The Best Leftover Turkey Soup
This creamy vegetable, turkey, rice soup is the best leftover turkey soup ever. I always keep the recipe on hand for after holiday meals like Thanksgiving!
I know you are probably knee deep in pie crust, recipe prep, and chaotic stress right now. And I don’t want to interrupt you.
But please promise you’ll bookmark this recipe and revisit it the day after Thanksgiving, because trust me, you don’t want to miss your chance to use some of those precious turkey leftovers in this incredibly delicious soup.
It is one of the best soups EVER. Good news: in the off-turkey season, it works great with cooked chicken. However, I have to say that I like it better with turkey. I don’t know why. I’m sure there’s some placebo effect going on in there, but either way, it’s one of my favorite ways to use turkey leftovers.
And that’s saying a lot because this girl looks forward to Thanksgiving each year mainly in anticipation of leftover turkey sandwiches on homemade rolls.
This soup is loaded with really good things
The base of the soup begins with sautéed carrots, celery, onions and a few simple, fragrant seasonings. You could probably throw in some garlic, too. It’s a homey…yet delicious start.
What kind of rice to use for leftover turkey soup
Once a little broth is added (leftover turkey stock? use it!), in goes the rice. Now, this part is open to wild interpretation. If you only have white rice, use it! But this turkey soup is fantastic with hearty brown rice or a brown and wild rice combo.
I like to use a brown rice blend with some different varieties of brown rice and some wild rice, too. I’m pretty sure I found it at Costco, but you can search the rice aisle for a blend that works for you and then adjust the simmering time to account for whatever variety you are using.
Brown and wild rices will take longer to cook than white rice.
How to easily thicken the soup
My favorite thickening hack for creamy soups is to blend flour with milk or half and half and whisk that into the soup instead of making a separate roux on the stovetop. It also saves a few calories since no butter is involved – a slight travesty, but worth it in the long run.
I mean, we all just indulged in probably the highest calorie meal of the year, so omitting a little butter is in the good interest of us all.
In this soup, I use half and half, but milk will work just fine (avoid skim milk if you can – it can turn the soup grainy and doesn’t thicken the soup as well).
Then in goes the turkey! I use a mix of white and dark meat. And like I mentioned above, if you are viewing this post in March and there’s no leftover turkey in sight, go ahead and throw in some cooked chicken. No one will be the wiser.
However, if you have enough leftover turkey to freeze, you CAN make it in March and relive savory Thanksgiving flavors again.
This soup is thick and creamy, hearty and comforting.
It takes on some serious creamy chicken and wild rice vibes, yet it still lives in its own little world. The turkey and simple seasonings make sure of that.
I actually think it’s my favorite creamy veggie + rice soup in the long lineup of similar soups I have on my blog. It is the perfect soup for a cold night (especially a day or two after an indulgent holiday meal).
While languishing in your pie and homemade roll comas, promise me you won’t forget about this one!
What to Serve With This:
One Year Ago: Chocolate Truffle Cookies
Two Years Ago: Creamy Homemade Hot Chocolate {in 15 minutes or Less}
Three Years Ago: Glazed Cranberry Lemon Cake
Four Years Ago: Make-Ahead Buttermilk Dinner Rolls
Five Years Ago: Yummy Fresh Cranberry Salsa
Six Years Ago: Triple Chip Pumpkin Oatsies
Seven Years Ago: Black and White Holiday Bark
Eight Years Ago: Vegetable Sauté with Simple Cream Sauce
The Best Leftover Turkey Soup
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 tablespoon olive oil or avocado oil
- ½ cup chopped carrots
- ½ cup chopped celery
- ½ cup finely chopped onion
- ¼ teaspoon dried thyme or 1 teaspoon fresh, chopped
- ¼ teaspoon crushed dried rosemary or 1 teaspoon fresh, chopped
- 6 cups chicken or turkey broth/stock, I use low-sodium
- ½ to ¾ cup brown rice or brown rice blend (see note)
- 2 teaspoons salt, I use coarse, kosher salt
- Pinch of black pepper
- 1 cup half and half (see note)
- ⅓ cup all-purpose flour
- 3 to 4 cups cooked, chopped leftover turkey
Instructions
- In a 6-quart saucepan or pot, heat the butter and oil until hot over medium heat. Add the carrots, celery, onion, thyme and rosemary and cook, stirring often, until vegetables are slightly tender, 3-4 minutes.
- Add the broth, rice, salt and pepper. Bring the soup to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking, until the rice is tender. The exact time will depend on variety of rice and package directions. For a brown and wild rice blend, the time will be about 30 minutes.
- Whisk together or blend the half and half and flour until smooth and there are no lumps. Stir the flour mixture into the soup, whisking quickly, and simmer gently until slightly thickened, 5-6 minutes.
- Stir in the cooked turkey and heat through. Season to taste with additional salt and pepper, if needed. Serve.
