A turkey carcass soup is the answer when you don't want to waste a single bite of turkey. This is a delicious soup and one of my favorites. If you want to freeze some, leave out the potatoes.
My grandmother (born 1893) learned this from her grandmother (an Irish immigrant in the 1860's), but they added a Tblsp of cider vinegar to the water with the carcass and cooked it slowly overnight on the back of the wood stove (my crock pot today) to draw the calcium from the bones. Doing this turns the broth just slightly milky and gives the soup a unique flavor.
Read MoreAs a person who has been making homemade broth for over 40 years, I have a few suggestions. Place the carcass in the oven at 350 for at least 30 minutes. After that, place the turkey carcass, quartered onion, two carrots chopped in one inch pieces, three celery ribs quartered, a tablespoon of peppercorns, a bay leaf or two, rosemary sprigs if you have them as well as sage leaves. Add water to cover, you may add broth if you feel like it. Let it simmer for about 4 hours. Let cool, strain and continue as noted in the recipe. Your stock will be so flavorful , it will be so much better than anything you can buy at the grocery store. You aren't making broth with this, you are making turkey stock.
Read MoreMy grandmother (born 1893) learned this from her grandmother (an Irish immigrant in the 1860's), but they added a Tblsp of cider vinegar to the water with the carcass and cooked it slowly overnight on the back of the wood stove (my crock pot today) to draw the calcium from the bones. Doing this turns the broth just slightly milky and gives the soup a unique flavor.
This is a great soup made from bones that most cooks discard. Like others for years I've used the carcass for soup. After our turkey dinner is over, my husband immediately takes most all the meat off the carcass (putting aside any small scraps to be used in the soup) and cuts the carcass in manageable pieces. Then I put the carcass in my largest crock pot along with a large onion, some cut up carrots and celery, and salt and pepper. I cook it all night on low and the next morning after discarding the carcass and vegetables, I have the most wonderful stock. I can then freeze the stock and turkey scraps until a couple weeks later when the family is again yearning for turkey.
I've also been making this type of soup for many years, but cook it longer on lower heat, to pull as much flavor from the bones as possible. I used tomatoes, as per recipe, but prefer turkey soup without them, so will leave them out next time. Also, I prefer a stronger turkey flavor, so I'll cut the water back to 3 quarts. I added a bag of frozen mixed vegetables and did not strain the broth. Great recipe for those who have never tried this method. Thanks. : )
WOW!! This has to be the one of the best soups I've ever made. Here's what I did: Using 4 quarts of chicken broth, 1 whole head of garlic gently crushed, 3 cut up carrots, 3 stalks of cut up celery and one onion diced. I simmered the carcass for almost 7 hours and then strained the broth twice and tossed out the solids. Instead of shredding a whole cabbage I used a bag of pre-shredded cole slaw. I didn't use potatoes but with 10 mins left to simmer I put in a bag of medium egg noodles. I had at least a full 1 1/2 lbs of turkey meat trimmed from the carcass that was also diced up and put in the pot. Everything else was exactly as written in the recipe. This was an incredible soup that we'll be eating for the better part of this week since it made so much. Highly recommend using this recipe when needing to use up the holiday turkey. So GOOD!!
Makes a nice hearty soup. I left out tomatoes, cabbage & potatoes but added extra carrots, celery & barley. I simmered the carcass on very low heat for more than three hours which produced a thick, gelatinous liquid. However this also dried out the white meat so I chopped that for the dogs & used only the dark meat in the soup. Then I chilled the strained liquid overnight & skimmed off a thick, pudding-like layer of fat before proceeding with step 2. Everyone asked for seconds!
Glad to see an after Thanksgiving turkey soup. I've making this for years as did my mother. You might want to try creating the soup in a slow cooker. Less water is lost and the flavors remains very fresh. Fantastic!
I have done this for years, my mother taught me, and I've fed this to my kids growing up. They lovingly call this " bone soup". Whenever I make this they come over for some. The grandkids love my "bone soup".
Delish! Great recipe and easy to make the day after Thanksgiving. I had to adjust the seasoning a bit due to the huge turkey we had but turned it out wonderful and I'm going to make this from now on instead of going shopping on black Friday.
