Turkey Soup is an easy Thanksgiving leftovers recipe made with turkey, noodles, and veggies for a perfect laid back meal after a busy week.
Now that Thanksgiving is over and everyone thoroughly enjoyed the Roast Turkey you made, reinvent your leftovers with this savory, hearty Turkey Soup. Check out our Soup Recipes page for more easy, light meal inspirations.
Table of contents
About our Turkey Soup Recipe
Thanksgiving is wonderful for a lot of reasons, but one of the best reasons is the days of leftovers! To avoid turkey burnout, get some new recipes like this Turkey Soup that use up your leftovers and the spices you already have on hand from all your holiday cooking.
The great thing about this Homemade Turkey Soup recipe is that it’s fairly low key. If you don’t have chicken broth on hand, you can swap in vegetable or beef. Not feeling like using egg noodles? Use some rice or potatoes, brown rice, or quinoa any other starch you have on hand! You can play with the seasonings or throw it in a slow cooker, it truly is one of the most versatile soup recipes ever!
Turkey Soup Ingredients
- Turkey Carcass: Don’t throw out your leftover turkey carcass and instead use it to make broth for delicious savory soups! The bones hold a lot of flavor and the only work is simmering it in water or broth for at least 30 minutes, then straining the broth and it’s ready to go!
- Chicken Broth: The 8 cups of broth along with the turkey bones makes a semi-homemade broth that gives this soup its savory, cozy flavor. Chicken broth works great, but you can also use vegetable broth or other savory broth.
- Egg Noodles: Egg noodles are flat, wider pasta made of wheat flour and eggs. Because of the way they are made, they don’t break down or absorb water as quickly as regular pasta making them perfect for soup recipes.
- Vegetables: The vegetables in this Turkey Noodle Soup are a classic aromatic blend of yellow onion, 2 carrots and a couple celery stalks. You want to dice veggies into bite size pieces so they can be enjoyed with noodles and turkey. For extra flavor, you can saute the veggies in oil first in the stock pot, then transfer them to a bowl and make the recipe as usual.
- Seasonings: The seasoning in this soup recipe is a simple blend of bay leaf, salt, black pepper, rosemary, and thyme which all pair nicely with turkey and other poultry.
- Turkey Meat: You want to add the turkey meat in the end with the noodles so it cooks through but doesn’t overcook. You can use dark meat or light meat, or a blend of both, just make sure to discard the skin and any extra fat.
How to Make Turkey Soup
Time needed: 50 minutes.
- Prep the Broth
Place the turkey carcass in a large dutch oven or a soup pot with a heavy bottom. Fill the pot with broth, covering the turkey bones. Bring the broth to a boil then reduce to a simmer.
- Cook the Broth
Cover the pot with a lid. Cook for 30 minutes, adjust the heat as needed if it starts boiling again or stops simmering. Strain the bones out, leaving the broth and any meat pieces in the pot.
- Add the Soup Ingredients
Add the noodles, onion, celery carrots, bay leaf, rosemary, thyme, and turkey meat to the broth. Stir well and season with salt and pepper.
- Finish and Serve
Bring the soup back to a simmer and cover again with the lid. Let simmer for 12 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the noodles are tender. Serve warm with parsley and Dinner Rolls.
Nutritional Facts
Broth-based soups like this leftover Turkey Noodle Soup are not only delicious and flavorful, but they are good for you too! Since there’s no cream and a good mix of veggies, it’s a healthy soup recipe perfect for the winter cold and flu season.
Cooking Turkey Soup Recipe Tips & Tricks
- Saute the Veggies
- Build some more flavor in your soup by sauteing the vegetables in 2 tablespoons of oil before you start the recipe. Saute them in your soup pot until they are softened and the onions are translucent, then use a slotted spoon to transfer them to a bowl. Make the recipe as usual in the same pot.
- Use a Mesh Strainer
- The last thing you want is to crunch down on a turkey bone when you are enjoying this cozy soup. Use a mesh strainer, either with a handle to scoop or over a bowl to catch the broth. This will catch any stray bone fragments plus you can pick out any meat to add back into the soup.
