5 Tips to Transform Those Turkey Bones into Tasty, Beneficial Broth
It seems like everyone’s jumping on the bone broth bandwagon nowadays. Wellness Instagram influencers chug it down like water. Your intermittent fasting friends swear by it. Even your grandma’s down with a batch of bone broth (but honestly, she was probably into it way before it became a “thing”).
There’s a good reason bone broth has earned its superfood stripes (and the massive popularity that goes with them). It’s made by simmering the bones and connective tissue of an animal. And animal bones are filled to the brim with vitamins and minerals like calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, vitamin A, vitamin K, and iron. Plus, animal connective tissue contains those joint-saving superheroes glucosamine and chondroitin. And as the big old antioxidant-rich cherry on top, bones and connective tissue contain collagen, which supports everything from skin to gut health.
Basically, bone broth is an effective way to fill your body with the wholesome nutrients it needs to stay healthy. So, why wouldn’t everyone from your favorite Insta wellness guru to Grandma be on board with the broth? It’s also super handy to have around since you can use it a lot of different ways. You can:
- Use it to make soups or stews
- Add it to simple dishes like rice, tomato sauce, or mashed potatoes for extra flavor and nutrients
- Put it in a smoothie (Sounds strange, I know. But some people love a good bone broth smoothie)
- Or just sip on it straight-up (Sipping on bone broth is a great way to break a fast, BTW)
Now, there are plenty of pre-made bone broth products you can pick up at the store. Those come in handy when you’re super busy and/or you don’t have fresh animal bones and connective tissue on hand. But when you have animal bones and connective tissue that will just end up in a landfill (like around Thanksgiving), and you have time to let your broth simmer for 12 to 16 hours (like the weekend after Thanksgiving) we recommend making a batch of bone broth from scratch. (FYI...If you don’t have a lot of time and you want to cook your broth overnight, cooking it on low in a crockpot is your safest option).
Here’s a step-by-step tutorial from Chef Shawn for turning those turkey bones into tasty, beneficial broth:
Hopefully, Chef Shawn’s video made you feel more confident in your bone broth-making chops. But just in case you’re looking for a quick overview of how to make your bone broth bad to the bone (you know, the good kind of bad). Here are Chef Shawn’s top 5 tips for getting the best broth from those turkey bones:
1. Save the neck and gizzard.
Using the neck and gizzard in your bone broth can make it even more flavorful. Plus, it’s a great way to sneak healthy organ meats into your diet if eating organs isn’t really your thing. But if your turkey neck and gizzard have already found their way into the trash, don’t worry. Your bone broth will still be tasty and healthy without them.
2. Add veggies to round out the flavor.
Chef Shawn likes to add veggies like celery and carrots to bone broth to complement the turkey flavor. So, if you have veggies on hand, get choppin’ and give it a try.
3. Bundle fresh herbs in cheesecloth.
Fresh herbs will add serious flavor to your bone broth. You can use whatever herbs you like best Just make sure to bundle them in cheesecloth before you toss them into your broth. That prevents the leaves from getting into your broth, so you end up with a nice clean broth to use for soups, stews, rice, or smoothies.
4. Use Real Salt for more minerals and more flavor.
We think the salt you choose can make or break your broth (and anything else you cook). We know, we know we’re a bit biased, but why make healthy bone broth and fill it with processed table salt that’s stripped of healthy minerals and honestly, kind of bitter-tasting? Chef Shawn suggests using Real Salt Kosher in your broth for more minerals and a richer flavor.
5. Strain your broth well.
To get any little bits out of your broth, you’ll want to give your finished broth a serious strain. You can do that using a fine mesh strainer. Or if you don’t have a fine mesh strainer, use a colander lined with a cheesecloth like Chef Shawn does in his video. You’ll want to run it through the cheesecloth a couple of times to make sure you end up with nice clean broth.
Want to see for yourself how mouth-watering a homemade batch of bone broth is? Make sure to watch Chef Shawn’s video all the way to the end and check out the finished product.
