Here are some easy homemade chicken and turkey soup recipes. These soups are super yummy for cold weather days and great comfort foods when you’re sick!
Homemade Chicken and Turkey Soup Recipes
With the onset of cooler weather, one of the best things to learn to make from scratch is a basic homemade chicken soup stock or soup base. Soup base is so easy to make and can be used for many different dishes. We’ll make the basic homemade chicken broth today. Once you have it made, you can mix and match and put your favorite things into it. You can add rice for chicken and rice soup, barley for barley soup, use it to boil noodles for chicken and noodles or make simple Bisquick dumplings for chicken and dumplings. I also like to use it to cook rice in place of water.
It is also helpful to keep some frozen soup base that you can quickly grab and use when you need it for things like broccoli soup or egg flower soup.
Easy Homemade Chicken Soup Recipe
This first version, which is similar to what many people use, is in the Dining on a Dime Cookbook, Volume 1. The second recipe is my own quicker version which I like just as well. It is a little easier and much faster. You choose which you have time for. They are both good.
Easy Chicken Soup
2-3 chicken necks
1 bay leaf
2-4 chicken wings
2 medium carrots, sliced
3 quarts water
2 medium onions, diced
4 chicken bouillon cubes
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 tsp. salt
Bring first 6 ingredients just to boil in a large pot. Skim off foam and discard. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, 2 1/2 hours or until the chicken is very tender. Strain the liquid. Cool and refrigerate so the fat can be removed easily.
Let the meat cool until it can be handled. Remove meat from bones. Discard bones. Skim fat. Bring to a boil and add last 3 ingredients. Simmer 30 minutes and serve. Makes about 12 cups broth or soup.
Half the broth may be removed before adding vegetables and frozen up to 6 months.
My Chicken Soup Recipe
4-5 chicken necks and wings
about 4 quarts of water
If I have a bay leaf or a couple of carrots, I will throw them in.
I sprinkle with all of the following to taste:
salt and pepper
onion powder (about 1 tsp.)
garlic powder (about 1 tsp)
2 chicken bouillon cubes
Cover and simmer for 2-5 hours, depending on when I remember it.
Take out the chicken pieces. Strain, cool and remove the fat. Add the meat from the chicken back in and toss the bones.
When I get ready to use it or reheat it I taste it to see if it needs more salt, onion powder, etc.
You can make turkey soup the same way. To me, turkey soup is one soup where less is best. The less of the seasonings you use, the more you can get the yummy flavor of the turkey.
Turkey Soup Recipe
turkey bones
water
garlic powder (to taste)
onion powder (to taste)
salt (to taste)
pepper (to taste)
Place turkey bones in a large pot and cover with water. Simmer, following directions for Basic Chicken Soup. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Here is one last turkey soup recipe, which is a big help if you want to cook your soup right after Thanksgiving because it helps you use many leftovers besides just the turkey.
Glorified Turkey Soup
You can not only use your leftover turkey with this recipe but vegetables like the carrots, celery and green pepper sticks from your leftover relish dish or leftover cooked carrots or green beans.
Leftover turkey bones
5-6 cups water
3 garlic cloves or garlic powder
2 bay leaves
1 tsp. dried thyme
1 tsp. rubbed sage
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup barley, uncooked*
Leftover cooked and uncooked veggies
Place turkey bones and spices in a large pot and simmer for 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Remove bones from broth and pick off meat. Add barley and uncooked veggies and simmer for 45 minutes. Add in the cooked veggies 15 minutes before it’s done. Freezes well.
*You can also replace the barley with spaghetti noodles. Just add them in the last few minutes with the cooked veggies instead of cooking for 45 minutes.
-Jill
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I have made chicken and turkey soup for a number of years and only recently read of the idea of roasting the turkey carcass with fresh chunks of onion and celery in a roasting pan in the oven for an hour or so until it smells wonderful and is nicely brown, then proceed with your usual soup recipes aa above. It really boosts the aroma and flavor and my family loves it made this way.
I’ve made it this way for years.
thanks for posting these jill .. they look delish! .. :D
if you make beef soup roast the bones the same as for chicken.
it is a great flavour booster. Even using soup bones from the butcher or ones you have from other meals.
