This is a family favorite. My husband is our soup maker, and can throw together a mean soup on a whim. I have learned the art from him, and homemade chicken noodle soup is one of our favorites. We decided to change it slightly and use some of our leftover turkey and the drippings from our Thanksgiving turkey. It was awesome! Make sure you check my note as far as broth/drippings/bullion is concerned.

Turkey Noodle Soup

5 c. turkey drippings* (see note below if starting with chicken broth or chicken bullion cubes + water)

5 c. water* (again, see note below if starting with chicken broth or chicken bullion cubes + water)

1-1/2 c. turkey, cubed

1 large carrot (about 1 c.), diced

1 medium potato (about 1 c.), cubed

1 bay leaf

1 tsp. onion flakes

dash chili powder

2-1/2 c. penne pasta (dry)

salt & pepper to taste

1. Combine first 8 ingredients (broth through onion flakes) in large pot. Bring to boil, and simmer until potatoes and carrots have softened. This is a good time to check your broth flavor and adjust water and/or salt and pepper as necessary.

2. Add your noodles and bring to boil again. Simmer until noodles are to desired consistency.

3. Check your salt and pepper.

Enjoy!!

Also, check out these other leftover ideas: French’s Crunchy Onion Chicken, Roasted Turkey Quesadillas, Pesto Turkey Pizza, Stove Top Casserole

*Note: We used 5 c. turkey drippings which needed to be diluted with 5 c. water to get the perfect flavor. If starting with canned chicken broth, you may need closer to 10 c. broth with adding very little water. If doing chicken bullion and water, you’ll probably need more like 7 cubes with 10 c. water. Play around with the flavor. Salt is so key to having good flavor, but too much is awful.