Slow Cooker Turkey Pho Bone Broth

If you are looking for a quick and easy way to use your leftover turkey bones after Thanksgiving, this slow cooker turkey pho bone broth using turkey carcass is a must! It’s healthy, tasty, and a super easy recipe to make! 

Pho is one of my absolute favorite Thai Tom Tum soups. You can check out my easy pressure cooker instant pot Thai Tom Yum soup with Shrimp and a stovetop  Tom Yum recipe chicken soup. It's soup season so let's go enjoy these delicious soups!

What Is Pho broth?

Pho is a delicious Vietnamese noodle soup with a savory broth base made with many flavors, seasonings, and garnishing variations. The most common Pho in America is made with beef bone broth, for beef Pho. There is also pho with chicken broth for a lighter taste. A good pho always starts with an excellent broth. 

The traditional way of making authentic pho is made with long-simmered broth using different cuts of raw beef bones. Different region of Vietnam also has different variations of ingredients, seasoning, and flavors that are unique to that part of the country.

Today we're making homemade bone broth using roasted turkey bones from Thanksgiving. It's an easy homemade broth that is an almost hands-off recipe using a crock pot.

Why This Recipe Works

• Pho broth is full of healthy nutrients that help heal your body. A perfectly delicious and healthy dinner idea!
• The broth has many uses. Great for a soup base and cooking. 
• Slurp it in a cup-like tea! It’s so nutritious and comforting!
• When soup cravings come around, you’ll have your broth ready! Add noodles, vegetables, and garnish, and you are set! 
• It lasts for a few meals and is great for feeding a large group of people! Think Pho party! 
• You can freeze pho in small containers to be used individually for cooking or soups. 

Ingredients for making turkey bone broth recipe

* Check out my web stories for a quick overview of this Turkey Pho Broth recipe. *

Besides the turkey bones, all the ingredients can be found at most Asian markets near you. Use a mesh tea strainer to hold the small spices like the fennel, coriander, cloves, cardamom, and star anise. Or toss everything together in the slow cooker and strain later. 

Turkey carcass. Use leftover Thanksgiving turkey bones or roasted chicken carcasses. It's ok to leave some of the smaller pieces of meat on the bones. They will add more flavors to your broth.

Onions. Sweet or white onions are great options.

Fresh ginger. Smash the ginger with the bottom of your knife to help release oils for extra fragrant

Cinnamon sticks. You can use ground cinnamon or ground allspice as a substitute. Add 1 teaspoon of ground powder per whole stick.

Whole star anise. A beautiful spice with a star shape. It can be found at your local Asian market or spice shops.

Whole cloves. Best to use whole cloves as the flavors are much stronger.

Cardamom. This recipe used whole brown cardamom. Lightly smash the cardamom so the seeds inside are exposed. This is where all the flavors come from.

Coriander seeds. Use whole coriander seeds for extra flavors added to the broth.

Fennel seeds. Skip this one if you can't find any.

Salt. Any type of salt used is fine.

Rock sugar. Also called sugar candy. It helps with rounding out the flavors with a slight sweetness.

Fish sauce. Use at the end to season the pho broth to your liking.

How To Make Slow cooker turkey Pho bone broth

Step 1. Toast the cinnamon sticks, star anise, and cardamom on a small skillet over medium heat in a dry frying pan, meaning no oil is used for this part. Once fragrant, add coriander, fennel, and cloves. Once a few pieces start popping, remove from heat, transfer to a plate and let cool.

Step 2. In the same pan, toast the sliced onion and ginger. Make sure to smash ginger with the bottom of your knife to help release oils for extra fragrance and flavors. Toast until some parts are browned but not burnt.

Step 3. Place all the toasted herbs, rock sugar, salt, and 2 cups of water into the crockpot, then stir until the salt is somewhat dissolved.
Step 4. Add in the turkey bones and the rest of the water. Place in the crockpot hold, the lid sealed tightly, and set to cook for 4 hours.

Step 5. Once time is up, carefully taste the broth, season it with fish sauce and turn the power off to let it cool.

Step 6. Once the broth is cooled enough, place a large colander beneath a large bowl. Carefully pour and strain both. In the sink is the easiest and safest.

Step 7. Discard the bones and use broth immediately for soup, cooking, and slurping, and let the broth cool before preparing it for storing in air-tight containers for the refrigerator and/or the freezer.

