Have you ever wondered what to do with all those turkey bones after you’ve roasted, carved, and served a turkey? It seems like such a waste to throw them away. With this turkey vegetable soup recipe, you don’t have to waste them ever again. Whenever we roast a turkey, we always freeze the leftover carcass whole. That way, when we’re ready to make a batch of turkey vegetable soup, we’re good to go!
You can also make this soup without the turkey carcass. You’ll definitely want to use chicken or vegetable stock, but would need to add about a pound of turkey meat (or chicken). The most important part of any soup is getting a good broth. Or, you can also try our recipe for chicken soup.
| Prep Time | 1 hour |
| Cook Time | 3 hours |
| Servings | servings |
- 1 turkey carcass Whenever we roast a turkey, we strip most of the meat, but not all. The carved turkey can then be frozen until you're ready to make soup.
- 10 cups chicken or vegetable stock You may also use plain water, but the flavor is better with the chicken stock.
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 6 carrots Sliced into 1" pieces
- 3 celery stalks Sliced into 1" pieces
- 1 green or red pepper
- 1 can 1 lb. diced tomatoes undrained
- 1 can 6 oz. tomato paste
- 2 bay leaves Remove these before serving.
- 1 tsp. dried parsley
- 1 tsp. ground black pepper
- 1/2 tsp. dried basil
- 1 tsp. Italian seasoning
- 2 cups frozen mixed vegetables May substitute any vegetables
Ingredients Broth
Vegetables
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- Put turkey in a large soup pot with 8 cups liquid, bring to a boil, and simmer for 2 hours
- Remove turkey from the broth and set aside. Strain the broth into a large container using a wire strainer to remove all bones.
- Strip the turkey bones of all meat. This can be a tedious step because you need to get all the meat and none of the bones. This is the last chance to remove bones from the soup, so be thorough.
- Put the vegetables, seasonings, and broth into a large soup pot and bring to a boil. Simmer for 30 - 60 minutes.
- Add any frozen vegetables you'll be using. Return to a boil and simmer an additional 30 minutes.
The recipe above includes the "basic" vegetables of onions, carrots, and celery. You can also add your choice of additional vegetables. Here's a chance to be creative! We'll usually add whatever frozen veggies we have in the freezer near the end of the cooking (you'll see a step for adding frozen veggies).
roasting the carcass and bones and any left over skin or “parts” at 375* for about an hour will enhance greatly the flavor of those bones and will transfer to make aheartier broth… i found out this is true and a GREAT first step making any broth… prime rib bones roasted are unbelievably tasty… the 2 hour simmering in water step, extracts every bit of flavor… my favorite chicken soup is to roast a whole chicken at 400 for an hour, strip and reserve meat and used the wonderfully browned skin and all the bones to make a chicken broth you’ll growl over!!! It’s a pesty first step, but i love making soup and I think you’ll find the extra step is worth it… sometime that’s why it takes me two days to make soup!!!! Let me know please ify ou try it and how it works for you… We met at Newcomer’s Carlsbad book club luncheon. PS; i reserve the chicken meat from the broth cause it gets a ‘mealy’ consistency and the other parts are going to give the broth enough flavor… OR if you use the whole chicken to make broth… have a couple extra chicken breasts to cook in the soup and cut it in bite size pieces before serving.
Hi Cats, I remember meeting you at the meeting. I thoroughly enjoyed my visit with your group. Thanks for the tip. We’ll try your suggestion the next time we make this. Oddly enough, we seldom make chicken soup even though we often will roast a whole chicken. I think the reason may be we’re always planning other meals with the chicken so there’s no meat left over. However, using the bones to create a broth and then adding a couple of chicken breasts would work really well. Stay in touch!