Turkey soup from leftover turkey couldn’t be easier. My mom would say just throw that carcass in a pot, cover it with water, add some vegetables and boil it for a few hours. It really is that simple but if you’ve never done it before there's nothing like a reliable recipe to follow.
If you like slow food then your friends need to know that. My husband is always the one to raise his hand and accept a cooked turkey carcass. We've even received a carcass from a turkey dinner we didn't attend! We've also been known to take our stockpot when we're invited for turkey dinner.
There's something to be said about simple ingredients cooked to perfection. When we make soup I make biscuits to go with it and eat them while they're still warm.
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Ingredients
It's soup! You don't need exact measurements and you can vary the recipe to your liking. Use it as a guide and make your perfect soup.
- cooked turkey carcass (from a 12-20 lb turkey)
- onion, carrot & celery - this is a mirepoix, the classic combination to start many homemade soups
- turkey stock
- cooked turkey meat
- frozen peas - we love the look of peas in this soup
See recipe card for exact amounts.
Instructions for Making Turkey Stock
You don't want overcooked vegetables with no taste but you do want a tasty bone broth with all the nutrients and minerals the bones have to offer. Boil the carcass for at least six hours so the broth will gel when it’s cold. That's how you know you did it right.
Soup From Leftover Turkey
The goodness from the first round of vegetables, the mirepoix, went into the stock so they’re done. Either add them to your compost or puree them to thicken your soup.
The best turkey soup needs fresh vegetables cooked just until done. That's the secret for homemade turkey soup from leftover turkey.
Variations
For us turkey season is from Canadian Thanksgiving in October right until the first week of the new year. But you can scale down this recipe and make soup with a chicken carcass.
At Thanksgiving or Christmas I make this recipe using the carcass from my Achiote Butter Basted Turkey. It imparts an earthy flavour from the achiote paste (even though I can't really tell, but it must right).
When my husband wants to make this soup in the spring or early fall I roast a chicken following the recipe for my Spatchcock Chicken. I wouldn't bother to spatchcock it, that's more of a fun think to do for company.
Get The Tools
You don’t need a big stockpot for soup but it comes in handy a few times a year. We have one leftover from our restaurant and catering days. A 12-quart stockpot is larger than the large pot (sometimes called a Dutch oven) that comes with a typical set of pots. It will hold a whole turkey carcass and is perfect for kitchen projects and food parties like a Lobster Boil or making jam, salsa or antipasto.
Turkey Soup (From Leftover Turkey)
Ingredients
TURKEY STOCK
- 1 cooked turkey carcass, broken to fit in pot (from a 12-20 lb turkey)
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 4 carrots, chopped
- 4 celery stalks, chopped
- 16 cups filtered water or more to cover the bones
TURKEY SOUP
- 8 cups turkey stock
- 2 cups cooked turkey meat, chopped
- 2 carrots, chopped
- 2 celery stalks, chopped
- 1 cup frozen peas
- salt and pepper to taste
- OPTIONAL GARNISH – fresh chopped parsley
Instructions
TURKEY STOCK
- Put turkey carcass, onion, carrot and celery in stockpot. Add water and bring to a boil.
- Cover and simmer 6-8 hours. DO NOT add salt or pepper.
- Strain broth and use for soup.
TURKEY SOUP
- Put turkey stock, turkey meat, carrot and celery in soup pot and bring to a boil. Decrease heat and simmer 20 minutes until vegetables are almost cooked through.
- Add peas and simmer for 5 minutes.
- Taste and add salt and pepper to taste.
- Garnish with fresh parsley if desired.
Notes
Nutrition
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Tammy S
We often use the leftover bits of vegetables for the stock. They get composted either way, just get extra use and celery leaf has lots of flavour. Wash vegetables and cut when preparing the carcass but keep peels and ends, anything you would typically compost. Use the peels etc for the stock and keep the cut vegetables for soup making. Most chefs and restaurants make stock this way.
Cinde Little
That's awesome Tammy, I'm glad to hear about your soup making. I sort of forgot about using the peels, I could totally do that. Happy New Year and thanks for sharing!
Leslie
I have the same annual ritual for making turkey stock Cinde! One of the reasons I still cooked a whole turkey this year, even though it was just the two of us at home, was so that we would have turkey stock. I make my stock in the Crock-Pot!
Cinde Little
Hi Leslie, that's great to hear! We cooked a whole turkey as well and fortunately it was a little smaller than usual, only 14 pounds. We did get to share it with our friends who joined us on Zoom to eat but I've still got a lot of cooked turkey to work with. Making your stock in a crockpot is a great idea. Thanks for sharing!