What to Pair With Turkey Soup
Drinks: A light, crisp wine like Pinot Gris or robust spiced red like Syrah would both pair nicely with this healthy Turkey Noodle Soup. If you’re feeling under the weather, serve it with a Hot Toddy, a favorite warm drink during the colder months!
Salads and Sandwiches: Make the perfect lunch pairing by serving your Turkey Noodle Soup with a salad or sandwich, or make a trio with all three. A Winter Pear Salad and Grilled Cheese Sandwich are our top easy picks!
How to Store Turkey Soup
Store: You’ll need to store the soup after no more than 2 hours at room temperature. Let the soup cool completely before storing in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
Reheat: It’s best to reheat leftover soup on the stove top. Slowly bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally then simmer for 5 minutes to heat it through.
Freeze: You can freeze Turkey Soup for up to 6 months in a sealed freezer safe container or bag. Cool the soup completely then transfer to a container. If using a bag, let it freeze flat on a baking tray until it’s solid so it takes up less room in your freezer.
Ideas to Serve Turkey Soup
Bread Bowls: If you already know you are going to make Turkey Soup with your Thanksgiving leftovers, grab some bread bowls from the bakery when you do your final Turkey day shopping. Carve out the center of the bowl, saving the inside as extra bread to dip in the delicious soup.
Garnish: A simple sprinkle of parsley is all this delicious soup needs, but you can add other garnishes as well. Some Cranberry Relish would add a tart bright flavor or some sour cream would add a cool tang.
Alternative Turkey Soup Cooking Techniques
Slow Cooker Turkey Soup
Make this post-Thanksgiving soup recipe even easier by throwing all the ingredients into your slow cooker on low first thing Friday morning before you head out for post Turkey Day activities. You’ll come home to a healthy crockpot recipe. The soup takes 6-8 hours on low heat and 3-4 hours on high heat to really come together and develop flavor. Stir the noodles in during the last 30 minutes of cooking and serve when they are soft.
Instant Pot Turkey Soup
If you forgot to throw your soup in the slow cooker, and you need to get dinner on the table fast, try this in the Instant Pot. Place all your ingredients into the Instant Pot and use the manual setting to set the cook time for 20 minutes. Let the pressure naturally release for 10 minutes then quick release and serve.
FAQ for Turkey Soup
For a thicker soup you need to add a starch, like flour or cornstarch. Start with about a tablespoon mixed with water and add bit at a time as needed until you get the right consistency. Don’t add cornstarch or flour directly to your soup or it will clump up.
While a lot of flavor in this soup is built from the turkey bones, you can also make it with fresh turkey. You will need to cook the turkey meat before adding it. It’s also best to use a good quality stock concentrate like Better than Bouillon or bone broth to make up for the missing flavor.
Recipe Card
Ingredients
- 1 turkey carcass , from 14-pound turkey
- 8 cups chicken broth
- 12 ounces medium egg noodles
- 1 yellow onion , chopped
- 4 stalks celery , thinly sliced
- 2 medium carrots , thinly sliced
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon rosemary
- 1/2 teaspoon thyme
- 2 cups turkey meat , chopped
Instructions
- Add the turkey carcass and broth to a large dutch oven.
- Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer.
- Cover and cook for 30 minutes.
- Remove the bones from the pot, add in the egg noodles, onions, celery, carrots, bay leaf, salt, pepper, rosemary, thyme and chopped turkey meat.
- Bring to a simmer, then cover and cook for 12 minutes until noodles are cooked.
Nutrition
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Turkey Soup Variations
Rice: Instead of using noodles in this recipe, you can make a Turkey and Rice Soup. Use white rice, brown rice or wild rice. You will need to adjust the cooking time and keep in mind it will be a much thicker soup because rice absorbs more liquid.
Low Carb: Make this soup Paleo or Keto by omitting the noodles and adding extra veggies like shredded cabbage, green beens, leeks, or bok choy to give it more substance without overwhelming the flavor.
