Traditional Turkey Noodle Soup Recipe from Leftover Bones
Use up your leftover turkey bones to make this delicious turkey noodle soup - it may become your favorite part of the holiday turkey!
Servings: 10 servings
Calories: 180kcal
Ingredients
Bone Broth:
- turkey carcass and/or bones
- carrot onion, and celery trimmings
- pan juices and/or leftover gravy optional
Noodle Soup:
- 1 large onion diced
- 1 cup diced carrot about 1 lb.
- 1 cup diced celery 4-5 stalks
- 1-2 cloves garlic minced (optional)
- 8 ounces egg noodles
- 1 cup frozen green peas
- 1 tablespoon salt or to taste
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
Make bone broth (stock):
- Break up the bones of the turkey carcass and add it to a large pot (12 qt. or bigger is best) along with carrot, celery, and onion trimmings and any optional pan juices you may be using. Cover all with water and bring to a boil over high heat. Lower heat and simmer 1-2 hours (longer if you can - it makes better, more nutritional broth the longer it cooks) until the meat is falling off the bones and the broth is golden.
- Alternate Slow Cooker Method: Place all broth ingredients in the bowl of a 6-quart or larger slow cooker, cover with water and cook on LOW for at least 8-10 hours, longer if possible (overnight is great.)
- Let the broth cool a bit, then pour the contents of the pot through a large strainer that's been set over a large soup pot (or large bowl) to catch all the broth.* Separate the meat from the bones and refrigerate the meat.
Make Soup:
- Heat the strained broth (or refrigerate it to make the soup the next day) and add the diced vegetables and garlic before bringing to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for about 15 minutes, until the vegetables are crisp-tender.
- Add the noodles, meat from the bones that you set aside earlier, and peas and bring to a boil again. Cook for about 8 minutes more until the noodles are tender.
- Salt and pepper to taste before serving.
Notes
*You will probably have more broth than needed for the soup. You'll want a 6-quart soup pot half full (about 10 cups of broth). Add any extra broth to freezer safe containers and freeze for up to a year.
Variations:
- Turkey Vegetable Soup: skip the noodles and a few more vegetables. We really like potatoes, green beans, spinach, and/or kale.
- Creamy Turkey Noodle or Vegetable Soup: add 1 cup of heavy cream before serving.
- Turkey Zoodle Soup: make the soup without noodles and serve the hot soup over a bed of zucchini noodles - the heat from the soup softens them perfectly.
Nutrition
Serving: 1-1/2 cups | Calories: 180kcal | Carbohydrates: 15.9g | Protein: 18.5g | Fat: 4.2g | Saturated Fat: 1.2g | Cholesterol: 28mg | Sodium: 697.6mg | Fiber: 2.7g | Sugar: 5g
