I scream it from the rafters EVERY Thanksgiving. Don’t throw away the turkey carcass! Save that gelatinous-rich puppy, make turkey stock, and then a delicious leftover thanksgiving soup recipe.
Because once you have the turkey stock, there’s an almost infinite amount of leftover thanksgiving soup recipes you can make.
1. Make turkey stock the day after Thanksgiving from the turkey carcass (which is the same as making a chicken stock).
2. Add fresh or leftover veggies from your Thanksgiving meal, add leftover turkey meat, add any herbs you want, salt and pepper to taste, and boom!…you have a leftover thanksgiving soup.
Perhaps that oversimplifies things just a bit. There can be a little more to it than that. As an example, here’s a classic recipe for a turkey and wild rice soup with fennel:
I don’t know why celery is so universally used in soups but the more I use fennel, the less I use celery. As opposed to celery’s more bitter flavor, fennel has a wonderful fragrance and subtle anise flavor. It almost always works in fish and shellfish-based soups but it can work just as well in poultry soups too.
Make sure to make the wild rice ahead of time as opposed to cooking it in the broth with the veggies. This prevents the release of starch into the broth which would result in a very thick and sludgy consistency.
Finally, I’d highly recommend a little squeeze of lemon in each individual bowl as a nice complement to the delicate anise flavor.
This leftover Thanksgiving soup adds fennel in place of celery for a more fragrant and flavorful interpretation.
Craig Fear is the creator of Fearless Eating and the author of three books, The 30-Day Heartburn Solution, Fearless Broths and Soups and The Thai Soup Secret. After years helping clients with digestive issues, Craig decided to pursue writing full-time. He intends to write many more books on broths and soups from around the world! Click here to learn more about Craig.