My grandmother told me about the beef bones years ago and recently a chef said the same thing while showing how to make soup.
somethings that are old are new again as we try to get back to basics.
Here is a nice recipe for a spread for left-over turkey sandwichs.
Sliced Turkey Spread
1/3 cup mayo
1/3 cup grated Parmesan Cheese
1 teaspoon dried chives
1 teaspoon crushed, fresh or bottled garlic
In a medium-sized bowl, combine all ingredients. Cover and refrigerate.
Nice on sliced french bread with turkey and tomato slice broiled a little.
One change I maide this year was to put the torn up turkey carcass into the crock pot and let it cook overnight. I just added carrot and onion to the pot and filled it with water. The broth came out wonderfully rich. I hope I remember the roasting trick for next time.
I’m not the best of cooks. It’s been over a week since Thanksgiving and I have my turkey bones, etc. still uncovered in the fridge. Is it still ok to make soup?
No I probably wouldn’t chance using it now. A couple of days would have been ok but it has been over a week now. Thanksgiving day I just slide the pan and all into a couple of plastic bags and put it in my freezer where I leave it until I have time to deal with it later if that helps for Christmas dinner or next Thanksgiving.
Plus be sure to try and cover everything you put in the fridge. It not only dries things out really bad but all the foods absorb each others flavors and will give most anything you cook a “off” taste. Butter is especially bad at absorbing other thing’s flavors. Have you ever had someone’s baking and the flavor was not quite right? Sometimes this is because the butter or margarine they had sitting in the fridge has absorbed the flavor from their garlic, onion or something. This goes for your freezer too.
Even if you can’t do nothing more then just place a saucer or plate over a bowl you set in the fridge this helps although putting in an air tight container or covering with plastic is best. I use plastic containers but my favorite are glass ones because some foods can even absorb something in the plastic.
Jill, I made the Basic Chicken Soup recipe and it is so good. I have a cold, and it’s so comforting to eat hot chicken soup that helps ease the symptoms. I also made the Butterfly Ring from the cookbook, and that is so yummy too. I used grape jelly and it came out great.
I have only used the strawberry jam so that is good to know you can use other things too. I’m sorry to hear you have a cold Bea. Hope you can shake it soon.
Yes, Jill the butterfly ring came out so yummy. It was a lot like pastries bought in a bakery. Better than I imagined. Thanks for the well wishes. I’ve been miserable feeling since Friday, and not able to sleep because of congestion, but I’ve been drinking liquids such as Linden tea which is suppose to ease symptoms and Camomile tea to help sleep, and the Chicken Soup which is so tasty when you lose your appetite. The sympytoms ease up, and then seem to get worse at night. I HATE THAT. Love, Bea I do feel a little better today but colds are so yucky.
I like to use a saline nasal rinse when I am stuffy. A neti pot works well, too.
I’m going to make Chicken Soup tomorrow with the Basic Chicken Soup recipe. It’s suppose to be only about 52 degrees tomorrow, which is about a 20 degree difference in temp from what it’s been lately. It will make the house smell so good!
That sounds so good. I should have made some today myself. I think we got today what you are getting tomorrow.
hope u feel better soon bea ..
and jill, u r right, with the colder
weather on its way (and here in some parts of the USA)
this soup is a mustto have on hand ..
thanks for posting the recipes again .. :D …
hope all is well with you ..
stay safe and warm :D
Thanksgiving is tomorrow so turkeys were on sale last week bought 4 and now I have 10 jars of canned turkey with broth and 6 with carrots and peas.
nice bases for fancier soups or chicken and gravy meals.
only 3 more to go.
at 95 cents a pound figure now is the time to experiment with new things. want to can some raw and maybe grind some as well.
anyone have any ideas what else to do with it.
We don’t eat roast turkey much. But I like turkey once in a while so canning it seems to be the best idea.
I think you said you did some dehydrating so you might try making turkey jerky with it to use when you go camping or on trips etc.
enjoy ur holiday grandma! .. hope u have a nice one .. and ur canning of the turkeys sound delish ;D
i bet that would be good jill .. turkey jerky .. :D ..
