How do you make soup from left over turkey?

Answer 1

Great question.

First of all you'll get more mileage and more flavor if you make turkey stock first and then use some of it to make Turkey soup and freeze some for later. Secondly, The person who suggested you use chicken stock to make turkey soup is kind of missing the point. Thirdly, after the carcass and meat has cooked down to stock you do not want to eat it....all the flavor is cooked out. Read on for directions....

My wife makes the BEST turkey stock. Here is the method for making stock from leftover turkey:

I’m posting this now because this takes a very little bit of preparation and is so worth doing.


First of all, I start with a big, heavy, deep stock pot on the counter right next to the turkey as it’s being carved up for dinner. Into the stock pot goes:

giblets (which I can’t stand to deal with any other way)

bones

skin

meat scraps

neck

basically everything–even those things that you can’t eat (like the bones)

enough water to cover the carcass

Before I even sit down for a holiday dinner, that stock pot is on the back burner, starting to simmer. After dinner, if there are dribs and drabs of gravy that don’t get saved as leftovers or if there’s leftover drippings from the pan, all that goes into the stockpot.

I bring the pot up to a boil and then turn it down as low as I can. I keep the pot covered, the burner on, and enough water in it to keep the carcass covered. I let this pot simmer overnight on the stove for 18-24 hours total. I don’t want the pot of stuff to cool down but I also don’t want it to boil. I want a steady simmer. This, of course, extends that holiday turkey smell in your kitchen for another day too!

Then I take a colander, line it with cheesecloth (leaving the ends of the cheesecloth hanging over both sides), and place the colander over a large bowl. Then I pour the contents of the stock pot into and through the colander. The cheesecloth in the colander catches all the chunks and lets the liquid (stock) flow through into the bowl.

After all the juice has drained through, I gather up the edges of the cheesecloth and…..DUMP the whole thing in the trash! The large bowl is full of the richest, yummiest stock that I then freeze in small containers and use for soups and potpies.

If you use the cheap cheesecloth you can buy in the baking aisle of the grocery store, you probably need to have at least two layers in the colander. I have, on occasion, used unbleached muslin to strain. Then I washed the muslin afterwards.

This might sound like it’s a lot of work because it takes about 24 hours, but it really isn’t. It takes a long time, but requires very little effort. I can’t begin to tell you how much better this homemade stock is than anything you can buy in a can.

Here is the recipe for Turkey Soup made with the stock:

2 cups turkey stock
4 cups water
carrots
celery
rice or noodles are optional
salt, pepper, and seasonings that you like (taragon, marjarom, bay leaves)
diced turkey
cook until carrots and rice are done
simmer 10 minutes

Serve!

Enjoy

Answer 2

Here's how I do it: If you have the turkey (or skin) bones use them too, they add flavor to the broth and can be fished out later.
1. In a decent size pot, dump all your turkey and bones.
2. Cover less than half way with water.
3. Add uncooked (not minute) rice, at least a cup.
4. Put about 2 carrots and about 4 stalks of celery, all sliced, into the water.
5. Now some flavor boosts: I like sea salt but any salt is good, black pepper, and all purpose seasoning, basically all kinds of spices that are green from your cabinet. Nothing you would add to a cookie but other than that most other stuff is fine. Put in whatever amount you think will taste good.
6. Boil everything for a while, at least an hour. You don't want too much of the water can get boiled away. And stir every 20 minutes about.
I hope you like it, Enjoy!

Answer 3

This is how I do it:

Get a good sized pot and throw the whole turkey carcass in. Chop up potatos, onions, celery and any other veggie you like and throw them in, along with enough water to cover the turkey. Season with salt, pepper, and whatever else you like. I put in lots of chopped garlic in it. Cook it on medium until the veggies are soft, then pull the turkey out and pick off the meat. Throw the meat back in and let it cook on medium for another hour or so. Serve over rice! Yum!

Answer 4

I could rattle off several recipes, but what it boils down to (pun intended) is that it depends on your tastes and what you like. Add turkey, with or without bones, and whatever other ingredients you like in soup or stew and cook it. If you aren't sure what you will like, look at some recipes and think about the ingredients used and the descriptions of the finished soup or stew. I find it to be a lot more fun to experiment a little, and I have come up with a few great recipes (and a bit of nasty ones) as a result. Good luck!