Notes
Recommended Products
Recipe Source: from Mel’s Kitchen Cafe (inspired by a recipe my friend, Machele H., gave me years ago)
217 Comments on “The Best Leftover Turkey Soup”
I have made this with regular milk and no milk with great tasting results depending on dietary needs. Hubby said it was the best ever turkey soup I made. He didnt even know the name of this soup (wink, wink).
I only have quinoa on hand. Do you think that would work as well? If so, should I cook it seperate then add it like the turkey?
Quinoa should work great! I would probably cook it in the soup just like the rice.
This was the best turkey soup I’ve ever made or tasted – bar none. I didn’t make the rice in the turkey broth, per the directions (I didn’t want to be at the mercy of the timing on the rice). Because I cooked down the turkey a day in advance, I wanted all of the ingredients ready to put the dish together. I live in Chesapeake, VA and my local Harris Teeter had a brown, white, wild, basmati rice mixture that worked well and their cook time was spot-on for getting the rice done properly. Mel’s recipe says 1/2-3/4 cup of rice. I split the difference but wish I’d gone with the 3/4 cup. I also added sage to the spice mixture.
After having it for two nights, I’m probably going to try to make it next time with diced potatoes instead of rice and go a little heavier on the sage. I may also try it with dumplings instead of the rice (but may still include some diced potatoes for a more Thanksgiving flare. Also, I always freeze the leftover stuffing that’s done outside the bird when I make a turkey, so this creamy soup served over stuffing leftovers makes my mouth water just thinking about it.
This was the absolute BEST turkey soup. I used only wild rice which gave it the great comfy flavor. My BF said it was the best soup ever!
This left-over soup is amazing! I don’t usually like turkey, but found a great recipe this Thanksgiving to use. We had leftovers and I don’t like leftovers. But now I am thinking turkey for Christmas so I can make this soup! Even days later this soup was still so yummy (this is my first written food review because of how great this soup is!)
The author is spot on! I followed the directions precisely. THIS IS THE BEST TURKEY SOUP THAT HAS TOUCHED THESE LIPS.
Next time, I’m thinking of adding tarragon (perfect in white cream soups) and maybe a splash of sherry. Yum.
This was delicious and so easy to make!!!
I’ve experimented with a lot of unique post-Thanksgiving turkey soups, and this one is for sure the tastiest. I didn’t have wild rice so I subbed brown, which worked fine. I can only imagine that wild rice would be even better!
Amazing!!!! I tripled the recipe and it will most likely be home in 2-3 days!
Very good soup – my husband and I loved it? Tasted just like thanksgiving ….
Nice change from my usual after thanksgiving soup.
Has anyone tried to freeze this?
This was an awesome recipe and my family ate the whole thing! I had none left for leftovers! At least I got to use up all the turkey leftovers from Thanksgiving. Definitely a recipe I would love to make again!!! I substituted half and half with heavy cream. Much creamier!!! A+
On a cold fall day I sat at work craving some type of broth based turkey soup. I knew I could find a recipe on your site Mel. And this did not disappoint! I followed the recipe as is using the 2% milk I had on hand which thicker beautifully. It reminded me of your Chicken Gnocchi soup and reminded my son & hubby of chicken pot pie without the peas. It was enjoyed by all. I am already looking forward to leftovers! Thanks again Mel for a fantastic recipe!
We’re getting snow tonight and I think this will be perfect for the cold evening! However, my kids are not fans of rice so I plan to make this with noodles. Any suggestions on the type of noodle and when to add them to the soup?
Hmmm, maybe an egg noodle? I’d add the noodles with the broth and veggies and simmer until tender and then add the milk mixture.
Sooo good! Thank you.
I tried using evaporated milk since I had several cans of it and only skim in the fridge – worked out perfectly.
I made this soup, never having made a creamy soup from scratch before. It was also my first time using fresh herbs. I did add bacon because I had some leftover from my breakfast and I subbed jasmine rice since my kid refused to eat to wild rice but it was delicious. Would love to make again with wild rice.
Outstanding! Made only minor changes, like I used only wild rice as that’s what I had extra of without making a special purchase, and had only white meat turkey on hand. Otherwise followed the recipe very closely. I feel that this gives an honest chance for the recipe to show its stuff, at least the first time through.
Nice and thick, no need for any crackers or croutons. I loved it, my wife loved it. Next time, I might cut back a little on salt, as I used full salt broth.
I made this tonight with our leftover turkey and my family could not believe how delicious it was. I only wish I could figure out how to freeze so we could enjoy later in the year.
This is so delicious but I would recommend adding a little slap your Mama seasoning to it, it gives it a little kick and a little more flavor but overall I would make this again!!
Wonderful soup. The only thing I changed was to add mushrooms. I used brown and wild rice with rye.
