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Make Instant Pot Turkey Stock from a leftover turkey carcass with this easy Instant Pot recipe for homemade turkey bone broth. A delicious way to use up Thanksgiving leftovers or turkey from Christmas dinner!
You’ll want to save this Instant Pot turkey stock recipe to make turkey carcass soup with your leftover Thanksgiving turkey or Christmas turkey. It’s a great way to use up Thanksgiving leftovers or leftovers from any holiday dinner!
So, definitely save that leftover turkey meat and turkey carcass, including the turkey neck, after the turkey dinner! Just pick as much meat off of it as you can and save the turkey meat for leftovers or midnight snacks! I’m one of those people who prefers noshing on cold turkey over eating it at dinner!
I used to make turkey stock on the stove, but making turkey bone broth from a leftover turkey carcass in the electric pressure cooker is a game changer! I’ve been making this Instant Pot recipe for years now, and it’s much faster than using the stove or slow cooker.
Table of Contents
Difference between Stock and Broth
Basically, stock is made from simmering bones in liquid to extract flavor and collagen. Broth is a soup base made from the stock. I found a more in-depth explanation on the difference between bone broth, stock and soup for ya! Once you make the stock, you can use that as a base for turkey soup.
Ingredients
You only need a few simple ingredients for this homemade bone broth recipe. You can find them in most grocery stores or online. Full amounts are in the printable recipe card below.
- Leftover turkey carcass — from a cooked turkey. Use the roasted neck bone and turkey wings if you have them, as well.
- Water
- Sea salt
- Black pepper
- Celery stalks with leaves — the leaves add tons of flavor. You can add a carrot, but I usually add most of the seasoning and veggies when making soup.
You will also need an electric pressure cooker — I use my 8 quart Instant Pot so I can fit a larger carcass from up to an 18-pound turkey.
Hot mitts, a large bowl, kitchen tongs and a large mesh strainer are highly recommended.
How to Make Turkey Stock in Instant Pot
The first step in making this Instant Pot bone broth recipe is to remove most of the meat from the carcass or as much meat as possible. Then, place the trivet into the electric pressure cooker. Place the turkey bones on the trivet.
Next, add in the cold water, salt, pepper, and a couple of celery stalks — leaves and all — for flavor. Add water up to the max fill line. There’s no need to fully cover the bones with water.
For extra flavorful stock, you can add some fresh parsley or bay leaves, but remember, you can always add more seasoning and fresh herbs and fresh vegetables when you make turkey noodle soup.
How Long to Pressure Cook Turkey Bones
Cook the turkey carcass in the Instant Pot for 60 minutes on high pressure. This is long enough to get all those amazing nutrients from the bones.
When the pot beeps, allow for a 10 minute natural pressure release — at the minimum. Then do a quick release to release pressure fully.
You can let it go and do a full natural release, which takes around 30 minutes or longer.
When the pressure is fully released, remove the lid. Then, use a hot mitt to lift the trivet, including the carcass, out of the pressure cooker and into the sink or large bowl. It’s very hot, so don’t dump it into the trash bag yet.
Place a large mesh strainer over a large mixing bowl, and carefully pour the stock into the bowl. The strainer will strain any leftover turkey bones and anything else you don’t want going into your delicious stock.
Allow the stock to cool down for a little bit at room temperature. Then, you can refrigerate the stock or freeze it. The easiest way to remove fat from turkey stock is after it solidifies in the refrigerator.
How to Store
Store homemade turkey stock in an airtight container, mason jars or several small containers in the fridge where it’ll last for up to five days.
It is total turkey jelly after spending time in the fridge, which is what you want for bone broth. Now, you can skim the layer of fat off! My kids are a little grossed out by the turkey jelly, but this stuff is liquid gold. And the flavor is perfect!
To freeze the Instant Pot bone broth, place in a ziplock bag, ice cube trays or freezer-safe containers. I like to use freezer bags since you can stack them to save freezer space. Homemade stock will last up to three months in the freezer, for best taste.
How to Use Turkey Stock
Use the stock to make turkey soup in the pressure cooker or stove top turkey soup. You can use the stock in any recipe that calls for turkey broth or chicken broth, including Instant Pot turkey noodle casserole or one pot turkey noodle casserole or leftover turkey stuffing casserole.
Recipe Tip
You don’t have to cover the carcass with water. If you want to add more water, be sure not to go over the max fill line.
Always do a natural pressure release when pressure cooking soups and stocks.
Can you freeze a turkey carcass for soup?
Absolutely! If you don’t have time to make stock right away, just put the bones into a freezer bag and toss it into the freezer until you’re ready to use them.
Can you overcook stock in a pressure cooker?
Only if you cook the carcass for hours. 1 hour of pressure cooking is enough time to make homemade turkey stock that is collagen rich and very flavorful.
