Making turkey soup with leftovers

[Anonymous]

We saved the carcass for soup, but havent done this before. Step-MIL made soup last time they were here for Thanksgiving and it was gross--not sure how she did it but it was very greasy and just didn't taste good. We politely froze it for later (it was a huge pot) and disposed of it after they left town.

So what works? I'd be happy just making stock, but would love other recipes/ideas as well. It was a 12 pound bird and we have a lot of meat left.

[Anonymous]

I use a large crock pot for my soup. Shove the carcass in a crock pot with a large container of chicken or turkey stock. Add lots of diced celery (including the leafy part on top of the celery...it's a great spice for soup), diced carrots, and onion. Dice up some fresh parsley and add salt and pepper and let it cook for a few hours. At a certain point, go after the bones and sckin and remove them after most of the meat has fallen off the bones.

I make egg noodles on the side and serve them together!! Good luck with your soup.

[Anonymous]

To keep soup from being greasy, I always refrigerate overnight after cooking and skim off the semi-hardened layer of fat with a slotted spoon. Also, just to make the process easier, you could use several containers of chicken broth in a pot or crockpot with 2 cups water or so to taste, add pieces of turkey meat instead of the entire carcass, whole celery stalks with leaves, chopped onions (I sautee mine first in olive oil), and simmer for an hour or two. Then add whatever else appeals--frozen white corn, fresh sliced carrots, butter beans, cup of wild rice, etc. Enjoy!

[Anonymous]

I use a large crock pot for my soup. Shove the carcass in a crock pot with a large container of chicken or turkey stock. Add lots of diced celery (including the leafy part on top of the celery...it's a great spice for soup), diced carrots, and onion. Dice up some fresh parsley and add salt and pepper and let it cook for a few hours. At a certain point, go after the bones and sckin and remove them after most of the meat has fallen off the bones.

I make egg noodles on the side and serve them together!! Good luck with your soup.

But you are making homemade stock - that's the whole point. If you're using canned stock, why bother? This is an odd recipe for stock. Don't you strain it & discard the vegetables that have been cooking in there for hours?

OP, here's how I do it. I love making soup from my turkey carcass - I just did it today! (Some people roast the carcass at a high temp first but I don't and it still turns out really tasty.)

Pick all the meat from the carcass and set aside. Place the bones in a large stockpot and cover with cold water. (I always save the turkey neck for stock too - when I prepare the turkey, I put the neck in a ziploc bag in the fridge for the next day - so if you saved it, you can add that to the pot as well.) While that is coming to a boil, get your vegetables ready: celery including leaves, carrots, and onion with skin (the skin helps give the stock a nice golden color). Just chop in large chunks, e.g., you can quarter the onion. When the water is boiling, add the vegetables and also add some thyme, fresh parsley, and some peppercorns. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for about 3 hours. Remove from heat, remove the bones & big pieces of vegetables with tongs and pour stock through a strainer into another large pot or bowl. Discard everything but the liquid. Cool stock in fridge & skim most of the fat off the top once it has congealed.

Now you have turkey stock & turkey for your soup! There was a delicious creamy chicken & rice soup recipe posted here last year that I now make regularly with turkey: To make the soup, in a large pot first sauté mirepoix (diced onion, celery & carrot) in some oil on low-med heat until onion is translucent. I get the onion started first, then add the carrots & celery along with a little thyme & salt & pepper. Add your stock (like 8-10 cups) along with 1 cup of rice. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover & simmer until rice is done (about 20. min for white, 40 for brown). At this point the recipe gets a bit fancy & you make a roux (its actually very easy - whisk 3Tbsp butter & 3Tbsp flour in a saucepan over medium heat, cook for 1 minute, whisking constantly, then add 2 cups of milk, whisk to remove lumps, cook over medium heat whisking occasionally until bubbling & thickened) and add that to the soup, then add the turkey and whatever other vegetables you like (great way to use up leftover vegetables, or you can use frozen soup vegs and they'll cook very quickly. If you don't want to do the roux, just skip that step, add your turkey & vegetables after the rice is done, season to taste, and you're done!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I use a large crock pot for my soup. Shove the carcass in a crock pot with a large container of chicken or turkey stock. Add lots of diced celery (including the leafy part on top of the celery...it's a great spice for soup), diced carrots, and onion. Dice up some fresh parsley and add salt and pepper and let it cook for a few hours. At a certain point, go after the bones and sckin and remove them after most of the meat has fallen off the bones.

I make egg noodles on the side and serve them together!! Good luck with your soup.

But you are making homemade stock - that's the whole point. If you're using canned stock, why bother? This is an odd recipe for stock. Don't you strain it & discard the vegetables that have been cooking in there for hours?

OP, here's how I do it. I love making soup from my turkey carcass - I just did it today! (Some people roast the carcass at a high temp first but I don't and it still turns out really tasty.)