Delicious recipe! I added some ground sage when sautéing the vegetables, and put in a bay leaf. For some umami, I added a splash of ACV! Only minor additions to this already delicious soup!
thinking of adding corn and peas
I’m not a cook but I liked the ingredients in this recipe and decided to give it a try! If I do say so myself, it turned out terrific! I doubled it because I had so much turkey left over. I will try it on my friends and see what they have to say.
I made this for dinner last night and it was delish!! The only thing is… My soup didn’t thicken up as much as I would’ve liked it. But other than that it was yummy yummy! And just in time for the cold weather! Thank you Mel!
We’ve been making this every year for several years. Looking forward to it again. We will be having 2 turkeys this year:my 24 hour low and slow turkey, and my son’s smoked turkey. 2 different types of this ‘turkey chowder’!
I don’t have chicken stock only chicken broth. Would that be okay? Any way I should change it with chicken broth?
Chicken broth will work fine!
Can this be made in a crockpot?
It could definitely be kept warm in a crockpot, but I haven’t made it start to finish in one, so I’m not sure about that.
We love this recipe. That says a lot since my husband is not a soup fan but gives it thumbs up.
My husband & I will buy a turkey when the price goes down after the holidays. He cooks it in the smoker. We usually put up around 5-6 bags of chopped turkey meat in the freezer specifically just to use for this soup. This allows us to be able to have this several times throughout the winter. The smoked turkey adds even more flavor to this soup. We absolutely loves this turkey soup recipe!
Prices will usually go up not down… Costco 99¢ a lb for Butterball 12-28 lbs.
Absolutely the best soup I’ve ever made.
I used home made turkey stock and fresh herbs. Fabulous
Quick, easy, and delicious
I needed to use up the leftovers in our fridge, so I chose this recipe for convenience and ease really, but it turned out to be a huge hit with the whole family. (The only change I made was that I was a bit short on turkey, so I doubled the veggies.) My kids are typically very divided about soups and I have to say I was shocked that all of them were happy. My husband and I were big fans, too. Thank you, Mel! It’s another keeper!
Yes, very good. Can this soup be frozen.
I will definitely make this again.
Because of the dairy content, it might have a slightly grainy texture after freezing and defrosting (and you might need to add more liquid to account for the rice) but I think it’s worth a try.
I will say that I’ve froze lots of this and never been disappointed in reheating results. Just make sure to warm it up at 50% power so as to avoid separation or overheating parts of the soup.
Love this recipe!! So easy and delicious Do you know how many cups are in a serving? I know it says 6 servings, but trying to break it down into cups. Thanks!!
I don’t know exactly, but it’s probably right around 2 cups or slightly more.
I use this recipe as a base but I always add my leftover gravy and some stuffing. It’s excellent with these additions.
Just made this with our leftover smoked turkey. Its amazing! I added wild rice from Uncle Ben’s which came with a seasoning packet and added a little bit to the soup. I also used less flour because I only had heavy cream. We loved it!!!
Delicious! A few modifications—doubled all the veggies and only had about half the Turkey. Also added a half cup of Sherry with the broth. I’d love to make this for my parents sometime but neither of them like rosemary or thyme so will have to come up with different seasoning if I do. So glad I came across this recipe!
Very yummy. The only things I did differently was used 2 cups of turkey & added a bay leaf.
My picky family enjoyed this soup. It was easy and delicious. I made it according to the recipe directions. I will likely make a second batch today as it was such a hit.
This soup brought back memories of soup my mom made. It is delicious!
Excellent. We used too much turkey and too many vegetables so it was really thick but the flavour was AMAZING. Will be saving this recipe for sure.
TOTALLY love this recipe! On my 3rd time making it, I steeped a little star anise in the broth while the rice was cooking (like 5-6 min). Holy smokes! I somehow made it better! Thanks for posting this!
I had a few cups of leftover turkey from Thanksgiving (mixed white and dark meat) which I froze. And I made a stock from the carcass, which I also froze. I was searching for a good turkey soup recipe and found this one. I wasn’t looking for a creamy soup, but this sounded so good on a cold day. I made it tonight and followed the recipe to the letter. Except instead of a cup of half-and-half, I used 1/2 cup of 2% milk and 1/2 cup of a non-dairy half-and-half that I had in my fridge for coffee. It was fantastic. I had two huge bowls for dinner and a lot more leftover for the week. Delicious! Will definitely be making this every year after Thanksgiving.
Excellent recipe and so easy to make. I was looking for a way to use up turkey from the freezer and am so glad I came across this soup recipe. With such high ratings, I hoped it would be good but never really expected it to exceed my expectations! Everyone loved it. We’ll be making this again soon to get us through another cold upstate NY winter. Thank you for sharing!
The entire family LOVED this soup. It was so easy to make. We were also very grateful for a new way to use up the leftover turkey.
Came out a little thicker than expected but that just means it’s stew instead of soup!
