The Thanksgiving Ingredient That Can Help You Make Richer, More Savory Soups

It takes a bit of work to make a proper, perfectly smooth gravy, especially if you're struggling to thicken the sauce. First of all, you're probably dealing with a large portion of meat. In the case of a basic roasted turkey, you're thawing the bird for days before you can even get to the work of basting it like clockwork, careful not to leave the oven door open for too long. And this is still all before you've even whisked those precious pan drippings into a roux. So, if you don't use all up your gravy  back on the bird or atop its accouterments, that extra effort goes to waste. But, happily, leftover gravy also has an easy application outside of your Thanksgiving plate.

You can easily add leftover turkey gravy to tons of soups for savory depth. The key is keeping your textures together; turkey gravy will perform better in creamy soups like bisques or chowders than thinner clear types. It simply blends better into the former variety, because turkey gravy is just a recalibration of some of the ingredients — flour, animal fat, butter, or other dairy — commonly used to thicken those very soups.

If your leftover turkey gravy is the product of a big holiday meal, odds are you aren't whipping up a soup right away. If you've kept it in the refrigerator, where it'll last for three to four days, according to the USDA, bring it back up to room temperature before use. You can also freeze turkey gravy for up to six months, in which case you'll need to thaw it to its original composition. Then, you can slowly stir a few tablespoons or even a whole cup into your homemade or store-bought soups.

Vegetable-based soups are an excellent option for a gravy jolt. Mixed in with a creamy roasted tomato soup, your comforting cup assumes an extra umami kick. Split pea soup, which is often enhanced with ham, also marries particularly well with the viscous sauce. Likewise potato leek, squash, and even French onion varieties work well with this addition. As long as you pair turkey gravy with soups of a similar density, there are myriad opportunities to make the most of this essential Thanksgiving condiment. It's also conducive to almost any riff on the next frontier in spoon food: stew.