Turkey Soup is an easy Thanksgiving leftovers recipe made with turkey, noodles, and veggies that is a perfect laid back meal to recoup from a busy week.
Now that Thanksgiving is over and everyone thoroughly enjoyed the Roast Turkey you made, reinvent your leftovers with this savory, hearty Turkey Soup with rice. Check out my Soup Recipes page for more easy meal inspirations now that the big holiday is out of the way.
TURKEY SOUP
Thanksgiving is wonderful for a lot of reasons, but one of the best reason is the days of leftovers! To avoid turkey burnout, get some new recipes like this one that use up your leftovers and the spices you already have on hand from you holiday cooking.
The great thing about this Homemade Turkey Soup recipe is that it’s fairly low key. If you don’t have chicken broth on hand, you can swap in vegetable or beef. Not feeling like using egg noodles? Use some rice or sweet potatoes, brown rice, quinoa, amaranth or any other starch you have on hand! Not enough of a certain seasoning, just substitute in something you like that has similar flavor.
Serve your Turkey Soup with some leftover Easy Dinner Rolls, or just make a new batch if you ate them all the day before.
Slow Cooker Turkey Soup
Make this post-Thanksgiving soup recipe even easier by throwing all the ingredients into your slow cooker on low first thing Friday morning before you head out for a shopping day or post Turkey Day activities.
Instant Pot Turkey Soup
If you forgot to throw your soup in the slow cooker, and you need to get dinner on the table fast, try this in the Instant Pot. Place all your ingredients into the Instant Pot and use the manual setting to set the cook time for 20 minutes. Let the pressure naturally release for at least 10 minutes.
PERFECT HOLIDAY MAIN COURSES
Roast Turkey
Baked Ham (with Brown Sugar Glaze)
Perfect Garlic Prime Rib
Perfect Simple Roast Chicken
HOW TO MAKE TURKEY SOUP
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VARIATIONS ON TURKEY SOUP
- Rice: Instead of using white rice in this recipe, you can swap in brown rice or wild rice, or even quinoa, for a nuttier flavor and to make it heartier.
- Noodles: If you prefer other noodles to egg noodles, add in some orzo, rotini, or any other shaped noodles to your soup.
- Low Carb: Make this soup Paleo or Keto by omitting the rice and adding extra veggies like shredded cabbage, leeks, or bok choy to give it more substance without overwhelming the flavor.
- Poultry Seasoning: If you want to add some extra flavor, try adding your favorite poultry seasoning. If you want to homemade poultry seasoning, combine:
- 2 1/2 teaspoons ground sage
- 1 1/2 teaspoons dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon dried marjoram
- 3/4 teaspoon dried rosemary
- 3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon coarse black pepper
TURKEY SOUP FAQS
- How can you thicken soup? Add a starch, like , Wondra, flour or cornstarch. Start with about a tablespoon mixed with water and add bit at a time as needed until you get the right consistency. Don’t add cornstarch or flour directly to your soup or it will clump up. You can also add leftover mashed potatoes or potato flakes.
- How to make turkey broth? To make some homemade turkey broth, simmer your turkey carcass in a large stock pot for 30 minutes on low with some light seasonings like thyme and bay leaf, skimming the fat off the top throughout the cooking process. Store your broth in mason jars or other airtight containers.
- Is turkey bone broth good for you? Bone broth is a great way to add flavor in a low-sodium way as well as being good on the digestive system and full of nutrients.
MORE SOUP RECIPES
Cabbage Soup
Classic Chicken Noodle Soup
Easy Taco Soup
Vegetable Soup
HOW LONG IS TURKEY SOUP GOOD?
- Serve: You shouldn’t let Turkey Soup sit out at room temperature for longer than 2 hours.
- Store: You can put the lid onto the stock pot the leftover Turkey Soup is in, or transfer it into a sealable container, and keep it in the fridge for up to 3 days before it goes bad. Make sure to let it completely cool down to room temperature before you put it away.
- Freeze: You can freeze Turkey Soup for up to 6 months as long as it’s completely sealed. Once again, always let the soup cool down before you put it away.
Turkey Soup
Turkey Soup is an easy Thanksgiving leftovers recipe made with turkey, noodles, and veggies that is a perfect laid back meal to recoup from a busy week.
Ingredients
- 1 turkey carcass , from 14-pound turkey
- 8 cups chicken broth
- 12 ounces medium egg noodles
- 1 yellow onion , chopped
- 4 stalks celery , thinly sliced
- 2 medium carrots , thinly sliced
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon rosemary
- 1/2 teaspoon thyme
- 2 cups turkey meat , chopped
Instructions
Add the turkey carcass and broth to a large dutch oven.
Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer.
Cover and cook for 30 minutes.
Remove the bones from the pot, add in the egg noodles, onions, celery, carrots, bay leaf, salt, pepper, rosemary, thyme and chopped turkey meat.
Bring to a simmer, then cover and cook for 12 minutes until noodles are cooked.
Delicious! My Husband isn’t a soup eater but he loved this soup. We both did. We used the left over turkey, soup full of flavor. East to make and filling.
So glad you all enjoyed it, Tracey.
To thicken mine I used riced cauliflower, it was awesome!
Thanks for the suggestion, Liz.
My mom also puts the leftover corn, green beans, stuffing & mashed potatoes in hers. The stuffing & mashed potatoes help to thicken the soup. We don’t add the rice to our soup when we cook ours. We add the rice when we serve the soup. The stuffing also helps to season the soup.
Hey there, how do you make turkey soup if you only have all the turkey! No broth, just whatever and dark turkey I don’t want to waste
If you’re saying you don’t have any broth left over from the holiday, you can buy broth from the store and use it for this recipe. I’m sorry if I’m misunderstanding your question.
Very easy and tasty! Helpful for the leftovers without all the cooking hassle!
Glad you enjoyed it, Sarah.
If I want to do rice instead of pasta. Do you know how much rice I would use for this soup? Can’t wait to try it with out leftovers.
I’d add 1/2 cup of uncooked rice. Enjoy!
What are the correct cooking times?
The cooking times are in the instructions in the recipe card. Enjoy!
The recipe sounds delicious but I see that the cook time is 4 hours and 20 minutes.
I’m wondering if the whole recipe came though for me because I see that you simmer the carcass and the broth for 30 mins and then add the other ingredients and then simmer for 12 mins until the noodles are cooked. Is this the total cooking time. I want to be sure before I try it. Thank you
Thanks for catching that! I’ve edited it to read correctly now. Hopefully it sticks this time. I hope you enjoy the soup.
This was the perfect way to use up the last of our turkey. It’s been such a dreary cold day that we loved warming up with a bowl.
So glad you enjoyed it! Stay cozy.
LOVED this recipe! Saving!!!
Yay!!
My whole family loved this soup! Perfect use for leftover turkey meat!
Yay!! I love it when the whole family enjoys a dish. I know how hard it can be to please everyone.
Do you have a recipe for it in a crock pot?
Toss all the ingredients into a slow cooker and cook on low for 6-8 hours or high 3-4 hours. Enjoy!
What if I don’t have the turkey carcass to make the broth. I only have the turkey meat. Could I still make this recipe?
Yes, of course. The carcass just adds a great depth of flavor to your soup. When I started with the chicken broth the color was much rich, but once the carcass had some time to simmer it became this rich color. You could also use chicken bones. It’s really the marrow from the bones that is adding the additional flavor to the soup.
Thank you.