Excited to try this tonight! Any idea if coconut milk could work as a sub? Lactose intolerant 🙁
Definitely worth a try, Michelle! The flavor of the soup will change but if you like the flavor of coconut milk, it should work pretty well
This soup is absolutely delicious! I used homemade turkey stock and chicken stock and leftover turkey along with rotisserie chicken. I also used a brown, wild and red rice blend. I doubled the recipe to freeze some but I don’t think there will be any left to freeze. This is my first comment ever on any recipe so that should show how good it is!
We are tired of turkey sandwiches. We are a soup loving family so this recipe was perfect for the turkey leftover leftovers. I had the garden herbs and added garlic chives. I used turkey stock I made from boiling the bones.. Thank you for reducing fat and calories with half and half. Still creamy. It all came together beautifully. Thanks Mel.
Can I use heavy whipping cream instead of 1/2 and 1/2?
Yes….the end result will probably be thicker and richer-tasting.
Any thicker\richer and your gonna need a fork and knife!
Absolutely delicious! A big hit.
This soup is perfect! I’ve been on the search for a comforting cream soup, like what you can get at a small family owned restaurant and this is it!! Thank you!!
Great way to use leftover turkey from Thanksgiving. I made it with wild rice from northern Minnesota and it took about 30 minutes to cook from the time the broth started simmering. The wild rice was soft, but still had a bite.
Soup was delicious, my husband wouldn’t stop raving about it. I doubled the recipe because I had so much turkey left. I’m freezing a batch. It was great.
Delicious! I used 2% milk and added corn and kale no flour since I enjoy a lighter soup. Was wondering what on earth to do with my leftover turkey and I am so glad I came across this recipe!
Definitely my go to every year now. Such a great recipe, thanks!
Absolutely amazing! I would not change anything. We are strictly using wild rice and it is so good with the soup. This is definitely going to be my yearly tradition after Thanksgiving!
I used a wildrice mix and I ended up not adding any milk product so it was broth based and absolutely delicious
This has been my favorite left over turkey soup recipe! We had left over smoked turkey, which added a little extra flavor. We also added a little more of all the seasoning listed….but still my favorite recipe so far!!
This was the best soup I have ever had. It was perfect to use up the leftover thanksgiving turkey.
The only thing that could possibly make this any better was that I made mine with my leftover turkey broth Yum Yum. Also I made it with noodles which I had on hand. My broth is already seasoned from my turkey with onions and carrots and celery so I didn’t have much to do to season it. I added some frozen English peas and some frozen chopped onions and rosemary and thyme and that was it. Didn’t have to sauté anything. I love your recommendation about mixing the flour with the half-and-half and I did that. It was sooo delicious. (Was sure hard to go back and edit this. the cursor didn’t want to cooperate).
Made this at work and everyone loved it.
Best homemade soup with left overs. Easy to make, and freeze for a comforting bowl of soup on rainy day. Will recommend to others!
Quick and delicious. Perfect for leftover turkey.
My family loved it! My husband kept saying how this tasted like soup from a restaurant.
Hello, Mel! I adore all of your recipes, and have shared you with every single on e of my friends!! Thank you for making cooking fun anc real and successful—especially when feeding a family!
Question—does this ‘Best Leftover Turkey Soup’ freeze well? I’m preparing to make it after our turkey meal next weekend, but would like to freeze it for future lunches or dinners.
Thank you so much, Natalie! This soup freezes pretty well. Because it has a dairy/creamy base, it separates a bit once it’s thawed (and might be slightly grainy), but I still think it’s pretty good.
I’ve made this once before. Immediately saved to my “favorites.”
New question, can this be frozen after making?
Thanks!
Hi Sabrena, it probably can…but it might be a bit grainy upon defrosting and reheating due to the dairy content.
I made this recipe with smoked turkey breast and getting raves for it. Everyone wants the recipe. Love it! Easy to make and great for a cold rainy or winter day.
This was such a tasty soup, the best for leftover turkey. Only needed 1 tsp of kosher. Thank you so much for the explanations for subs. I had to use dried herbs. For rice I mixed black rice with brown basmati so there was a slight tinge of purple.
This soup is soooo good! I doubled the veggies, added green beans, and used orzo, and it was just about the tastiest soup I’ve ever made at home! Will definitely make again any time we have leftover turkey or chicken. YUM!
Hands down the BEST turkey soup – or soup overall, for that matter! Made exactly as instructed with leftover frozen turkey from Thanksgiving. My husband told me this soup made him love me more – so a win in this house! haha This recipe is a definite KEEPER.
Delicious. Doubled veggies, and was hearty and comforting
This was the best soup I’ve ever made. I used my leftover smoked New Year’s Day turkey and used a wild brown rice mix. I also added some cubed potato. Even my pickiest eater ate it! Hoping it freezes well because I have leftovers 🙂
I added a couple more cups of broth than the recipe said because I made the broth from my holiday turkey carcass and that’s how much I had on hand. I also added more carrots and celery because I like a lot of veggies. The soup came out great! I will definitely make it again.
