Leftover Holiday Turkey Soup

Ahhh. December 26th. The cards have been sent out. The crumpled wrapping paper has been picked up. The relatives are packing up to go home. The pants are fitting a little tighter this morning. Yes, the holiday orgy has ended, leaving behind good meals, good memories, and hopefully that Red Rider BB Gun that you've always wanted.

Or the metal strainer that you've always wanted. What? You didn't ask Santa for a metal strainer this year?

My mom decided to go all out this year for the Christmas feast by making turkey AND prime rib. Say the words "prime rib" and my hubby starts smiling with a faraway look in his eye and a 50% chance of him telling you about the all-you-can-eat crab and prime rib buffet at the Silverado casino in Deadwood, SD. He's a fan.

Of course, Christmas dinner always ends with leftovers. During the after-dinner search for suitable Tupperware containers, Mom was going to throw out the turkey carcass. She must have noticed my look of anguish. A turkey carcass is culinary gold, the bones and leftover meat containing such concentrations of flavor that it seems sinfully wasteful to throw it out. Luckily, she put it in a stock pot for me and today I'm making leftover turkey soup.

There is this crazy idea out there that making homemade soup is difficult, especially when talking about boiling up bones to make stock. In reality, it takes about 15 minutes of total labor on your part; the rest of the time, the pot simmers away, filling your home with a fantastic warm aroma that I would call "Grandma's House on Thanksgiving Day". The resulting soup is better than anything coming out of a can, and you get the satisfaction of knowing that you've created a delicious meal out of scraps of meat and bits of vegetables. How North Dakotan of you.

This soup can be as simple or as complex as you want. I just used carrots and rice; you may want to go crazy with veggie additions. Dig in your vegetable drawer and use what you have. I'm sketching out a recipe here, but in the end, this soup will be best if you go with your gut, just like grandma would've done.

PS - I don't recommend this soup with a smoked turkey carcass. Trust me on that one.

Leftover Holiday Turkey Soup

1 turkey carcass - leave on any meat and skin

1-2 onions, quartered with skin on

Vegetables (Any combination of carrot, celery, peas, corn, potatoes, turnips, peeled and seeded tomato, yams, green beans)

Grain (best options: egg noodles, rice, barley, or orzo)

Seasonings (bay leaf, whole peppercorns, bouquet garni, salt, soy sauce)

In a large stock pot with turkey carcass, add water until carcass is nearly covered (approx. 4-6 quarts of water, depending on size of turkey). Add onions (leaving the skin on adds that nice golden color to the stock) along with celery, carrots, a couple bay leaves, 6-8 whole peppercorns, and bouquet garni. If you are missing any of these items besides the turkey and the onion, don't worry about it, just leave it out.

Bring to a boil, then lower heat to a simmer so only small bubbles boil up to the surface. Simmer for 1-2 hours, checking occasionally to skim any foam off the surface. Strain out the stock. Remove any meat from the carcass and reserve for soup; discard the rest of the carcass along with the softened vegetables.


Yes, those are my honey's gorgeous hands helping out. Love to see a man at work.

At this point, you have a lot of turkey stock. Feel free to freeze some for future use.

Return the strained stock to the pot. Season to taste with salt and/or soy sauce. Add soup grains and vegetables. Bring to a boil, then simmer until grain is cooked through and vegetables are softened. Add turkey meat, heat through, and serve. A splash of cream in each serving bowl is a nice touch.