Answer 5

Say Ole!
Turkey Albondigas

Ingredients

3 c Cooked turkey, chopped
3 sl Bread, sprinkled with 6 or 7 tablespoons of hot
Turkey stock
3 Eggs
1 Or 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped (or put through a garlic
Press)
2 ts Salt
1 ts Ground coriander
1 ts Ground cumin
Several grindings of black pepper
2 qt Turkey stock or chicken stock
10 oz Frozen kernel corn (1 package)
3/4 c Blanched almonds, finely ground
Chopped green chili peppers for garnish


1. Place the turkey meat in a bowl. Squeeze the excess moisture from the bread and crumble it into the turkey meat.
2. Put the turkey and bread mixture through a meat grinder or a food processor.
3. Add the eggs, garlic, salt, coriander, cumin and black pepper. Mix well. Shape the mixture into walnut-size balls/
4. Bring the turkey stock to a boil. Drop the albondigas into the boiling stock. Reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
5. Remove the cooked albondigas with a slotted spoon and set aside.
6. Boil the stock for another 30 minutes to reduce and thicken it. Add the corn and the ground almonds. Return the albondigas to the stock. Heat through and serve in bowls garnished with chopped chili peppers, if you wish.

NOTE: To make the stock, pick the meat off the bird. Place the carcass in a large pot and cover with water. Add an onion, a carrot, a rib of celery, some parsely and thyme, and a bay leaf. Simmer for 2 to 3 hours. Cool, strain, and season.

Answer 6

Gobbler Soup
1 turkey frame with meat attached
3 quarts water
2 large onions chopped in big pieces
Salt and pepper to taste
2 Tbsp. chicken bouillon granules
2 Tbsp. fresh chopped parsley
2 Tbsp. dried thyme
2 Tsp. oregano
1 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped carrots
1/2 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
1/2 cup chopped broccoli
1/2 cup chopped cauliflower
1 cup chopped cabbage
1 cup uncooked rice (optional)

Break up turkey frame and place in very large pot. Add water, one chopped onion and salt and pepper. Bring water to a boil then cover pot, reduce heat and simmer for about 1 and 1/2 hours. Remove turkey frame and allow to cool. Remove meat from bones. Strain broth and discard pieces of bone and other little things you can't identify or just don't want to eat. Pour broth back into pot and add turkey meat, chicken bouillon, parsley, thyme, oregano, the second onion and the veggies. Bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer for about one hour. If you want to add rice, add it now and simmer for about 20 minutes or until rice is cooked.

Answer 7

To get the best flavor you need the carcass! Here's what I do...

Turkey Soup

Turkey carcass with lots of meat on it
(You can also add turkey wings)
5 quarts water
4 onions - whole or cut in half
3 whole carrots - cut in half
4 stalk celery - cut in half
4 t. salt
4-8 cups frozen vegies and canned tomatoes
1/4 t. tyme
1/4 t. oregano
1/4 t. sage
1/4 t. pepper
2-3 bay leaves
leftover stuffing or even dry sage and onion croutons
3 cups of raw noodles

Place carcass in large stockpot with water, onions, carrots, celery and salt. Bring to a boil and simmer until meat falls off of bones. Remove carcass from liquid, disposing of onions, carrots and celery. Skim top of soup. Clean all meat off carcass, adding it back into soup. Add remaining ingredients and cook until vegetables and pasta are done.

Note on stuffing... If you add some of the dry croutons they will completely disintegrate and you'll never even know they were there.

This makes a huge pot of very rich flavored soup that feezes well.

Answer 8

2 quarts chicken broth
1 turkey carcass, all meat removed
1 onion, halved, plus 1 onion, minced
1 carrot, halved lengthwise, plus 1 carrot, minced
1 whole stalk celery, plus 1 more stalk, minced
2 bay leaves
3 cups dark turkey meat
2 garlic cloves, smashed
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 carrot, minced
1 stalk celery, minced
3 cups leftover cooked Thanksgiving side vegetables (Brussels sprouts, sweet potatoes, green beans)
1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage leaves

Put chicken broth, turkey, onion halves, carrot halves, 1 celery stalk, and 1 bay leaf in a large stock pot. Bring to a boil, then simmer about 1 1/2 hours. Finely dice the remaining onion, carrot and celery and reserve.
Dice the turkey meat. Make sure meat pieces are no larger than the size of a soup spoon. (If preparing soup the next day, be sure to store leftover turkey meat in an airtight container before placing it in the refrigerator, top with 1 or 2 ladles full of broth to keep meat moist.)