This soup really is the best left over turkey recipe! My husband is picky and loved it. I subbed evaporated milk and it was very smooth and creamy. Thanks for another great recipe!
Since I probably used more of the carrots, onions and celery than was in the recipe and also added mushrooms ( because they were in the fridge and needed to be used) I had to add extra milk. But it was the best leftover turkey anything I have made and I’ve gone through quite a few recipes. Thank you!
Very good my family loved it. I did rice on the side due to me being on keto. I also added green beans and heavy whipping cream instead if half and half no flour.
Very yummy thank you.
I made this soup today. Wow! “The Best” is correct. I doubled the recipe, used my own homemade turkey broth and frozen left over cut-up turkey from freezer. The soup will be shared with friends & family for the New Year.
This was delicious!!! I halved the recipe and made exactly as-written except I didn’t have celery so used celery seed. (Milk was 2% and rice was jasmine.) OUTSTANDING!!!! The measurements and cooking times are perfect, couldn’t be easier or quicker, didn’t need anything else, and it was DELICIOUS. We’ll definitely be having this again. Thank you! Best to you and your family for happy and healthy holidays.
Made this today, was excellent! DO NOT use 2 teaspoons of salt if you have homemade broth…
Absolutely delicious! Made it the first time after thanksgiving with turkey and several times after that with chicken. Family fav!
The name of the recipe says it all!! I used homemade turkey broth from the frozen leftover carcass & doubled the veggies. This wins a spot in my autumn/winter soup rotation! Thanks, Mel
So. I don’t love soup and my husband doesn’t think soup is a meal. ♀️ BUT, so much left over turkey! I took Mel’s advice and froze it to use later.
I made this recipe on Sunday and it was DELICIOUS! My son tried it the next day and loved it! Even my husband proclaimed it good AND filling! Thank you so much, Mel, for another amazing meal!!
Absolutely the best! I added a bit of poultry seasoning and rubbed sage to the pot. My definite go-to recipe for turkey soup
This turned out great! My family land I loved it. I doubled the carrots and celery, and still felt like it wasn’t quite enough, but this was definitely a recipe I’ll repeat. Thanks, Mel!
This was fantastic! I didn’t expect it to be as good as it was. I used more carrots (probably 3/4 c or so) since my kids love them and cut carrots, celery and onion in food processor. Seriously really delicious and kid approved!
Could this be adapted for making in the Instant Pot?
I haven’t tried it, but I’m sure it could!
I totally made it in the instant pot. I cooked it for 20 minutes using the brown rice mixture. It worked perfectly!
I made this tonight and my husband and housemate are both in love with it. I used stock I made yesterday from the turkey carcass and 3 Tbsp of cornstarch to thicken instead of flour (housemate needs gluten free).
I also used my instant pot and the 20 min pressure cook time from your Turkey & rice soup recipe. I think it was the perfect amount of time for my brown/wild rice mix. (For those looking, the other recipe suggested 5 min cook time for white rice)
My housemate just asked if we can make this again soon. 😀
We loved this soup. Made with broth from the carcass. Definitely a keeper. We love turkey and I am always looking for ways to use up the remains. Weary of plain turkey noodle soup.
I’ve never rated and left a review for an online recipe – but wow! This soup was beyond delicious. Unfortunately I mainly had dark meat left over which I’m not a huge fan of, but the flavors in the recipe made up for it. Definitely making this my creamy chicken soup base! It was also easy and mess-free! I served it with crusty French bread.
I made this tonight and followed your recipe except I had to substitute heavy whipping cream for the half and half. I used fresh rosemary and ground thyme (1/8 tsp). It was easy to make and it is delicious! I will make this again! Instead of crackers, I cut an unbaked Pillsbury refrigerator pie crust into triangles and baked them like cookies on a cookie sheet. Then, after they cooled, crumbled one on top of the soup in the bowl. It tasted like turkey pot pie soup.
I made this tonight. Unbelievably good. Thank you for this recipe!
Very tasty way to handle the extra turkey from this Thanksgiving! I’m glad you posted about this again (not nearly enough leftover turkey last year when you originally posted).
This soup is very good! I made a stock from the turkey bones and used the leftover turkey meat. After I sautéed the carrots, onions, celery and herbs, I added a cup of white wine to perk up the flavor. I also used brown rice. I was very hesitant to use the half/half and flour mixture. I was worried that it would have a “flour” taste. After letting the soup simmer for awhile it was perfect. The family is coming by for lunch today and I know they will love the soup!
Made my first turkey this year, due to covid and needed the perfect recipe to use up the extra meat. This was it! My whole family liked it! Major accomplishment. Thank you!!! (I did add garlic and green beans, and basil instead of thyme)
Thank you! My family loved this, perfect recipe for leftovers. I added sautéed mushrooms and a garnish of french’s onions on top. Holds up against any restaurant chicken/turkey and wild rice!
