Instant Pot Turkey Stock
Pressure Cooker / Instant Pot Turkey Stock is the best way to elevate your Thanksgiving dishes—full of flavor from fresh vegetables and seasonings! Turn your broth into beautiful soups, stocks, and sauces.
If you’ve never tried it, turkey stock is incredibly tasty in traditional Thanksgiving dishes.
Before Thanksgiving, I like to pressure cook a turkey breast for our family dinner for extra white meat. Then I use the leftover bones to make turkey stock for extra gravy and flavorful stuffing.
This is also a fantastic way to use the turkey bones leftover from Thanksgiving dinner. You’ll be enjoying comforting Thanksgiving-flavored soups, stocks, and sauces for months when you have a big batch of Instant Pot turkey broth on hand.
Update: It’s almost turkey time again, so we had to update this favorite turkey stock recipe with new images and helpful tips so your family can enjoy the most flavor-packed holiday dinner this year. Enjoy!
How to Make Instant Pot Turkey Stock
This turkey stock recipe will work in any brand of electric pressure cooker, including the Instant Pot, Ninja Foodi, or Power Pressure Cooker XL
With an Instant Pot, you can skip the hours of simmering broth on the stove. Plus, there’s no need to worry about overflow or to constantly skim off the top of your pot. And the resulting stock is every bit as rich and delicious.
I think you’ll love this dump and start recipe as much as my family does!
Seasoning Homemade Turkey Stock
You can easily change up the flavors of your turkey broth according to how you’ll use it. Here are some delicious ingredients to toss into your pressure cooker for more nutrition and flavor:
- Hot chile peppers, either fresh or dried
- Hardy herbs, such as thyme, rosemary, and parsley stems
- Crushed garlic cloves
- Gently crushed lemongrass
- Ginger
- Turmeric
- Cinnamon sticks
- Star anise
- Other vegetables, such as parsnips, sweet potato, and radishes
Stock vs. Broth: What’s the Difference?
As we’ve mentioned in our previous broth posts, “stock” and “broth” are often used interchangeably. Technically, however,
Stock is the unsalted liquid that this recipe makes. Stock is used as an ingredient in other dishes, such as the delicious Thanksgiving recipes listed below.
Broth, on the other hand, is seasoned enough to be very flavorful all on its own. Turn turkey stock into broth by amping up the salt, pepper, and acids to make a soup or sauce.
How To Store Turkey Broth
Store your cooled broth in the fridge for up to three days. Or freeze it for up to 6 months.
For easy use, freeze the stock in 1-cup containers or plastic cups to use as needed.
More Instant Pot Broth Recipes
If you’re like us, you’ll be making all of your broths in the Instant Pot! Try vegetable stock, mushroom broth, or chicken broth, and see the difference that homemade broth makes in your soups.
Instant Pot Soup Recipes for Homemade Turkey Stock
Here are some of my favorite Instant Pot Soup recipes to put this flavor-packed stock to use:
- Pressure Cooker Chicken & Wild Rice Soup is creamy, satisfying, and full of colorful vegetables and protein.
- Instant Pot Poblano Corn Chowder is just a bit spicy and always comforting.
- Pressure Cooker Hearty Lentil Beer Soup is a tasty and filling legume-based soup that can get a savory upgrade from turkey stock.
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Instant Pot Turkey Stock
Pressure Cooker / Instant Pot Turkey Stock is easy to make and packed with flavor from fresh vegetables and Thanksgiving leftovers.
Ingredients
- 1 roasted or pressure cooked turkey carcass, cut into 6 to 8 pieces OR 2 roasted hindquarters*
- 1 large onion, coarsely chopped
- 2 large carrots, roughly chopped
- 2 celery stalks, roughly chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, smashed
- 1 bay leaf
- 5 sprigs fresh parsley
- 3 sprigs fresh thyme
- 1/2 teaspoon whole peppercorns
- 10 cups water
Instructions
- Put all of the ingredients in the pressure cooking pot. Select High Pressure and a 30 minute cook time.
- When the cook time ends, turn the pressure cooker off and use a natural pressure release. When the valve drops, carefully remove the lid.
- Allow the stock to cool slightly. Pour the stock through a fine-mesh strainer set over a very large bowl or pot. Discard the solids.
- Cover the bowl and refrigerate. When chilled, skim fat from the surface.