Before straining broth, remove large bones and carcass with tongs. Strain the broth through a sieve, covered with wet cheese cloth. Discard the solids. Transfer broth to a bowl set in a bath of ice water, which will cool the broth quickly and help keep it fresher longer. This can be done the night before and stored in the refrigerator until the next day.

In a large soup pot, heat garlic cloves in the olive oil. Allow to brown slightly and add minced carrots, celery, and onion. Sweat over medium-low heat until softened, about 7 or 8 minutes.

Dice the leftover vegetables (here Brussels sprouts, sweet potatoes, and green beans). Add the chopped sage to the soup pot along with the turkey broth and the remaining bay leaf. Bring to a simmer. When simmering, add Brussels sprouts, green beans and diced turkey meat to the soup. Bring it back up to a simmer. Finally, add the sweet potatoes to the center, and gently push them down. Turn the heat off and cover. Allow to sit and steam for 5 to 7 minutes.

Let simmer for 5 more minutes and serve.

Answer 9

Cut as much of the meat off the carcass as possible and store it in the fridge in sealed plastic containers. This can become sandwiches, salad, or turkey with gravy over pasta for a couple days. Meanwhile start on the soup. Put the bones, skin, giblets, and small meat scraps in a pot big enough to hold them, cover with water, and bring to a boil. When it starts to boil lower the heat to let it simmer for several hours. Then strain out and discard the solid bits. Put the stew pot of soup base in the fridge overnight. In the morning the soup base should be jelled. Skim off most of the fat. Reheat the soup to simmering temperature and add a bag of "baby" carrots cut into half inch lengths, a dozen small onions cut in halves or quarters. Six to eight cloves of minced garlic. One to two cups of pearl barley, two bay leaves, a tablespoon or more of poultry seasoning. Saute one or two packages of sliced mushrooms and add to the soup. Let this all stew until the barley is soft. Cut the outer stalks of two bunches of celery into inch long pieces and add them to the soup. Keep heating until the celery is still slightly crunchy. Cut up all the turkey meat that you haven't used or are not going to use for other things and add to the soup. Let it simmer a little while longer. Serve some for lunch or dinner and decide whether it needs more of anything (seasoning, garlic, etc.) Ladle the soup into plastic freezer containers (size optional) and freeze.

It helps to have two large stew pots for the straining step. If you only have one then strain into several smaller pots or bowls until you have removed all the solid pieces and then pour the soup base back into the big pot.
Don't like barley? Use rice. Or wild rice. Or add whole mini potatoes. Or a little of everything.
I like my soup salty but I don't put much in the soup so everyone can salt to taste.
I add the celery after everything else is well cooked so it doesn't get to mushy.
When serving or ladling into freezer containers, look for the bay leaves and discard. They shouldn't be eaten.
I add the meat just before freezing so it doesn't get cooked out.
If you don't like to handle fresh garlic then garlic powder or commercial jarred garlic works.
If you like your soup soupy use less barley or rice. If you want it like stew use more. Barley, especially, really expands when cooked.
Finding the right amount of seasoning takes experience. Everyone has their own preferences. Err on the side of caution and if your result is to bland then add more next time. You can always add more flavor before eating.
I use large "baby" carrots just because I am lazy. You can of course peel and cut your own.
You may have your own favorite vegetable. Use it instead or in addition to those listed here.
I like to change the size of the pieces from year to year. One year I make chunky soup with whole baby carrots, two inch celery, whole (small) mushrooms, mini-potatoes, whole pearl onions, and large chunks of turkey. Another year I slice everything really thin. It's all good!

Answer 10

Place all the turkey meat and drippings, onions, celery,canned tomatoes and water (or use chicken broth) in a deep pot. Simmer it for a few hours. Cook rice according to package then add it to the broth . Add salt and pepper and any other seasonings you might like such as Garlic, sage, or basil. Yummy Turkey Rice Soup!!