AMAZING Thanksgiving Leftover Soup!

With Thanksgiving coming up most people are thinking about what they will make for the big day…..we spend most of our time dreaming of the day after. Nope – not talking about leftover turkey sandwiches (although those are super yummy =-) I am talking about our Thanksgiving Leftover Soup. This soup is so good we are known to make turkey just to get to make this soup!! Seriously!!!

First you put the turkey carcass (with some meat still on it) in a large stock pot and cover it with water. Bring it to a boil and simmer for a couple hours. You are making homemade turkey broth! (No mgs or artificial nonsense!)

Pull out the carcass and put it in a strainer. Let it cool a little bit so you can touch it without burning your hands. The meat will just “melt” right off it! Pull off meat and with your fingers (checking carefully for bones) and put aside. I get about 4 cups of meat from our turkey carcass – and we pick it pretty clean for dinner! Note: Make sure you check the broth for meat that came off during boiling. Put it aside as well. DO NOT DISCARD BROTH!

Next chop up 1 large onion, 4-5 ribs celery, 4-5 carrots, and 4 cloves garlic.

Melt 1/2 cup butter in a stock pot. Add veggies and sauté over medium/high heat until tender.  (5-7 minutes)

Add 1/3 cup flour and cook 2 minutes, stirring constantly. The flour is going to thicken up your soup. You need to cook to loose the powder flavor!

Gradually add 8-10 cups turkey broth to you veggies.  Add 1/4 teas thyme, 1/2 teas parsley, 1/4 teas pepper, 1/2 teas salt, and 1/4 cup sherry (optional – note alcohol cooks off!). Bring to a boil.

Add 2 cups+ cooked wild rice to the stock pot.

Note: I use turkey broth instead of water to make the wild rice as it adds more flavor! I make 2 cups dry wild rice which = more than 2 cups cooked.

As wild rice takes about 20-30 minutes to cook I recommend starting it as soon as you begin sautéing your veggies.

At the same time as you add the rice, add 2 cups half and half and reserved 4 cups of turkey to the stock pot and simmer 20 minutes to blend flavor. Serve warm with good dipping bread – YUMMY!

This makes a LOT of wonderful soup and is a real penny pincher! We usually freeze a pitcher worth and still have soup for 2+ meals.  As the rice will absorb the liquid as it sits you may want to add additional turkey broth the next day when reheating to make it “soupier”. If not it will be a thick stew – equally yummy in my opinion =-)

This recipe was tweaked from a recipe my neighbor Tyra shared with me.

If you are wondering what our “traditional” menu is for Turkey day….come take a look at some of our family favorite recipes here!

Looking for more tried & trued DELICOUS recipes? Go here!

What is your families favorite Thanksgiving dish? I am always looking for our next favorite =-)