A turkey soup made from scratch, that is easy to make and perfect for colder days in the fall and winter. This soup is made using the carcass of leftover turkey, and it is filled with the delicious flavours of herbs and spices to complement the turkey flavours.
This soup was originally published on December 27, 2021. It has been updated with new information on October 14, 2025.
Homemade Turkey Soup is one of the best and easiest dishes to make from leftovers at Thanksgiving or Christmas. It is the perfect soup to warm you up on a cold, rainy, or snowy day.
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How To Make Soup From Turkey Carcasses
This recipe uses the carcass of a turkey, also known as the “soup bones.” This is what remains after the turkey has been carved. There is a lot of flavour waiting to be released from those bones.
Boiling the soup bones with carrots, onion, celery, and garlic makes a great soup base. Then you add in some rice or pasta and a few more vegetables, and you have a soup that can be served as a meal.
Ingredients Needed For Homemade Turkey Soup
To make this soup recipe, you will need the following ingredients:
- The carcass of a cooked turkey.
- Garlic.
- Onions.
- Carrots.
- Celery.
- Whole bay leaves.
- Salt.
- Pepper.
- Water.
Soup Add-ins
This soup can be made in many different ways. The stock is easy to make, and then you can add whatever you have on hand to create a different flavour every time.
Sometimes we add cooked rice to the soup. Other times, we add cooked pasta. Diced or cubed cooked potatoes can also be added.
When it comes to vegetables, other vegetables can be added besides the ones used to make the stock. Corn, peas, diced butternut squash, canned diced tomatoes, and green beans are just a few suggestions.
We add whatever we have on hand at the time. And this varies from Thanksgiving to Christmas, when we make this soup the most.
Removing the Bones
The hardest part of making this soup is removing the bones. You want to make sure you remove all the bones before serving, especially the smaller bones.
To do this easily, we use a wire skimmer along with a set of tongs to remove the larger bones. Then, to remove the smaller bones, we use a mesh strainer. You will catch some carrots and celery along with the bones. We pick out the bones and return the vegetables to the pot.
Alternatively, you can also strain the pot through a mesh strainer into another large pot, then pick out the bones and return the vegetables to the pot with the stock. This is what we do when we only want to keep the stock for use in other dishes. We discard all the bones and vegetables.
Serving Homemade Turkey Soup
This recipe is a dish we make and eat during the colder times of the year. It is perfect for cooler fall days and even colder winter days.
The soup makes a great lunch or dinner. We like to serve it with homemade dinner rolls, crackers, or corn bread.
How Do You Store Homemade Turkey Soup?
Homemade Turkey Soup can be stored in mason jars and canned. If you are not sure how to do it properly, there are easy-to-follow instructions on Bernardin’s website. This way of storing the soup will allow you to enjoy the soup all winter long.
You can also store it in the fridge in airtight containers or mason jars. This will keep the soup fresh for up to 5 days.
Freezing the soup in single-serving sizes in air-tight containers is also a good way to keep the soup for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature or in the fridge, then reheat in the microwave. This way is perfect for weekday lunches throughout the winter. Just take the container out the night before, and it will be ready for lunch the next day.
The base recipe can also be canned or frozen for later use. Before adding any add-ins, you can store the base in air-tight containers or mason jars for use later. This is usually how we do it, then we add cooked vegetables and pasta or rice when we are ready to serve it.
Get Creative With This Soup
This soup is mainly about the stock. This is the most important part of the soup. After the base recipe is made, what you add to the soup is up to you. This changes for us almost every time we make it.
And when it comes to the kids, they like to add different vegetables and pasta than what I would normally add. They used to like alphabet pasta in their soup. Now they add shells or macaroni.
Get creative. Add the vegetables you have on hand. Add your favourite vegetables or try some of our suggestions.
Have you made this recipe for turkey soup from scratch? Let us know in the comments below.
Homemade Turkey Soup
Ingredients
Soup Base
- 1 leftover turkey bones from a whole turkey
- 6-12 cups water (you will need enough to cover the bones)
- 6-8 medium sized carrots, roughly chopped
- 6-8 celery stalks, roughly chopped
- 2 cooking onions, roughly chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, chopped
- 2 Tbsp kosher salt
- 4 whole bay leaves
- 1 Tbsp freshly ground black pepper
Soup Add-ins
- 1-2 cups cooked rice or pasta
- 1 can diced tomatoes
- 2 cups frozen corn
- 2 cups cooked potatoes, cubed
Instructions
- Place turkey bones in a large stock pot and add enough water to cover the bones.
- Add carrots, celery, onions, garlic, bay leaves and salt and pepper.
- Bring to boil over high heat.
- Allow to boil for 15 minutes, then reduce heat and simmer for 2 hours, covered.
- Remove cover and simmer another 30 minutes.
- Remove from heat.
- Remove bones from the pot using a wire skimmer, making sure to remove all the smaller bones. *see notes
- Pick any visible meat remaining on the bones and return the meat to the pot.
- Add rice, pasta, potatoes or any other add-ins to the soup.
- Return the pot to the stove and heat to a simmer.
- Simmer 5 minutes to heat the add-ins.
- Serve hot.