Question! Would you freeze the turkey and then thaw it to make the soup? Or could you make the whole soup and freeze that?
Thanks!
The soup may turn a bit grainy after freezing and defrosting, but either way is fine based on your preference!
I’m about to make this soup and was going to use Cous Cous instead of rice and wondered if oyu have ever tried it that way?
I haven’t – sounds yummy though!
I love a similar soup to this..will definitely try this recipe…My late sister made a soup called Thanksgiving soup, similar to this only she added a few dried cranberries…so delicious…we also like it served with a dollop of leftover cranberry sauce and sourcream…
This is not “turkey soup”. This is “cream of” turkey soup. Please say so in the title. I was looking for old fashioned turkey soup. I thought this was it until I read the recipe. No milk or cream in turkey soup.
Your comment is ridiculous… If you don’t care to make the recipe then move on and find something more suited for your needs.
What are you, the turkey soup police?
The picture clearly shows that the soup is creamy. So that’s your fault for even having to read the recipe to decipher that.
Karen…I mean Alice. Chill out babe. It’s only soup.
Alice, even though it’s not what you were looking for, this soup is so good, you should consider coming over to the “cream of” turkey soup side to try it!!!!
ReAdinG iS hArd. It is indeed a soup using turkey and thus is a turkey soup. If you go to the description it clearly states “This creamy vegetable, turkey, rice soup is the best leftover turkey soup ever.”. This is NOT cream of turkey soup, not with the rice and veggies in it.
Can left over soup be frozen?
You can try – it might be a big grainy upon defrosting (because of the dairy).
I’m leaving a five star review because I believe, I mean truly believe, that this is a wonderful soup. The problem I have is that I’m not a wonderful cook. I tried to make this once before and used left over smoked turkey. The flavors were less than complimentary. It would have been better without the smoke flavor. I tried it again last night with freshly cooked turkey but forgot to bring the soup to a simmer and left it boiling. By the time I realized my error, when I was to add the half-and-half/flour, it had mostly boiled out. I added some watered down chicken stock to it but just made the soup too salty. Aside from the near lethal levels of sodium, it had a great flavor. Will definitely attempt this again.
Thanks for all the reviews on recent recipes, Derek! I know it takes time to check back in but I really appreciate it and have enjoyed reading your thorough reviews. Sorry this soup has given you some issues – hope you get it perfect one of these days!
Very Good! I used turkey bones (Legs, wings) with lots of meat on them. Simmered in water making my own broth, then added the vegetables, then rice mixture and half & half w/ flour. I needed to add a bit more than the recipe called for due to the volume of my broth, as well as more seasonings. Rich, hearty and one bowl along with crisp bread for dipping, filled me up. My recipe made 15 servings, so taking some to family members who are sick during this season. Would make again.
I only have wild rice, hope that isn’t a soup ruiner on its own… fingers crossed, but your recipes never disappoint!
Should work out just fine, Becky! You might need to keep an eye on the cooking time for the rice and add time as needed.
This soup was terrific! Didn’t have celery or separate spices so used celery salt and Italian seasoning. Also made slurry with whole milk and added cooked egg noodles right at the end. Easy, comforting, and delicious!
Can you use Quinoa instead of rice?
Definitely worth a try!
I made this last night and it was absolutely delish! I doubled the onion, carrot and celery, as I like my soup more veggie forward. Also added 2 cloves of minced garlic. I was a bit nervous about the flour and half & half mixture. I was afraid it may lend a raw flour flavor, but it did nothing of the sort! It was creamy and silky perfection. 🙂
Thanks, Lisa!
Just made this and it’s so easy and delicious! I can always count on you Mel!!
Thanks, friend!
(I also don’t know why it doesn’t show a 5 star rating. I thought I clicked a 5 star rating. We give it a 5 stars and a bunch of enthusiastic thumbs up!)
Thanks for letting me know, Mara! Not sure what’s up with the ratings – I’ll look into that!
Excellent recipe! Butterballs were $0.87 a lb at Aldi’s so we did a Thanksgiving practice run! I made a bone broth from the carcass and used that for your soup. It is DELISH! Used blend of wild and brown basamati rice so took about 45 minutes for the brown to get soft and wild to get softened. I didn’t use salt in my broth and only did a heaping teaspoon of kosher salt and it was perfect amount. The half and half with flour trick is a keeper. I kept the meat from the legs and thighs and had some breast meat scraps to add in as well.
Bland.
This is absolutely the best creamy, chickeny (or turkey in this case) soup I’ve ever made. So yummy. I used a brown and wild rice blend – took almost 60 min and some of the broth had reduced with the longer cook time – but I just added more broth and YUM! Thank you! It’s already printed and in my tried and true recipe binder.
