Homemade Leftover Turkey Soup
This homemade turkey soup recipe is the best recipe for your Thanksgiving turkey leftovers. Use the turkey carcass for homemade turkey stock, then add meat, vegetables, and fresh herbs for a fantastic soup.
Servings: 3 quarts or so
Ingredients
- 1 leftover turkey carcass, meat largely removed
- 2 medium yellow onions, divided
- 1 1/2 pounds carrots, divided
- 1 large head of celery, divided
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 large sprig fresh thyme
- 1/4 cup fresh parsley leaves and tender stems, rough chopped, plus more to garnish
- 4 cups or so cooked turkey meat, pulled or cut into soup-sized chunks
- 8 ounces wide egg noodles, optional (cooked rice would work as well)
Instructions
For the Turkey Stock
- Place as much turkey carcass as you can into a large stock pot. You will probably have to break it into pieces to shove it all in there.
- Rinse and halve one onion and add it to the pot, along with the thyme, bay leaves, 3 whole peeled and trimmed carrots, and 3 trimmed stalks of celery.PRO TIP: Leaving the onion skin on the onion will make the stock a deeper golden color.
- Add enough cold water to just barely cover the turkey, but make sure there is still an inch of space between the water and the rim of the pot. If part of the chicken is still not covered, that's ok. Bring just to a boil, then lower to a simmer. Let simmer, partially covered, for at least two hours, preferably about 5 or 6 hours.
- While the stock simmers, make use of the time to peel, trim, and dice the remaining carrots, celery, and onion that will go into the finished soup. Cut or pull your turkey meat into the rough size of a large dice. Set everything aside in the refrigerator.
- Using whatever variety of strainer, tongs, or slotted spoon you have available, remove the carcass, vegetables, and herbs from the stock and discard. Ladle the stock through a fine mesh strainer into another pot or large bowl. Rinse the original stock pot. Return the strained stock to the pot and put it back on the stove.
For the Soup
- Heat the strained stock to a low boil. Add the carrots, celery, and onion. Simmer until the vegetables have softened, about 10 to 15 minutes.
- While the vegetables are cooking in the soup, cook your rice or egg noodles.
- When the vegetables have softened, add the turkey meat. Stir, and allow the meat to warm through. Do not boil or you will continue to cook the already-cooked turkey meat. If you have any additional leftover vegetables for the soup, add them now.
- Taste for seasoning, and add salt and pepper. Add the fresh minced parsley. If the soup looks a little too chunky, feel free to add some water. Taste again for seasoning.TIP: Usually, I give exact amounts of salt. But here, the salinity of each person's stock will vary greatly depending on how much each turkey has been brined and so forth. For reference, however, I used the carcass of a dry-brined turkey, and ended up adding 1 tablespoon of kosher salt.
- Spoon some cooked rice or cooked egg noodles into the bottom of each bowl. Ladle soup on top and serve hot.
Disclaimer: Nutrition information is provided for courtesy purposes only, and is an estimate not verified by medical or nutrition experts. Read the full nutrition disclaimer.
