Leftover Thanksgiving Turkey Soup
Take this nourishing leftover turkey soup recipe and immediately add it to your holiday recipe box as the BEST way to use up leftover turkey. Every year, we find ourselves looking for ways to use up leftover turkey from Thanksgiving and honestly, we’ve gotten pretty good at it. We’ve made Turkey Hand Pies, Turkey Pot Pie, Turkey Pozole Rojo, Turkey Shepherd’s Pies — you name it, we’ve turkey-ed it. But one of our favorites is this simple, healthy turkey and wild rice soup, which is inspired by our beloved chicken and wild rice soup. Loaded with veggies, this turkey and wild rice soup recipe soothing and easy on your system after all that rich food. Plus, it freezes well!
Leftover Turkey Soup Ingredients
Leftover turkey meat: You’ll need enough leftover turkey for about two cups of meat. You can also use cooked chicken breasts.
Wild rice: Wild rice is not actually a rice at all! It’s a ‘semi-aquatic grass’ (whatever that means) but mostly what matters is to know that it’s very, very nutritious and it’s lovely in soup because it doesn’t turn to mush the way other rices do. We adore it, and think you will, too.
Celery, carrots, onion: Can you even make soup without these three aromatics? Not that we know of!
Garlic: We use lots of garlic in this soup recipe, for flavor but also for a major nutritional boost. We need it after a big holiday meal!
Turkey or chicken stock: This can be homemade, or store bought is (like Ina would say) fine.
Kale: We’re really doubling down on healthy ingredients in this turkey soup. We always seem to crave light, nourishing, easy-on-the-system foods after a big meal like Thanksgiving dinner.
Seasonings: Salt, pepper, basil and poultry seasoning.
Fresh lemon: We stir this in right at the end, for a little brightening lift. Don’t skip it — it’s really the key!
How To Make Leftover Turkey & Wild Rice Soup
Grab your favorite big stock pot and cook the onions, carrots and celery in the olive oil until tender.
Add the broth (or homemade Turkey Stock), seasonings, and wild rice.
Simmer the soup base for 20 minutes until the wild rice is cooked.
Add the leftover turkey, kale, and fresh lemon juice and simmer for 5 more minutes until the turkey is warm and the kale is wilted.
Dig in! Serve in big bowls, and top it with Parmesan cheese, if you’d like to.
Tips For Making & Storing Leftover Turkey & Rice Soup:
This soup will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days, or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Take your time cooking the onions. The idea here isn't to caramelize them, but to get them completely translucent before adding them to the broth. This will ensure that there isn’t a sharp onion taste to the broth.
Reminder: Wild rice still has a “toothsome” bite to it when it is fully cooked. It doesn’t turn into mush like other rice varieties which makes it a wonderful choice for this leftover turkey soup recipe.
What to Serve With Leftover Turkey Soup
This turkey soup recipe makes for a wonderful lunch all on its own. It can also be a hearty dinner served with a piece of good bread or this Cornbread with Creamed Corn and Jalapeño Infused Honey on the side. If you’d like to turn this humble bowl of leftover turkey soup with wild rice into a bountiful dinner for guests, why not add a salad? Both this Shaved Brussels Sprout Salad with Creamy Maple Dressing and this Celery Pear and Hazelnut Salad would make festive additions to a thoroughly autumn dinner.
More Ways To Use Leftover Turkey
Thanksgiving Leftovers Again? Yes, But…
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