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)
I made this today and it’s amazing. I had left over stuffing, and gravy so I used them as well. A great way to add whatever you like, everything will taste good in this soup.
This was the BEST soup I’ve ever made and oh so easy. Thank you for sharing. I followed the recipe almost exactly expect added an extra cup of stock.
Yummo! The only thing I added was some dry white wine and that’s just because the bottle was already open. This is a keeper. Thanks for sharing!
Fantastic! Didn’t change a thing!
I only had quinoa on hand so subbed it for the rice. Incredible. Same cooking time…. Be sure to wash your quinoa; I learned that from Mel after thinking for years that I hated quinoa because it always tasted like dirt
This was absolutely the best turkey soup I have ever made or tried. We celebrated Thanksgiving early so on Thanksgiving I wanted to use up the leftover turkey and found this recipe. The reviews were all so good I thought I’d give it a try.
I followed the recipe exactly how it’s written. We all went back for seconds.
I think this would also be good in a chicken or turkey pot pie. Can easily be made as a chicken soup as well. I rarely leave reviews but this one is definitely worthy. Thank you for a wonderful soup recipe.
Thank you, Sue!
I had low expectations because I’m usually “meh” about soup but this was YUM! So flavorful.
This is the absolute best turkey soup. I had some leftover Turkey breast that I cooked in the crockpot. It was tough but too costly to trash. I dumped turkey, Turkey stock, veggies and seasonings with Lundberg Wild Rice Blend in crockpot and simmered until rice was cooked. Excellent.
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!)
Best turkey soup ever! Thank you!
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.
I would divide the soup up into fresh and freezer portions prior to putting the flour & cream/milk in. When you remove from the freezer, thaw and then add flour and cream, while reheating.
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.