I made the Chicken Soup yesterday (Sunday) and it was so good after simmering in the afternoon, after I came home from Church. And since the temperature dropped quite a bit, it warmed up the house and ME! It tastes so good especially when cold outside. I also made the Sloppy Joe recipe from the cookbook, since I had some hamburger I needed to cook up, and that came out great too. So now I have some nice meals all ready to go. YUMMY!
Grandma, What does Thanksgiving celebrate in your Country?
Bea, we basically celebrate the harvest being in the fishermen of the Maritimes being home before the North Atlantic storms arrive. Life in this wonderful country.
We had the first thanksgiving in North America when John Frobisher landed in Newfoundland in the 1600’s.
Also United Empire Loyalists brought the American holiday to Canada when they left to stay loyal to England.
The Canadian Government finally set the date as the 2nd Monday in October.
When the Europeans arrived they brought the tradition of a harvest festival with them so that was added to the celebration.
I personally had a nice day. No family and Don had to sleep a lot of the afternoon as he left for work at 5:30 but we went over to a friends who had picked up for me fresh cranberries. She was down in the area of the cranberry capital of Ontario so nice fresh Ontario cranberries to experiment with. I also peeled cooked and canned 8 quarts of potatoes. Still have enough from the 50lb bag I got as a gift to about 16 more quarts.
Tomorrow I will debone two turkeys that weigh about 7 lbs each and can that and make a lot of turkey stock to can.
Can’t wait for next week though as on Friday we hit the city and I can stock up on meat and spices and ingredients for things to do that we can’t get here in town. Then the week after that we hit the city in the other direction where they have a farmers market and apparently a huge bulk store. So that should be fun.
Lots of work but just glad and thankful that I have the ability to do this and that my husband is so supportive of my hobby. He says he doesn’t even mind me giving away so much of it. With 2 people we will never eat it all. So nice gifts for people.
But basically that is what thankgiving day is all about here except that family is important. Just mine are too far away for visits.
I am thankful that they do visit when they can and that my one son has started the paper work to bring his wife and daughter to Canada to live. The daughter is no problem as she is Canadian because Dan is but the wife has to jump through hoops. Hopefully not too many.
here is a site that explains a bit about the Canadian Thanksgiving.
http://www.craigmarlatt.com/canada/symbols_facts&lists/thanksgiving.html
grandma.. i think it’s awesome that our Canadian friends celebrate Thanksgiving too (same as we do, turkey, stuffing, vegi’s and etc) ..
and i hope u had a wonderful holiday too .. :D
Bea.. glad u enjoyed the soup .. hubby and i cant wait for Thanksgiving so we can make homemade turkey soup .. we love it ..
this year, my daughter wants to go to the honeybaked ham place and order the Thanksgiving meal that comes in a box .. you get everything except extra vegi’s . but it comes with a pie .. and all at a great price .. hubby isnt too thrilled . he wants a turkey cooked at home .. so, not sure what we will be doing ..
last year, my daughter did all the cooking ..
which was so sweet of her .. but bc hubby doesnt like to travel and go out and bc we didnt have anything prepared here at the house, b4 we left, i went to denny’s and got him a turkey plate .. and later that nite i brought home a nice plate from the house ..
this yr, i dont think we will be doing that again .. hubby said he wants to cook a turkey and well.. i agree .. u can never have enuff turkey bones for the soup and extra turkey for leftovers ..
plus, i buy the smallest birds i can find ..
yep.. the holiday season is upon us .. woooo hooo .. hehe :D ..
Rose you are actually celebrating our tradition. we had it first. LOL
anyway it is nice when traditions actually become traditions.
Wish your tradition of christmas season starting the day after your thanksgiving hadn’t come to Canada. Makes for more time to stress.
When the turkeys went on sale here for 95 cents a pound. the ones I picked up were about $7. so very small. Maybe you can find some 8 lb turkeys or even a 12lb one which isn’t too much to eat and store.