Very good. Made as directed. It does need twice the barley. Next time I think I might try it with mushrooms (sauteed) instead of tomatoes. I like the idea of removing the one processed ingredient and keeping it more in the seasonal vegetable theme.
It was a delicious soup, but the name of the recipe (carcass...) almost put me off! The soup should instead be called "Delish Turkey soup". I made a minor change: used half of the potatoes and added instead 1 cup of fresh green beans.
As a person who has been making homemade broth for over 40 years, I have a few suggestions. Place the carcass in the oven at 350 for at least 30 minutes. After that, place the turkey carcass, quartered onion, two carrots chopped in one inch pieces, three celery ribs quartered, a tablespoon of peppercorns, a bay leaf or two, rosemary sprigs if you have them as well as sage leaves. Add water to cover, you may add broth if you feel like it. Let it simmer for about 4 hours. Let cool, strain and continue as noted in the recipe. Your stock will be so flavorful , it will be so much better than anything you can buy at the grocery store. You aren't making broth with this, you are making turkey stock.
I thought it was a good soup. I thought an hour to simmer wasnt enough ao I simmered the carcass all day and left it on the stove overnight on low. In the morning I strained out all bones . I also added a teaspoon of cider vinegar. I read somewhere that this helped draw the calcium out of the bones. . The broth flavor wasnt strong but better then oxo or bullion or the regual box broths out there. Its nice using everything plus you can toss in anything else you have kicking around in the fridge. I cooked the soup all day as well in the crockpot. Still have the other half in the freezer for later.
This soup is really good! I have never been a fan of turkey soup, but this recipe has change my mind forever. Whatever recipe you have been using in the past, i suggest that you try this one next time
Very good and filling. We used 2 quarts of water and 2 quarts of chicken stock to boost the deep flavor factor. Guests raved about this. I also added 1 TBSP. minced garlic. The only thing I would change would be the name. 'Carcass' has a rather off-putting mental image and we changed the name on our Fall menu to Turkey Soup instead.
I used 3 quarts of water. Everything else stayed the same and I slow cooked for 4 hours. Very good soup
This is the second year I've used this recipe. I didn't have any barley when I made it this year but it was still very flavorful and hearty. I happened to have some fresh parsley on hand so I added several springs while cooking and then removed. When I got the barley, I cooked it in the soup liquid/broth and then mixed it into the batch for freezing. I'll add cooked potatoes before serving..
My first time attempting to make turkey soup. I am a novice at making soup. I made this as written and it was the BEST! Even my son who dislikes vegetables loved it. Had it several nights in a row. Definately a traditional after Thanksgiving meal in our house from now on.
this soup is amazing1 I have made it twice, once with the worcestershire sauce, once without. It was much better without. The worcestershire sauce seemed to take over the soup in a negative otherwise it is fantastic!
Excellent soup. I followed the recipe except for making my own turkey stock. My recipe only made 2 quarts so I increased it to 4 qt. with more boxed chicken stock. It was good the first evening but like all soups by day 2 and 3 it was EXCELLENT. Husband and sister loved it too. They said it's a keeper.
I don't usually like turkey soup but this proved to be a pleaser, even for me! I followed some of the reviewers' notes and also made a few modifications of my own: Made the basic stock in the crockpot and added a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar to the pot as a few reviewers noted. After adding the carcass and water, I added a handful of celery (the smaller inner stems with leaves which I also removed later), and about a half teaspoon of dehydrated shallots (next time I will try minced garlic), and bay leaf. Cooked the stock on High all afternoon (about 6 hours). Then strained the stock into a soup pot on the stove and added all but the potatoes and barley ( I substituted cooked brown rice to make it gluten free). I also added the chopped celery and used chopped fresh parsley instead of dried, and a can of stewed tomatoes (original recipe) and cut them into smaller pieces with the edge of the spoon. I had one large leftover turkey breast to add and that made this more like a stew since I didn't add as much water as called for in the recipe. This is a great basic recipe and lends itself well to modify according to your taste and also to what you may or may not have on hand.
