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This turkey soup recipe includes various vegetables, which makes it as healthy as it is delicious.

I use turkey broth, celery, onion and carrots as my base for this soup and thicken it with a roux.

This was the first year I decided to keep my turkey bones after Thanksgiving to make my own turkey broth, which I’ll admit was surprisingly easy to do! So, if you are interested in doing that, this is one of the best ways to use up leftovers. Waste not, want not!

I’m working on other ways to use up my left over turkey, and would love to hear how you plan to use up yours.

This recipe incorporates:

Olive Oil
Vegetables: I used celery, onion and carrots – these are great flavor based.
Seasonings: salt, dried parsley, freshly minced garlic, dried thyme, paprika (I used smoked paprika)
Turkey Stock: made from home (great way to use the carcass). You can also use store bought chicken broth or vegetable broth instead.
Potatoes: Yukon gold are amazing in this. But, I imagine russet or red potatoes would be just fine. **OR, substitute for noodles.
Turkey: any kind of cooked turkey will be amazing in this recipe. You don’t have leftover turkey, use leftover shredded chicken.
Salted butter: Melt as the base of your roux to thicken the sauce. I used salted but you could use unsalted if you’re trying to moderate intake.
Flour: All-purpose flour to make the roux with butter to thicken the soup.
Milk: any kind milk will work well here to make your thickening agent for the sauce.

How to Make This Delicious Turkey Soup

This soup was really easy to make and was hardy. Thought the recipe can easily feed six people, you could probably stretch it out further if you serve it with bread or a side salad.

Full instructions are included below.

Sauté the vegetables: Sauté the onion, carrots, and celery until beginning to soften.
Add seasonings: stir in garlic, salt, herbs, paprika and cook.
Add stock: add the stock and deglaze the pot. Scrape up all the good brown stuff, it adds flavor!
Stir in potatoes: Simmer until tender. You may substitute noodles at this step if you want.
Make thickened milk: Make the roux, add milk and melted butter and microwave until thickened. Be careful though! The mixture can bubble over easily.
Add turkey and flour mixture to soup. Stir until incorporated. Simmer until meat is warmed throughout.

Leftover Turkey Soup Tips

I made this and only after I added the milk did I think about freezing some of this. Since there’s milk in it, if frozen the consistency would be weird once thawed. I recommend you divide it and cut the milk mixture in half and then complete the recipe.

You could probably make this in an Instant Pot or slow cooker, though I haven’t tried.

Mix up the seasonings if you want more flavor. Perhaps a bay leaf or other fresh herbs to infuse more flavor into the dish.

You can use noodles or rice instead of potatoes. If you use instant rice, add it ~5-10 minutes of cooking. If long-grain rice, add it at the beginning of the cooking time. Consider adding extra broth.

What To Pair With Leftover Turkey Soup

I paired this with a small side salad, but this soup is very filling on its own.

You could pair it with some yummy sourdough bread, homemade bread rolls or like I said, a small salad.

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Left Over Turkey Soup

5 from 2 votes

Easy left over turkey soup combines several day old Thanksgiving dishes into one comforting meal. Combine light or dark meat with homemade turkey broth, savory seasonings and feed the whole family a nutritious meal. This convenient meal is perfect on a busy afternoon after you've been hunting for the perfect Christmas tree in the cold.

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Prep Time 15

Cook Time 35

Servings: 6 people

Course: dinner, Side Dish, thanksgiving left overs

Cuisine: American

Calories: 450

Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients

2 tbspn Olive oil
2 large carrots (peeled & diced)
1 ribs celery (finely chopped)
1 medium onion (finely diced)
3-4 cloves garlic (minced)
2 tspn salt
1 tspn dried parsley
1 tspn dried thym
1/2 tspn black pepper
1/2 tbspn smoked paprika
4 cups homemade turkey stock (can substitute chicken broth)
2 large Yukon gold potatoes (cut into 3/4 inch pieces)
2-2½ cups leftover cooked turkey (chopped)

Thickened Milk

¼ cup salted butter melted
3 tbspn all purpose flour
1½ cups milk any kind will work

Equipment

1 Knife & Cutting Board
1 Medium Pot
Measuring cups
Ladle

Method

Add oil to medium sauce pan over medium heat. Add vegetables and cook on medium heat, stirring often, until onions are translucent and vegetables are slightly softened.
Stir in minced garlic, salt, thyme, parsley, pepper & paprika and cook for 1 minute.
Add stock and scrape the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon to ensure any browned bits removed. (This is flavor, do not waste it!)
Stir in potatoes and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover and simmer until potatoes are tender, about 10 minutes.
While that's simmering, in a large glass bowl (or protein shaker without the metal ball) melt the butter. Add flour and mix until dissolved. Scrape down edges to ensure all flour is whisked in.
Microwave the flour mixture on high in 40 second intervals until thickened. Be sure to keep an eye on it in the microwave because it could boil over.
When potatoes are tender, stir in the cooked turkey and the thickened milk. Heat through, adjust seasonings to taste and serve.

Notes

Prepare ahead of time:
Prepare this soup the day after Thanksgiving and enjoy for up to 4 days after. This won't freeze well, so if you want to freeze some I'd divide it and cut the milk/flour mixture in half. Once divided, add milk/flour mixture to the portion you plan to eat.

Ingredients and Substitutions:
Vegetables: Carrots, celery and onion for the flavor base for many soup recipes -- highly recommend you incorporate them. If you don't like these, I recommend you cut them really small and this way you won't notice so much when you eat. Also, feel free to add in other veggies that you may have left over from Thanksgiving. Mushrooms, kale, spinach, corn, peppers, green beans, frozen peas -- whatever you need to use up.

Homemade Turkey Stock (recipe here): This will have an amazing flavor and is perfect after a holiday meal. If you do not have homemade stock, you can substitute chicken stock or chicken broth.

Noodles: This recipe can easily become a Turkey Noodle Soup if you want to sub potatoes for noodles. I'd recommend 1-1.5 Cups of dried egg noodles. Add them in step 4 (when you would've added potatoes).

Storage: Store in a airtight container in the refrigerator for 3-4 days (if you don't eat it all the first day). Allow it to cool down before putting it in the fridge.

Creamy Leftover Turkey Soup