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Turkey Soup Recipes For Thanksgiving Leftovers Are Not Only Delicious, But Also Environmentally Friendly [Videos, Photos]

By Charisse Van Horn
Published on: 10:42 PST, Nov 26, 2015

Turkey soup recipes are a great way to use your Thanksgiving leftovers. Each year, between Thanksgiving and Christmas, the consumption of turkey skyrockets in the United States. Not only does this mean more people enjoy turkey with their holiday meals, but also that much of those turkey leftovers find their way to the trash. While this might seem a small matter, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says that it is anything but. In fact, the EPA states that 35 percent of all turkey is discarded and eventually finds its way to landfills. This poses environmental consequences as the turkey that piles up becomes methane gas producers. There’s an easy way to avoid this harmful environmental consequence from your Thanksgiving meal, and it’s not only simple but delicious too: turkey soup. You can easily find many turkey recipes that will transform your leftovers into delicious, nutritious soup and avoid the problem of sending your turkey leftovers to your nearest landfill.

One of the best aspects of using soup recipes for your turkey leftovers is that you can put the entire turkey carcass into a pot of water, add vegetables and seasonings, and ensure that you aren’t wasting your Thanksgiving main course. While some people enjoy eating their Thanksgiving leftovers in the form of sandwiches, turkey soup is a good alternative as it encompasses the entire turkey carcass and you don’t have to worry about any meat being wasted.

Because you are using leftovers to create your turkey soup, recipes vary and aren’t limited to a specific list of ingredients. You can be creative and add different ingredients as well as measurements. Taste your soup while cooking it and add seasoning to your own preference. You may find that as each year goes by, you adjust a little bit here and there until you make your very own, unique turkey soup. You can also find turkey recipes for soup and other leftovers online.

Easy Turkey Soup Recipe

1 turkey carcass from your Thanksgiving meal (one with a good amount of meat left on it)

1-2 cups of stuffing from your meal

1 Onion

1-3 Carrots (depending upon your preferred taste)

1-3 Celery Stalks (depending upon your preferred taste)

2 ½ Quarts of Chicken Broth (add more broth or water if needed to cover the turkey in your pot)

One bag of egg noodles or 1-2 cups rice depending upon preference.

Preferred seasonings (chicken flavor, salt, or salt substitute, pepper, sage, garlic powder adjust for your preference, typically 1 teaspoon of each)

Place turkey carcass in large pot and add enough chicken broth (add more broth or water if needed) to cover the entire turkey.

Chop and peel vegetables (carrots, onions and celery). You may add more vegetables if you have a preference.

Add stuffing and all of the vegetables and seasoning to the pot and bring the soup to a boil. Once it has boiled, reduce the heat to low and simmer for one hour. If the soup foams, just skim off the foam and discard it. After approximately one hour, carefully remove the turkey carcass, let it cool a bit and remove any remaining meat and add them to the pot. Pick off all the meat, leaving nothing but a carcass and bones to discard.

You may add 1-2 cups of rice or a bag of egg noodles to your soup, depending upon your preference. Let the soup simmer until rice or noodles are cooked (about 10-15 minutes). You may also choose to cook the egg noodles and rice separately, then add them to the soup or serve them on a plate separately.

As you can see, there is a lot of room for creativity with turkey soup. The good news is that you more than likely already have everything needed to create delicious turkey soup from your Thanksgiving leftovers.

You can find some more turkey soup recipes online in the links below.

Turkey Soup Recipes

Check out these videos for recipes that will have you transforming your Thanksgiving leftovers into turkey soup in no time.

https://youtu.be/SdJfxGo5PQM

[Photo Credit: AP Photo/Matthew Mead]

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