Turkey Leftover Soup the day-after-Thanksgiving, makes for the best turkey soup with all the flavors and memories of Thanksgiving dinner; the meal we wait all year for.
Day-After Thanksgiving Turkey Leftover Soup
There’s nothing quite like a comforting bowl of Leftover Turkey Soup the day after Thanksgiving. All the flavors of the holiday, roast turkey, herbs, vegetables, and the memories of the big feast, come together in one pot.
After a week of planning, shopping, peeling, chopping, and baking, this easy turkey soup recipe feels like a reward: simple, cozy, and packed with nourishment.
Thanksgiving Turkey
Why don’t we eat turkey and turkey soup all year? It seems that the most popular day to make a turkey soup, is the day after Thanksgiving, and I’m right there with everyone else!
Undoubtedly, that big ole roasted turkey has the perfect jus, bones and tender meat, from hours of roasting in a hot oven.
So why not savor every ounce of flavor from the meat we wait all year to make, in a great soup!
We All Love Day-After-Thanksgiving Turkey Leftovers
I don’t know about you but I spent nearly a week prepping, peeling and baking all the sides I would serve for Thanksgiving.
Despite the fact that many at the table will only pick at the veggies and dive into the meat, I still make way too many options anyway.
You just can’t make a Thanksgiving feast without green beans and other fresh veggies, sweet potatoes in some form, and of course potatoes, whether mashed, or a fancy Dauphinois or Fondant; fact is, there is going to be leftovers.
But you know what, I think we look forward to the next day meal too, because it’s the best way to create a good turkey soup recipe, with plenty of leftover turkey meat and lots of Thanksgiving leftovers!
The Best Homemade Turkey Soup Recipe
Whether we roasted a small turkey or a big ole bird, the best flavor for a delicious soup, is a turkey carcass soup. If you’ve never made turkey carcass soup, prepare to be amazed.
Loaded with nutrients, gelatin and flavor, homemade turkey stock is the easiest soup we will make all throughout soup season.
A roast turkey has already packed a punch of flavor; the roasted bones, crispy skin, and drippings left in the pan are pure liquid gold.
When simmered slowly with onions, garlic, celery, and herbs, they create a homemade turkey stock that’s miles better than store-bought.
Let’s Talk About Why We Need A Great Bone Broth
Bone broth is something I make throughout the entire soup season, whether it’s from leftover chicken I roasted or bought already roasted, or bone broth made from beef or fish.
It’s so easy to do; all you need is a large pot or large stock pot, lots of fresh herbs, or dried herbs, such as bay leaves or sage leaves you may have dried from your summer stash.
The best part about this perfect meal is that the healthy ingredients, such as celery stalks, lots of onions and garlic, actually contribute to an Immune Boost healthy soup, you might want to freeze small amounts of for cold and flu season when it hits.
Leftover Veggies
A great deal of time and effort goes into the sides we prepare for the holidays. Eventually we get around to eating all we made, or it ends up in the trash.
Obviously, throwing all this expensive produce, not to mention hard work, away is not the intention.
However, let’s face it, we fast become overwhelmed with the abundance on a feast day.
So, why not remember all the herbs, spices, butter or oils we used to make the veggies and realize how fabulous they will taste in a soup!
Let Me Show You How To Make A Great Bone Broth
Indeed this easy turkey soup recipe needs bones, and a bone broth soup is so easy to make that it almost doesn’t need a recipe; but I will attempt to give you the one I have created.
While Thanksgiving day will be busy as the whole family seeks to make their way to your table, I can attest to the fact that the easy way to strip the leftover turkey carcass for your day-after turkey soup, is before you put it in the fridge.
A Few Extra Steps On Thanksgiving Day
Before the day ends, make it a point to pull the turkey breast meat off the bone, along with the turkey leg and any turkey bones that can be split in half and tossed into a large pot.
After all, another favorite ‘day-after’ meal, is the infamous leftover sandwich you will probably want for lunch tomorrow while you are making this soup!
Carcass Bones
Once the bones are reduced to the size of a pot, fresh lemon juice, lots of cups of water, fresh parsley, along with the dried herbs, go on top the stove to simmer on a lower heat for a few hours.
This assures extracting all the luscious flavors for the best leftover turkey soup.
Once this part of the soup stock is made, remove all the solid pieces from the broth to throw away, and from here, the sky’s the limit to what you can put into your yummy turkey soup!