Notes
Note: Turkey stock will keep 3 days in the refrigerator or can be frozen for up to 6 months. Freeze stock in 1 cup containers to use as needed.
*Roasted Turkey Hindquarters:
If you want to add extra flavor to your stock, roasting the hindquarters is a great option. The hindquarter includes the drumstick, thigh, and part of the back. It is entirely dark meat. For , you'll need 2 turkey hindquarters, approximately 5 lbs.
- Preheat oven to 425°F.
- Place the turkey hindquarters, skin side up, on a rack in a roasting pan. Season with salt and
pepper. Roast for 30 minutes until skin begins to turn golden brown. - Reduce the temperature to 350°F and loosely cover (tent) turkey with a large piece of aluminum
foil. Roast for about 45 minutes more, or until a meat thermometer registers 170°F in the
thickest part of the thigh. Remove from oven and allow to cool. Reserve any juices from the roasting pan to add to the pressure cooking pot when making the stock. - When cool, remove most of the meat from the bones.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 10 Serving Size: 1 cupAmount Per Serving: Calories: 18Total Fat: 0gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 0gCholesterol: 3mgSodium: 26mgCarbohydrates: 3gFiber: 1gSugar: 1gProtein: 1g
Nutrition information is calculated by Nutritionix and may not always be accurate.
The Best Instant Pot Thanksgiving Recipes
Make your Thanksgiving dinner faster and easier by using your electric pressure cooker! These Instant Pot Thanksgiving Recipes taste like traditional Thanksgiving classics but come together in much less time.
Tender Turkey Breast
This pressure cooker turkey breast is the remedy to dried-out oven-roasted white meat on your holiday table.
Creamy Mashed Potatoes
Stop boiling your potatoes! Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes are the best, boil-free method to make everyone’s favorite side dish.
Stuffing (aka Dressing)
Crisp on the outside and soft and creamy on the inside, this Instant Pot stuffing is "baked" in the pressure cooker and crisped up right before serving.
Sweet Potato Casserole
Creamy sweet potatoes dressed up for Thanksgiving with a sweet, crunchy brown sugar pecan topping. (Recipe also includes a marshmallow topping option.)
Homemade Cranberry Jelly
Cranberry jelly is quick and easy, and SO much better tasting when you make it at home in your pressure cooker.
Homemade Turkey Stock
Take your gravy to the next level—homemade turkey stock tastes like it has simmered on the stove for hours, but it's ready in a fraction of the time.
Classic Pumpkin Pie
This Pressure Cooker Pumpkin Pie has a classic pumpkin pie filling in a crumbly Pecan Sandies cookie crust, so it's perfect for the pressure cooker!
Pumpkin Caramel Pecan Cheesecake
For the non-traditional pumpkin lovers, this cross between cheesecake and pumpkin pie is amazing when topped with creamy caramel and crunchy pecans.
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The high pressure button works great, but I also have a soup/broth button on my instapot. Have you tried this button because I’m wondering what the difference in time would be.
Hi Heather – most of the buttons on the Instant Pot are just preset/suggested times for that item. You’ll get the same results using the soup button or high pressure.
I want to make this for meals, but I’d also like to use it for my little dog, to mix with his food. I don’t think you’re supposed to give dogs onions, garlic, or peppercorn. Can those items be left out or would that ruin it?
Hi Donna – you’ll lose some of the flavor, but you can add those flavors in with whatever meal you’re using the stock in, they’re often in many meals anyway.
I made this last year after Thanksgiving and it was so good I just stood over it for a long time, sipping ladle after ladle of it…had to convince myself to stop! Making it again today with the carcass from our Christmas turkey. We love to use it for chicken poblano soup, or with some tortalini, or some Israeli couscous. YUM!
Thanks so much Dana! What great ways to use it.
Could all of this be done in the ninja foodi…..the roasting, the pressure cooking, etc. without using an oven?
Hi Susan – I think that’s a great idea. Just roast the turkey hindquarters like you would a chicken and then pressure cook the stock.
Every broth or stock recipe, traditional and Instant Pot, that I have ever seen says to discard the solids after straining. Is there some reason the cooked meat and vegetables can’t be used?
Hi Barbara – most of the flavor is cooked out of the vegetables and meat, so people typically discard it.
