Portuguese Bread Soup with Leftover Turkey
This Portuguese bread soup uses leftover turkey and stale dinner rolls, and is flavoured with lots of garlic and cilantro for an easy and delicious dinner – just what you need after a big holiday feast!
If you want to make this dish with fresh turkey, roast 1-2 thighs in the oven at 400°F until cooked through. Peel the meat from the bones and shred. Set aside. Put the bones back into the oven and roast until golden. Simmer the bones in 8 cups of water for 4-8 hours. Strain. Use the turkey meat and broth as directed in the recipe.
Wild turkey would be even better in this soup than domestic.
If you’d like to make your own Portuguese buns, try out my recipe!
- Prep Time20 min
- Cook Time40 min
- Total Time1 hr
- Yield4 servings
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons (30ml) cooking oil or lard (rendered turkey fat works best!)
- 2 onions, chopped
- 1 head of garlic, cloves separated, peeled, and minced
- 1 jalapeño, minced
- 1 bunch of cilantro, stems and leaves, chopped
- 8 cups (2L) turkey broth
- 3 cups (400g) cooked shredded turkey meat
- 2 large stale Portuguese buns, cubed, OR 6 cups cubed stale white bread
- Kosher salt
- Black pepper
- 2 hard boiled eggs, sliced
Preparation
Heat the oil or fat in a large pot over medium heat.
Add the onions and cook, stirring, for about 5 minutes.
Add the garlic, jalapeño, and half of the chopped cilantro and cook for another 2 minutes.
Add the broth, shredded turkey meat, and cubed bread.
Cook on a low simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes.
Season to taste with a pinch of salt and pepper (salt levels will depend on how salty your turkey was to begin with).
Add the rest of the cilantro (reserve a pinch for garnishing if you’d like) and stir it in. Take off of the heat.
To serve, ladle into bowls and top with sliced hard boiled eggs (you could also poach or fry the eggs) and a sprinkle of chopped cilantro. Enjoy!