We made this last night with the leftover turkey I froze at Thanksgiving…it was so yummy! We used the Lundberg wild rice blend and increased the cooking time to 45 minutes and it turned out great. So great, unfortunately, that everyone had seconds and there are no leftovers for me for lunch. Will definitely be making this again soon!
Excellent use if leftover turkey! I used white rice since that’s what I had – I think it definitely would taste better with wild rice. Next time I will use that. I also added garlic because I believe food without garlic is sad, but otherwise followed the recipe. It was quite delicious and easy and will provide many lunches for myself.
This soup is so delicious! I love the flavor but I especially love how EASY it is! My favorite kind of recipe right here, simple and delish. This will be my go to leftover turkey soup! Thank you
Thanks, Mandy!
Made this tonight and my family loved it! I used white rice because that’s all I had. It was delicious! My 7 year old kept talking about how much she loved it. Thanks for the great recipe to use my leftover turkey!
I’m so happy this was well received by your family, Tara! Thanks for letting me know!
This was very, very good. So good that I ran some over to a neighbor who was having a rough day. She loved it too. I used some chopped rotisserie chicken that was in the freezer and leftover brown rice and it ended up being a really quick meal. This is my favorite of all the similar recipes you have posted, though they’re all good. Thanks for another winner!
Yay! Thanks!
U made the soup exactly how it is written except no rice. I didnt want rice in it. But it doesnt look thick to me. I am about to add the chicken and cook it on low in the crock pot. Do I need to do anything else to thicken it or do you think it will as it cooks more in the crock pot? Thanks. Jas a great taste.
Omitting the rice will definitely impact the consistency of the soup (making it less thick). You can try whisking together broth + flour or cornstarch and adding it to see if that can help thicken it up.
Good to know about the rice. Thanks I’ll try that.
Fact: My husband doesn’t like turkey. No cranberry sauce at Thanksgiving? No eating turkey. But he ate the turkey leftovers in this delicious soup, and then he ate the soup leftovers the next day. To me, that means this soup is a keeper. Thanks Mel! (PS I didn’t have any chicken broth, so I used water, and instead of half and half/flour, I used milk and a tablespoon of McCormick turkey gravy powder. )
Thanks for letting me know, Maggie! Glad your husband liked this despite not being a turkey fan in general. 🙂
First time making an entire Thanksgiving dinner for my family this year, so tons of leftover… everything. haha
I subbed leftover green beans and corn, as well as the last little bits of a couple of bags of frozen veggies, and added a couple of TBSP lemon juice and some chili flake and fresh garlic. Perfect recipe to knock out a good chunk of my post-holiday Tupperware pileup and get a head start on my annual holiday cold!
Love those changes, Adrienne!
I’m trying to cut some carbs so was considering subbing riced cauliflower in place of the rice. Would I need to decrease the amount of liquid added?
-Nicole
I’m not sure as I haven’t tried that – but you could definitely experiment!
I made your recipe for turkey soup and it was delicious! And easy too. I must admit I was afraid the brown rice wouldn’t cook so I cooked it on the side and added it later.
That’s ok! Glad it worked out so well!
Absolutely delicious. Thanks!
Thank you, Amy!
Do you think I can do everything up until adding the thicker earlier in day? Then doing those steps closer to meal time?
I think you could make the entire thing earlier in the day and refrigerate and then just heat it up for dinner. That’s probably what I would do!
I’m no cook but I made this and it’s incredible! As far as I’m concerned this is pretty much a perfect recipe. Delicious!
Thanks, Eric!
Amazing! Thanks to your tip on using half n half, the soup is dreamy…silky and creamy! I love it! Definitely recommend this recipe. At first, I thought it was too thick and added more water. I’m regretting adding more water because all the wild rice settled at the bottom. When the soup was thicker, the ingredients didn’t all settle to the bottom as fast. To make this soup faster, I separately pressure cooked my wild rice and added it to the soup in the same spot called out in the recipe. Didn’t need to wait 45 minutes for it to cook in the soup.
Thanks for adding your review/variations, Elle!
My family liked this, I thought it was just ok, but I’m not a soup person (was hoping this would convert me!). Served it with a garden salad and French bread. I didn’t check my short grain brown rice and it took about 45 minutes to cook so dinner was late…but the recipe did warn me. Happy to have something to use up the turkey with, simmered the carcass for my broth which is fun.
Anyone tried this in the Instant Pot? I’m attempting it now and am subbing almond flour, onion powder and herbs de provence (in lieu of rosemary) mostly because I was lacking called for ingredients! It smells divine before I pushed the ‘soup’ button! Will update if I can find this page again.
This turned out to be the best soup I have ever made!
That’s amazing! Thanks, Cathy!
We LOVED this soup! Took no time at all and was delicious. Thank you!
Amazing recipe! Thank you!
Thanks, Maureen!
