Everyone needs a great turkey soup recipe to solve the post-holiday food dilemma! We all know that feeling when you simply can’t eat one more turkey sandwich, but don’t want to waste an ounce of food. If this describes your current situation, keep reading for my uncomplicated, old-fashioned turkey soup recipe that our kids loved!
How To Use Turkey Leftovers
This turkey soup uses leftover turkey and leftover veggies like corn, carrots and peas to make this delicious comforting soup. I also added in pasta or to make it gluten free, you can add in rice. I find it best to cook your pasta or rice separately, and add it just at the end, before serving as it otherwise soaks up a lot of liquid (which makes the rice or pasta mushy and turns your soup into a stew). You can adjust the recipe as needed, depending on how much turkey you have. I suggest weighing or measuring the turkey first and adjusting the other ratios as needed!
How To Make Your Own Bone Broth
You can make your own broth if you kept the bones which is very simple to do. Simply remove any of the meat from the bones, set the meat aside, place the rest in a large pot and fill it with water (about 16-18 litres). Add in a quartered peeled onion, 2 peeled carrots, a couple whole celery stalks (cut in half if needed) and a few bay leaves to a boil and let it simmer for a few hours covered. Strain it through a colander into a large bowl (discard what is in the strainer) and you have homemade broth my friends!
You can use it immediately in this soup or freeze it for up to a few months in resealable containers. It’s a great way to reduce food waste and create an amazing, wholesome base for your soup or other dishes requiring broth.
Homemade Soups
I am a sucker for homemade soups, and this is the best time of year to sip on something healthy and warm. The family loves a bowl of soup after playing the snow or tobogganing all day long. Try favourites of mine like Split Pea Soup, Cheater Chicken Noodle and a tried and true classic Roasted Tomato Pepper Soup. I also plan on whipping up some of Jilly’s Gut Healing Veggie Broth to help “reset” after all the goodies I’ve been enjoying lately!
Happy Holidays!
Tori
xo
Turkey Soup
This turkey soup recipe uses up leftover turkey and veggies and is wholesome, healthy and the best type of comfort food during these cold winter months!
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup uncooked small pasta (I used shell pasta)
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 medium yellow onions, finely chopped (2 cups)
- 3 stalks celery, finely chopped (2 cups)
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 litres stock (turkey, vegetable or chicken) (plus more to thin if needed)
- 1 lb. diced cooked turkey (3 cups)
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley (or dill)
- 3 cups mixed veggies (corn, peas and carrots)* (frozen or leftovers)
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
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Make your broth if using homemade.
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Cook the pasta in a medium pot of salted water until al dente, rinse with cold water and set aside.
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Heat the olive oil in a large heavy-bottomed pot (I used a Staub cocotte) over medium-low heat. Add the onions and cook until the onions are soft and transparent, about 8-10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the celery and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally until the celery is soft, another 5-8 minutes.
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Add the bay leaves, stock, turkey and parsley and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for around 40 minutes. Remove bay leaves, stir in the veggies, pasta and parsley or dill (if using), thin with additional stock if desired, season with salt and pepper to taste and serve!
Recipe Notes
If you don’t have leftover veggies I recommend using frozen peas and corn but 1 cup of fresh diced carrots (simply add the diced carrots in with the celery if using fresh, not leftover, carrots). I recommend weighing or measuring your turkey first so that you can adjust the recipe if needed (ie: double the recipe if you have 2 pounds of turkey).
thanks for posting this recipe! I didn’t know that part about cooking the pasta separately. I’ll try that next time. Keep up the good work:)
Thanks Tammy! Much appreciated and thank you for following along!
Making this right now! Yay! Just not sure if I should be simmering covered or uncovered. I’m always worried about losing too much liquid leaving it uncovered.
Hi Chrissy, I would cover it. I will add that to the recipe! I hope you enjoyed it! Tori
Hi there – I only have a 6L slow cooker, def not a pan to accomodate 16L of liquid! Can I still do the stock in there and just use that amount of water? Please advise 🙂 Thanks
Hi Jill! The recipe only calls for 2L of stock – I think your slow cooker would still work?
I just cooked this recipe with our leftover Thanksgiving turkey and it was a huge hit. I had pretty much all of the ingredients already, which was awesome, and I made my own stock with turkey bones and it turned out great. Thank you for the tip about cooking the pasta separately, I didn’t realize how important this step would be!
Hey Nicole! I am thrilled to hear this recipe was perfect for your leftovers. Making your own stock is a great idea too!! Also, thanks for the fabulous review.
I absolutely love this soup! Thanks for sharing.
One question though, if you are freezing it, would you avoid adding the pasta until you defrost it? Or will the pasta hold up?
Hi Amy, I do prefer to add the pasta after – it gets a bit soft when frozen. I can add that, good call. I never freeze soups with rice, the texture gets really awful just to save you the pain if you ever consider it! Take care, Tori