Grandma’s Turkey Carcass Soup

I learned how to make this rich and delicious turkey carcass soup at the hand of my Grandma. It’s one of the first things she taught me to cook. We made it after every Thanksgiving to get the most out of the cost of the turkey. The herbs always came from her garden. This soup tastes like a bowl of her love.

First, we make a truly delicious stock from the carcass of the turkey then move on to make it into a soup. When making the stock we use the carcass, unlike when we make a chicken stock, with a whole chicken.

Making stock from the bones of the turkey requires a longer simmering time to coax out all the flavor. The bones have a lot of collagen inside of them, so the stock, when simmered for a long time, breaks down into a gelatin which creates a very rich and delicious stock that nothing else can compare to.

This soup is chockfull of old-fashioned flavor, nutrition, and wholesomeness. This is the kind of food our parents and grandparents were raised on. It delivers a flavor that no can of sup can ever compare with!!!

I hope you’ll check out all our Thanksgiving recipes. Our turkey brine is one of the simplest I’ve seen, yet yields the most tender, juicy, flavorful turkeys ever! Are you looking for more recipes for turkey leftovers? I hope you’ll try our rich, delicious, all from scratch turkey tetrazzini. 

TURKEY CARCASS SOUP INGREDIENTS

Turkey Stock:

• Turkey Carcass: Leftover, stripped of meat and skin.
• Parsley + Thyme + Sage: All fresh and tied in a bundle with butcher’s twine.
• Onion: Yellow onion.
• Carrots: I like to use regular-sized carrots, not the mini. If your carrots have their tops, wash them well and include them in the stock.
• Celery (ribs and tops): I like to use 2 ribs of celery and also the tender heart with all the tops.
• Bay Leaf: Dried bay leaf.
• Peppercorns: These are kept whole and are later drained out so don’t worry about getting a whole peppercorn in your soup.
• Salt: You can use a pinch of coarse salt or 1 teaspoon of table salt.

Turkey Carcass Soup:

• Butter: You can use salted or unsalted butter.
• Onion: Yellow.
• Carrots: I use regular-size carrots here as well.
• Celery: With any leaves as well.
• Garlic: Fresh garlic, not the stuff that comes minced in a jar.
• Poultry Seasoning: This is a wonderful combination of spices that taste just like Thanksgiving.
• Thyme + Sage: In the soup I use dried spices.
• Bay Leaves: Dried.
• Turkey Stock: Strained from above.
• Better Than Bouillon (Chicken and Turkey Flavor): This is the one addition I’ve added to my Grandma’s recipe. It fortifies the poultry flavor.
• Egg Noodles: I like the frozen egg noodles. They taste more homemade. I partially thaw them so they break up easier as they cook.
• Turkey Meat: I use a combo of light and dark meat from the leftover turkey.

MANAGE THE COOKING PROCESS

Since the stock is cooked for 4 hours and then the leftover turkey soup cooks for about an hour I find it convenient to break up the cooking process over 2 days. I make the turkey broth on day one and refrigerate it. The I make the soup on the second day.

REMOVING THE FAT FROM THE BROTH

This is easily done especially if you opt for making the stock one day and the soup the next. After the broth has been refrigerated, the fat will form a solid on the top of the stock. Just use a spatula and skim it off. Save for another use or discard.

If you’ve removed most of the skin from the carcass when making the stock, you won’t have a lot of fat. You can use it to sauté the vegetables for the soup. If you need to you can supplement the turkey fat with butter to reach the 2 tablespoons called for in the soup.

