Turkey Soup
Every Thanksgiving, minutes after the meal is over and the table is cleared, Steve whisks the turkey carcass away to start making soup. For the longest time I could not figure out why, since we were already staring at so many leftovers. He shared with me, that as the youngest of 4 kids with two hard-working parents, his mom did everything to stretch the family’s food dollar. This included using every bit of the Thanksgiving turkey, right down to the carcass. Makes a lot of sense, so now, that our daughter-in-law has taken over cooking Thanksgiving, it’s her turkey carcass he’s whisking into a pot right after dinner.
This recipe is very easy and can be made with store bought broth. But making homemade broth is so easy. Simply carve up the turkey bones, after removing all of the leftover meat. Next, dive into the produce drawer in the fridge and add every wilting vegetable available. In a very large stock pot, seer the vegetables in a bit of olive oil. Once they are soft add the turkey bones. Cover with about 6 quarts of water. Add salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and simmer for about an hour. Strain the liquid to a smaller pot. Discard all the veggies and bones. You should have 4 quarts of both! All made with leftovers.
Back to the soup. Cut and cube potatoes, carrots, celery and onion. Other fresh vegetable options can be zucchini or any other squash.
Add the vegetables to a clean large stockpot, along with the 4 quarts of broth.
Dice 3-4 cups of leftover turkey and add that to the stockpot as well.
Add the frozen vegetables to the soup. Add a bay leaf, oregano, pepper and basil. Taste the broth before adding any salt. Since we tend to really salt our turkey, if using fresh broth, there might be less of a need to add a bunch more salt.
Warm the soup to just before boiling, and reduce the heat to low. Cook for about 30 more minutes until the potatoes and carrots are just tender. Don’t let them get mushy by over cooking.
The soup is great for dinner with a salad and bread or for lunches on a cold day. And, of course, we take a pot of soup over to our daughter in law since she shared her leftover turkey with us!
Turkey Soup
Ingredients
- 16 cups (4 quarts) Turkey broth either fresh or canned
- 2 russet potatoes peeled and cubed
- 4-5 carrots peeled and sliced into 1/2 rounds
- 2 stalks celery, trimmed and sliced
- 12 oz Frozen peas
- 12 oz Frozen corn
- 3-4 cups cooked turkey, diced
- (Other optional vegetables: frozen green beans, zucchini)
- Salt to taste
- 1 teaspoon Pepper
- 1 teaspoon (or more) Oregano
- 1 tablespoon Basil
Instructions
- In a large stockpot over medium heat add the broth. If using fresh broth, skim off any fat that has accumulated before adding vegetables.
- Add all the vegetables at once, carefully so not to splash the broth. Do not rinse or defrost any frozen vegetables. Stir all together.
- Add bay leaf, salt, pepper, oregano and basil. Stir.
- Simmer over medium heat for 25 minutes until just before it boils. Do not let boil. Reduce heat to low and let simmer for 30 minutes more. The soup is ready when the potatoes and carrots are soft but not mush.
- Serve in warmed bowls. Leftover soup can be frozen or kept for up to a week in the refrigerator. Enjoy!
