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Why You’ll Love My Recipe
This Turkey Carcass Soup is the best way to use up your leftover roast turkey! It’s loaded with healthy vegetables, turkey meat, and homemade broth made right from the carcass. I also add wild rice to make this a hearty meal in a bowl!
If you want to make turkey soup from scratch, you’ll need some leftover turkey to get started! Use the leftovers from my Deconstructed Turkey and Stuffing With Vegetables in ONE Roaster or Thanksgiving Turkey recipes. And if you have a lot of extra turkey on hand, put it to good use in my Turkey Pot Pie!
Reader Review
My husband and I make this several times a month AND we do it year round! It’s one of our absolute favorite soups! Thank you so much for the recipe! We love to make corn muffins to go with this! ❤️
Karlynn’s Recipe Notes
- Skill Level: This soup is super easy to make – basically set it and forget it while the broth cooks!
- Total Time: It takes about 4 hours and 10 minutes from start to finish, but luckily, most of that is simmering time.
- Variations: Swap the wild rice for egg noodles for a fun twist, or add extra seasoning like paprika and cayenne for a little kick. Feel free to throw in extra vegetables like frozen peas, green beans, or corn, too! Serve your soup with my Simple Crostini Recipe and a Caesar salad for the perfect dinner.
- Tools For This Recipe: You will need a large lidded stock pot, a knife for chopping, a fine-mesh strainer, a soup pot, and a ladle for serving.
What You’ll Need for Ingredients
Turkey Carcass: The turkey carcass is used to make the homemade stock, and any meat you pull from it is saved and added back into the soup!
Vegetables: You’ll need onion, carrots, and celery for both the stock and the soup. The veggies in the stock help flavor the broth, while sautéed diced vegetables are added to the soup later on. Karlynn’s Tip: Feel free to add extra vegetables to the soup, like green beans, potatoes, or peas!
Wild Rice Mix: Using a hearty wild rice mix makes this turkey soup extra filling.
Seasonings: You’ll need peppercorns, salt, bay leaves, and parsley for the stock, then poultry seasoning for the soup. It adds a ton of flavor and enhances the broth! Karlynn’s Tip: Use store-bought poultry seasoning or make my Homemade Poultry Seasoning Recipe, and don’t be afraid to add any other seasonings you enjoy.
How To Make Turkey Carcass Soup
This is a quick overview of the recipe. The full list of ingredients & complete step-by-step instructions are in the recipe card below.
- Take your roast turkey, remove all the meat from the bones, and place it in a container.
- Break the turkey carcass apart at the joints, and remove the skin and fatty parts.
- Place the turkey carcass pieces in a large stock pot.
- Add the seasonings and vegetables, then cover the turkey with water up to the top of it.
- Simmer for 3-4 hours until the turkey bones break down, the meat falls off the bone, and the broth is nicely colored.
- Carefully remove the carcass from the stock pot and set aside. Strain the broth through a fine-mesh strainer and return it to the pot.
- Choose a soup pot, add butter, and fry diced onions until soft
- Add diced celery and carrots, fry for 4-5 minutes, and add in the poultry seasoning.
- Add the turkey meat, broth, and rice, and simmer until the vegetables are soft and the rice is completely cooked.
- Serve and enjoy!
Karlynn’s Tips and Tricks for the Perfect Turkey Carcass Soup
- Remove the Fat First: The key to making this turkey carcass soup in one day is removing the fat before you make the broth. A lot of recipes have you cool the broth and skim the fat off the top, but when I’m making soup, I want to eat it that day! Remove the skin and excess fat and clean up the bones before making the broth. This leaves you with just the right amount of flavor from the turkey fat without having to wait for the broth to cool.
- Prep the Turkey as You Go: As you’re removing the meat from the carcass, chop it into small pieces for the soup and measure out two cups as you go. It’ll save you a ton of time later!
- Make More Broth: If you want to make a larger batch of soup, you can add more water to the broth, but you’ll need to compensate for the diluted flavor. Add some store-bought chicken or turkey stock to bring the flavor back up. This is super helpful if you have a smaller turkey but want to make a big batch of soup!
Storage Instructions
Refrigerator: Store leftover turkey soup in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days. Reheat individual servings in the microwave or warm the soup gently in a pot on the stove.
Freezer: Turkey soup can be frozen for up to 3 months following USDA food safety guidelines. Let the soup cool completely before transferring it to a freezer-safe container, leaving a little room for expansion. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before reheating!
