My home made Turkey & Rice soup, so delicious on a cold snowy day!

I thought I should do you a favor and share my recipe for home made Turkey & Rice soup, while you can enjoy it during these bitter cold and snowy days. I'm not one to toot my own horn but I do make a mean soup! 

I usually make this soup right after Thangsgiving, it's a great way to get rid of your leftover turkey. This Thanksgiving we bought Prime rib and a large turkey cut in half for those who didn't eat beef. The extra half had to get eaten so I decided to make my home smell like my favorite holiday and roasted it up. We feasted on it for a couple of meals then I made soup with the rest.

I'm always health conscious and make as many foods as I can from scratch, and soups are the easiest. I make a huge pot so we can enjoy it for a couple of meals and I even send some home with my so-in-law, it's also very economical. We love soup and it tastes so good on a blustery winter day. I make chicken soup this very same way so if you don't have half a turkey laying around, you could make Chicken & Rice soup.

I don't have "recipes" for my soups but I can tell you how I make them, and my secret to get the rich soup base that makes soups delicious. If you want to make sure you get most of the fat out of the soup before you make it, it's best to make the stock the day before so you can let it sit in the refrigerator over night. Then continue the next day.

My "foodie" son-in-law said it "was the best home made Turkey Rice soup he's ever had!" and that is a HUGE compliment coming from him.

The first thing I do is to put the turkey carcus on a cookie sheet, pour the juice from the roasted turkey into a bowl with a lid and put it in the refrigerator. You will want to leave it in the refrigerator long enough for the fat to rise to the top so that you can skim some of it off.

Remove all the turkey that you can from the bones and set aside.

Put all of this into a large stock pot, all of it.......

all pieces.......of wing, skin, EVERYTHING but the gobble:)

Add enough water to cover all and bring it to a boil, then let it cook on low for several hours.

After you've cooked the goodness out of all the nasty stuff, strain it over another pot so all you have left is the broth. Discard all the nasty stuff. Pour the broth into the stockpot that you will be making the soup in and..........

add the broth or stock from the roaster that you skimmed the fat off of, (that you had in the refrigerator). 

Here is what delicious turkey stock looks like:)

While you are making your stock you want to chop up some onion, carrots, and celery (leaves and all)

Add all of these ingredients to the stock and cook until your vegetables are tender.

I always add soup base to my soups to make sure it's extra flavorful. Keep adding until it tastes to your satisfaction. The instructions on the back says to add teaspoonfuls, but I add a bunch! I had to laugh the first time I tried to make soup with soup base, a teaspoon is nothing......dump it in until it's delicious! But add it a bit at a time and keep taste testing it. I've used different brands of this stuff and I've found them to be all the same.

Now add your turkey and rice*, cover and cook until the rice is done, about 45 minutes. I don't use minute rice, I use Uncle Ben's brown rice.

And here you go, delicious Turkey & Rice soup!

It tastes especially good when it's cold and snowy out!

*you can add noodles instead of rice, just cook the noodles according to package directions.

ENJOY!