Hearty Barley Turkey Soup

  4.8 – 56 reviews  • Turkey Soup Recipes

For optimal softness, flavorful grilled bison flank steak is thinly cut against the grain. It is served with a toasted bread salad with tomatoes, fresh mozzarella cheese, and basil leaves.

Prep Time: 10 mins
Cook Time: 3 hrs 35 mins
Total Time: 3 hrs 45 mins
Servings: 12

Ingredients

  1. 5 quarts water, or as needed
  2. 1 turkey carcass
  3. 1 ½ cups coarsely chopped onion
  4. ½ cup chopped carrot
  5. 3 stalks celery, cut in half
  6. 10 whole black peppercorns
  7. 1 large bay leaf
  8. 1 pinch dried thyme, or to taste
  9. 1 ½ pounds carrots, cut into 1-inch chunks
  10. 2 medium onions, diced
  11. 6 stalks celery, cut into 1/2-inch slices
  12. 1 cup barley
  13. ½ cup chopped mushrooms
  14. 2 large bay leaves
  15. 2 teaspoons salt (Optional)
  16. 1 teaspoon dried marjoram
  17. ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
  18. 1 pinch dried thyme

Instructions

  1. Gather all stock and soup ingredients.
  2. Allrecipes/Nelly Cuanalo 
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  4. Make the turkey stock: Combine 5 quarts water and turkey carcass in a large stockpot over medium-high heat; bring to a boil. Add onion, carrot, celery, peppercorns, bay leaf, and thyme. Reduce the heat and simmer, skimming excess fat and foam from the surface as needed and adding more water as it evaporates, for 2 to 2 1/2 hours.
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  7. Remove carcass to a cutting board and cool. Strain stock; discard solids and return liquid to the pot.
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  10. Pull meat from cooled carcass and discard bones. Shred meat and refrigerate until needed.
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  12. Make the soup: Add carrots, onions, celery, barley, mushrooms, bay leaves, salt, marjoram, pepper, and thyme to stock; bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until barley is fully cooked, about 1 hour 20 minutes.
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  14. Return shredded turkey to the soup; simmer until heated through, about 10 minutes. Remove bay leaves and serve.
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  17. If you brined your turkey, use less salt than called for in this recipe.

Reviews

David Smith
Absolutely delicious, husband thought it was the best soup he has ever had. Will make it again.
Michael Phillips
Followed the recipe exactly. Was suprised it was as good and as tasty as it was.
Steven Russell
Flavorful especially with a smoked turkey carcass.
Patricia Sullivan
As I am sure everyone does, I tweaked this to my family’s tastes. Must include: -White pepper instead of black – At least 1 cup of dry wine, white if possible, but whatever is left from dinner, if any – fresh herbs, if available Be careful to use the correct amount of salt and herbs based on how you cooked your turkey.
James Beard
I took the cooking course on how to prepare food for better nutrition and followed Monica Corrado’s recipe to prepare nutrient-dense stock. So basically cooked it for over 24 hours and I had a gelatinous layer of about an inch in my stock and a rich golden brown coloring that you couldn’t see through. It’s flavoring is far superior to anything on the market or that you can make in a couple hours. Check out Monica’s website ‘Simply Being Well’ if you are interested in that kind of thing.
Michael Williams
Turned out delicious. I also added corn and potatoes.
Joshua Mayer
This is my first endeavor at using a turkey carcass to make soup and it did not disappoint. I followed the directions exactly as given and really would not change a thing when I make it again.
Deborah Ward
This is the second year I have made it and it has turned out to be excellent both times. The only change I might make is to add a little more barley. This year I had access to a number of turkey carcasses so I will be making more of this soup. (Luckily I have a place to store frozen carcasses too.)
Douglas Perez
This is a delicious hearty soup and a great way to make use of that leftover carcass. My family enjoyed this so much, made without altering the shown recipe, that I’ve bought 2 rotisserie chickens and the vegetables called for in this recipe to make an easy chicken version of this soup. I will pull the white meat off the chickens and cut that up to add to the soup later. But I’ll make the stock from these chicken carcasses instead of a turkey carcass. Thanks for a great basic soup recipe!
Victoria Smith
Perfect. Used the pearl barley. I also liked the larger chunks of carrots as they were sweet and added to the salty broth and chewy barley.
Patrick Brown
This is a variation of a soup recipe I have been making for years. The only difference was to add two 14 oz. cans of diced tomatoes, preferably fire roasted or with italian herbs. It gives it a richer flavor.
Lucas Cantrell
I added mushrooms instead of beans. It turned out well and I liked the clean taste of the clear broth.
Bethany Stevens
very good! when the world is full of prepared food, this makes for a great lunch or end of day meal, especially when its cold outside…hearty, stick to your ribs delicious 🙂
Brian Robertson
This turkey barley soup was so good. We eat it for 2 day was better the second day.
Jeffrey Jimenez
Excellent soup….so much better than regular turkey noodle. We liked it so much I subbed pot barley for the orzo in my Italian Wedding soup recipe. Will probably never use pasta in any soup recipes again. The barley has such a nice chewy texture and creaminess……plus so much healthier!
Jennifer Johnson
This soup was quite tasty – a perfect way to use the leftovers from Thanksgiving!
Sharon Santos
This is a fantastic recipe. I made it with some adjustments. I didn’t have the turkey carcass anymore so used turkey stock (Kitchen Basics brand), which let me bypass step one. (I’ll go back and do it the honest way next time.) I sautéed the vegetables in olive oil for about 5 minutes prior to adding the stock. I substituted oregano for the marjoram, and added rubbed sage (because I wanted a hint of stuffing smell). Extra salt and pepper when I added the turkey. Timing was spot on and received rave reviews! Will definitely make again!
Shannon Hamilton
I had some turkey broth and leftover turkey in my freezer so used that. I made the soup in my instant pot. Sauted the onions, carrots , and celery then added rest of ingredients. Cooked on soup mode for 15 min. Loved the flavor
Jacob Harris
Easy Peazy to make and delicious. It’s the perfect use of all those turkey parts leftover! I added a 1/4 cup of tomato sauce and a bit of anchovy paste which gave the soup a depth of flavor (you don’t taste either).
Jessica Bradley
I didn’t make the stock separately, since I had a turkey roast, but no carcass. I did use all of the other ingredients included in the recipe and it was amazing. I could eat this healthy soup every day. There is nothing better than a bowl of turkey barley soup on a snowy day.
Beth Allen
Very tasty soup, however I did vary a bit from the recipe by adding cut up potatoes and rutabaga.

 

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