Turkey Day is almost here and visions of mashed potatoes, stuffing and turkey fill my head … and soon — my belly! Max is also very excited for two very important reasons: he doesn’t have to wear clothes and Mama gives him extra treats. His excitement went through the roof when he learned that a really big birdie was a part of the holiday. It slightly dimmed when I told him a really big live birdie wasn’t part of our celebration. 🙂 I love him and am really grateful to have him in my life but not that grateful! Max is definitely the kind of cat who plays with his food!
I know everyone is still busy getting ready for the big meal but I’m thinking ahead about what to do with all those leftovers. Now I’m always up for at least one more repeat of Thanksgiving dinner but endless repeats do get a bit old. Many people fall back on the traditional turkey tetrazzini or other casseroles or a good turkey grinder sandwich to use up their remnants of Thanksgiving dinner. But those all scream leftovers to me and this soup does not.
It appears to be a bit of a copycat recipe of the Italian Garden version. Because I have not tried their version, I cannot attest to how close of a copycat it is. What I do know is this soup is really, really good. And it will help you use up a ton of leftovers without feeling like Thanksgiving leftovers, which is really important if you have a family who hates leftovers.
Stove-Top Soup Instructions for Leftovers
The full ingredient list is in the recipe card below, but I’m going to quickly walk through how to make it with your holiday leftovers as it will be slightly different since your meat is already cooked. Because of this, I would not make the soup in the crockpot.
Instead, I would start with cooking your bacon in a large soup pot. Once browned, remove the bacon to drain on paper towels. Leave about 1 tablespoon of bacon fat in the pot and add carrots, onions and celery. Sauté for 5 minutes then stir in garlic and cook for another minute. Add chicken broth, evaporated milk, spices and cornstarch mix. Bring to a boil, then turn down to a simmer. Cook for another 20-30 minutes (or how ever long it takes you to make the gnocchi). Add chicken, beans and gnocchi. When gnocchi rises to the top, remove with a slotted spoon and let drain on flat surface. Stir in spinach and when it is wilted, the soup is ready to serve. Place a few gnocchi in each bowl and ladle soup over them.
A Very Versatile and Delicious Soup
This is the kind of soup you can really play around with the ingredients. The base is delicious. Creamy without being heavy, thanks to the evaporated milk. It’s perfect for using leftover chicken (although again if you are – I would probably not make it in the crockpot but follow the stove-up instructions above). If you don’t have time to make gnocchi from scratch, use pre-made or add big chunks of potatoes instead. If some fennel, kale, zucchini or even corn are languishing in your fridge — add them too.
I love this soup. It tastes fabulous, makes a large quantity and reheats beautifully. Now that’s how you use up Thanksgiving Day leftovers or make a great, easy soup from scratch. Your choice.
Ingredients
- 1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 2-4 carrots, sliced
- 2 celery stalks, diced
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 2 12 oz. cans evaporated milk
- 1 14 oz. can white beans, rinsed and drained
- 6 slices bacon
- 2-3 cloves garlic, finely minced
- 8-10 ounces fresh baby spinach, rinsed and drained
- 2 cups cold mashed potatoes
- 1 cup flour
- 1 egg, beaten
- 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
- Place the chicken, onion, carrots, celery, basil, Italian seasoning, poultry seasoning, salt, and broth in a 6 quart crockpot. Cover and cook on low for 6-7 hours.
- Remove chicken and shred with two forks. Add back to the crockpot (You can technically shred the meat in the crockpot but I wanted to confirm the chicken was fully cooked).
- Add cornstarch to 2 Tablespoons of water. Stir until dissolved, then add cornstarch mixture, the evaporated milk, beans and gnocchi. Stir and cover.
- In a skillet, fry bacon until crispy. Drain on paper towel and chop into small pieces.Drain most of the bacon fat from the skillet but leave about a tablespoon. Add garlic and spinach and stir until spinach is wilted.
- Once gnocchi float to the top, remove with a slotted spoon and place a few in each bowl. Set extras on a flat surface, so they don't stick together. Stir in spinach mixture to soup. Ladle soup into bowls over the gnocchi. Top with a few bacon bits and serve.
- Spread 1/2 cup of flour onto your work surface. You might want to line it with parchment paper first for easier clean-up. Place the mashed potatoes over the flour and form a well in the potatoes. Pour the beaten egg in it. Sprinkle salt over the egg. Top with the remaining 1/2 cup of flour. Work the egg, salt and flour into the potatoes with either your hands or a pastry scraper.
- Once everything is roughly mixed together, gently knead the dough for a couple of minutes. If the dough is still too sticky to handle or roll out, add a bit more flour. Use a small amount because too much flour will make the gnocchi hard. So start small and keep adding a tablespoon or two until the dough is no longer goopy.
- Divide the dough into four pieces. Roll each piece of dough into a rope until it's about 3/4" in diameter. Cut into lengths of 3/4″.Press your thumb or the back of a fork in the center of each piece of gnocchi. Now it's ready to be boiled or frozen for future use.
Notes
Generally whenever I make a soup that contains pasta, I cook and store the pasta separate from the soup. Pasta left in the soup, soaks up all the liquid and turns horribly mushy and gross. Gnocchi isn't quite as bad, but to play it safe, I still store it separately. Because cooked gnocchi rises, I do cook it in the soup, since it is easy to fish it out, unlike most pastas.
Most gnocchi recipes use potatoes without added ingredients whereas my mashed potatoes were true leftovers with plenty of butter, salt, sour cream and cream cheese mixed in and they turned out great.
I did not use all the gnocchi and froze some for a future use. To freeze, line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and a light dusting of flour. Spread the gnocchi over the pan without touching. Freeze for up to 1 hour and then quickly place gnocchi in airtight container and return to the freezer. When ready to use, add to salted boiling water and remove when the gnocchi float to the top. I love adding cooked gnocchi to butter to brown them lightly then topping them with a favorite pasta sauce and some parmesan cheese.
Recipe adapted from Pinch of Yum.
Max and I are so grateful to our readers and truly appreciate your support. We wish everyone a safe and joyous Thanksgiving, filled with good food, friends and plenty of gratitude.
Tanya and Max
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