I tried a different coup recipe.. I like turkey dark meat. The thicker soup the better. I used onions, garlic, carrots, cubed rutabaga, cubed sweet potatoes, a can of diced tomatoes, chicken bullion (or chicken stock), mushrooms, celery. I found a pack of 3 drumsticks at Walmart and a pound of ground turkey. I cut apart the drumsticks and threw the meat and bones into the pot. The biggest pot I have. I saved some of the sweet potato and grated it into the pot. It disappears into a thick goo by the end. I usually fold in some spinach toward the end but forgot.
The day before I soaked 1 cup of hulled barley (expensive) overnight, rinsed it, then cooked it separate for around 1 hour. I stirred in the cooked barley near the end of the soup simmer. Cooking separate is easier to control the barley cooking time for me.
It is extremely thick thanks to the goo and the barley. Also kinda fatty. I removed the bones after and made 4 double helpings and froze them.
I have made soups using ground Italian sausage cut into cubes or the sausages cut into 1 inch links or even bratwurst when I ran low on sausage. It works. I tried kielbasa once but it was way too salty. I use cabbage in place of barley to make it thick.
Sometimes you can find frozen turkey thighs at walmart.
