Make the most of your Thanksgiving turkey and enjoy a delicious, hearty batch of soup as we head into winter temps next week! You will find carrots, parsley, and cabbage, kale, or your greens of choice from Red Roots Farm and Cool Springs Farm at the market on Wednesday!


  • 1 turkey carcass
  • 4 quarts water
  • 4 large carrots, diced
  • 2 stalks celery, diced
  • 1 large onion, diced
  • 1 1/2 cups shredded cabbage, kale, or greens of choice
  • 1 (28 ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes, chopped
  • 1/2 cup uncooked barley
  • 8 oz mushrooms, sliced or chopped
  • 1 (15 ounce) can of corn
  • 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
  • 1 teaspoon dried parsley
  • 1 teaspoon dried basil
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1/4 teaspoon paprika
  • 1/4 teaspoon poultry seasoning
  • 1 pinch dried thyme

Place the turkey carcass into a large soup pot or stock pot and pour in the water; bring to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer, and cook the turkey frame until the remaining meat falls off the bones, about 1 hour. Remove the turkey carcass and any meat from the broth and pick any remaining meat from the carcass. Chop the meat and set aside.

Strain the broth* through a fine mesh strainer into a clean soup pot. Add the chopped turkey to the strained broth; bring the broth to a boil, reduce heat, and stir in the carrots, celery, onion, cabbage or greens, tomatoes, barley, mushrooms, corn, Worcestershire sauce, salt, parsley, basil, bay leaf, black pepper, paprika, poultry seasoning, and thyme. Simmer until the vegetables are tender, about 1 more hour. Remove bay leaf before serving.

*If you wish to remove the fat from the broth, refrigerate broth until the fat rises to the top and solidifies. Remove fat layer with a slotted spoon or skimmer. It may take several hours for the fat to solidify, so boiling the carcass ahead of time – possibly the day before – will be necessary. A fat separator may be used instead to save time.