More Delicious Soup Recipes
Soups are some of the coziest meals you can make year-round, so if you want a warm hug in a bowl any day of the week, try one of these Soup Recipes next:
- Swap out the wild rice for noodles and make my comforting Turkey Noodle Soup this fall!
- This hearty, rich, and satisfying Ham & Potato Soup is bound to bring a smile to everyone’s face around the table.
- My quick and easy Chicken Corn Soup is a delicious option for lunch or dinner any day of the week!
There you have it, folks! This turkey soup is the perfect way to turn your leftover turkey into a nutritious, filling meal that the whole family will love.
Don’t toss that turkey carcass after your next holiday dinner! Make this big pot of soup instead, and let me know how it turned out in the comments below.
Happy Cooking!
Karlynn
How to Make Turkey Carcass Soup
Ingredients
Turkey Stock Ingredients
- 1 turkey carcass, cleaned of skin, fat and meat
- 1 large white or yellow onion, peeled and quartered
- 2 carrots
- 2 stalks celery
- 2 tablespoons salt
- 5 peppercorns
- 3 bay leaves
- 2-3 sprigs fresh parlsey, or 2 tsp dry
- water to top
Turkey Soup Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 cup diced white onion
- 4-5 large carrots, diced large
- 3-4 stalks celery, diced large
- 2 teaspoons poultry seasoning
- 2 cups diced turkey meat
- 8-10 cups turkey stock
- 1 cup wild rice mix
Instructions
- Break the turkey carcass apart at the joints where you can, in order to be able to fit it into the soup pot. Remove all the skin and fatty parts as well.
- Place the turkey pieces into a large lidded stock pot. Add the onion, the carrots and the celery stalks ( if you have the leafy tops those are amazing for flavour, add them in!) .
- Add in the salt, peppercorns, bay leaves,,fresh parsley, and then cover the turkey with water, just to the top of it.
- Simmer, covered, for 3-4 hours until the turkey bones are starting to break down, the meat is falling off the bone, and the broth is looking cloudy.
- Remove the carcass from the soup pot carefully and set aside. Strain the broth through a fine mesh strainer then place in another pot.
Turkey Soup Ingredients
- Chose the soup pot that you want to use, then add in the butter. Fry the onions until soft, then add in the celery and carrots. Fry for another 4-5 minutes, then add in the poultry seasoning. Fry for 1 minute.
- Add in the turkey meat, the broth and the rice, Stir. Bring to a low simmer and cook until the rice is done and the vegetables are soft.
- Serve and enjoy.
Notes
- If you want to reduce the stock, after you strain it you can return it to the same pot and boil it until it’s reduced. This will make it stronger tasting.
- I have estimated that you will have around 8-10 cups of broth when you are done cooking to use in your soup. If you made more than that, simply store the extra in a container and freeze for later!
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Pam Harper says
I had never cooked soup using a turkey carcass, so I was very excited to try it. It was very good, except I too put in the full 2 TB of salt. Way too much for us and we ended up having to dump it after we each ate a bowl. I kind of questioned the amount when I cooked it but because I had never made a soup using a carcass I was thinking that maybe the carcass actually absorbed some of the salt and that was the reason it called for so much. We do not eat a lot of salt, for us, we just couldn’t get past it. I will keep the recipe for next time but will try just 1 TB or less. Thanks for the recipe though, really liked it otherwise.
Connie Heise says
Hi! Just caught a bit of a video you did cleaning out some old stuff – outside under a canopy? The little black handled thing with a “clicker” was a handle that attached to a small Corningware square dish. Don’t think it was wildly successful: I have had mine for YEARS and rarely ever used it. If the dish was broken, it was no longer of any value. Fun to see your stuff! We all have garages or kitchen drawers with all that stuff.
Linda says
If you are going to make this recipe, make sure you go past all the initial comments and instructions to find the actual recipe! I had my broth made according to directions. Then I was sure Karlynn had forgotten to give the soup ingredients so I was going by directions from a different recipe. When scrolling to find where to post (to let you writer know they were missing) I found the recipe in full. Stock and soup ingredients and amounts.
Cathy says
Do you use the vegetables you put into the stock initially? Sorry if I missed it but ready the directions a couple of times. It appears there is no mention of using the carrots, celery and onion used in the stock. Does that get tossed with the bones?
seeley says
Yes. toss them. They’ll be mushy. They are just helping flavor the broth. 🙂
Thank you so much!cathy says
Thank you so much!