Seasoning: If you want to add some extra flavor to the seasoning blend, you can add herbs and spices like ground sage. marjoram, allspice or nutmeg.
These images were used previously in this post:
This soup turned out so good! The ingredients and instruction are simple and yet delicious. It will be my go to leftover turkey soup moving forward.
If you want a soup with a rich great flavour look no farther.
I made this with turkey bone broth that I had already on hand and it turned out well. We loved the flavor but we were short on broth so I may have to supplement with additional chicken broth.
I probably added too much turkey. I measured everything except the turkey LOL.
It still was a win!
I had planned on making soup from my (frozen) turkey carcass, so am glad I rec’d this today! It looks delicious.
A couple of questions please…
– I don’t want to add the white turkey meat protein, but want to add addtl low-potassium veggies…what would you suggest please? (I have to leach carrots, but that’s ok)
– Can I use up my leftover dark meat along with the carcass for addtl flavor and then toss it?
– I usually use Udon noodles in this type of soup…will that be ok?
Thanks for any suggestions you have for making this a kidney-friendly Flexitarian/WFPB soup!
I appreciate your site, and will be checking out other white turkey meat recipes, and other soups, casseroles, etc. too!
adding or changing anything in the recipe to your liking is completely fine! Maybe try alfalfa sprouts?
Are the thyme and rosemary fresh or ground? Thank you very much!
Ground preferably!
Delicious! My Husband isn’t a soup eater but he loved this soup. We both did. We used the left over turkey, soup full of flavor. East to make and filling.
So glad you all enjoyed it, Tracey.
To thicken mine I used riced cauliflower, it was awesome!
Thanks for the suggestion, Liz.
My mom also puts the leftover corn, green beans, stuffing & mashed potatoes in hers. The stuffing & mashed potatoes help to thicken the soup. We don’t add the rice to our soup when we cook ours. We add the rice when we serve the soup. The stuffing also helps to season the soup.
Hey there, how do you make turkey soup if you only have all the turkey! No broth, just whatever and dark turkey I don’t want to waste
If you’re saying you don’t have any broth left over from the holiday, you can buy broth from the store and use it for this recipe. I’m sorry if I’m misunderstanding your question.
Very easy and tasty! Helpful for the leftovers without all the cooking hassle!
Glad you enjoyed it, Sarah.
If I want to do rice instead of pasta. Do you know how much rice I would use for this soup? Can’t wait to try it with out leftovers.
I’d add 1/2 cup of uncooked rice. Enjoy!
What are the correct cooking times?
The cooking times are in the instructions in the recipe card. Enjoy!
The recipe sounds delicious but I see that the cook time is 4 hours and 20 minutes.
I’m wondering if the whole recipe came though for me because I see that you simmer the carcass and the broth for 30 mins and then add the other ingredients and then simmer for 12 mins until the noodles are cooked. Is this the total cooking time. I want to be sure before I try it. Thank you
Thanks for catching that! I’ve edited it to read correctly now. Hopefully it sticks this time. I hope you enjoy the soup.
This was the perfect way to use up the last of our turkey. It’s been such a dreary cold day that we loved warming up with a bowl.
So glad you enjoyed it! Stay cozy.
LOVED this recipe! Saving!!!
Yay!!
My whole family loved this soup! Perfect use for leftover turkey meat!
Yay!! I love it when the whole family enjoys a dish. I know how hard it can be to please everyone.
Do you have a recipe for it in a crock pot?
Toss all the ingredients into a slow cooker and cook on low for 6-8 hours or high 3-4 hours. Enjoy!
What if I don’t have the turkey carcass to make the broth. I only have the turkey meat. Could I still make this recipe?
Yes, of course. The carcass just adds a great depth of flavor to your soup. When I started with the chicken broth the color was much rich, but once the carcass had some time to simmer it became this rich color. You could also use chicken bones. It’s really the marrow from the bones that is adding the additional flavor to the soup.
Thank you.