Turkey (or Chicken) and Vegetable Soup

December 7, 2017  •  Soup

I totally meant to post this the day after Thanksgiving so you’d have an easy go-to recipe for making soup from your turkey carcass, but as happens in life, life got in the way of life! No worries – you can make it any time with chicken, and then bookmark this post for next year’s holiday.There aren’t any set proportions to this recipe – it’s a matter of what you like in your soup. I prefer about 50% meat and vegetables and the rest broth, but you could make it chunkier or lighter depending on your preferences. Simmer the carcass covered in water with some roughly chopped onion and celery, bay leaves, and peppercorns for a couple of hours. (Tip: I don’t know about your house but nobody ever seems to eat the turkey wings at my house and the two larger sections of wing actually have quite a bit of meat on them. I just thrown them in with the rest of the carcass.) Remove the carcass and let it cool on a cutting board, then strain out and discard the rest of the solids. Remove all of the meat from the carcass and make sure you chop the turkey into bite sized pieces that will fit on a soup spoon.Beyond the broth and the turkey, adding vegetables is totally up to you. I believe it absolutely needs some chopped celery and onion, but beyond that I had partial bags of frozen corn and peas in my freezer that my dog sitters left here last month, so I threw them in. Chopped carrots would have been great, had I not used all of mine up on Thanksgiving, and really whatever else strikes you.Simmer everything together for about 30 minutes, and then load into containers to freeze. I like to use a slotted spoon to make sure each container gets its fair share of meats and veggies, then fill them all up with the broth. Let cool slightly before sealing and freezing.Nothing like a bowl of turkey (chicken) soup on a winter day to warm your belly or your soul. You’ll be happy you put some away for those cold days ahead!

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