I just learned a few years ago how to make my own turkey (or chicken) stock by boiling the leftover carcass, so I thought I’d pass it along so that you don’t have to buy stock when you have it right in front of you. After picking the meat off of the carcass, put the whole thing in large pot and fill with water. Boil for several hours (the longer the more flavorful). You can add onions, carrots, celery or ither seasonings depending on your preferences. When your water has been boiling for at least 2 hours, remove the carcass and strain the broth. If you boil it for too long, you can always add more water. Thanks for posting this delicious looking recipe, I am excited to make it!
Does the soup need stirred constantly once the half and half and flour go in, like gravy does?
Yes, it helps so it doesn’t scorch or stick.
Thank you for providing this easy to follow recipe. Just tried it! I didn’t have any celery on hand, but plenty of sweet potatoes, so I substituted those in. My daughter and I are about to have second helpings. It turned out delicious! Thanks again.
Thanks for letting me know!
Thank you for providing this easy to follow recipe. Just tried it! I didn’t have any celery on hand, but plenty of sweet potatoes, so I substituted those in. My daughter and I are about to have second helpings. It turned out delicious! Thanks again.
This soup is amazing! I need more turkey I want to make more batches!!
Thanks, Sherrie! That’s kind of how I feel about it, too!
Can you use success boil in bag rice in this? If so, should I cook first? Thanks!
I’m not familiar with that so I don’t know – I’m sorry!
This soup was delicious! It seemed more like a creamy rice casserole for me though. The brown rice absorbed so much liquid that I had to add an extra water and it still came out that thick. Either way it was delicious and this is going to be a regular in our house! A friend just introduced me to your site… so excited to try more of your recipes! Many Thanks!!
Thanks for the review, Brittney!
I used boil-n-bag rice but I cooked it separately and added it before I added the flour mixture. It worked out fine.
Entire family loved it!
That’s always amazing! Thanks, Melissa!
This soup is dang good! Really delicious and nicely creamy and homemade broth really makes it! Totally great. Going in my TG notebook! I mean to give this a top rating! Not sure if I’m choosing one star or 10!
Thanks, Karen! (The ratings have been a little messed up lately but they should be fixed now).
Thank you. This was a delicious soup!
Thanks, Jim!
I made this for my family tonight and everyone enjoyed it. The seasonings were perfect. I didn’t need to add any additional salt or pepper. It was nice to put leftovers in a soup for a change rather than a heavier casserole type dish. Thanks for the idea and recipe!
Thank you so much for letting me know, Janie!
I just made this soup. It was great. Will make it again.
Thanks, Cari! Glad you liked it!
The soup began to look grainy. Did I overhear the soup? Is this normal? Any way to fix it?
Hmmm, how did it look at the end, Devan? Still grainy?
Another delicious recipe! Thank you!
Thanks so much, Rebecca – and thanks for taking the time to let me know.
Loved this recipe!
I’m making this soup right now – just the ticket for my two littles with Thanksgiving head colds. :). Question – could I sub canned coconut milk for the half and half for creaminess? We only have skim milk left. Thanks!
I think so, Valerie!
Making this right now! Question – during the simmer rice step, should the pot be open or covered? Thanks, Mel!
I don’t cover it while simmering.
I was searching the comments for this answer too ! Lol I always simmer rice with the cover on…I will do it without and I can’t wait to try this recipe soon!
Ah! This style of soup has been on my mind lately! I was perusing one of those pioneer woman cookbooks and found a recipe for creamy wild rice and chicken soup. The thing that got me really excited was the cranberry relish she had you top it with! So it’s basically a sign that you post such a similar recipe. Clearly it’s the universe telling to make it.
This looks wonderful. Can’t wait for turkey leftovers.
This is making my mouth water! I LOVE soup, making it and eating it! Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family!
Thanks, Jo! Happy Thanksgiving to you, too!
This looks wonderful! I can’t wait to make it this weekend when rain is scheduled all weekend. Have you ever used creme fraiche instead of the half and half? I don’t know much about it and too afraid to ask my sister who knows. When I was at Costco last week I bought some and would like to try it in some stuff. (I was talked into buying it by the guy that was going to do the promoting that weekend )
I haven’t tried creme fraiche in this soup, but I love it in a lot of other things! It has a tangy flavor usually so I’m not sure how it would fare for the half and half in this recipe.
I just made this soup tonight!! Used fried turkey left overs from Wednesday’s Bowl game party. Mostly dark meat. Made my own stock with the bones. I added 6 cloves of garlic just because I cant cook and not use it! I also used kasmati rice. Its very soft and absorbed the flavor nicely. Great recipe, I needed something new and this was a perfect.
This is exactly what I was looking for! Thank you!
I have frozen turkey leftover from May. Thanks so much for giving me a recipe to use it in and look forward to! (We are not hosting this year, so alas no turkey leftovers for us.)
Awesome! Happy Thanksgiving, Julie!