My mother taught us how to make carcass soup but we also made egg noodles from eggs, salt and pepper and flour and then roll them out flat and drop them in. We never pre-dried the noodles or anything like that and they puffed up a little and were so yummy when served with just a little bit more salt on top of them. Can't wait for Christmas.
Used 3qts of water and added 3 cloves of garlic. Crock pot for 8 hrs. Delish. Made again without cabbage or pot's. used lots of carrots. 2 boullion cubes, 1 tsp sage too. Last hour added 1/2 c minute brown rice. Just before svg added few hands full of spinach / kale mix. Excellent Try adding tbsp vinegar.
This was okay, but didn't meet my expectations. I had hoped the seasonings would result in a more flavorful broth. I did like the combination of vegetables.
Best soup I ever made. We had a smoked turkey for Thanksgiving. It was amazing in this soup
Very good. I think it is a great way to start the soup and then add any vegetable you may have on hand.
This was my first time making turkey carcass soup and it was a hit!! I pretty much followed the directions as given, except I let the carcass simmer for an additional hour. Also added a bit more barley and veggies. I think next time I will add some canned corn or maybe instead of the barley add noodles. Really is a great way to use all of the turkey.
I make this every year after thanksgiving. I skip the worcestershire sauce tho. never used it. I also add a heaping spoon of chicken base. You can add almost any combination of veggies, I use a large bag of frozen mixed vegetables in addition to the celery, carrots and onion. Havent tried tomatoes or cabbage, but I'm sure it would be good also. I also add a 1-lb bag of wide egg noodles 10 minutes before the end of cooking.
Delicious! but I doubled the spices except for the Worcestershire and Bay leaves and used alphabet noodles, (1 cup) since I had no barley. Oh, and also added 3 or 4 boullion cubes.
This is a wonderful way to use the whole bird. I made the soup as directed but instead of barley I added cooked rice that I had leftover too. You probably could use uncooked as well. It's delicious. Makes me want to buy turkey more than once a year.
Followed the recipe word for word and it had no flavor at all. This one was a bust!
I followed this recipe completely and it had no flavor to it. It sounds good and mine looked pretty much like the picture shown. I thought with all the seasoning that it would have more flavor but it didn't. Maybe I did something wrong since I see it with so many stars but my husband makes terrific soup and we were doing it together and he agreed, no flavor. So we added more spices and chicken broth. And it turned out good but not great.
I tried this soup recipe and it was very good. I literally used every bit of the turkey carcass, giblets and leftover turkey meat(lots of turkey meat). I did not add the barley as I didn't have it on hand but substituted gluten free egg noodles. I added more potatoes, carrots and celery and left out the cabbage. I nearly doubled the spices, added a couple of bullion cubes and a few dashes of tobasco sauce as I like lots of flavor. I also thickened the soup with a little flour and water mixed in a cup and added it to finished soup. Took it into work and everyone loved it!
I kind of had fun with this..... It is an exceptional recipe and stands alone very well as written. Using it as a guide only I tinkered with it adding an apple, a couple of pears more carrots and celery while playing with the spices. I added cayenne pepper to taste a teaspoon of Italian seasoning. Oh! I also added 4 pieces of smashed fresh garlic. As I said I love the receipt but also suggest using it as a guide and have fun with it. By the way the final product came out astoundingly delicious.
This is the second year that I have made this soup. I did add some to the recipe to add extra spice to it. Instead of the whole can tomatoes, I used diced tomatoes with jalapeños. I also added garlic seasoning, white pepper, cayenne pepper, corn & extra barley. Everyone loves it!
Great way to use up some leftovers. My mother-in-law use to take the carcass but this year I tried it. It does make a pretty tasty soup. Gave it four stars only because using the carcass is disgusting.
Love this recipe - turned out great. I did omit the tomatoes and worcestershire sauce. Once I had the stock made, I put all ingredients in the crock-pot on low for 4 hours - adding rice (instead of barley) during the last hour.
