Homemade Chicken And Turkey Soup Recipes (2024)

Homemade Chicken and Turkey Soup Recipes

With the onset of cooler weather, one of the best things to learn to make from scratch is a basic homemade chicken soup stock or soup base. Soup base is so easy to make and can be used for many different dishes. We’ll make the basic homemade chicken broth today. Once you have it made, you can mix and match and put your favorite things into it. You can add rice for chicken and rice soup, barley for barley soup, use it to boil noodles for chicken and noodles or make simple Bisquick dumplings for chicken and dumplings. I also like to use it to cook rice in place of water.

It is also helpful to keep some frozen soup base that you can quickly grab and use when you need it for things like broccoli soup or egg flower soup.

Easy Homemade Chicken Soup Recipe

This first version, which is similar to what many people use, is in the Dining on a Dime Cookbook, Volume 1. The second recipe is my own quicker version which I like just as well. It is a little easier and much faster. You choose which you have time for. They are both good.

Easy Chicken Soup

2-3 chicken necks
1 bay leaf
2-4 chicken wings
2 medium carrots, sliced
3 quarts water
2 medium onions, diced

4 chicken bouillon cubes
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 tsp. salt

Bring first 6 ingredients just to boil in a large pot. Skim off foam and discard. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, 2 1/2 hours or until the chicken is very tender. Strain the liquid. Cool and refrigerate so the fat can be removed easily.

Let the meat cool until it can be handled. Remove meat from bones. Discard bones. Skim fat. Bring to a boil and add last 3 ingredients. Simmer 30 minutes and serve. Makes about 12 cups broth or soup.

Half the broth may be removed before adding vegetables and frozen up to 6 months.

My Chicken Soup Recipe

4-5 chicken necks and wings
about 4 quarts of water
If I have a bay leaf or a couple of carrots, I will throw them in.

I sprinkle with all of the following to taste:

salt and pepper
onion powder (about 1 tsp.)
garlic powder (about 1 tsp)
2 chicken bouillon cubes

Cover and simmer for 2-5 hours, depending on when I remember it.

Take out the chicken pieces. Strain, cool and remove the fat. Add the meat from the chicken back in and toss the bones.

When I get ready to use it or reheat it I taste it to see if it needs more salt, onion powder, etc.

You can make turkey soup the same way. To me, turkey soup is one soup where less is best. The less of the seasonings you use, the more you can get the yummy flavor of the turkey.

Turkey Soup Recipe

turkey bones
water
garlic powder (to taste)
onion powder (to taste)
salt (to taste)
pepper (to taste)

Place turkey bones in a large pot and cover with water. Simmer, following directions for Basic Chicken Soup. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Here is one last turkey soup recipe, which is a big help if you want to cook your soup right after Thanksgiving because it helps you use many leftovers besides just the turkey.

Glorified Turkey Soup

You can not only use your leftover turkey with this recipe but vegetables like the carrots, celery and green pepper sticks from your leftover relish dish or leftover cooked carrots or green beans.

Leftover turkey bones
5-6 cups water
3 garlic cloves or garlic powder
2 bay leaves
1 tsp. dried thyme
1 tsp. rubbed sage
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup barley, uncooked*
Leftover cooked and uncooked veggies

Place turkey bones and spices in a large pot and simmer for 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Remove bones from broth and pick off meat. Add barley and uncooked veggies and simmer for 45 minutes. Add in the cooked veggies 15 minutes before it’s done. Freezes well.

*You can also replace the barley with spaghetti noodles. Just add them in the last few minutes with the cooked veggies instead of cooking for 45 minutes.

-Jill