Scratch-Made Turkey Noodle Soup for a Crowd

[Updated June 8, 2020] Who doesn’t love turkey noodle soup? The quintessential Thanksgiving leftovers staple, classic turkey noodle soup is a wholesome, soul-satisfying, delicious meal enjoyed by many, who look forward to savoring this seasonal treat over the long Thanksgiving weekend.

And, one of the best things about Thanksgiving is the abundance of leftovers and Scratch-Made Turkey Noodle Soup for a Crowd is a the top of the list.  Made from your leftover turkey carcass and a few other ingredients, this turkey soup recipe is easy although a little time-consuming.  But, the result – hot, delicious, savory, comforting turkey noodle soup for all – is worth the extra effort.

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UPDATE:  This post was originally published in 2012.  I have updated some of the photos because my photography skills have improved, but some of the photos, the step-by-step photos, are the original iPhone photos from that post.  I’ve decided to keep them in the post because if you’ve never made turkey noodle soup from scratch before, those tutorial-type photos are useful.

Back to my classic homemade turkey noodle soup recipe…

How to Make Turkey Noodle Soup

I learned to make turkey noodle soup from my mother.  She usually made it later on Thanksgiving day or the next day.  Since there were six of us, it was always gone in a flash.

I usually make my turkey noodle soup ahead of time for a couple of reasons:

1. Thanksgiving week and weekend is always a busy, hectic time for me
2. I like to do it in two stages to make the best soup that I can

That way I can enjoy Thanksgiving Day and the holiday weekend with no pressure.  So, I roast a turkey usually the weekend before Thanksgiving, Charlie cuts it all up for me, we wrap up the meat to have for sandwiches and other “leftover” meals and I throw the leftover turkey carcass in a stockpot, add water, and start the soup!  Then, on Thanksgiving Day I roast another turkey.

So, if you are like me and too busy to make turkey noodle soup over the long holiday weekend, either make it the weekend before, like me, or wrap the turkey carcass in a foil pan and put in your freezer for another day when you have a break from your “toot sweet” life.  That’s what I did with the turkey carcass from Thanksgiving Day below – put it in a foil pan, covered it with aluminum foil, and put it in the freezer.

Here’s my previously frozen turkey carcass defrosted over several days in the refrigerator.

Boil the Leftover Turkey Carcass

A few weeks later, when I had more time, I tossed the frozen bones into a large stockpot fitted with a strainer (a pasta pot, for example) and put it on the stove to boil.  Here’s a description of the super easy steps illustrated in the photo above:

1. Place your turkey bones in a large stockpot.  I prefer to use my pasta pot because of the strainer.  Fill with fresh, clean, cold water.
2. Continue to fill with cold water until almost to the top of the strainer holes.  You don’t want to go over, because when the turkey bones come to a boil, they will boil over if the pot is too full, making a mess on your stove!  Don’t worry:  as the bones and meat cooks, you can push them down in the pot so that they cook too.
3. Place the pot on the stove, add about a tablespoon of salt and turn your burner on high.
4. Bring to a boil.
5. Continue to boil about 2 hours.  If the water boils down several inches (as it has here in this picture), add another couple of cups of water and bring back up to a boil.
6. After about 2 hours, your turkey bones should look like this.

Separate Leftover Turkey from the Bones

Drain your bones from the pot, reserving the turkey stock (if you’ve used a “strainer insert” in your stockpot, just leave the turkey stock in the original stockpot) and dump the bones in a large bowl to cool. 

1. When the bones are cool to the touch, pick through the bones, reserving the leftover turkey meat in another bowl and discard the bones, skin, gristle, fat, etc.2.
2. Wishbone! Make a wish…
3. Prepared, picked-through turkey meat.  It’s about 2 cups.  If you want more in the big pot of soup, add more from your leftover Thanksgiving turkey for a total of 4 cups of turkey meat.
4. At this point, I pack the leftover turkey meat in a quart-size Ziploc bag and place it in the refrigerator until the next day.

