When Thanksgiving comes to our home, it’s a joyous time of celebration in giving thanks for all of the blessings the Lord has been so generous to entrust to us. And as much as I love to cook, I try to keep the menu as simple as possible so there’s more time to spend on what matters most – family!
In fact, that’s my goal all-year long – simple, healthy meals that nourish my family without a lot of time and fuss.
A perfect way to accomplish that goal is to ensure there’s always leftovers, especially when it comes to roasting meat. That’s why I’m all about getting the biggest bird that will fit in my pan.
My philosophy is, if I’m going to pull-out all of the stops to make this bird fabulous, then I’d like to get as many meals out of this big boy as possible. Having lots of leftover turkey meat means… lots of delicious meals later that take a lot less time to make!
So as my sweet hubby and boys clear the table after our Thanksgiving feast, I get started on my little post-Thanksgiving tradition of seeing how quickly I can strip the remaining meat from the bones for use in making delicious future meals like this creamy turkey veggie soup.
Of course, the secret to incredibly flavorful and healthy soup is homemade stock. And a good stock starts with the bones. So once it’s just bare bones, the turkey carcass goes right into the slow cooker along with some onion, carrots, celery and whatever herbs I have on hand. Then, I cover it with filtered water and allow the stock to simmer away overnight.
The next day, I remove the bones, strain the stock and smile proudly that we now have some healthy homemade turkey stock perfect for making quick, savory soups, salads and casseroles for easy weeknight dinners.
P.S. For even more delicious ways to use leftover roast turkey (or roast chicken), check out “6 Favorite Recipes Using Leftover Turkey.”
Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp ghee (or butter, if not DF)
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 2 small organic leeks, chopped (white and pale green part)
- 1 cup diced organic carrots, quartered
- 1/2 cup chopped yellow onion
- 1/3 cup chopped celery
- 1 cup sliced cremini mushrooms
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 1/2 lbs. baby red potatoes, quartered (about 20)
- 6 cups homemade turkey or chicken stock
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1/4 tsp dried thyme
- 1/4 tsp dried rosemary
- 1 cup unsweetened almond milk (or coconut milk)
- 2 1/2 cups precooked, shredded turkey (or shredded roast chicken)
Instructions
- Heat a stockpot over medium-high heat. Add the butter, olive oil, leeks, carrots, onion and celery. Sauté until onions and leeks begin to soften (about 6-8 minutes).
- Add the mushrooms, and garlic; continue to sauté about 3-4 minutes, stirring constantly, until mushrooms soften.
- Turn up the heat to high and add the potatoes, turkey or chicken stock, bay leaf and seasonings. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to maintain a gentle simmer. Continue to simmer until potatoes are “al dente.”
- Turn off heat. In a blender or food processor, add the cup of milk, about 2 ladle-fulls of the soup and 1 ladle-full of the broth only. Blend until completely puréed.
- Place puréed soup back in the pot. Add the shredded turkey (or chicken) to the soup. Stir to combine. Cover stockpot and allow soup to sit for 5 minutes to warm the chicken.
- Then, remove the bay leaf and re-season to taste with salt and pepper, if necessary. Serve with grain-free brown bread rolls with a dollop of cranberry sauce. Mmm!!!
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I am going to make this tomorrow. Good way to use turkey and stock. Looks yummy!
Thanks, Shonda! You’re going to love it! Appreciate you taking the time to leave a kind note! xo
My family and I love this soup! I just made it this morning (it’s not November, but I was cleaning out my freezer this week that had a turkey I’d bought on sale), and substituted Ghee for butter, since I’m on a Whole30. Still tastes delicious! It’s my favorite way of using up turkey leftovers, including the bones that I use in my turkey bone broth. It’s a winner, Kelly! Thank you for all you do and for sharing this awesome recipe.
So happy to hear you and your family enjoy this recipe. Good for you doing the Whole30 too! Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a kind note! Much appreciated! 🙂 With blessings, Kelly
Ghee instead of butter would make it dairy free, I guess… worth a try/
Hi, Susan! Thank you SO much for being so kind to leave me a note about this oversight. The recipe should read “butter (or ghee, if DF).” I’ve fixed this boo-boo and again, appreciate you taking the time to let me know. With blessings and gratitude, Kelly
This is not dairy free if there’s butter in it.
Hi, Janet! Thank you SO much for being so kind to leave me a note about this oversight. The recipe should read “butter (or ghee, if DF).” I’ve fixed this boo-boo and again, appreciate you taking the time to let me know. With blessings and gratitude, Kelly 🙂
Hi will be doing this as part of whole 30. Unfortunately I really do not like the taste of ghee, should I just omit it?? Thank-you
You can omit ghee and just use a Whole30-compliant oil. No worries! 🙂 Incase you missed it, I’m leading a September Whole30 and providing free meal plans, recipes and support. You can join here, if you’d like (it’s free): http://eepurl.com/c04Dvb With blessings, Kelly