I've been eating homemade turkey soup made by Ma McCarthy for as long as I can remember. Lucky for me, when I visit my parents I'm often given a mason jar of soup to take home with me and enjoy for lunches. This makes me very joyous because not only does turkey soup warm you up on a chilly day but it is INCREDIBLY nutrient-dense, easy to digest and healing especially if you are making your own stock from scratch.
You've likely noticed that "bone broth" has become a huge trend which is fantastic (more on that after the recipe)! Making your own broth/stock is a very smart idea from a nutrition perspective and will yield the tastiest soups too.
Store-bought stocks scare me. You'd be hard pressed to find one that doesn't contain MSG or lab-made ingredients. The organic ones are better of course but even those have far too much added sodium to preserve it for months. The best thing to do is make yourself. Then you can give it to your daughter, friend or mother to enjoy ;)
Here is my wonderfully flavourful and healing recipe for Turkey Quinoa Soup of course inspired by Ma McCarthy's Turkey Soup in my book Joyous Health. I made it after Thanksgiving weekend in Canada because I took home the organic turkey carcass.
If you are particularly sensitive to grains, just omit the quinoa.
Ingredients
- 8 cups stock* (approximately) The less you have the thicker the soup will be.
- 2 cups (approx) of organic turkey in bite-size pieces
- 3/4 cup uncooked quinoa
- 1/2 cup chopped raw celery
- 3/4 cup chopped raw carrots
- 2 cups whole cooked tomatoes (bottled or canned)
- Good pinch of sea salt and black pepper
- Other seasonings: I like to add dried rosemary, oregano, basil and thyme.
- Pinch of love
Instructions
- Place all ingredients into a large soup pot. Bring to a soft boil and reduce to simmer for 25-30 minutes. The quinoa should be fully cooked at around 15 minutes. Enjoy immediately!
- The secret to a tasty soup is the broth. I strongly recommend you make your own. It's actually really easy.
Notes
Make your own stock! There is a recipe in Joyous Health on page 182 as well.
8 cups filtered water
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar (helps to extract minerals)
1 organic turkey carcass
3 onions roughly chopped
3 garlic cloves
2 stalks celery
2 carrots
1 tsp Dried Italian seasonings
You may want to put each of the ingredients into a cheesecloth as it makes it easier to pick them all out once the broth is done.
Put all ingredients into a very large soup pot. Depending how big your carcass is, you may need to add more water. The water should come to the top of the carcass.
Let the ingredients simmer together for at least 4 hours and as long as 24 hrs if you have a slow cooker. Let cool and either use right away for soup or refrigerate overnight.
I really hope you make your own broth from scratch. When you hear experts tout the immune boosting benefits of chicken or turkey soup it's because of a homemade broth. That jiggly stuff on top of the broth you see? Don't toss it out! That's the good stuff. Store-bought broth is missing this jiggly goodness.
These are some of the incredible health benefits of "bone broth":
Improved gut health. Broth soothes the lining of the digestive tract and can aid in healing many digestive disorders from IBS to acid reflux and more.
Helpful to repair leaky gut, per above.
Bone building.
Incredibly anti-inflammatory (excellent for "itis" conditions including arthritis).
Immune boosting and supportive.
Learn more about specific health benefits in this article.
How does it have these health benefits?
Broth has superfood status because of the above health benefits and it is mainly due to amino acids and minerals as mentioned below:
Simmering of the bones and ligaments releases healing compounds including proline, collagen, glycine, glutamine and more.
Broth is such a wonderful source of minerals that are easy to absorb such as calcium, magnesium, potassium etc.
I hope you enjoy my soup and share with your family and friends!
Joyous health to you,
Joy
If carcass unavailable, would you suggest boiling it from raw?
ReplyHi Elena, No, you'll definitely want to be working with precooked turkey for this recipe. Kate - Joyous Health Team
I made this recipe tonight and it was so amazing! Loved it. Great on a cold winters day:) www.westingwellness.com
ReplyI made this soup today and love it! It's light, yet incredibly fulfilling.
ReplyHi Joy, Could this all be thrown in the crockpot? Thanks!
ReplyHi Ashley, We haven't tried it ourselves, but let us know if it turns out. Kate - Joyous Health Team
I am having difficulty finding organic chicken to make my broth. I live in Lasalle, Ont. If you have any information I would truly appreciate it. Thank you! Lise
ReplyI don't have any resources in your area, but perhaps try talking to your local chicken farmers and ask the about their farming practices. Some may follow organic farming methods but choose not to get certified because of the additional costs. Another option would be to stock up next time you're in the city! All the best, Heather- Joyous Health Team
This sounds delicious but the number of cups doesn't show for quinoa, carrots or celery. It's just showing up as question marks.
ReplyHey Chelsea! You should be able to see the measurements now :) Rachel - Joyous Health Team
Is there. Substitute for tomatoes? in the excema book, it mentions to not have tomatoes. Thx u!
ReplyYou could simply omit them and use full-fat coconut milk to add some more substance instead.