Homemade Turkey Soup Recipe

When making a homemade turkey soup recipe, everyone agrees on two ingredients, a turkey carcass and water... What else goes in it is often relegated by what's on hand, or what you are in the mood for.

Some swear by white rice, others noodles, and still others brown rice. Some like carrots, thus if you find any ingredients in the following recipe that you do not have or dislike, get rid of it, substitute something else, or just don't use it.

Cooking should always be fun, regardless of what you are making, but eating should even be more fun!

Back when my grandmother made her turkey soup after Thanksgiving, she took two whole days to make it, and although few have the luxury of doing that in today's fast paced world, you might follow my two-day tips in order to actually spend less time in your kitchen.

This recipe should yield anywhere from 6-10 servings.

Ingredients

Turkey Carcass And Scraps
Water as needed
Dried tomatoes (Cut-up) 1/2 cup
Celery (Cut-up) 1 cup
Carrots (Cut-up) 1 cup
Brown rice 1/2 cup
Crushed garlic cloves (to taste)
Marjoram 1/2 tsp.
Parsley 1/2 tsp.
Fresh ground pepper (to taste)
Chili pepper 1/2 cup
Thyme 1/2 tsp.
Basil 1/2 tsp.
Bay leaves (4-6 and remove prior to serving)
Diced sweet peppers 1/2 cup
Corn (Cut-up) 1/2 cup
Mushrooms (Cut-up) 1/2 cup
Green chilies (Cut-up) 1/2 cup
Potatoes (Cut-up) 2 cups
Grated zucchini 2 cups
Noodles two cups
Onions (Cut-up) 1/2 cup

Make Your Own Turkey Soup

Be aware that size recommendations are only guess-timates, you may add more of any ingredient if you so desire, and cut out any, as desired.

Choose a large tall pot to make your homemade turkey soup, as first of all you need to fit in the whole turkey carcass, and secondly you will be adding quite a few ingredients, thus do not fill the pot completely with water but maybe two thirds full instead. Just add enough water to cover said carcass. You will add scraps then too, as they make an excellent base for the soup, though you will take them out later. Salt the water to taste, then put it all to a boil. Boil until all the meat has fallen off the bones and such. You will want to make room in your fridge for that large pot, as you'll soon see.

Using a colander drain the liquid into a large bowl and back into the pot. When cooled to handle, pick through what remains in the colander discarding inedible pieces, and store in the fridge as well.

Here's where the overnight part comes in. Refrigerate it all until you have a very thick accumulation of turkey fat at the top. Skim off the majority. The remains of that broth will be of a gelatinous consistency until it's warmed once more, that's ok, that's how it should be.

Warm the broth and add the following ingredients: sun-dried tomatoes, celery, carrots, brown rice, crushed garlic cloves, marjoram, parsley, fresh ground pepper, chili pepper, thyme, basil and bay leaves.

Bring your homemade turkey soup to a boil, then reduce heat until it is just simmering. Stir often. Cook until the rice begins to soften. Cooking time is dependent on how big the pot is, how strong the heat is, and what kind of rice you've used, because this is a "fly by the seat of your pants" recipe. Aren't all the good ones that way?

When the rice begins to soften add diced sweet peppers of the red/orange/yellow variety, corn, mushrooms, green chilies, turkey from the fridge, potatoes, grated zucchini, noodles, and onions. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally then reduce to a simmer once more.

When the potatoes and noodles are soft enough to eat, take it off the stove. If the mixture needs, add cool water to get the right amount of broth needed to suit you.

Taste and add more salt if necessary, according to taste.

Other Ingredients

If you are not an experienced cook, homemade turkey soup should be relatively easy to make as you can change ingredients at will.

The only thing to be aware of is that you do not wish to overcook any of the rice, noodles or potatoes. Other than that, it's almost totally foolproof, and your family will be totally amazed at your prowess of making fully homemade turkey soup!

Others have suggested adding poultry seasoning and dried sage and/or rosemary. Others have used dried barley instead of rice or noodles and even pastina. They will of course cook much faster than noodles because of their size.

A few suggested a dollop of olive oil in the pot. Others said that they always added peas or beans to their homemade turkey soup.

You may also add a bit of dried tarragon to the home made turkey soup, making for a somewhat sweeter taste.