Homemade Turkey Stew

5 from 1 vote

This is going to be more of a guide than an exact recipe, because it is so incredibly versatile and changeable based on individual preference.

Prep Time20 mins

Cook Time1 hr 30 mins

Total Time1 hr 50 mins

Course: Soup, Main Course

Cuisine: American

Servings:

Calories: 95kcal

Author: Beth Ricci

Ingredients

The Basic Ingredients

Homemade broth as much as you want (I usually make a large stock pot of soup at a time, but be sure to leave several inches of space for the liquid level to raise as you add the other ingredients)
The meat that you picked from the bones after making the stock
Salt approximately a tablespoon for a 9 quart stock pot. If you’re doing less, you’ll have to add to taste, and ¼ tsp. pepper. Be sure to add enough salt, or it will taste gross!
1-2 cups each of chopped onion celery, & carrot
Butter

Add Ins (frozen or fresh is fine):

Legumes if they are dried, then they should be soaked and cooked according to package directions prior to adding them to the soup
Potatoes chopped (I think sweet potatoes would be interesting and I want to try that next. They have more nutrients than their white counterparts).
Brown rice
Green beans
Broccoli
Sweet peppers
Tomatoes
Peas
Corn though corn is a GMO crop, so I personally avoid it.
Mushrooms
Summer or winter squash
Shredded cabbage
Pretty well any other vegetable you can think of. If you add leafy greens like spinach add them in the last few minutes of cooking, or your whole soup will turn puke green (not that I know from experience…)
You can also add cream or milk to make it a little creamier. I added about half of a cup of whipping cream to my last batch of soup and it was really good.

Add Herbs & Spices*

Marjoram
Parsley
Summer savoury
Sage
Oregano
Basil
Bay leaves 3-4

Instructions

Lightly saute the onion, celery, and carrot in a 1/3 cup of butter, melted in the stock pot (you don’t even need to wash it after making the stock, just make sure there aren’t any bones or gristle left in it) on medium-low heat. For the love of all that is good and holy, I beg you to never ever use margarine. Please don’t adulterate all of your hard work in making broth from scratch by ruining it with junk.
Once the onions are more or less translucent, go ahead and add the stock, and keep the heat at medium-low. Add your salt and pepper, and spices. Add any of the add ins you desire.
Let your soup simmer for as long as you have until suppertime! An hour or two is great. This soup just gets better as leftovers, and it freezes great. The same rules for freezing apply to soup as well (ie. leave an inch of headroom in your jars, etc). Enjoy!

Notes

My favourite combo is this: stock, turkey/chicken, salt and pepper, onions, carrots, celery, green beans, peas, broccoli, red or yellow peppers, potatoes, a bit of heavy cream (or twice the amount of milk instead), with oregano, summer savory, marjoram, and bay leaves. Simple and divine.

*I would recommend choosing just 3-4 spices, and then add about a teaspoon of each (if they’re dried; a tablespoon or so if you’re using fresh herbs). I pretty well always use just bay leaves, summer savory, oregano, and marjoram. Of course, I always use fresh garlic too. I generally use around 6-8 cloves, crushed, and more if you’re sick because of its fantastic healing properties. Add the garlic near the end because the benefits are most potent in raw form. Plus, one of the best parts of making homemade stew is that all of the nutrients from the vegetables stay in the broth as you cook it, unlike when you steam or boil veggies as a side dish.

Since we minimize grain consumption in our house, and I prefer not to eat soup by itself, I usually serve this with a salad. It’s the perfect meal, really: low-carb, nourishing, frugal, easy, delicious. Plus, my kids and husband all love it.

**Nutritional Information is calculated roughly for my favourite combo. Exact amounts will vary.

Nutrition