Susan Turcsany says
I have been making turkey carcass broth every year since I’ve been married (44 years) and my recipe is basically the same as yours. I read recently that if you add about 1 TBSP of apple cider vinegar (it said that you don’t even taste it ) to the broth while it is simmering the acidity breaks down the collagen and makes it more abundant in the bone broth by drawing out the nutrients. Have you ever hear of this, I haven’t tried it yet. Since I hosted Thanksgiving again this year, I have 2 turkey carcasses as we always have a big crowd, I’m going to make 1 pot with the ACV and the other without and see if it affects the taste. Will let you know the results.
Carol E Ball says
Please let us know how the soup with ACV turned out! Thanks!
Aliza H says
Super late, sorry, but I think this was the comment that inspired me to add ACV to the boiling bones. It worked great! Couldn’t taste it, and the extra nutrients extracted, made the broth thicker. Recommend!
Lisa says
Yum! I learned to make Turkey carcass soup from my grandmother who grew up during the Great Depression when nothing went to waste. I always leave the skin and meat on the carcass and boil it. It adds incredible flavor. I sometimes add a can of diced tomatoes for a little color at the end. This is yummy and making it (every year) takes me back to the ranch where my grandmother and grandfather ranched the homestead. Thank you for your take on the recipe.
JennEstes says
Turkey Carcass Soup. What an unfortunate name. If someone told me they were going to serve me something called Turkey Carcass Soup I’d have to pass. I will admit that it does look tasty, but I don’t know if I could get past the name.
S says
Put a little, a Tablespoon or two, of ACV in the broth while cooking as it will allow the nutrients from the bones to end up in the soup.
Angela W Broyles says
This really is the best! I make it every year the day after Thanksgiving!
Jean says
to make this soup super easy I throw the carcass in cheesecloth leaving everything as is but the meat removed. Add your carcass, water ,veggies and seasoning in stock pot and just place in refrigerator overnight. It makes the best flavored stock and the fat helps in flavoring the stock. Just skim the fat off and remove the carcass and you’re ready to make the soup without having to cook it all day. I taught myself to do this as I didn’t have time to make stock all day. It is a nice shortcut.
Lisa says
I learned how to make Turkey carcass soup from my grandmother who grew up in the depression era when nothing went to waste. This is very similar to how she made her soup. I don’t take off the skin or meat when I boil it – they add so much flavor and the soup can always be strained before adding the rice, etc. I sometimes add a can of diced tomatoes for a little punch of color. This soup is delicious!
Josh says
OH MY DAYS!!! I cannot TELL you how ecstatic i am to tell you how this turned out .
let me just say that i Will not be going with any other turkey soup recipe , THIS take the cake ! Absolutely full of flavors thaaaaaank you SO SO SO MUCH for this recipe !
Donna says
Hello everyone,
I tried a slow cooker recipe and made mine throughout the night. Threw everything in and added boiling water to the top along with the author’s ingredients listed above. Somehow? I forgot the salt. I’m glad I did! Thankful that the slow cooker did all of the work and I did not have to stand over a pot, checking every hour. What I like about this recipe though, and it was easily laid out for me to follow on my computer, was the actual turkey soup recipe. Fry everything then add the stock…sure thing! Thank you Karlynn. Going to strain it now 🙂
Mlrnewman says
Too salty. Cut the salt in half. Otherwise a good recipe.
jean-guy baribeau says
Thank you for this excellent recipe.
What size turkey would provide 8-10 cups of stock?
Thanks,
jgb
Pat says
Is it safe to make soup from turkey cooked 9 days ago?
Charlie says
We pretty much followed the recipe exactly except that used orzo pasta instead of rice. Soup came out fantastic! This day after thanksgiving cook up gave us plenty of leftover soup to placing the freezer.
Ed says
Why are the ingredients listed LAST in the step-wise Instructions/directions on how to make turkey soup? Following along, there is suddenly a note to do something “until the the rice is cooked.”
What rice? Where? How much? It takes a lot of fishing around this site in order to find out the ingredients which are assumed. It’s as if this is backwards. It would be nice to know FIRST what all the ingredients are, and THEN go from there. Not the other way around. Thank you.
Krista says
It shows the ingredients on my phone first then directions next….also it shows how much rice to use in the ingredients section…super simple to read on my end..
