No more bland zucchini soup. Turkey bones is the secret to a richly flavorful soup.
Zucchini soups have a long reputation for being bland when they’re not being helped by artificial flavorings. Since zucchini is a vegetable with subtle flavor, it could really use help to shine. This time leave your onion soup mix in the pantry and turn to turkey bones as your answer to flavor.
Turkey bones are a step up in flavor from chicken bones. They have a richer depth of flavor than chicken bones without being overpowering like beef bones can sometimes be. Turning turkey bones into turkey stock in 2 hours is all the flavor you need for this soup.
Super Flavorful Zucchini Soup with Turkey Broth
Ingredients
- Either 1 Turkey neck bone + 1 package turkey bones or wings, Or 2 turkey bone packages (bones + wings)
- 2 turkey drumsticks
- Cold water to cover bones
- 6 fresh garlic cloves, sliced in half
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 large Vidalia or Spanish onion, diced
- 4 medium zucchinis, skin on, roughly chopped
- 2 yellow squash, skin on, roughly chopped
- Black pepper, to taste
- More kosher salt, to taste
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast, optional
Instructions
- In a 6-quart pot add turkey bones and turkey thighs. Add cold water to cover bones by an inch.
- Add garlic and salt. Bring liquid to a boil. Reduce to a simmer. Skim any scum (white/brownish foam) that forms on the top of the pot with a slotted spoon or ladle. Allow broth to simmer for two hours until liquid is reduced to a third.
- While broth is simmering, heat a frying pan. Add oil and swirl around the pan until the bottom of the pan is coated in oil. Add diced onions, and don’t stir to allow onions to buildup color (when you mix the pan too much you invite unwanted cold air into your pan which in turn ends up sweating your vegetables as opposed to sautéing). Allow onions to sauté for 2 minutes before stirring. Once the edges of the diced onions develop brown edges (super important for your onions to develop color, its a part of the flavor building for the soup), lower heat and allow onions to cook until translucent. Set aside.
- Remove bones and thighs from the broth. Toss bones and set turkey thighs aside if you’d like to shred it up and add back to the soup (I personally find the meat more on the dry side, so I usually toss it).
- Add chopped zucchini and squash to the pot along with half the sauteed onions. Cover soup with a lid, and allow soup to cook for 30 minutes, or until squash is tender but not overcooked (overcooked squash turns black, avoid that as it doesn’t make for a very appealing color).
- Just before pureeing the soup add the remaining sauteed onions, and nutritional yeast if you choose (I love to add it, it adds a mock cheesy flavor that I find irresistible). Using a hand blender/immersion blender, puree the soup until all the vegetables are broken down and mostly smooth. Aim for a mostly smooth texture but not baby food status (if you over blend you will lose color and texture). Add black pepper. Taste for seasoning, add more salt, or pepper if necessary.
*To amp up the flavor, you can always roast the turkey bones under the high heat of the oven (400⁰F) before adding them to the water. If roasting, go for a lighter roast so the flavor blends well and doesn’t overpower the zucchini flavor.
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This looks yum! And I really appreciate all the little tips interspersed in the recipe…!
Hi Dina!
I’m glad you appreciate my little tips and tricks I insert in my recipes! I try to make recipes easy and helpful that you’ll keep wanting to make them again! Make this soup once and it will be on your soup rotation for a long time!
All the best,
Sarah chana
How many portions does this yield?
How many portions does this recipe yield?
Hi – when do you add more water?
and what flame should the onions start out on