Description
Simple turkey noodle soup made with homemade turkey stock and leftover turkey - and a reminder to season it well.
Ingredients
Scale
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 1 medium carrot, peeled and diced
- 1 celery rib, trimmed and diced
- 1 sprig fresh thyme, or 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 2 quarts turkey stock
- 2 cups dried egg noodles
- About 1 cup leftover turkey, shredded into bite-size pieces (optional; I prefer dark meat)
- Salt and pepper to taste
- A dash or two of hot sauce (optional, to taste)
Instructions
- Sauté the vegetables: Heat the oil in a 6 quart or larger Dutch oven over medium-high heat, until shimmering. Add the onion, carrot, celery, and thyme, and sauté until just starting to brown, about 5 minutes.
- Add the stock: Add the stock, raise the heat to high, and bring the pot to a simmer.
- Cook the noodles: Add the noodles and turkey, return the pot to a simmer, and cook for 10 minutes (or for the time on the bag of noodles).
- Season with salt and pepper: Season with salt and pepper to taste - this is CRITICAL! Soup without salt tastes watery, so don't be surprised if it takes what seems like a lot of salt.
- Finish with hot sauce (optional): Add a few dashes of hot sauce, and taste again. The vinegar and slight heat of the hot sauce pick up the flavors. If you don't want any heat, add a splash of cider vinegar or red wine vinegar instead.
Notes
Tasting is the key step. Does it seem bland? Add salt. Need a little "something"? Add some hot sauce, a splash of vinegar, or some fresh lemon - a touch of acidity often helps. Soup usually needs some last minute adjusting - don't skip this step!
Don't add too many noodles! They absorb a lot of stock, and if you add half a package you'll wind up with noodle stew.
Turkey rice soup: Replace the noodles with an equal amount of leftover rice.
Chicken noodle soup: Replace the turkey stock and turkey with chicken stock and chicken.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes