After Thanksgiving this year I saved the rest of the turkey and carcass to make homemade turkey broth, that would eventually end up as Turkey Soup.
Making Turkey broth is so incredibly simple. You can usually throw any vegetables you have around the fridge in. Especially some lingering from the Holidays.
This is what my broth started out looking like in the stock pot.
Ingredients:
- Turkey Carcass
- Any leftover turkey meat
- 2 1/2 stalks of celery
- 3 large carrots, chopped in 1 inch pieces
- 1 large onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1/2 T. Kosher salt, or to your preferred taste
- 1 t. freshly ground black pepper, again to your preferred taste
- 1 Bay leaf
- Some sort of herb, I used 4 sprigs of fresh thyme
Directions:
- This is the easy part. Throw the turkey in the pot and cover with the rest of the ingredients. Fill with water until covering the turkey. Place on the stove and bring to a boil.
- Once boiling, cover and simmer on low for two or three hours.
- Remove from heat, strain {removing bones and vegetables} and let cool.
- After this I place it in the fridge over night to set. Let sit for 12 hours or so and remove.
- Skim the fat off the top and move to the stove.
- I usually, take a couple cups and freeze them for later use.
Hearty Leftover Turkey Soup
Ingredients:
- Homemade turkey broth
- 1/2 pound applewood smoked bacon, cut into 1/2 in pieces and cooked
- 2 1/2 to 3 cups shredded turkey
- 1 onion, diced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 cup celery, diced
- 1 1/2 cup carrots, chopped
- Noodles of your preference {I used vegetable noodles we had laying around}
- I added some cooked lentils to make it a little thicker
- Salt and Pepper to taste
Directions:
- Prepare the lentils and noodles to directions. {Lentils can take a while to soak, this is something you can do a day ahead of time}
- Cook the bacon and remove from heat, place on paper towels to catch grease.
- Move large stock pot with turkey broth to the stove, add the onion, garlic, bay leaf, celery, carrots, salt & pepper. Simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the vegetables are soft.
- Add the turkey, bacon, noodles, and lentils {if using} and cook for 3 to 6 minutes. Since the noodles and lentils are cooked you don’t want to cook them too long. So make sure to keep an eye on them.
- Remove the bay leaf and serve. I like to add a couple saltines on the side, something that reminds me of my grandmother.