Most people with families grab the big ones and the small ones are at the bottom of the bin. Worth checking out at least.
I am off in a few min. to go start cutting up my 2 thawed turkeys to can and then use the carcass to make soup stock to can as well.
I still think the turkey became the meal of choice when the British came over and then the frugal housewife wrote home telling everyone how big the bird was and how many people it fed. Can you see the disbelief of family reading that letter? And then as turkey farmers got into the act the birds got even bigger so more left overs.
Just my thought on that subject.
Hi Grandma and Rose, Grandma thanks for the explanation of Thanksgiving in your Country. Sounds nice. You seem to have a lot to offer where you live with fish and cranberries etc. I never heard of canning potatoes. Sounds interesting. Is it hard to do? What do you use them for after they are canned?
Rose, The soup was good. And the holidays are close. Looking forward to turkey and leftovers not too far away now.
I will let grandma answer most of your question but canned potatoes (including the ones you can buy at the grocery store) are great to keep on hand for many things. You can use them for potato salad, in potato soup or casseroles. They pretty much are just like a boiled or cooked potato. They are handy because it can save time in cooking the potatoes for many of these dishes.
Thanks for answering Jill.
I had no idea what people did with canned potatoes. Mom never used the ones in the store and with 7 in the family 50lbs didn’t last long enough to go bad.
I just did it as a learning thing and then 2 friends both said they use the store ones all the time. (Guess what they are getting for Christmas)
There are 2 ways to do it and I chose the one that you cook them because the ladies doing them were older and the ones who didn’t were young enough to be my children. I will stick with old tried and true. Might try a couple pints without cooking them just to decide.
Still have about 1/4 bag left to go and lots of people I can give them to.
When I do the stewing beef up I will do some carrots in jars as well and give 3 jars in total so people can make stew with them.
so thanks again. now I know. if we ever go off the low carb which I doubt it is something to remember.
You can also slice them or grate them for fried potatoes too.
Thanks Jill, I will have to look more into canning potatoes. They would come in handy. Also, I love that Easy Potato Salad recipe you have on this site. Made it a couple of times and it’s very good.
I just did a little research and it seems you need a pressure cooker to can potatoes. Oh well, since I don’t want to buy one, there goes that idea for me.
I’m like you Bea. I don’t have a pressure cooker so don’t can many things because of that.
Bea apparently you cannot can in a pressure cooker. But you can cook in a pressure canner.
I was doing all sorts of pickles and relish and jams but we can only eat so many of those so Don thought I could do more if I had a pressure canner.
I am having a ball doing all of this stuff.
Potatoes, soups, meat of all sorts are coming.
Just have to get to the city on Friday to stock up on meat.
Out of my 2 7lb turkeys I got 7 pints of meat, and a large pasta pot with soup stock ready to strain and cool so I can skim the fat off in the morning and then put that into jars and another pot ready to cook and make turkey soup to can.
Can’t put the pot outside until it cools as I don’t want he smell in the garage because when Don was getting ready to leave for work an hour ago I looked out the window and a bear about 150 lbs was sitting in my compost barrel chowing down. Don got some good pictures but I don’ want the smell of food in the garage. One large window to break and he would be inside.
I called the neighbour on one side and warned him not to go out to his garden and compost barrel and then walked over to the other neighbour because she has children and dogs and cats.
Nice to watch bears from behind locked doors but not out in the open.
Think he must have been around last night because our utility trailer was pushed about 3′ from where it was. Kind of scary since I went to dump stuff into the composter this morning.
Oh well one job for Don to do until the bears hibernate.
That’s ok. Sometimes I make freezer jams and some jams can be made by sterilizing in oven, so that’s fine with me. I do wonder though how canning was done BEFORE pressure cookers?
That’s just it Bea. We always think back then it was so wonderful the way everyone canned their own food and how much better it was for them but the reality is things didn’t get canned properly and many people died of food poisoning. Ten times more and then some died from or became seriously ill from eating home canned things then die or sick from the preservatives we are so worried about now. That is why our great grandmothers were so excited when canned goods with preservatives came out. So many less children and others died because of the canned goods they could now buy and had been properly canned.
