peppercorns

• 4 onions, quartered

• 6–8 organic carrots, cut into large pieces

• 4–6 stalks organic celery, cut into large pieces

• 4 inches fresh ginger, sliced or grated

• 5 cloves garlic, smashed

• 1-3 Parmesan or Romano cheese rinds

• 1 large bunch fresh parsley

• 1–2 bay leaves, optional

Optional additions

• Fresh rosemary

• Fresh thyme

• Vegetable scraps saved in the freezer from other meals

Making the Turkey Bone Broth

1. Add the turkey bones

Place the turkey carcass, wings, neck, and any additional bones into a large stainless-steel stock pot.

Add enough filtered water to cover the bones by approximately 1–2 inches.

2. Add the vegetables and seasonings

Add the onions, carrots, celery, ginger, garlic, turmeric, peppercorns, salt, and bay leaves.

Add the Parmesan or Romano rind as well.

Give everything a gentle stir.

3. Bring to a gentle simmer

Slowly bring the broth to a soft boil, then reduce the heat to a low simmer.

Avoid a vigorous rolling boil. A gentle simmer allows the broth to cook slowly and develop a rich flavour.

4. Let it simmer — the longer, the better ;)

The extended cooking time allows the connective tissue and bones to release gelatin and other components into the broth.

The key to a great bone broth is time. Give it as much time as you can, while maintaining a gentle simmer. Try starting it first thing in the morning. 

Keep an eye on the water level throughout cooking and add additional filtered water if needed to keep the bones covered.

5. Add the parsley

Add the fresh parsley during the final 15–30 minutes of cooking.

6. Strain the broth

Remove the turkey bones, vegetables, herbs, and cheese rind.

Strain the broth through a fine-mesh strainer.

Allow the broth to cool.

How to Use Your Turkey Bone Broth

Sip it warm

Warm a mug of broth and season with additional salt, pepper, fresh herbs, or a squeeze of lemon.

Use it as a soup base

Use your turkey broth as the foundation for:

• Turkey vegetable soup

• Turkey noodle soup

• Turkey & vegetable stew

• Lentil or bean soup

• Mashed potatoes or root vegetables

• Sauces and gravies

• Rice or quinoa

• Any recipe that calls for broth or stock

Storing Your Turkey Bone Broth

Refrigerator

Once cooled, transfer the broth to glass containers and refrigerate.

Use within 3–4 days, or freeze if you won't be using it within that time.

Freezer

Allow the broth to cool completely before freezing.

Leave approximately 1 inch of space at the top of a freezer-safe container to allow room for expansion.

You can also freeze broth in silicone freezer trays or ice cube trays for convenient portions.

Tina's Wellness Tip

Don't throw away your vegetable scraps!

Save clean onion ends, carrot ends, celery leaves and ends, and other suitable vegetable scraps in a freezer container.

When it's time to make broth, simply add your frozen scraps to the pot.

It's an easy way to reduce food waste while getting more value from the foods you're already buying.