Day After Thanksgiving Soup Recipe

Turkey and stuffing, sweet potatoes, green beans, peas and onions, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pies as far as the eye can see and all the rest. With a Thanksgiving menu like that, the leftovers will be plentiful. For many of us, those leftovers are one of the best parts of the holiday, but after one too many post-holiday turkey sandwiches, it may be time for a change.

Day After Thanksgiving soup makes perfect use of many of the veggie favorites served at the great feast, but perhaps the best leftover used here is one that never made it to the table.

Once the turkey has been carved, those bones left behind in the kitchen may not be much to look at, but the scraps of meat clinging to the carcass and, indeed, the bones themselves, are loaded with amazing flavor just waiting to be mined in a post-holiday soup that will give Thanksgiving leftovers a whole new attitude.

Simmering the carcass to produce a rich stock is easy, but will take several hours. Once ready, though, it becomes a veritable clearinghouse for some of those copious leftovers. More of a guideline than a recipe, every soup will be a little different as you dig through the tupperware to fill the pot. Taste as you go, season as needed and let your palate be your guide.

Day After Thanksgiving Turkey Soup

• Turkey carcass
• 1 large onion, quartered
• 3 carrots, chopped
• 3 stalks celery, chopped
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 quarts water
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 large onion, diced
• 3 stalks celery, chopped
• 3 carrots, chopped
• 1/2 cup rice
• 3 cups turkey, shredded
• 3 cups leftover vegetables (such as peas, green beans, potatoes, brussels sprouts or corn)
• Salt and pepper

Place carcass, onion, carrots, celery and bay leaves and 2 quarts water in a large stock pot, bring to boil and reduce heat to simmer 4 hours.

Strain liquid into another container and discard bones and vegetables.

Sauté garlic, onion, celery and carrots in butter in the stock pot until soft.

Return liquid to pot with sauté, add rice and simmer 20 minutes.

Add shredded turkey and mixed vegetables to pot and continue to simmer 20 minutes more.

Add salt and pepper to taste and serve.