Great Turkey Soup - Cooks Illustrated

Published November 1, 2000.

To make a great soup with the leftover Thanksgiving bird, add one unusual ingredient.

The Problem

Turkey soup usually starts out with remnants of the holiday bird, resulting in a bland soup with little turkey flavor.

The Goal

A soup with rich turkey flavor that's made without an all-day simmer.

The Solution

Make a classic stock with carrots, onions, celery, and garlic, and enhance the flavor with white wine, which deepens the turkey flavor. After just four hours the stock is fully flavored, ready for additions like noodles, potatoes, or rice, and of course, turkey.

list of recipes

America’s Test Kitchen is a 2,500-square-foot kitchen located just outside of Boston. It is the home of Cook’s Country and Cook’s Illustrated magazines and is the workday destination for more than three dozen test cooks, editors, and cookware specialists. Our mission is to test recipes until we understand how and why they work and arrive at the best version. We also test kitchen equipment and supermarket ingredients in search of brands that offer the best value and performance. You can watch us work by tuning in to America’s Test Kitchen (www.americastestkitchen.com) on public television.