Skim the Fat from the Turkey Stock

1. The above photo is the reserved turkey stock in the pot after removing the strainer and the bones.  This is what it looks like after I put the pot of turkey stock in the refrigerator overnight so that the fat rises to the top and hardens.  The next day, I remove the stockpot from the refrigerator.  The fat has risen to the top and congealed, along with the stock, which is jiggly, like Jell-O.  Look at all that healthy turkey bone stock you made instead of using store-bought broth!
2. With a large spoon or a fat skimmer spoon, remove the top layer of fat from the turkey stock and discard.
3. Place the stockpot on your stove and reheat.
4. When your turkey stock has melted (because it has congealed in the refrigerator), pour the turkey stock into another large pot using a fine mesh strainer to catch any unwanted bits.  You can use cheesecloth, too, and line the fine mesh strainer for extra protection against any little bits sneaking through.
5. Strained turkey stock.
6. Discard the captured bits.
7. Add the reserved turkey meat (from the Ziploc bag stored in the refrigerator) and bring to a boil.

Add the Vegetables to Your Turkey Stock

1. Carrots and celery.
2. Peel and chop the carrots, on a chopping board, into large chunks using a kitchen knife.  I like to slice them on the diagonal.  Any carrots will do, so if you have a bag of peeled baby carrots, use those instead.
3. Wash and trim your celery.
4. Chop your celery into nice-size chunks.
5. Chopped celery and carrots in a bowl.
6. Add chopped carrots and celery to the turkey stock and turkey meat.

Add the Noodles to Your Turkey Noodle Soup

1. Turn the heat up to high and bring to a boil.
2. Boil for about 20 minutes until carrots are fork-tender.  As foam develops on the top of the turkey soup, skim off with a spoon or fat skimmer spoon and discard.
3. Discarded foam.
4. If you aren’t going to eat this entire giant pot of turkey soup now, set some aside in food-safe storage containers and freeze.  Do not add noodles to the soup you are going to freeze.  If you add noodles to the turkey soup and then refrigerate or freeze it, the noodles will get mushier and mushier (is that a word?) every time you reheat the soup!
5. If you are going to eat the entire pot of turkey soup now, add 12 ounces of egg noodles.  If you are only cooking 1/2 a batch, add 6 ounces.
6. Boil noodles according to package instructions, about 7 to 9 minutes.  Taste the soup (blow on the turkey noodle soup on the spoon to cool it!) and correct the seasonings (salt and pepper).

Voila! Beautiful, Savory Healthy Turkey Noodle Soup!

A big bowl of delicious homemade turkey noodle soup ready to eat!

Here’s a close-up of this delicious, nutritious, healthy turkey soup with noodles.  If you are on a keto diet or the Whole 30 plan, leave out the noodles.  Yum!

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One of the best things about Thanksgiving is the abundance of leftovers and Scratch-Made Turkey Noodle Soup for a Crowd is at the top of the list. Made from your leftover turkey carcass and a few other ingredients, this turkey soup… Click To Tweet

Here’s the recipe for Scratch-Made Turkey Noodle Soup for a Crowd:

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Kitchen Essentials Needed to Make this Recipe:

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I created this doodle video on a desktop application called Doodly.  So fun and easy, even a school-age child can do this!  Check out their site for other amazing doodle videos created by others.  And, guess what?  You can share this doodle on social media…just click on the “Share” button in the upper right corner of the video.  Enjoy!

Tootles,

 

Other Thanksgiving Posts for Toot Sweet 4 Two’s Archives:

How to Roast a Picture-Perfect Holiday Turkey

Creamy Pumpkin Soup

Leftover Garlic Mashed Potato Soup

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Over 50 Easy Recipes for Thanksgiving Leftovers from Carrie at Eating on a Dime

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26 Ways to Use Leftover Turkey from Melissa at Served Up with Love