Turkey Soup

By Hester

Although this leftover turkey soup recipe takes several days to make, it produces a large 12 quart pot of turkey soup. If you prefer a smaller batch, it’s easy to just cut our homemade turkey soup recipe in half. 


Ingredients

• You will need the following items available to make turkey stock:
• How to Make Turkey Stock
• 12 qt. soup pot (or a 6.5 qt. pot for half the recipe)
• Cuisinart for cutting up vegetables (optional)
• Slotted or perforated spoon to scoop out bones
• Stainless steel skimmer to strain away small bits
• To begin, add to a large 12 qt. soup pot:
• The bones, skin and scraps from a large turkey. (If your turkey carcass is small, add some chicken necks or other poultry parts).
• 2 or 3 small beef shank soup bones (this helps to harden the fat so that you can remove it easily).
• 8 1/2 quarts of water
• 1/4 cup of apple cider vinegar
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 2 bay leaves
• Bring the water to a boil over high heat, cover and simmer on low for 4 hours. Then let the turkey stock cool overnight on the stove so it has time to absorb all the flavor and nutrients from the scraps and bones.
• In the morning, when your turkey stock has cooled, remove the scraps, bones and skin.
• Once the bones, skin and major pieces are out, refrigerate the stock for at least 24 hours to allow the fat to harden on top so you can skim it off.
• Turkey Soup
• 1 1/2 cups of raw brown rice (or use a mixture of about 1 cup basmati brown rice and 1/2 cup wild rice)
• 1/2 cup dry vegetable broth (Gaylord Hauser's All Natural Instant Vegetable Broth works particularly well)
• 4 teaspoons of salt
• 2 medium or 3 large onions chopped fine (in Cuisinart)
• 2 large or 4 medium peeled sweet potatoes chopped small (or shred them in the Cuisinart)
• (Optional – add celery, zucchini or summer squash, chopped small)
• 2 to 3 cans drained black beans (or use 2 packages frozen petite green garden peas)
• 2 large bunches of kale, chard or other dark green leafy veggies chopped fine or shredded in the Cuisinart
• 3 tablespoons dried parsley or several stalks chopped fresh parsley
• 1/4 teaspoon shredded thyme leaf
• 4 pinches or 6 shakes nutmeg
• 4 cups of chopped leftover turkey meat or 2 lbs. of lean ground turkey pinched into small bits and added a little bit at a time

Preparation

Step 1

When you've removed all the fat from the stock and are ready to make your turkey soup, place the pot on the stove and turn the burner to high.

Once the stock comes to a boil, turn the burner to low and simmer for the rest of the cooking time. As it heats up, add the ingredients.

The rice needs to cook for 1½ hours, the onions and sweet potatoes for 45 minutes to an hour and the peas and greens no longer than ½ hour. But the meat will be thoroughly cooked or heated within about 10 minutes.

And this leftover turkey soup recipe only has about 150 calories per cup.


Plus, my homemade turkey soup recipe is not engraved in stone. So feel free to experiment and create your own great leftover turkey soup.