Step 8. Pour both into small glass containers for individual servings. It’s easy than thawing out a large container. Leave 1 ½ inch space at the top of the jar for expansion in the fridge. Let broth cool to almost room temperature before storing it in the freezer. That's it! So easy, and you now have homemade turkey bone pho broth for many uses in the future!

Check out my web stories for a quick overview of making slow cooker Pho with turkey bones!

Helpful Kitchen notes And Expert Tips

• Use a metal tea strainer or cheesecloth for the smaller spices like fennel, coriander seeds, star anise, and cloves. It helps to keep all the spices in one place if you don’t like seeing them floating around in your crockpot.
• Placing them all in the crocket without a holder is also not a problem. You can skim them off with a small strainer or wait until you strain everything out at the end. 
• Cut the bones into smaller pieces to fit in your slow cooker. 
• The natural fat from the turkey will float to the top of the slow cooker and the glass containers. This is where all the flavors and nutrients are. But if you don’t want that, it’s ok to skim off some from the slow cooker. And remove the fatty layers from the glass jar before using. 

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How to make pho from your turkey pho broth?

After making your nutritious bone broth with turkey bones, one of the best ways to use it is to make turkey Pho soup! Using whatever you have in your fridge or what you can find at your local grocery store. You'll need large bowls for pho to fit all the ingredients. Use whatever noodles you have or like, like rice sticks, angel hair rice noodles, ramen, or chow fun noodles. (Soften the dry noodles according to package instructions).

Some options to add to your Pho bowl are leftover turkey meat, bok choy, bean sprouts, Thai basil, Italian sweet basil, green onions, cilantro, mint, or fresh herbs your choice. Add as much hot broth as you'd like and season your homemade pho with fresh squeezed fresh lime juice from lime wedges, chili sauce, hoisin sauce, and thinly sliced fresh jalapeno peppers.

You'll now have healthy-looking Vietnamese pho with the best bone broth to enjoy for many bowls! (:

Handy Kitchen tools for making slower cooker Pho

• Slowcooker
• Strainer
• Glass jars

FAQs

What is traditional pho broth made of?

Traditional pho broth is made with beef bones, charred roasted onion, and ginger. Then it’s flavored with fragrant spices like star anise, cloves, cinnamon, coriander, and fennel seeds. There are many versions of pho and broth, so individual cooks and recipes can choose to add or remove spices according to each person’s preferences. 

Is Turkey bone broth good for you?

Yes. Turkey bone broth has many great health benefits. The collagen in the bone marrows, cartilage, and other boney parts heals the gut and supports joint health. The bones are full of nutrients, and vitamins, released when cooked for a long while, healing and comforting for the body. 

Does turkey bone have collagen?

Yes! Turkey's bones have natural collagen, a protein-based amino acid that encourages growth and repair in human hair, skin, and nails. 

Is turkey broth anti-inflammatory?

Yes. Animal bone broth has nutrients and minerals that fight off inflammation. The broth is great for healing gut health issues by fighting off bad bacteria and encouraging the growth of good bacteria. 

Does pho use bone broth?

Yes. Pho uses bone broth as a base for the delicious rice noodles soup in the most traditional recipes.

How do you make clear broth pho?

To clear pho broth, rinse the bone from the first round of boiling the bones for a few minutes. Replace the original water with a new batch, and your pho broth will be clearer. You can also skim the broth by removing the scum that floats to the top of the pot. 

Which is better, broth vs. stock?

Both are flavorful. It comes down to what you prefer and what needs you have for each. You can use both for cooking, eating, and flavoring different recipes. 

Can I use chicken stock instead of broth?

Yes. You absolutely can. Both can be used interchangeably. Best to pick unsalted stock so you can control the salt flavor in your recipes. 

More Thai Recipes You’ll Love!

• Yakisoba noodles stir fry with leftover turkey
• Thai style roasted turkey (brined and marinated)
• Turkey Tom Yum Fried rice using turkey meat
• Nam Jim Jaeow recipe without sugar (using honey instead).  
• Thai sweet chili dipping sauce
• Thai Roasted Gai Yang chicken recipe
• Instant pot Thai tom yum soup with shrimp
• Homemade beef broth broth

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