cranberry turkey, butternut squash & caramelized onion soup (orthanksgiving in a pot, for short).

this recipe is a big deal to me, friends. 

the thing about me is, I love to cook, but I've never been one of those people that just find inspiration to create a whole new something out of a bunch of random something's in their kitchen. I will look at a bunch of recipes and combine and tweak until it's mine, but that's usually the extent of it.

but this one was one of those inspired moments. I'm really excited to share it. 

remember this cranberry orange turkey? well, this is a recipe that is for what to do with the leftovers. and we all need more ideas for our leftover turkey, right? and this one pretty much tastes likethanksgiving in a pot. I mean that in a good way.

note: I used homemade stock (from the bone-in turkey breast I use for this recipe). see how I do that at the bottom of this post.

cranberry turkey, butternut squash & caramelized onion soup 

serves six // prep time: 30 minutes, cook time: 30 minutes

ingredients

2 cups leftover cooked cranberry turkey, chopped up

2 cups homemade stock (see directions below)

3 cups water

1 onion, chopped

2 tbsp olive oil, coconut oil, or butter

2 cups butternut squash, diced (I use a bag of frozen)

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp onion powder

1/4 tsp garlic powder

three large handfuls of fresh spinach

directions

in a large stock pot, heat oil or butter on medium heat and add onions. stir occasionally until the start to caramelize (about 10-15 minutes). add chopped turkey to the mix and stir around to brown just a bit. then, add stock and deglaze the bottom of the pot, scraping up the good bits. add water, spices, and butternut squash, bring to a boil, then cover and let simmer for 20 minutes.

add fresh spinach the last few minutes, stir, and simmer until wilted. 

serve and season with salt and pepper.

homemade cranberry turkey stock

prep time: 5 minutes, cook time: 12-24 hours

directions

return bones, skin, and any unwanted meat and juices to the crockpot that you cooked the turkey in. add 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar and 4-5 cups of water. cover and cook on low overnight (all the way up to 24+ hours). ladle and strain broth into a storage container. you can keep it in the fridge for a week, or freeze it for a few months. also, this is such a rich stock, it's pretty concentrated (and so good).

happy (early) thanksgiving.

love.