Are you making a turkey tomorrow? Don’t throw away your turkey bones, use them to make bone broth! It’s the perfect way to cut down on food waste and capture the health benefits of drinking bone broth. I wrote a whole article on bone broth that you can read here. A quick recap, bone broth is incredibly nutrient dense and great for your skin, digestion, joints, detoxification and is calming to the nervous system. I don’t know about you, but that’s just what I need this time of year.

Ingredients:

The bones and carcass of one turkey: it’s best to use bones from an organic and free-range turkey. Pasture-raised is even better if you can find it

3 carrots cut in half, so they fit in the pot

3 stalks of celery cut in half

1 yellow onion quartered

4-5 cloves of garlic

3 sprigs of thyme

1 sprig of rosemary

1/2 inch fresh turmeric

4 sage leaves

1 tbsp of apple cider vinegar to draw the nutrients out of the bones

Salt and pepper to taste

Enough water to cover the bones. Don’t fill the pot more than 2/3 of the way full.

When you make bone broth, a recipe is just a guideline, the only ingredients that are required are the bones, water and vinegar. Everything else can be replaced or modified. Use whatever assortment of veggies and spices you have on hand.

Directions:

Add all ingredients to the pot. Use enough water to cover all ingredients, but don’t fill the pot more than 2/3 of the way full of water.

Cooking method: you can either a large pot, slow cooker, or Instant Pot.

• Large pot: bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and let simmer covered for 14-24 hrs. Check on the broth every 6 hrs and add extra water if needed.

• Slow cooker: cook on low for 12-18 hrs

• Instant Pot: select the soup button and set the pressure to low. Set the cook time for 120 minutes. The instant pot is by far the most time efficient method for making bone broth.

Strain the bones and veggies from the broth and enjoy! You can sip on bone broth plain or use it as a base for soup.

Happy Thanksgiving!