After pulling out all the bones, I refrigerate and feed the meat and vegetables over several days to my Labradors, mixing it into their regular food at no more than 25-50%. Much of the nutritional value (good quality protein) is still there, if not the taste, and they don’t seem to mind that it’s now bland…
Great idea – thanks for sharing Eric!
I love the pressure cooker for instant stock!
I quite often spachcock the turkey or chicken I am roasting and throw that into stock pot also.
I also make broth and stock from the roasted chicken or turkey bones after the meat is carved and served.
Love your site and refer to it often. I tried to go to your page from the newsletter to commit on how I have kicked friends into opening and using their pressure cooker but it would not let me in so I thought I would post here what I tell them.
“Have I ever lied to you about how this stuff?”
At Thanksgiving and Christmas our local store sells turkey carcasses. I roast them and then IP them for 1 hour, NPR. After straining I reduce the stock to a very thick syrup and pour it in ice cube trays and put them in the fridge. Once they have set, I remove them, place them on a sheet pan and freeze them. Once frozen, I bag them up. This takes up minimal space in my freezer and yet I have the luxury of “instant” boullion cubes.
Such a smart idea. Thanks for sharing Elsie!
Thanks for sharing and inspiring me Barbara! It’s Thanksgiving here in Canada and I’m going to give it a shot to make the base for my gravy. I found a turkey thigh and back at the grocery store . Should I still roast it first or can I just put it straight into the instant pot? Should I also cook it for longer than 30 min if I’m using it for gravy? Thanks!
Hi George – happy Thanksgiving! You can put it straight into the Instant Pot if you prefer and skip the roasting. You can cook it for longer than 30 minutes, up to 90 minutes, and the bones will release more collagen that makes for a more gelatinous, rich broth.
I ADDED 2 HALF BAKED WHOLE LEMON TO THE INSTANT POT TO MAKE TURKEY BROTH IN 1 HOUR AT LOW PRESSURE, I GOT GREAT BROTH BUT I SAW ABOUT 1 CM THICK OF A WHITE STUFF LOOKED LIKE CALCIUM POWDER AT THE BOTTOM OF THE 2 LITTER CUP, IS IT NORMAL OR THERE WILL BE ANY HARM TO THE STOCK, PLEASE GIVE ME AN ADVICE
THANKS
Hi Tan – I haven’t experienced anything like that, but lemon chicken soup is a common dish, so I doubt there’s anything harmful about it.
Barbara,
Is it really only 30 minutes for the turkey broth with the carcass? Somehow I thought it was a couple of hours?
You’re the pro, so I’m just double-checking!
Susan
Hi Susan – you can get a great tasting broth in 30 minutes, if you want a bone broth that is thick and gelatinous, you can could it longer.
Thank you!
Carcass is in our electric cooker right now. Smells so good. I save the bits of meat to put on our poodle’s food. It’s gourmet stuff to them. LOL
Great – enjoy!
I had a 13 lb turkey. I’m putting the hind quarters and carcas in an 8qt. instant pot. The turkey bones go all the way up to the max line. Is that okay? I have not put in the 10 cups of water yet.
Hi Terry – as long as you don’t add liquid higher than the max line, you’ll be fine.
Thanks for the recipe! I’ve been using Jane Brody’s, “Good Food Book” recipe for Turkey Stock, soup, she even has Turkey Tetrazzini for many years. Since the book is falling apart from use, and I now have a pressure cooker, I’ll go for your version. Really not to much different but what good flavor from using pressure. Bravo.
i’m thinking about using the recipe but smoke the carcass for 1/2 hour before putting it in the instantpot. Want to make smoked turkey tortilla soup as the final product……
That sounds delicious Wayne. Let me know how it turns out.
Thanks for this great and easy-looking recipe, I might try it this year! Usually we make a massive ton by simmering it overnight in a really big pot.
Mine is a 6-quart, I hope it doesn’t go past the PC Max line.
I also have a 6-qt stovetop cooker, so one of those is sure to work 🙂
Thanks Glen – just add water to the max fill line and if it’s too concentrated, you can add additional water after pressure cooking. Enjoy!
hi barbara,thank you for this recipe,right now my turkey carcass is in my bella pressure cooker,which i love,but i have a question,when i put my carcass in,there was still bits of meat everywhere on it,is that ok?
Hi Patty – yes, that’s okay. The meat loses most of its flavor when making the stock, so I often just discard it rather than picking it from the bone.