Making A Hearty Turkey Soup Is So Easy
Indeed this soup is so easy that it almost doesn’t need a recipe but I will attempt to give you the one I have created.
Regardless of how much turkey remains on the bone after we carve and indulge, those bones, skin and drippings in the pan are where it’s at!
This year for the holidays, I roasted a 25 pound turkey.
Can you believe I poured off 8-cups of liquid from the turkey after it roasted?
Furthermore, when I boil the bones and skin in a little water, I will have nearly another 8-cups of broth, broth that is also going to be loaded with flavor.
Equipment Needed
- Large Pot with a lid, large enough to simmer the turkey carcass
- Cutting board, sharp chopping knife
- Measuring cup, measuring spoon
- Kettle for boiling extra water to add to the simmered carcass broth once the bones are removed
- Large slotted spoon
Ingredient Needed
- Leftover turkey and bones, often referred to as the carcass
- Water to both simmer the carcass and add more boiled water to the soup while simmering
- Salt and pepper and any other added herbs you might want to toss into the simmering broth
- Leftover vegetables, such as the potatoes prepared for Thanksgiving, the green beans, carrots or corn, any casserole vegetable dishes that were made for Thanksgiving can be repurposed by adding them to the large pot of simmering turkey broth
Turning Leftovers Into Hearty Soup
Once the broth is ready, it’s time to repurpose those Thanksgiving side dishes:
- Green beans whether sauteed with olive oil and lemon or in a classic casserole, they add bright flavor, as you will find with my green bean bundles with lots of tri-colored peppers or tomatoes.
- Mashed potatoes have nearly a stick of butter, mashed into ten pounds of potatoes, seasoned with herbs; you may have the same.
- Likewise, my corn has been given attention to flavors, as have my carrots and other veggies.
Since all of our leftover veggies are already abundant with flavor, and already cooked, we need only to add them to our leftover turkey soup, once the stock has been prepared.
This is the perfect way to repurpose leftover veggies, no matter what they have been cooked in or with!
Final Thoughts
This Day-After-Thanksgiving Turkey Soup isn’t just about stretching leftovers, it’s about honoring the flavors of the holiday in a whole new way.
It’s warm, nourishing, and easy to make, the kind of meal that brings everyone back to the table for just one more taste of Thanksgiving.
So before you wrap up your holiday weekend, grab that turkey carcass, simmer up some bone broth, and create a pot of homemade turkey soup that will carry you happily into soup season.
Day-After-Thanksgiving Turkey Leftover Soup
Equipment
- Large Soup Pot
- Large slotted spoon
Ingredients
- 10-25 lb Leftover Turkey bones and carcass
- 2 qt Water as needed
- 2 cups Turkey broth from roasting pan
- Salt and black pepper to taste
- 1 Poultry bundle of herbs sage, parsley, thyme
- 2-3 Bay leaves
- 1 Celery stalk bundle finely chopped including leaves
- 2 Large onions rough chopped
- 2 tbsp Olive oil
- 2-3 cups Leftover potatoes mashed or cubed
- 2 cups Leftover green beans
- 2 cups Leftover carrots
- 1 1/2 cups Leftover corn
- 2-3 cups Leftover Turkey meat
Instructions
- Break down the turkey before it has been refrigerated, as it is easiest at this time.
- In a large pot, over medium heat, stove top, place the olive oil, chopped onions and celery and sauté for 5-minutes to caramelize the onions.
- Place the wing tips, skin, scraps from the bottom of the pan the turkey was roasted in. Crack the carcass in half to fit into the pan and place it in. Pour a little boiling water into the bottom of the pan the turkey was roasted in, scrape all the brown bits from the bottom, pour this into the pot with the bones. Top it off with the remaining water, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, turn down low and simmer for an hour, covered.
- With a slotted spoon, remove all the bones and scraps. Pick off any remaining meat on the bones and add back to the pot of stock.
- The pot of leftover turkey bone broth is now ready to add all the remaining ingredients. Simmer until it mixes well and serve.
Video
Notes
- Poultry herbs often consist of sage, thyme and rosemary, however use what you like or have leftover from Thanksgiving dinner.
I believe the table... that place that draws people to gather, is the most powerful symbol of togetherness. All that happens before the table is set, the planning, the gathering, the preparing, are all an intricate part of the dance that create the mood of celebration to share with friends and loved ones.