I always add some ditalini pasta and kale to my chicken soup. I don't know if that really improves the flavor but it makes it more hearty IMO.

Hope your DGD gets better soon.

The ditalini pasta suggestion is a great one. Also, spinach (or kale. I prefer spinach) To add flavor? What else? More salt.

Poultry soups are usually fairly bland, unless you add chili peppers or something.

Feed it to the sick one and see how they like it.

Hi - sometimes a squeeze of lemon or lime juice will perk up a blah soup or stew - that extra bit of tang seems to brighten things up - but be careful not to add too much. I go a tablespoon @ a time.

Or maybe a bit of garlic? I don't see it listed. & if there's no fat, that could be the issue too - fat can help the flavours blend.

& sometimes, it just needs more salt - if gd is a little girl, remember kids palates are more sensitive than our jaded adult ones...
HTH

You don't say how much water you used. I only use enough to cover the broken up carcass, and if there are defatted pan drippings available, I add them. I usually add some bay leaves, lovage leaves, sage or oregano leaves, and garlic while it is cooking, and near the end I add some dry sherry. I also cook a whole grain of some kind, usually brown rice or barley, in the broth which thickens it up and makes it heartier. I don't put in salt, but do add a bit of low salt tamari.

a)Cooked the bones with a box of chicken broth; carrots, onions, celery; garlic; ginger; apples; hard apple cider and water ... sage and a good dash of salt and a crack of pepper .... The cooked stock simmered all day yesterday -- and has mellowed in the fridge overnight ....

b)Skim the stock; add fresh veggies including lots of peppery curly parsley and thyme ..... and at various times the soup might contain small potatoes or rice (wild or a mix) or barley ..... and a another bottle of hard cider ..... bring to a boil, set back to simmer, taste, simmer -- then a fresh pinch of salt and grind of pepper ....

c)Set out dishes of soup with bread, butter .... and cheeses and apples ....

The key to the best soups is Time (and thyme) ...... let your soups sit and simmer and simmer and simmer .....

....... and OF COURSE .... add LOTS of leftover meat to the soup too ......

.... sheesh ..... my typing ......

The essential ingredient to tasty turkey soup is cumin... quite a bit of it; a little white wine also helps and bit of chile de arbol; and some Meyer lemon juice.

My chicken and turkey soup used to remind me of dishwater until I got serious about making it better. I don't use water, just broth, and prefer the cartons. I like Swanson's Natural Goodness or Trader Joe's. Better than Bouillon is a paste sold in a jar, and it's rich and flavorful (and salty). Find it next to the cubes. Simmer the leftover roasted bird with carrots, onion, celery, parsley, and thyme. After a few hours, strain out the solids. Add the same fresh veggies and herbs to the pot and cook until tender. Cut up the meat and return to the pot.

I use pappardalle, broken in half, or orecchiette instead of noodles.

Wow! Lots of great ideas. I found that it was better after flavors melding in frig overnight...thicker, too. I added more...lots more...of the chicken spices and noodles, and it is MUCH tastier. Thanks for all your recipes. Am saving to my recipe file.
You're the best. :-)

After straining out solids, I usually put mine back on the stove without a lid and let it simmer and reduce for awhile. That concentrates the flavor and I get a much better result that way.

half stock.. and half water ...

but you dont say if you put any salt in it ...

and unlike a heavily spiced chicken and carcass.. the turkey is so big ... the bones may never have gotten any ... and i presume the skin is gone... and that is where i get a lot of the seasonings for the soup... fishing it out at the end of stock making ...

you dont mention volume.. but a cube or two of bullion ... might just be right ...

of course.. salt can be added at the table... but then the pot never seems right ... which seems the base of your concern ....

lifes to short.. to eat bland soup ... use the salt.. you can figure out how to offset it.. in some other meal ...

of course... i have had a post going in the hosta forum ... there is a simple solution ... fry up some bacon.. and use it as a garnish... float it in the soup .... lol ... bacon solves everything... lol .. [of course.. some might argue.. its just another way of adding salt] ...

anyway ... good luck ...

ken

No water, all stock instead. You can use all chicken stock or half chicken and half vegetable stock. I also use sun dried tomato in my soups (cut in small pieces or slivers, about 3/4 of a foil package for a big pot of soup), and would add cooked wild rice to turkey soup.

I add some fresh thyme and rosemary to mine. Thanks to the person who suggested simmer the soup. I always tend to try to get it cooked in a hurry. My can taste like dishwater too, sometimes...

Yes you can add spinach instead of kale. I often do. Just add almost last, about 30 min before serving.

I also use mostly stock or sometimes chicken broth. I don't care for thyme personally but do add enough salt to taste, especially if you add pasta or rice. A little white pepper is good.

I agree with the others saying use straight broth. I use the Better Than Bouillon low-sodium chicken concentrate. Always better to ADD salt to taste, so start with low-sodium.

Too much water, not enough bird flavor. All that other stuff added to boiling water won't give you chicken soup.

I have found that "chicken feet" enrich the stock along with chicken broth or bouillion.

*For obvious reasons, I didn't share with my family that the Thanksgiving turkey gravy was made with stock that I made with the turkey drippings AND chicken feet (the Spanish grocery store always has them). However, there were so many complements e.g. this is the best turkey gravy I have ever had that I fessed up. Now every year they want to know if I made Chicken Feet Gravy.

Hope your granddaughter is better.

I have always been soup challenged. My MIL made the best beef vegetable--perhaps this secret will help you turkey soup. Turnips, parsnips and Kale--shredded. The shredding seems to really unlock flavors.

Love all these suggestions, but, uh, just cannot quite face the chicken feet , mustangs. :-). Shredding the veggies sounds good, and no more water: stock only! Thanks all, and for your get well wishes!

A big pinch of sugar can enhance a lot of the flavors.

I also like the seasoning Old Bay's.

Agree with OldFixer. All these other ingredients are extraneous. You can add them or not. But if your soup has no flavor without them, there are only three possible reasons. Too much water (for the amount of bones and meat). Not enough salt. Or not enough time. That's it. If you have to add broth to make your soup flavorful, you're not making soup. You're reheating it.