Followed directions exactly except my husband wanted me to add egg noodles in place of barley. I put in too many noodles, and they used up too much broth. So, my soup was a very flavorful pot of noodles! But recommend this recipe and will make it again. I really liked the selection and amounts of each spice. Yum.
I cooked my carcas in the Pressure cooker for 20 min. Now I will add all the ingredients and cook it in the slow cooker. This recipe sounds heavenly. My husband and I love homemade soups this time of the year. Than you Notaluna3
Made this with the carcas from a deep fried turkey after Thanksgiving. Was warm and tasty.
This was very good, I added a little red pepper flakes other than that I only slightly modified the amounts of seasonings to my taste. I tripled it making twenty Quarts and froze the leftovers, and I'm glad I did so I can enjoy it all winter.
This is excellent! I added two packages of Saffron rice, corn, zucchini and Rotel tomatoes with green peppers and it is delicious! I love tons of veggies and added anything I had in the house. The flavor is so good. I ate a couple of bowls. Yum!!
Easy meal. I needed a recipe that allowed for boiling the carcass without all the veggies, since mine had already been simmering when I went looking for a recipe. I added extra water, cabbage, and barley. It accidentally simmered for over two hours, but ended up sort of creamy and quite delicious.
Wow, what a great soup! My carcass had so much turkey on it, plus I had a lot leftover from dinner. Followed recipe but added bok choy for cabbage and small pasta for barley. Came out great!
Hearty! Good flavor.One hour for each step is general -- it may be more. Use double amount of barley! Makes alot.
AWESOME! Using the spices listed, I added about a tsp of each (except black pepper) to my taste. Omited the salt and added two hefty TBSP of chicken soup base (otherwise there's not enough flavor). I have not had one complaint - and I've served this to about 15 people. I've made it with and without the cabbage. I like the extra crunch whereas others said they liked it better without, but don't mind it in. Great recipe!!! DEFINITE keeper. :-)
This recipe is a great way to use up the leftover turkey and is really tasty. The only changes I made were reducing the Worcestershire to one teaspoon and I used rice instead of barley. I had family over for dinner and it almost all was eaten at one go. Everyone loved it. My refrigerator has lots of space again now that the turkey is out of there.
OMG I'm addicted to this soup. So healthy! When I make it I add 7 different kinds of veg, all from my garden. YUM!
Yes, the name carcass soup sounds a little gross ! Couldn't we call it 'turkey bone soup" as someone suggested? Otherwise, I have no constructive suggestion, except to say that it is very good!!
I simmered the carcass for about 5 hours, with half and onion, bay leaves and a teaspoon of black peppercorns to make the broth. I used diced tomatoes, and I think it made the tomato flavor a bit too strong. The recipe is a keeper!
I make this recipe every year after Christmas, with some modifications. I do not include potatoes, tomatoes, cabbage or barley. I use all the celery I have left over from making the stuffing, and 2-3 carrots. I cook the whole recipe in my pressure cooker (or my largest slow cooker). When the soup is done I strain it. My husband eats the boiled veggies - the dog gets whatever he doesn't finish. If the broth is not enough, I add chicken broth. I use the broth to make Greek avgolemono soup, by cooking rice until done, then beating together 2-3 eggs, adding 2-3 lemons and beating until light yellow and slightly thickened. I add hot but not boiling broth a little at a time and beat until the broth has tempered the egg mixture. I then add it back to the soup, stir well, and voila - beautiful soup. Note: you cannot cover the soup immediately after adding the egg mixture as it will curdle (ask me how I know!)
It is a good Base recipe but I did find it bland, I had to add additional spices to give it more flavor and a can of chicken broth. I actually boiled bones for longer then it calls for and still it did not have a lot of flavor so added the chicken broth more pepper and Garlic Salt. I did not use potato's but added Rice to make it a turkey and rice soup. I will def use it as a base but just needed more spice for my taste.
made this several times now with both chicken and turkey carasses.i never put in the cabbage . added some long grain rice instead and more veggies.GOOD SOUP .