You know more then most Bea because you read about this time period but many people don’t have a true reality of what it was really like years ago.
Bea you can can in the hot water bath foods with high acid counts.
pickles of all sorts due to the vinegar.
Also jams of most fruits, and some people can tomatoe sauces and ketchup.
I went for the pressure canner since I was having fun and Don decided to let me spread my wings on more things.
To find things you can, can check out you tube. That is where I am getting most of my ideas.
A lot of the recipes are great and they don’t have to be canned they can be frozen or made from dry ingredients.
I had a lot of onions but not big ones so instead of trying to make them last since we don’t use many cooking onions and can’t grow sweet ones here I dehydrated them. That way all the tears were done in a couple of hours instead of every meal. Also dehydrated garlic and roasted garlic for gifts. I did a bunch of hot peppers as a gift for my son. Just have to grind them up.
He has a chance at a job in Saskatchewan and will drive out with a friend if they both get the call and will stop in here on the way. I can feed them a meal pack another for part of the trip as it will take them a bit more than 2 days with both driving. But I can pack some of the stuff I have canned so they don’t have to cook every meal just open a jar and heat it up.
That is one of the things I wanted to do for friends and family when I started doing this. Seems like a good way to have fun and help others out. Working DIL with 3 children should appreciate opening a couple jars and serving supper shortly after they get home.
My mother remembers her aunts canning meat and how good it tasted. Not sure but I think it was safe just it doesn’t store safely for as long as pressure canning now. So maybe just the time from killing it one year until they butchered the next year. Will have to check with some people to find out. Good research project when I have a bit of time or am too sore to walk.
Hi Grandma. A while back you were looking for a light syrup for canning fruit for your husband. I have been testing the following that I found after I sent the info I had to you earlier. The one I’m using very successfully is 1/2 cup sugar to 5 cups water. It is absolutely great! the fruit tastes fresh without a sugar flavour.Used it on peaches,nectarines,pears,plums so far. It hasn’t affected my blood sugars when paired with a meal or snacking on before some physical work/walk.Didn’t need to add splenda.
Hope that helps you out for next year’s canning.
Also I have my turkeys thawing as well for canning. We are having the same sales here in British Columbia that you have there. Using Jill’s method of freezing broken down cooked turkey right in foil pans into freezer. Then I can and make broth later instead of burning out during the holiday. Thanks Jill
You are welcome Moni. It does make life easier to toss that bird into the freezer after a busy day of cooking. Out of curiosity what kind of things did you serve at your dinner? I was just wondering if it was close to what we usually serve.
Thanks for the info Moni.
I used 1/4 c of splenda to about 4 cups of water. Turned out great.
Now I have peaches and pears all ready on the shelves. Did sweet cherries as well. Some I did with sugar and most were with splenda so everyone I give them to will be happy.
Oh yes did up prune plums in simple syrup as well. They sure are pretty.
Made a pear apple pineapple jam using plain gelatin instead of flavoured jello and it is so nice. No sugar or splenda needed at all.
Don thinks he created a monster as I am having so much fun he is thinking of emptying shelves so we have room to store it all.
He is taking his tools out to the garage now that it is organized with proper shelves and hooks for things.
Grandma, We have a lot of bears where I live too. On the news all the time about bears in people’s yards and even getting into unlocked cars because people leave McDonald’s bags etc on the floors of their cars. Lots get into trees too.
Jill, Yes, people in the past didn’t have the conveniences we take for granted and that caused a lot of problems. Sometimes when I read about weird medical treatments, for example, from the past I shudder. Like putting leaches on people to suck their blood etc. So much ignorance caused a lot of problems.
Hi Jill, Within our group we go pretty well all out on Thanksgiving and Christmas. With our Thanksgiving near the beginning of October it’s the first real celebration after summer that involves a big sitdown dinner. That alone is worth the celebration.
For us: roasted turkey and baked ham,regular mashed potatoes,sweet potatoes,gravy,cranberry sauce,stuffing,brussel sprouts,peas and carrots,dinner rolls,a simple green salad. Of course a full compliment of pickles including beets,carrots,dill,sweet pickles etc. Dessert is pumpkin pie with ice cream or whipped cream. We also have mousse version of pumpkin pie for our diabetics.