STORING + FREEZING + MAKE-AHEAD

• How Long Can You Keep This In The Fridge? Your soup will keep in the fridge for up to 4 days. It’s important to keep it in an airtight container with a secure lid.
• Can You Freeze This? Well, yes and no. If you know you are going to freeze it, don’t put the noodles in. As I mentioned above, egg noodles are marvelous, but they will continue to soak up the broth as the soup cools. By the time your soup can go into the freezer, your egg noodles will be a mushy mess.
  • Just prepare as directed without noodles and ladle into freezer-safe containers. When you are ready to serve the soup, just defrost it in a large pot over medium heat. Add the noodles when the soup starts to simmer and cook until al dente.
• Make-Ahead Tips: Making this turkey carcass soup with noodles ahead of time will ensure that it is ready to go when you are. Again, prepare it without the noodles until you are ready to serve it. Simply bring your soup to a gentle boil and add your egg noodles. Be sure not to overcook them because they will continue to cook as the soup cools.
• Food Safety: Here are the USDA refrigeration and freezing articles.

TURKEY CARCASS SOUP TIPS

• Not Enough Turkey Stock? No problem. Sometimes we lose more broth than we expect during the 4-hour simmering process. You can supplement with prepared chicken broth. Don’t worry your soup will be delicious with turkey flavor!
  • It’s good to have a few cartons of low-sodium chicken broth on hand in case, as above, you run short on turkey stock, but also remember, as your soup sits, the noodles continue to absorb the broth so you may need extra to thin it to a proper consistency.
• Noodles: If you use frozen noodles, set them out at room temperature to slightly thaw when you begin making the soup.
  • Also, remember they take longer to cook than standard semolina pasta such as Barilla pasta and also for American egg noodles. They require 12-15 minutes to cook in boiling water.
  • Since the soup will only be cooking at a simmer, I find it’s more like 20-plus minutes!
• Switch Up The Pasta: As I said above, I love using “Grandma frozen egg noodles” but any other shaped pasta will work. If I’m not using egg noodles, I like a small shaped pasta so it fits nicely on my soup spoon along with a bit of veggie and turkey!

SERVING RECOMMENDATIONS

This delicious soup is a complete meal in one pot. That said I love to have something to dunk in the rich and delicious broth like our homemade crescent rolls, authentic Southern cornbread, seriously fabulous Jiffy cornbread recipe, Bisquick cornbread, or sweet cornbread,

If you’re more of a biscuit dunker, I hope you’ll try our 7 up biscuits, Bisquick biscuits, Cathead biscuits, or butterswim biscuits! I promise each and every one of them is deliciously dunkable!

HOW TO MAKE TURKEY CARCASS SOUP

1. Make the turkey carcass stock: Prepare the herbs and vegetables.
2. Place the carcass in a large soup pot, add the rest of the ingredients, and simmer for 4 hours. Strain the stock.
3. Make the turkey noodle carcass soup: melt the butter and saute the aromatics and vegetables.
4. Stir in the seasonings and herbs, saute.
5. Pour the turkey carcass stock.
6. Add Better Than Bouillon and bring to a boil.
7. Add the noodles and cook until it’s almost tender.
8. Add the turkey and simmer. Serve.

MORE DELICIOUS HOMEMADE SOUP RECIPES

• Manhattan Clam Soup
• Chicken and Rice Soup
• Vegetable Beef Soup
• Sausage And Bean Soup
• Black Eyed Pea Soup
• Pasta Fagioli Soup
• Crack Chicken Noodle Soup
• Beef and Tomato Macaroni Soup
• Busy Day Soup
• Beer Cheese Soup
• Beef Barley Soup
• Chicken Gnocchi Soup
• Crockpot Potato Soup

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Turkey Carcass Soup

This old-fashioned turkey carcass soup will make the richest, most delicious turkey soup you've had. Straight from my Grandma's recipe box!

Servings: 4 - 6 servings

Author: Kathleen

Ingredients

Turkey Stock:

• ▢ 1 turkey carcass, with as much of the meat and and stored in the fridge for the soup.
• ▢ 4 sprigs fresh parsley
• ▢ 2-4 sprigs fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• ▢ 2-3 sprigs fresh sage
• ▢ 1 large yellow onion cut into thick wedges
• ▢ 2-3 medium carrots cut into 1 inch pieces
• ▢ 2 ribs celery and celery tops (if you have them) cut into 1 inch pieces
• ▢ 1 bay leaf
• ▢ 10 peppercorns
• ▢ 1 generous pinch coarse Kosher salt
• ▢ cold water

