Turkey Carcass Soup

Turkey Carcass Soup is the perfect way to use up leftover holiday turkey to make flavorful, comforting turkey and rice soup for dinner.

After big holiday dinners like Thanksgiving, there are always lots of leftovers. While you can use up the turkey breast and thighs to make delicious Turkey Sandwiches or Leftover Turkey Casserole, you’ll still have the turkey carcass to deal with. Instead of throwing it out, use the bones and leftover meat to make a cozy, comforting bowl of Soup.

Sabrina’s Turkey Carcass Soup Recipe

As you’re cleaning up from your big holiday dinner, make sure to save your leftover carcass for soup! Not only does Turkey Carcass Soup mean less food you are throwing away, but the bones add an amazing depth of flavor to this cozy and comforting soup. This delicious recipe also has rice so the soup is hearty and filling, for an easy one-pot meal perfect for after a big week of holiday cooking. Make sure you have plenty of leftover Dinner Rolls to dip in the amazing broth.

Recipe Card

Ingredients

• Turkey Carcass: A turkey carcass might not look like much at first but there is lots of leftover turkey meat on the bones! The unwanted pieces are filled with rich flavor and there will also be bite-sized pieces of the good stuff on the leftover bones.
• Chicken Broth: The turkey carcass and chicken broth make a delicious turkey bone broth. It makes an extra healthy soup because as you cook the leftover turkey bones, the broth absorbs the nutrients. The meaty bones also fill your semi-homemade broth with amazing flavor for the best tasting soup.
• Rice: Long-grain white rice makes Turkey Carcass Soup more filling and has a nice chewy texture. You can use any long-grain rice that you prefer for this recipe like basmati rice, jasmine rice, or regular white rice.

Kitchen Tools & Equipment

• Soup Pot: A large dutch oven or stock pot makes the best soup pot because it is big enough to hold the whole leftover turkey carcass without having to break it down. The less you have to break up the leftover bones, the easier it will be to remove the unwanted turkey pieces from the meat and other broth ingredients.

Cooking Tips & Tricks

• Strain the Broth before Seasoning: It’s best to boil just the carcass in the broth and add the seasonings and veggies later. It makes it easier to strain the bones and separate the meat out. Also, it keeps your veggies from getting too soft in the longer cooking time.
• Use Up Holiday Leftovers: This easy and flavorful soup is the perfect way to use up more holiday leftovers than just leftover turkey bones and meat. You can use leftover vegetables from your veggie tray. If you have basic ingredients and seasonings leftover from making classic sides like Green Bean Casserole or Stuffing, like green beans and herbs, throw them in your soup pot.

How to Store

• Store: After cooking, don’t leave homemade turkey soup at room temperature for more than a couple of hours. Ladle leftovers into a sealed container to store in the fridge for 3-4 days.
• Reheat: It’s best to heat your leftovers on the stovetop, adding more broth as needed if it’s too thick. To reheat frozen Turkey Carcass Soup, let it thaw in the fridge for a few hours, then add it to a large soup pot and simmer over medium heat until it’s warmed all the way through.
• Freeze: You can freeze this recipe for 4-6 months. First, make sure the soup is entirely cooled. Transfer it to a freezer bag or another airtight container. If you’re using a freezer bag, make sure you don’t fill it too full, and keep the zipped top facing up in the freezer. 

Alternative Cooking Techniques

Slow Cooker

• Place the turkey carcass into a large slow cooker, breaking in half if needed to make it fit with the lid.
• Add the broth to the slow cooker and cover. Cook on low heat overnight.
• The next day, strain the broth and set the meat aside. Return the broth to the slow cooker.
• Add the onions, celery, carrots, bay leaf, salt, pepper, garlic, rosemary, and thyme to the broth.
• Cook on High for 3 hours or Low for 6-7 hours.
• Add the rice and turkey meat to the soup and cook on High for 1 hour, or until the rice is cooked.

Instant Pot

• Turn the Instant Pot to Saute and add 2 tablespoons of oil to the pot.
• Cook the onion, celery and carrots until they are softened, about 5 minutes.
• Stir in the garlic, thyme and rosemary and cook for another 30 seconds. Turn the unit off.
• Add the turkey carcass, broth, rice, bay leaf, salt and pepper to the pot and stir.
• Secure the lid and pressure valve. Cook on High Pressure for 10 minutes.
• Release the pressure naturally for 10 minutes then quick release the rest of the pressure.
• Remove the carcass and strain out any remaining bones. 

Frequent Questions

Variations

• Rice: For a heartier rice option, try brown rice or wild rice in your soup recipe. Either option will take extra time to cook. Usually, you need to cook brown or wild rice for 45 minutes.
• Noodles: If you prefer to make turkey soup with noodles instead of rice, that’s also a tasty option. Prep the turkey stock as usual. Then you can add egg noodles, farfalle, or fusilli to the pot with the rest of the ingredients. Remember that the noodles will cook faster than rice, so you’ll want to add the pasta after the vegetable ingredients.
• Seasonings: You can add various flavors, depending on what herbs and spices you use. Try mixing in black peppercorns, oregano, chili powder, fresh parsley, or white pepper. A squeeze of fresh lemon adds a ton of delicious flavor too!

More Delicious Recipes for Leftover Turkey

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Turkey Soup

Soup

Turkey Dumpling Soup

Main Course

Turkey Pot Pie

Casseroles

Leftover Turkey Casserole

Photos used in previous versions of the post.