Instant Pot Turkey Stock
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 14 pound turkey carcass, most meat removed
- 10 cups water
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 celery stalks with leaves
Instructions
- Place the trivet in the Instant Pot, and place turkey carcass on trivet
- Pour water into the pot, and add sea salt, pepper and celery stalks
- Place lid on Instant Pot, and turn valve to Sealing position. Hit PRESSURE COOK for 60 minutes
- Pot will take a few minutes to pressurize, then it will start counting down and cook for 60 minutes. Allow a 10-minute release (or longer if you want) then do a quick release for remaining pressure to drop. Hit CANCEL to turn pressure cooker off
- When pin drops, open lid, carefully lift trivet (wear hot mitts), and discard carcass. Pour stock through mesh strainer into a bowl, and separate into smaller containers to refrigerate or freeze
- Stock should thicken into jelly when refrigerated. You can skim off the top layer of fat easily and discard before using, or you can use fat in place of oil or butter if making turkey soup
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I hope you enjoy this easy recipe! Be sure to leave a star rating and comment! For more easy recipes, including Instant Pot recipes and holiday recipes, please follow me on social media and subscribe to my weekly newsletter!
This recipe was great. I added a bay leaf and a carrot, otherwise used recipe. The most important is the cook time and ratios, you can add what you want to your taste. I have read recipes that tell you to cook for 2 hours. 50 minutes was perfect.
That’s wonderful! So glad you liked the stock!
Hi. I Prepared a bone-in turkey breast for my IP for the first time. The Turkey Gel (though thin) was elixer supreme following your guidelines. I froze it but kept enough out to drink for a couple days. Thanks! This is SO much better than when I used to boil bones all day long. I see a pot of turkey and dumplings in my near future 🙂 Thanks for the great reminder how fantastic an IP is!
So glad you enjoyed the soup!
I made a 5.25# turkey breast in my Instant Pot last night. I really want to make this stock with the bones from it. I have the well-seasoned skin also. Can I put that in for the stock too? By how much should I decrease the other ingredients… maybe use 1/3? I’m looking forward to your answers. Thanks in advance.
You can use the skin if you want to. It might make the stock fattier, but you can skim it off after it cools down. You probably want to decrease the salt and pepper — you can always add more later, and if you’re using a
6 quart Instant Pot, you’ll need to adjust the amounts to fit the pot so that the liquid is under the fill line.
Thanks so much!
I made this a couple of days ago and it came out like yours! It was easy to do in the Instant Pot. I added a splash of apple cider vinegar to draw more from the bones and some onion for flavor. I’m excited to start cooking with it. How long will it last in the fridge? I don’t want it to go bad before I use it all. Thanks for a great recipe!
So glad you enjoyed the recipe! It should last a few days in the fridge, but you can easily freeze it for later. I usually freeze the extra stock in large freezer bags, and it’s very easy to thaw this way.
I made this last month and forgot about a jar at the back of the fridge. How long will the stock in jars last in the fridge?
I hate it when that happens! The USDA recommends using homemade stock within 3 to 4 days, so to be safe, I wouldn’t use it.
Using my instant pot for the first time. My turkey carcass is frozen. Will I need to up the cooking time in the IP to allow for that? Excited to try this!
You don’t need to cook it longer. The pot might take a little longer to pressurize as the carcass thaws, though. Hope you enjoy the soup!
Great directions! I am new to using an instant pot and making broth was just the simplest! Now I’ll use the broth to make my favourite recipe for Turkey chowder! Thanks.
Turkey chowder sounds so good! Glad you liked the recipe!
I have a larger carcass from a 24 lb. turkey. How do I adjust the recipe?
You can keep the recipe the same as long as everything fits in the pot and the liquid doesn’t exceed the fill line. The carcass was almost to the top. We had a larger bird this year, and the stock was perfect!
I made this with a 9 pound turkey breast carcass (with bones) but it turned out clearer than yours. It definitely did not turn to jelly when refrigerated. Do you think that happened because it wasn’t a full turkey? I probably should have decreased the water from 10 cups to 8. I had a second leftover breast in the freezer that I made this recipe again, with 6 cups of water. More color but did not look like yours. Both tasted good.
You get the thick, jellied broth from cartilage in the joints of the whole carcass — legs, wings. If you have only the turkey breast, you could also buy a package of legs or wings if you want the thicker broth. 🙂
I’ve used all my celery, what can I use instead please?
You can use any vegetable scraps for extra flavor. I always have celery, so that’s what I normally use. 🙂
I just finished this recipe and the broth is delicious! Thanks for the information. I had a smaller turkey 11.75 lbs and a 6qt pot so I added 8 cups of water instead of 10. I cooked it the entire 60 minutes as stated.
That’s wonderful, Becky! So glad it worked for you! 🙂