Yes, I made changes by leaving out the potatoes and the canned tomatoes. Other then that I followed the recipe completely. There was a suggestion to use chicken broth instead of water. There was going to be enough flavor from cooking the carcass so I used half water and half chicken broth. Great suggestion for that added flavor. Perfect!! I froze what I could not eat into two serving containers. This recipe makes a large amount of soup. Will make it again!
This is awesome! My Mom has been making this soup for years. I just made it this year and it turned out great! I put a little extra barley in it. I also didn't have any poultry seasoning or thyme but it's still really good. My carcass was big so I had to divide it up between two soup pots and added a lot more water to cover both than what the recipe calls for. It made about 1 and a half soup pots full of soup. We have a lot of leftovers!
Wonderful flavor! I didn't have cabbage, so left it out, and used a 28-oz can of petite diced tomatoes, which was perfect. Will make this again and again. Thanks!
This recipe is great as a starter in my opinion. I always follow recipes and then tweak as I need to. I felt like I needed to tweak this quite a bit in order to get the flavors I want. Now that I've added a little more spices than the recipe called for it will be superb though. Next time I might enhance with some chicken soup cubes or simmer the carcass overnight as some others suggested. Still gave it five stars as it does get there with a little extra effort added in. The noses in this house are getting excited.
I didn't have a potato or barley but the recipe was delicious and I seasoned it to taste.
Tried this recipe without several ingredients that I didn't have on hand (cabbage, barley (we made noodles), tomatoes and basil). It was still wonderful, and a big hit with kids and grown-ups alike.
This is by far the best turkey soup recipe I have made. My hubby agrees.
Good starter recipe. I simmer bones on low for much longer and cut off good meat to add later, at the last minute, to preserve flavor. I generally use brown rice (instead of barley) and sometimes add curry and a little hot sauce. Never use potatoes in this recipe.
Great recipe for a left over turkey soup! Very easy to make as directed. I did add twice the barley, as some people suggested and I think it's a good change. The only other change I might make next time is adding some chicken bouillon to the water. I found it had enough taste, but my other half is a guy who really likes stronger flavours and mentioned that he'd like more but otherwise really liked it. It was a hit with the family!
Best turkey soup I have ever made or had. The flavors and spices were perfect. Omitted the cabbage because I didn't have any. Added lots of mushrooms instead.
Although I used cherry tomatoes instead of regular ones and left over gravy in place of left over stuffing. I also didn't have any barley, Worcestershire sauce, bay leaf of poultry seasoning - my soup turned out terrific. I cooked the entire 9# turkey carcass but only used half the remaining ingredients since I'm the only one in the household. Will have this for lunch tomorrow and then freeze the remaining in single serving sizes. I suppose you could also add frozen peas, green beans or whole kernel corn. I will make this again!
Made this (almost) exactly as described. I added 1/2 cup more barley and left out the tomatoes. I also used a free range turkey. The flavour of the soup is amazing! I had to add chicken broth though to thin it down, probably due to adding more barley. This was a great way to really get all the good meat still left on the bones, and was super easy. Thanks so much!
This is a great base recipe/instructions for using the carcass. I made a few changes to fit my families tastes: swapped the potatoes and cabbage with more carrots, celery, and also added about 2 cups of cut fresh green beans. I also used 3/4 cup of white rice instead of barley as filler/thickener. I kept the seasoning and spices the same, except for omitting the salt since I'd brined the turkey (already soaked in salted solution for 24hrs). If I hadn't brined the bird, I would have used the salt too. Thanks AllRecipes and submitter BirdNSav! Another recipe to put in my recipebox and save for future use!
Very close to what I have been doing for many years. I've never thrown carcass/bones out. That would be sacrilegious. The only difference not mentioned: I simmer the bones/carcass on very low for about 3 hours, refrigerate it until the grease comes to the top and skim that off. Then I put the stock on very low and keep adding my favorite cut up veggies, later add strained tomatoes. This stays on the stove VERY LOW, for about 3-4 hours. YUM YUM. Freezes well for the winter.
We had a turkey breast and made half of the soup recipe with it and it turned out excellent. I didn't get a lot of turkey flavor from just one hour of simmering, so I added one Knorr concentrated chicken soup stock, and that did the trick to bring up the flavor. Next time I would simmer the carcass longer. But, the husband loved it. Thanks for sharing a great recipe!