Turkey Carcass Soup:

• ▢ 2 tablespoons butter
• ▢ 1 medium onion, diced
• ▢ 2 cups carrots, diced into 1/4-1/2 inch cubes
• ▢ 1 1/2 cups celery, diced into 1/4-1/2 inch cubes
• ▢ 4 cloves garlic, minced
• ▢ 1 1/2 teaspoons ground poultry seasoning
• ▢ 1 teaspoon thyme leaves
• ▢ 1/4 teaspoon ground sage
• ▢ 1 dried bay leaves
• ▢ 8 cups turkey stock from above
• ▢ 1 heaping tablespoon chicken or turkey flavored Better Than Bouillon
• ▢ 12 ounces frozen wide egg noodles
• ▢ 4 cups leftover turkey meat, cut into 1/2-1 inch pieces

Instructions

Make Turkey Carcass Stock:

• Place the carcass in a large soup pot. If necessary, break the turkey carcass apart at the joints. Add turkey neck if it's available and hasn't been used for another purpose (like stock for the gravy).
• Gather fresh parsley (4 sprigs), thyme (2-4 sprigs), and sage (2-3 sprigs) into a little bouquet and tie and knot with butcher's twine.
• Add fresh herbs, onions (1 large), carrots (2-3 medium), celery (2 ribs + tops), bay leaf (1), peppercorns (10), and coarse Kosher salt (1 generous pinch). Cover with water at least 1 inch above the carcass.
• Bring to a boil, then immediately reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, or 4 hours. Skim as foam forms on the surface. Monitor and make sure not too much liquid is evaporating. Add more water if necessary.
• Remove and discard the bones and vegetables and strain stock. Vegetables have given all the flavor and aren't worth saving.

Make Turkey Carcass Soup:

• Melt the butter (2 tablespoons) in a large pot and sauté onions (1 medium), carrots (2 cups), and celery (1 1/2 cusps) until onion is translucent and carrots are softening, about 10 minutes. (Remember they will finish cooking in the broth). Add garlic (4 cloves) and continue to sauté until fragrant, about 1 minute.
• Stir in the dried poultry seasoning (1 1/2 teaspoons), thyme leaves (1 teaspoon), and sage (1/4 teaspoon), bay leaf (1) and continue sautéing, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 1 minute.
• Pour turkey carcass stock (8 cups) into the pot then add Better Than Bouillon (1 heaping tablespoon) and bring to a boil. Immediately reduce heat and simmer until the vegetables are tender.
• Add noodles (12 ounces ). If using the frozen egg noodles, you'll need to gently break them apart as they cook. When the noodles are almost done/tender, add the turkey (4 cups) and continue to simmer until the noodles are at the desired tenderness and the turkey is heated through. Serve.

Fans Also Made:

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  Beef Noodle Soup
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  Chicken Noodle Soup
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  Consome De Pollo
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  Ham and Bean Soup

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Notes

1. Not Enough Turkey Stock? No problem. Sometimes we lose more broth than we expect during the 4-hour simmering process. You can supplement with prepared chicken broth. Don't worry your soup will be delicious with turkey flavor!
   • It's good to have a few cartons of low-sodium chicken broth on hand in case, as above, you run short on turkey stock, but also remember, as your soup sits, the noodles continue to absorb the broth so you may need extra to thin it to a proper consistency.
2. Noodles: If you use frozen noodles, set them out at room temperature to slightly thaw when you begin making the soup.
   • Also, remember they take longer to cook than standard semolina pasta such as Barilla pasta and also for American egg noodles. They require 12-15 minutes to cook in boiling water.
   • Since the soup will only be cooking at a simmer, I find it's more like 20-plus minutes!
3. Switch Up The Pasta: As I said above, I love using "Grandma frozen egg noodles" but any other shaped pasta will work. If I'm not using egg noodles, I like a small shaped pasta so it fits nicely on my soup spoon along with a bit of veggie and turkey!

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