It’s a lot of fun. New recipes are usually tried for a couple of items and we call it like it tastes. Some are kept and some are in the garbage hands down. It’s part of the fun.(especially if the dogs and cats won’t touch it)
It makes for a yearly oral history of past dinners that make us laugh and be sad,that the kids love to hear and be part of.
Tables are pushed together and separate tables for the kids as well.Family,friends,and especially the ones we know that don’t have family close. There’s usually an argument somewhere in the mix. Just regular life.
Everyone gets a wineglass (the kids love it) and it’s filled with wine,milk,juice,pop,water and we all raise a glass to toast our thanks for all we have.(this is not the day to dwell on problems)
Since we eat around 1 pm nibbling continues thru the afternoon. The food is wrapped up and portions go home with each us. Ham bone into freezer for me to make pea soup
for halloween nite. My brother takes turkey carcass and bits to make soup the next day. They have that with ham sandwiches for their drop in day for their friends.
The absolute best part is the leftovers!
It’s a repeat at Christmas but with cookies,chocolate,fruitcake added to the mix. For us food is a big part of the celebration. Funnily enough overweight is not really an issue for any of us.We know this is a celebration and by no means how we eat every day.
Cost is not a huge factor either. Everything has been bought at a good sale price or from our garden and prepared from scratch.
People who have been to these gatherings still talk about it after 15-20 years. They are far from perfect but we do have a lot of fun and create a lot of memories for the upcoming generations. No matter what happens the rest of the year, Thanksgiving and Christmas no one misses. We have been known to get day passes for hospitalized family/friends to be with us for a few hours those days. Amazing how creative one can be with wheelchairs and a even a stretcher once. It was so worth it. So we’re probably like most other people’s celebrations.
It is always fun to learn how others do their holidays. Yours sounds almost exactly like ours even down to the kids table and the fact the leftovers are a favorite and fun is the main factor. We too try a new dish and some get tossed and some become a tradition. We even eat almost the same things except no Brussels sprouts and we have “Nan’s” gingerbread mans to go with the pies. Like you too we eat till we are sick and being over weight is not a problem for us either. We are so careful all year long with the cost of things but when it comes to the holidays we are careful on some things (like the turkey and getting things on sell) but we do allow ourselves to splurge for these 2 special occasions.
I saw my first small black bear last year. it was crossing the road and he was so spry and quick jumping over a bridge railing into the stream.
my son laughed at me so hard, he said “what did you do Mom” I said, “I locked my car doors of course!
Reply? “what, did you think he would car-jack you”
a comedian, my boy —-
To funny Donna. Don’t feel bad I would have probably done the same thing. It certainly keeps life interesting having comedians for kids.
Jill if you can post one of those bear pictures to show the size of him.
I think if he stood on his hind feet he would have been looking me in the eye and I am 5’5″. down from 5’7″ in the past 2 years.
Anyway I went out to dump some more compost junk and the bear left me two presents. I am just glad I was looking for tracks or I would have put first right foot in a pile and then my left foot in the next. He had placed them perfectly for stepping into. Not nice of him.
For thanksgiving meals at my grandparents farm we would serve it buffet style because the dining room table only seated 15 but with all the food there was no room for people to put down plates and eat there. Adults sat on the couch and dining room chairs using laps for tables in the dining room. Kids ate in the living room where ever there was room to sit. We were over 40 people when every one was there. One year the teens ate on the stairs going to the upstairs as we ran out of room in the downstairs. Since there was no heat up there it was chilly but it was so much fun we did it the next year. It was just way too cold to do at christmas though.
After the people it was always about the food. Every family brought their best dish so everything tasted so good, even though all my aunts learned to cook from grandma something aunt lorna cooked tasted so much better than when mom did it. Never really figured that out but mom said her aunt ethel, grandmas older sister always baked bread just like grandma but mom said it always seemed to taste better. Guess it has something to do with the company.
