I love when the it cools down at night and I get to make soup. Really, I could eat soup in the middle of summer. The family on the other hand, the season and temperature has to be right. Cool, crisp and dark. I tried to feed them soup sometime in the summer when it was light til 8:00. They didn’t go for it. So, that being said, with the time change, and finally cooling down over here in SoCal, means I can make soup with minimal complaints. Minimal… there are still complaints. Especially if I make soup more than once!
What better use of leftover turkey, than soup! Not that we haven’t had turkey other ways. Sandwichs, turkey meal round 2, just grab a piece of turkey and go! Soup is a nice change. AND I made 2 soups. One for the family, just plain ol turkey and barley soup. Don’t get me wrong, it’s good! I just prefer my way. Which is throw in the whole dinner! Stuffing and green bean casserole too! I am the only one in my little family that likes stuffing and green bean casserole. So get your fat pants ready for round 2! Or 3…4… depends how much leftover turkey you have. We made 2 turkeys for 6 adults. Haha, it was great! Smoked one and deep fried the other! Ya, we went overboard. But I got a turkey carcus and gave the other to my mom. We kept the smoked turkey. Which was SO good!
First order of business when making Turkey Soup, have a pot big enough for all the bones and water to fill. You are going to pick most of the meat off the bones and keep it separate. *This meat will get chopped up later and thrown into soup. Keep some meat on the bones. It helps flavor your soup. Fill your pot with plenty of water. I threw in about 1/2 tsp. of salt. Put the lid on and then let it go. I think I cooked this on low for about 4-5 hours.
Whala! You’ve got turkey broth! Now you need to remove all the bones, and anything else left in there. Scoop everything out the best that you can. Then you are going to strain the broth to get it nice and clear. I think it makes a prettier soup and I don’t want all the little leftover pieces in my soup. But, this is a preference. Side note: the photo is when I strained my giblets for turkey gravy. I forgot to take a photo of the broth. But it is the same concept. Keep the broth in the separate bowl you strained it into and set it aside. We are going to use the same pot to continue making the soup. 
While the broth was making is a good time to prep all your stuff. Chop onions, carrots, garlic and celery (I use the leafy ends in soup) Add a little oil to your pot and brown your onions. Then add your celery and carrots. You can add potatos, rice, orzo pasta. I used barley. So I prepared that according to instructions and cooked that while my broth was stewing.
Now that you’ve saute all your ingredients, add the broth back in. And cook the carrots and celery til tender. Salt and pepper to taste. About 10 min before you are ready to eat, add in your chopped turkey and barley. Warm those back up and it’s ready to go! Remember I said I added the stuffing and green bean casserole in to mine. You would do that when you add in the turkey and barley. Everything is cooked at this point so you just want the meat and other ingredients you throw in there warmed up.
Viola! Turkey Soup! How do you eat your leftovers? Or do you make a different version of soup? I’d love to hear from you!
<3 ~Jeanne
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