Joanne says
Yum! I used fresh veggies that were left over from Thanksgiving fresh thyme, sage & parsley. I added halved small tomatoes and a handful of penne pasta. Topped the soup with shredded Parmesan. Oh so good!
Starla Kennelly says
This is so tasty! Thank you! Question: what size is each serving that the nutrition facts are based on?
Gail says
Recipe for turkey stock is way over salted -2Tablespoons of salt. GauRuined my whole pot of soup.Tried to correct. But it was impossible.What a waste!!!
DLehmann says
Out of curiosity if you’re not a salt person why on gods green earth would you put in the full 2 tablespoons knowing how much sodium that is? So it did not ruin your stock if you made the decision to put the full amount in, in my eyes you ruined it by putting it in. I thought it was delicious 😋
Salt is something that always can be added after so if anything error on the side of two little knowing you can add more
Adsach says
It makes for a much better soup if you leave the skin and fat on. Once the stock is finished, let it cool and skim the fat off. You’re losing a lot of flavor if you don’t.
Karlynn Johnston says
There is so much meat, fat and cartilage left on Turkey at the joints -and not to mention that the bone marrow is fatty as well- that you don’t have to leave gobs of fat in it. The reviews speak for itself, everyone loves the soup done as is. No waiting for it to cool so you can skim fat off. Just making soup right away. I am all about homemade soup from scratch,
All of the three stars and less reviews come from people who have never made the soup!
Bev says
It was great and I particularly liked how you wrote up the instructions making it very easy to follow the steps!
Sherry says
Absolutely delicious!! I was uncertain if it would taste as good as it looked, but it exceeded my expectations! A lot of steps and chopping but well worth the trouble.
Jan says
I like to cut my vegetables–onions, carrots, celery and potatoes up in smaller cubes–the only time I like large cut vegetables is in a beef stew. Serve with a choice of soda crackers, French or Italian Bread.
ginger peck says
This recipe was both easy and delicious. The tips REALLY helped (I wanted to put waaaay to much water in the pot). I added a small lemon to the turkey bone water which I do for chicken soup.
Yvonne says
Hello Karlynn,
I wanted to write and thank you for your roasted turkey recipe.
This is the first time I have used an oven bag for a turkey, and your recipe using the added broth was also new to me.
I had homemade chicken broth in my deep freeze and also had purchased oven bags some time ago.
So, it was good to use these items up.
My turkey was moist and juice, also beautifully browned. Very little clean up which was a plus. I also roasted a shoulder of lamb in an oven bag with a little broth, and it was so good.
Thank you so much for this recipe, and know it will be used again and again for other types of meat also.. Very thankful and may you have a blessed Transgiving.
Michelle Pinter says
Having removed most of the meat, I always, always roast the carcass and any left over bones and scraps with onion, celery, carrot, and garlic for at least an hour in a dutch oven at 375⁰. The carcass should be deep brown. Add cold water to cover, more garlic, onion, carrot, plus parsley and rosemary, sage, and whatever other herbs you want. Simmer for 2 hours at least. Refrigerate overnight – this is essential. Skim the hardened fat off. Warm and strain the broth, pressing hard on the solids.
At this point you should have a couple quarts of broth. I add some salt or broth concentrate. – Better than Bouillon Chicken is my choice. Make sure you undersalt a bit. If your turkey had additives or had been brined the meat will add significant salt.
You can take this in any direction with the seasonings and veggies you add. Asian noodle or rice soup, tortilla soup, mulligatawny soup. Turkey and dumplings is awesome. Turkey pot pie. Just like chicken broth.
R says
I only ended up with a very small amount of broth after 3 hours of simmering. I only had a 10lb turkey to start with. Suggestions moving forward with the soup? Add water, broth? I don’t want to lose the flavor.
Kenz says
Same thing happened to me, I simmered for about 3 1/2 hours last night and only came out with about 5 cups of broth.. so I added a little bit of campbells chicken broth and it turned out great
Dale Ernst says
This is a good basic recipe, but removing the fat and skin is removing flavor. Leave the fat and skin on, and after straining, let the broth sit for about 10 minutes. The fat will form a film on the surface which can easily be removed with a paper towel or piece of bread.
Mark says
Great use of the turkey carcass. Followed the recipe except I did not remove the skin and fat but did the broth a day ahead and allowed to cool and strained the fat layer off. Plus it allowed the house to spell good for 2 days! Also used fresh herbs of rosemary, thyme, parsley and sage tied in a bouquet in the final product. The broth is the richest I have ever made. Thanks!