I thought that this soup took a long time to make but it was worth it. I added a can of cannellini beans (drained and washed) to make this soup a little heartier. It was really delicious.
This was great -my first shot at making soup and I got to use my leftover Thanksgiving turkey! I doubled the paprika after reading the reviews and I didn't find it bland at all. So good..... Another year another Turkey soup under my belt and this recipe never disappoints.
I made this turkey soup the day after Christmas. Oh how great the house smelled! I left out the barley and added s couple tomatoes. Delicious!
Love barley. Made this without cabbage so the kids would eat it... they didnt. I liked it though, and the wife had three bowels yesterday.
Great recipe for After-Thanksgiving soup! I substituted spinach (added last) for cabbage and left out barley (didn't have any). I usually don't add potatoes or tomatoes to my turkey soup. . . It was delicious! Will use this recipe again!
I just made this soup and it turned out GREAT. I only used 3 quarts of water, although if you use 4 quarts, it will simply give you more broth. This is a keeper for sure.
This is awesome...I tweaked it some, used rice instead of barley, added tomato paste, and put in cantenelli bean instead of potatoes...
Great recipe. I about 1tbs of cinnamon, salt, pepper and garlic powder during the initial boiling of the carcass and it added tremendous flavour to the end result. I also left out the tomatoes, only 4 potatoes, and added an extra tbs of Worcester sauce. Great flavour and great overall recipe!!
I had never made this type of soup before, but my mother-in-law mentioned it and assumed I knew about it. I found this recipe and she absolutely loved it. In fact, everyone loved it! I put egg noodles, instead of barley.
A really good, classic soup. I didn't include the tomatoes or cabbage, but added 3 cloves of minced garlic. It did need a little spicing up for our tastes. It smelled wonderful cooking all day!
I doubled the recipe, browned 4 cloves garlic first and used 4 quarts chicken broth and 3 quarts water. Didn't have cabbage or tomatoes but used frozen spinach and broccoli instead. Loved it! Thickened broth slightly with a three heaping tablespoons of gravy and 1cup water mixed with tablespoon of flour
I will use this recipe again - nicely spiced and a great soup to make after Thanksgiving. I cooked rice and added that to the soup as I ladled it into bowls. I like using rice in soup that way - it doesn't get mushy.
We happened to have a smoked turkey this year, so I used the carcass in this recipe. As such, didn't have any issues like the folks who said this recipe was bland. We also used leeks we had on hand instead of onions. Cooked all afternoon and was quite hearty by dinner time.
Carcass soup is a Keeper!! Admittedly I Only cooked a bone in Turkey Breast this year, but after carving the leftover breast meat, I put it in the crockpot. For 2 days I cooked it with 1/4c apple cider vinegar, to pull the minerals out!! On the second day, I did what I do to my fryer chicken carcass when I make chicken broth, I mash it a bit with my bean masher. I strained it after 2 days, and it made 1/2 gallon of broth. I fried a sweet onion in oil and then added the broth, potatoes, carrots, and cabbage, I didn't feel like celery. I didn't have stewed tomatoes but did have a can of Organic 24oz can of tomato basil soup so, I omitted the extra Basil but added Everything else!! I used Organic sprouted rice, instead of Barley, since I don't usually keep Barley. I'm into varying my grains so, lll probably try it sometime with Organic Barley.
I always make recipes EXACTLY before rating them, but in this case I didn't have the carcus just the Turkey meat. So the only difference that I made is that I used half water and half chicken stock and added my cut up turkey and followed the rest of the recipe to a T and it was amazing! The family RAVED about it! Thank you for the recipe!
This was a delicious way to ensure your turkey doesn't go to waste! Making your own broth is so easy and it really does taste so much better than canned or carton varieties. This makes A TON of soup and is a great way to stretch your leftover turkey. I had to increase the salt from 1.5 tsp to 2 tsp, but perhaps if I had brined my turkey I wouldn't have needed to increase the salt. Highly recommended!