I just wanted to thank you for taking the time to post your recipe. I just used it for my family’s turkey carcass and I’m at the stage where I’m letting the broth cool in a bowl before I transfer it to the fridge. It was really nice to have a reference and this recipe seems to be a winner. Thank you again for your time.
Thank you Deborah! So nice of you to take the time to say thanks!
right now im making mine,and all i smell is beautiful turkey stock all thru my house,love this recipe
Thank you Barbara for this great recipe! I needed to make stock from my Thanksgiving turkey carcass and wanted to try it in my Instant Pot this year. I found your recipe and it was so easy and delicious!
Where are the actual pressure cooking instructions?
Hi Karen – I used the roasted turkey hindquarters and the chicken stock recipe https://www.pressurecookingtoday.com/chicken-stock-in-the-pressure-cooker/ Enjoy!
Hi Barbara
I finally made your homemade Chicken Stock and your homemade Chicken Soup Recipe. I have to tell you, it is the BEST soup I have EVER tasted ! My family can’t get enough of it, I swear this is true! ! But, what really made this soup fantastic is the homemade Chicken Stock made in the pressure cooker!!! It wouldn’t bee nearly as good with canned broth. Now I can’t wait to make the Turkey Stock and the Turkey Noodle Soup recipe that you provided. Thank you for your recipes. All of them that I’ve tried have been great !
Delish…used my turkey carcass from yesterday. I always remember my mom doing this and had forgotten all about it until I saw this on Pinterest! Tks for the reminder!
I wouldn’t discard the turkey meat. I’d pick apart the meat to find the prime morsels and use it in stock or to make a turkey salad.
Love the idea of using the pressure cooker. I’ve always used one but my friends think it’s something from the dark ages that one has to be afraid of. I think every cook should have and use one.
Thanks Donna – I couldn’t agree more!
Barbara-I just made this stock and I have to tell you, I couldn’t be happier. It came out FANTASTIC. It only took 25 minutes in my stove top pressure cooker at 15psi………let the pressure drop naturally and presto-some of the best turkey stock I think I’ve ever made. I’m going to refrigerate it tonight and make soup tomorrow.
This is going to be the only way I make stock from here on out.
Thanks SO MUCH again for the out of this world super easy-and delicious-recipe. 🙂
I’m so glad! Enjoy your soup. And get feeling better soon. Thanks!
I’m so glad that I discovered your blog! I own an electric pressure cooker, and wonder why I don’t use it more often for different things. I’ll be reading your blog for more inspiration!
Thanks! I’m so glad you discovered it too. I’ll look forward to the recipes you’re creating in your pressure cooker.
Hi! I have a turkey carcass in the freezer i want to make stock then soup with! Can i just throw the FROZEN carcass into my 6 quart farberware electric pressure cooker and follow yoir stock and soup recipes? I’d like to have a full six quarts of soup in the end. ( this pressure cooker is all new for me and tried it last night for pasta and loved it!) please advise me in ability to use frozen turkey carcass? Thanks so much for all you do!
Hi Cher – a frozen turkey carcass should work just fine. 🙂
You can absolutely prepare this recipe using your frozen carcass, as electric pressure cookers don’t begin their timing until their contents have come to pressure (which won’t happen until that carcass has thawed within your “Farberware” pressure-cooker)!
The total cooking time will just be a few minutes longer with the frozen, as opposed to just a cool carcass.
Thanks for sharing Barbara! I’ve had my mom’s pressure cooker for over 25 years and it finally gave out on me. Time for a new one. Have any recommendations?
Thanks for inspiring me! If you want to try an electric, I love my Cuisinart and Laura gave the Instant Pot a great review http://www.hippressurecooking.com/2012/11/pressure-cooker-review-instant-pot-6-in.html
She details stove top vs electric cookers http://www.hippressurecooking.com/2012/07/difference-between-stovetop-and-elctric-pressure-cookers.html and has buying http://www.hippressurecooking.com/search/label/PCR guides. Really great info to help you make a decision.
I’m with Kayln, Barbara-you’re one smart cookie alright! I am SO going to do this with my turkey carcass. It will save SO much time.
Thanks so much-can’t wait for your soup recipe too. 🙂
Fantastic idea. (You are so smart!)
Great tips Barbara. So nice to have extra stock in the freezer.