Pick all the meat from the carcass and set aside. Place the bones in a large stockpot and cover with cold water. (I always save the turkey neck for stock too - when I prepare the turkey, I put the neck in a ziploc bag in the fridge for the next day - so if you saved it, you can add that to the pot as well.) While that is coming to a boil, get your vegetables ready: celery including leaves, carrots, and onion with skin (the skin helps give the stock a nice golden color). Just chop in large chunks, e.g., you can quarter the onion. When the water is boiling, add the vegetables and also add some thyme, fresh parsley, and some peppercorns. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for about 3 hours. Remove from heat, remove the bones & big pieces of vegetables with tongs and pour stock through a strainer into another large pot or bowl. Discard everything but the liquid. Cool stock in fridge & skim most of the fat off the top once it has congealed.

Now you have turkey stock & turkey for your soup! There was a delicious creamy chicken & rice soup recipe posted here last year that I now make regularly with turkey: To make the soup, in a large pot first sauté mirepoix (diced onion, celery & carrot) in some oil on low-med heat until onion is translucent. I get the onion started first, then add the carrots & celery along with a little thyme & salt & pepper. Add your stock (like 8-10 cups) along with 1 cup of rice. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover & simmer until rice is done (about 20. min for white, 40 for brown). At this point the recipe gets a bit fancy & you make a roux (its actually very easy - whisk 3Tbsp butter & 3Tbsp flour in a saucepan over medium heat, cook for 1 minute, whisking constantly, then add 2 cups of milk, whisk to remove lumps, cook over medium heat whisking occasionally until bubbling & thickened) and add that to the soup, then add the turkey and whatever other vegetables you like (great way to use up leftover vegetables, or you can use frozen soup vegs and they'll cook very quickly. If you don't want to do the roux, just skip that step, add your turkey & vegetables after the rice is done, season to taste, and you're done!

8:28 here. Just want to say a big thank you for the tips on making stock (I'd never heard before about leaving on onion skins for color, and I didn't know to pull all the meat off the bones before making stock from a cooked turkey--excellent suggestions!) AND the yummy sounding creamy chicken or turkey/rice soup recipe--can't wait to try! I'm betting you're a fantastic cook! (Are you the poster who shared the step by step process for baking a ham? :0)

[Anonymous]

OP here, thanks 1:12, exactly the advice I was looking for!

[Anonymous]

1:12 here. Glad to be helpful! I'm not the ham poster, though.

One more thing on the creamy turkey & rice soup is that you can add a splash of worcestershire at the very end if you like. (and no, I'm not an excellent cook, but I really LOVE soup so I make it often and have worked on getting pretty good at it - and unlike other foods, soup is very forgiving in terms of the proportions & you can usually throw in whatever is handy or left over, so just about anybody can make good soup!)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:1:12 here. Glad to be helpful! I'm not the ham poster, though.

One more thing on the creamy turkey & rice soup is that you can add a splash of worcestershire at the very end if you like. (and no, I'm not an excellent cook, but I really LOVE soup so I make it often and have worked on getting pretty good at it - and unlike other foods, soup is very forgiving in terms of the proportions & you can usually throw in whatever is handy or left over, so just about anybody can make good soup!)

8:28 here. Well, based on your recipe info for the turkey soup, you sound like a fabulous cook! :0) You may already have a great vegetable soup, but here's mine--it can be easily tweaked to your liking.

Vegetable Soup

Ingredients
3 quarts water
1 large beef bone (optional)
2 lbs. beef stew meat, cubed
2 medium onions, finely chopped (may sauté onions in small amount of olive oil before adding to soup)
2 bay leaves
Salt and pepper to taste
Dash Worcestershire sauce
Couple splashes of red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
1 slice bacon (optional)
64 oz. V8 Juice (when available, may use 8 large fresh tomatoes, chopped)
1 lb. peeled, cut carrots
1 package frozen small/petite butter beans (or fresh)
1 package frozen small green peas
2 cups frozen white corn kernels (or fresh Silver Queen corn)
Cut, peeled fresh potato slices or chunks
5 celery stalks with leaves (remove before serving soup and add additional 1 cup chopped celery)
Fresh pole beans (optional)
Handful raw white rice or wild rice mix

Simmer meat in water (covered pot) at low heat for approximately 2 hours. Refrigerate in pot overnight and skim off fat next day. Reheat and add all other ingredients. Cook approximately another hour at low heat, adding more water (or small carton of beef stock) if necessary.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the beef-vegetable soup recipe. I will give it a try soon!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thanks for the beef-vegetable soup recipe. I will give it a try soon!

Here's one more of our family favorites--not saying it's healthy, but there's never any left in the soup pot!

Fresh Corn Chowder

Ingredients
1/4 lb. bacon
1 cup onion, diced
1 cup celery, diced
2 cups chicken stock
2 cups water
2 cups potatoes, diced
3 cups fresh corn kernels (may substitute frozen, small kernel, sweet white
corn)
2 cups cooked chicken
1 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon fresh thyme, minced
1/2 cup fresh parsley, minced
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions
Fry the bacon in the bottom of a six quart stock pot. When crisp, remove from pan and set aside. Drain all but about 2 tablespoons of fat. Add the onions and celery to the bacon fat and sauté 'til soft. Then add the potatoes, water, and chicken stock. Bring to a boil. Immediately reduce to a simmer and cook until potatoes are tender. Stir in chicken, corn, and thyme. Slowly add the cream to the warm mixture. Add the parsley. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve hot, sprinkled with crumbled bacon.