Thanksgiving was always looked forward to, rather than christmas because my grandparents on both sides lived in the snow belt so christmas was harder to get together because of weather and road conditions.
Now with my family spread out it is summer family reunions. much smaller scale than when I was a child but seeing my children and grandchildren makes up for it. We always go camping as our house will not hold everyone to sleep comfortably and we all love camping.
get togethers no matter the reason or time is almost always remembered for the family fun and food. Everything is fun and tastes great.
Grandma I wish I could post the picture but we don’t have the web site set up to do that. I wish we did because I am for ever doing something and thinking I wish I could post a picture of this or that and can’t. Tawra and Mike can post some on the main page but they don’t often do it because it is very involved and time consuming because the the way our site is set up otherwise we would have readers send in their pictures all the time.
Grandma, Thanks. I will check out YOUTUBE. Sounds interesting.
I haven’t had time to read all the posts, but if you aren’t making homemade noodles to go with all the rich broth, you’re missing a very delicious and economical dish. Simply beat together 3 or 4 eggs, a bit of water (1/4 cup or less is enough; add half-teaspoon salt. Add enough flour to make a rather stiff ball of dough. On a floured breadboard, roll out like pie crust, cut into thin strips. (I use a pizza cutter, but there are noodle cutters in kitchen specialty shops.) With broth at a brisk boil, add a few noodles at a time, stirring between additions. You can skip cutting noodles and use less flour–dip a spoon into boiling broth, then take a small spoonfuls of soft dough and place in the broth, repeating until all is added. (I think they’re called rivels.) Cook at low boil until done, about 10 minutes; it can then be left on low (or off, and reheat) at dinnertime.
When it comes to making homemade soup on the fly, it is great to have some home canned meat, such as the turkey mentioned on hand. I have had home canned beef (using the toughest cuts), and currently we have several jars of canned domestic rabbit. The pressure canner will tenderize any cut of meat, as it is usually canned at 10 lbs. pressure for 90 minutes. I usually can my meat with some chopped onion or a clove of garlic, celery seed or a bit of dried lovage (a celery like herb), and 1/2 tsp. of salt in the bottom of the quart jar, just before packing the meat in and sealing it. Domestic rabbit is indiscernible from canned chicken when it is removed from the bones. You are able to can pint or 1/2 pint jars in a regular, modern pressure COOKER, as the pressure is set at ten pounds for each. Larger quart jars require a pressure CANNER for height to accommodate the jars. Most canned meat, in my experience calls for 10lbs. of pressure for 90 minutes steady. (It makes very little difference whether you are using pint or quart jars, the time is very close to the same). Before pressure canners, people canned meats and vegetables in a water bath for literally hours at a time, or used an oven method for canning. BOTH METHODS ARE UNSAFE FOR CANNING OF MEAT OR VEGETABLES, and should not be used. There were a lot more cases of food poisoning, food spoilage, and botulism when that was the norm.
Great ideal for left over turkey
If you roast either chicken, turkey or beef bones first and then simmer them for a long time, the flavor is even better for the stock.
Hi I have left over turkey but not the carcass, can I use bouillon cubes ?
If you were making chicken soup you could use the bouillon cubes but for turkey you really need the turkey because it has a really good special flavor all of its own. I have not tried it but you maybe could take part of the turkey and try to simmer it for a couple of hours and you might get enough flavor from that.
In your picture of basic chicken soup, it shows thin noodles but I do not see noodles in your recipe What kind of noodles do you use?
You can make it without noodles like a broth, use rice in place of the noodles or use any type of noodles you have on hand. I personally have spaghetti noodles always on hand so I usually use those but you can use dried egg noodles or the frozen noodles although those do cost quite a bit more. You can take this same soup and add dumplings to it for something different the next day.
I have just found your site love all the information you have on your site.
From Australia.
Oh thank you for letting us know Lorraine. We love hearing from our “Aussie” : ) friends. Would love to visit your country so bad. Half the books I read are set in Australia or New Zealand.
I love soup but my brothers don’t. Does anybody have a secret to getting guys to eat soup?
Maybe if you make it more like a beefy stew – slightly thicker.