Hearty & Comforting Turkey Noodle Soup: The Ultimate Leftover Turkey Recipe
Turkey Noodle Soup, a beloved classic, transforms holiday leftovers into a warm and satisfying meal. Made with succulent leftover turkey and fresh, vibrant vegetables simmered in a rich homemade turkey stock or quality chicken stock, and brimming with thick, tender egg noodles, this recipe is the perfect way to repurpose your holiday feast. Say goodbye to food waste and hello to delicious comfort!
There’s something truly magical about a steaming bowl of homemade Turkey Noodle Soup. It’s more than just a meal; it’s a culinary hug, bringing back cherished memories from your holiday gatherings. This isn’t just comfort food because of its incredible taste and satisfying warmth; it’s comfort food that carries the essence of fond occasions and keeps the spirit of celebration alive long after the last guest has departed. After a grand holiday meal, particularly one centered around a magnificent turkey, the idea of turning those delicious leftovers into something equally spectacular is incredibly appealing. This soup embodies that tradition, offering a way to extend the joy and flavor of your feast.
Crafting the Best Turkey Noodle Soup From Scratch
The moment the holiday meal concludes, an exciting new chapter begins: transforming your turkey carcass and any remaining meat into a soul-warming Turkey Noodle Soup. This isn’t just about cooking; it’s about extending the celebration and ensuring every part of your holiday turkey is savored. Making Turkey Noodle Soup from scratch allows you to control every ingredient, ensuring a superior flavor profile and a healthier meal than anything you’d find in a can or box. It’s a testament to home cooking and a delicious way to truly maximize your efforts in the kitchen.
A truly homemade turkey soup offers unparalleled advantages. Unlike its canned or boxed counterparts, it boasts significantly less sodium, a generous amount of tender turkey meat, and perfectly cooked, sturdy noodles that won’t turn to mush. The vegetables maintain their ideal texture and flavor, and the broth itself is rich, nuanced, and deeply satisfying. This isn’t just a basic soup; it’s a gourmet experience crafted from love and leftovers, proving that turkey noodle soup deserves to be this good. The depth of flavor achieved through slow simmering and fresh ingredients simply cannot be replicated by mass-produced options.
The Secret to Exceptional Homemade Turkey Noodle Soup: The Stock
At the heart of any truly great Turkey Noodle Soup lies an exceptional turkey stock. This foundational liquid is the cornerstone upon which all other flavors are built. While a good quality chicken stock can work in a pinch, making your own turkey stock from the leftover carcass is a game-changer. It requires surprisingly little effort and elevates your soup to an entirely new level. Plus, it gives you a wonderful sense of accomplishment, knowing you’ve made the absolute most of your holiday meal leftovers, capturing every bit of that rich, savory turkey flavor. This essential step infuses your soup with an authentic taste that simply cannot be replicated by store-bought broths, ensuring your Turkey Noodle Soup is deeply flavorful and incredibly nourishing.
Achieving the Perfect Turkey Stock: How Long to Simmer?
For a truly robust turkey stock, the bones need to simmer long enough for the remaining meat to easily fall off. This process can take as little as 45 minutes for a quick broth, but for maximum flavor extraction and a richer base, I typically recommend simmering it for twice that long, or even longer. When making your stock, consider adding aromatic vegetables like roughly chopped onions, carrots, and celery, along with a few sprigs of fresh herbs like thyme or bay leaves. These additions will infuse your stock with an incredible depth of flavor that will form the backbone of your delicious turkey noodle soup.
There’s a fascinating tradition in some Chinese restaurants where giant stockpots have been continuously simmering for nearly a century, testifying to the power of a long, slow cook! If you opt for a longer simmer, ensure the temperature remains low, just a gentle bubble, and add more water or stock as needed to keep the bones submerged. This extended cooking time breaks down the connective tissues and extracts all the wonderful collagen and marrow, leading to a gelatinous, incredibly flavorful broth.
Both a quick boil and a long simmer have their advantages. If your goal is a crystal-clear broth, a shorter, more controlled boil is your best bet, as it minimizes the release of proteins that can cloud the liquid. However, if you’re seeking a deeper, more complex, and intensely flavorful stock for your comforting turkey noodle soup, then allowing it to gently simmer for several hours – even up to 6-8 hours – will yield a profoundly savory result. This prolonged cooking time is what truly distinguishes a homemade stock and makes all the difference in your final soup.
Mastering Your Noodles for the Best Turkey Noodle Soup
The texture of your noodles is paramount in a truly great Turkey Noodle Soup. The goal is to achieve an “al dente” consistency, meaning they still have a slight bite to them. This prevents them from becoming soft and mushy, which can detract from the soup’s overall enjoyment. To ensure your noodles are just right, it’s best to cook them separately from the main soup and slightly undercook them initially. This is a crucial step to maintain their integrity.
By cooking the noodles separately and adding them to the hot stock just before serving, they will finish cooking to perfection without overcooking. This method ensures that each spoonful of your turkey noodle soup delivers the ideal texture from the noodles, preventing them from disintegrating and becoming unappetizingly soft. For an even more exceptional experience, consider making your own fresh Homemade Egg Noodles. The difference in flavor and texture is remarkable, and it’s a decision you absolutely won’t regret! Homemade noodles elevate this comforting dish to an entirely new level of deliciousness.
Go one better and make your own Homemade Egg Noodles. You won’t regret that decision, I promise!
Selecting the Perfect Turkey Meat for Your Hearty Soup
After simmering the turkey carcass to create your rich stock, you’ll find that it typically yields a surprising amount of flavorful meat, perfect for your Turkey Noodle Soup. As the carcass boils, much of the meat naturally separates from the bones and can be easily picked out. Any remaining meat on the bones will also become incredibly tender, making it simple to shred or dice for your soup. This ensures that no delicious morsel goes to waste.
