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Turkey Wild Rice Soup – turn your leftover turkey into an easy, creamy, hearty and delicious wild rice soup. Great way to turn leftovers into something completely different!
If you are anything like me, you have lots of leftover turkey after the holidays. I never want to run out of food, so I will make a super large Roasted Turkey or more than one Smoked Turkey Breast. So coming up with something to do with the leftovers is a must!
Chicken Wild Rice Soup has always been one of our favorites and using leftover turkey is a great way to mix it up and have an easy dinner you can eat for a couple days or even freeze for later!
What Can I Make With Leftover Turkey
I am one of those people who doesn’t love leftovers. I need to transform them into something else for me to really like eating them. Every year I like to come up with a couple new things to do with them, so here are a few of my favorites!
What You’ll Need
- Butter
- Olive Oil
- Onion
- Carrots
- Celery
- Garlic
- Flour
- Chicken Broth
- Wild Rice or Wild Rice Blend
- Cooked Turkey
- Fresh Thyme
- Heavy Cream
- Salt & Pepper
How To Make Turkey Wild Rice Soup
- Heat butter and oil in a large stock pot over medium high heat. Add the chopped onions, carrots and celery and cook for 5-6 minutes, until the onions start to soften. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute.
- Stir in flour and cook for a couple minutes until it it starts to brown slight and no white streaks remaining around the pan.
- Whisk in chicken broth and season with salt and pepper. Bring the mixture to a boil.
- Reduce heat to a low simmer, stir in the uncooked rice, cover and cook for 40-45 minutes until the rice is tender. Check your package directions for an estimate of the cook time.
- Remove the lid, stir in the turkey, heavy cream and fresh thyme. Simmer for 5-10 minutes for the soup to thicken and warm everything through.
Recipe Tips
Nope, everything cooks together in this soup. It starts with uncooked rice, and simmers in the broth to cook completely. If you happen to have cooked rice you can use it, you would just add it at the end with the already cooked turkey.
This soup will last in the fridge for 3-4 days in an airtight container. You can either microwave or heat in a saucepan to reheat and serve.
I like to use the white meat, but you really can use any leftover turkey that you have. If you make a Roasted Turkey for the holiday chances are you will have lots leftover. So just dice or shred some and it will be perfect!
Yes! This does make a lot of soup, so unless a lot of your holiday guests are sticking around, you may have leftovers. It is great in the freezer or up to 3 months. Then just thaw and reheat to serve.
What Goes With Turkey Soup
What If I Don’t Have Turkey
This is such a great soup with leftover turkey, but don’t worry if you don’t have leftovers! You can easily make an Air Fryer Turkey Breast for just a small amount of turkey. Or you can use chicken. This Instant Pot Wild Rice Soup uses chicken breasts and is our go-to almost all winter long!
More Great Comforting Soup Recipes
- Instant Pot Pozole
- Creamy Chicken Tortellini Soup
- Lasagna Soup
- Beer Cheese Soup
- Clam Chowder Recipe
- Cabbage Roll Soup
- Minestrone Soup
Turkey Wild Rice Soup
Ingredients
- 2 Tablespoons butter
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- 1 small onion, finely shopped
- 2 carrots, peeled and chopped
- 2 ribs celery, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 6 cups chicken broth
- 1 cup uncooked wild rice, or wild rice blend
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 2 1/2 cups cooked turkey
- 2 teaspoon fresh thyme
Instructions
- Heat butter and oil in a large stock pot over medium high heat. Add the chopped onions, carrots and celery and cook for 5-6 minutes, until the onions start to soften. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute.
- Stir in flour and cook for a couple minutes until it it starts to brown slight and no white streaks remaining around the pan.
- Whisk in chicken broth and season with salt and pepper. Bring the mixture to a boil.
- Reduce heat to a low simmer, stir in the uncooked rice, cover and cook for 40-45 minutes until the rice is tender. Check your package directions for an estimate of the cook time.
- Remove the lid, stir in the turkey, heavy cream and fresh thyme. Simmer for 5-10 minutes for the soup to thicken and warm everything through.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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That looks absolutely delicious! I love all that chicken, and the rice looks perfect. I love healthy and tasty!
Really enjoy soups this time of year. Such a great delight!
This sound so good for cooler weather
Craving for this soup right now! Perfect for this chilly weather!
I’d like to make this tonight or tomorrow. Can I use Jasmine or long grain white rice? I’m not a fan of wild rice.
yes, you can use any rice you like, you will just need to adjust the cooking time so you don’t over cook the rice.
Thank You!!