Homemade Turkey Soup

Use your leftover holiday turkey to make from-scratch soup packed with barley and vegetables. MORE+ LESS-

Carcass from cooked 10- to 12-lb turkey

quarts (12 cups) water

teaspoon salt

1/2

teaspoon pepper

1/4

teaspoon poultry seasoning or dried sage leaves

dried bay leaf

1/2

cup uncooked pearl barley

medium carrots, sliced (1 1/2 cups)

large onion, chopped (1 cup)

medium stalks celery, sliced (1 cup)

cups cut-up cooked turkey

tablespoons chopped fresh parsley, if desired

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1

Break up turkey carcass to fit 6-quart Dutch oven. Add water, salt, pepper, poultry seasoning and bay leaf. Heat to boiling over high heat; reduce heat to low. Cover; simmer 1 hour 30 minutes.
2

Skim off any residue that rises to the surface. Remove bones, meat and bay leaf from broth; cool. When cool enough to handle, remove meat from bones and cut into bite-size pieces; set aside. Discard bones and bay leaf.
3

Skim fat from broth; discard. Add turkey meat cut from bones to broth; stir in barley. Heat to boiling; reduce heat to low. Cover; simmer 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4

Stir in carrots, onion, celery and 3 cups cooked turkey. Simmer uncovered 20 to 25 minutes longer, stirring occasionally, until vegetables and barley are tender. Stir in parsley.

Turn this into Homemade Turkey-Vegetable Soup by adding up to 3 cups raw or cooked vegetables, such as whole kernel corn, green peas, diced potatoes, sliced zucchini, sliced mushrooms or any combination, along with the carrots, onion and celery.
An easy way to add layers of flavor is to use poultry seasoning. A blend of sage, thyme, marjoram, rosemary, black pepper and nutmeg, this seasoning lends a subtle savory note to chicken and turkey dishes.