In most cases, you’ll be pleasantly surprised by the generous quantity of soup meat this process provides. However, if you desire an even heartier soup, or simply have extra, feel free to incorporate any leftover turkey meat carvings from your holiday meal. Both dark and white meat work wonderfully in turkey noodle soup. The darker meat typically offers a richer, more pronounced turkey flavor, while the white meat provides a leaner texture. Using a mix of both can create a wonderfully balanced and robust soup, appealing to all preferences.
Getting the Veggies Just Right: A Symphony of Textures and Flavors
While the vegetables used to make your stock (onions, carrots, celery) have lent their flavor, they will likely be mushy and flavorless by the time the stock is done. These are perfect for your compost bin or, as suggested, a dog treat if they’re plain! For your actual soup, you want fresh, vibrant vegetables that contribute both flavor and texture. This means adding newly chopped carrots, celery, and onions to the simmering broth. This fresh approach guarantees that your Turkey Noodle Soup is not only delicious but also visually appealing and satisfyingly textured.
Similar to the noodles, the key to perfect vegetables is not to overcook them. For carrots and celery, a clever trick is to parboil them slightly before adding them to the main soup pot. This allows you to control their doneness, ensuring they are tender but still retain a pleasant crunch – that coveted “sweet spot” in the middle. You’re aiming for texture; not too crunchy, and certainly not mushy. This thoughtful preparation ensures that every ingredient in your homemade turkey noodle soup shines, contributing to a harmonious and delightful eating experience. You might also consider adding other favorites like peas, corn, or even diced potatoes towards the end of cooking for extra heartiness and color.
Smart Storage Solutions for Your Delicious Turkey Noodle Soup
If you’ve made a large batch of homemade turkey stock, the most effective way to store your soup components for future enjoyment is to freeze the stock in separate blocks. This method allows you to assemble fresh Turkey Noodle Soup whenever the craving strikes, ensuring optimal texture for your noodles and vegetables. By having frozen stock on hand, a comforting meal is just a short cooking session away, making weeknight dinners or sudden soup cravings a breeze.
Why Store Components Separately?
While you *can* technically freeze all the soup ingredients together (stock, turkey, noodles, veggies) and reheat them as a complete meal, this often leads to a compromise in texture. Thawing and reheating a fully assembled soup can result in noodles that are overly soft and vegetables that lose their crispness, making it more akin to canned soups. It will still taste good, but it simply won’t have the perfect balance of doneness and texture that makes homemade turkey noodle soup truly exceptional. For the freshest, most vibrant results, keep the stock and other ingredients separate until you’re ready to serve.
To efficiently store your blocks of homemade soup stock, I highly recommend using tall, lidded plastic containers or sturdy freezer-safe bags. Ensure you fill them sufficiently to have enough stock for a batch of soup, but remember to leave some headspace at the top. Liquids expand when frozen, and this prevents containers from cracking or bags from bursting. Labeling each container with the date will help you keep track of freshness, allowing you to enjoy your flavorful turkey stock and ultimately your hearty turkey noodle soup for months to come.
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What to Serve with Your Comforting Turkey Noodle Soup?
While this hearty Turkey Noodle Soup is certainly substantial enough to be a meal on its own, pairing it with a simple side can elevate the dining experience. Consider these wonderful accompaniments that complement the rich flavors of the soup:
- Homemade Croutons, Made with Leftover Bread: Crispy, golden croutons add a delightful crunch and extra flavor to every spoonful.
- Winter Fruit Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette: A light, refreshing fruit salad provides a wonderful contrast to the warm, savory soup.
- No-Knead Crusty Dutch Oven Bread: Perfect for dipping into the flavorful broth and soaking up all the goodness.
- Cheesy Cornbread Drop Biscuits: These savory biscuits are a fantastic accompaniment, offering a comforting side that pairs beautifully.
- Loaded Spinach Salad with Creamy Roasted Garlic Dressing: A fresh, vibrant salad adds essential greens and a tangy counterpoint.
- The Very Best Banana Bread: For a touch of sweetness, a slice of moist banana bread can be a surprisingly delightful pairing.
Whether you prefer a crisp salad, a warm slice of bread, or something in between, these recipes are sure to enhance your Turkey Noodle Soup meal. The versatility of this soup allows for various delicious pairings, ensuring a complete and satisfying dining experience.
I sincerely hope you enjoy creating and savoring this wonderfully comforting recipe for homemade Turkey Noodle Soup. It’s truly a labor of love that transforms simple leftovers into a memorable meal for the whole family! 
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Print Recipe
Turkey Soup
Equipment
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Zyliss Comfort Utility Knife
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Lodge 6 Quart Enameled Cast Iron Dutch Oven. Classic Red Enamel Dutch Oven (Island Spice Red)
Ingredients
- Leftover Turkey (shredded or diced)
- 6-8 cups Turkey Stock (homemade is best!)
- 4 stalks celery (chopped)
- 2-3 carrots peeled and sliced
- 1 small onion chopped
- Salt and Pepper to taste
- 12 ounces Egg Noodles cooked al dente
Instructions
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Peel and slice carrots, chop celery and onion. Add to a large soup pot and cover with your homemade turkey stock (or chicken stock can be used). Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until veggies are desired tenderness, about 10-15 minutes.
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While vegetables are simmering, cook egg noodles according to package directions until al dente. Drain and set aside.
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Once vegetables are tender, add your shredded or diced leftover turkey meat to the soup pot. Heat through for a few minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
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Stir in the prepared (al dente) noodles just before serving. This ensures they don’t overcook and become mushy.
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Serve hot and enjoy your comforting homemade Turkey Noodle Soup!
Notes
Nutrition