Leftover Turkey & Wild Rice Soup
I’m going to make this one quick today as I’ve got some snowboarding to do and some serious family time coming my way. I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving filled with good food, lots of laughter and hopefully not too many dishes! I just wanted to say a quick namaste to each and every one of you and thank you for reading. I couldn’t be more blessed or thrilled to be part of such a wonderful food blogging community. Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart!
Without fail this is how our post Thanksgiving feast goes. My oldest brother is the first to start cleaning up as he a dishwashing machine. (God bless him.) My uncle is in the kitchen shortly after, sleeves rolled up and has the task of cleaning the carcass. My mom and I watch for a few minutes (we’ve been cooking for days and are happy to finally be sitting) just until we start to feel guilty and eventually get up to help. Our job is to to divvy out leftovers and put the clean dishes away. My dad and other brother sit on the couch in a post glutton stupor. They do their best to entertain the kids from their stationary positions. It’s been this way for years and somehow it just works.
As soon as my uncle gets the carcass cleaned, into the pot it goes with water, a quartered onion, a few ribs of celery, some roughly chopped carrots and whatever herbs I have left over from stuffing the turkey. It simmers away in a clean kitchen and I turn it off sometime during the evening, remove the carcass and then let it sit over night. The next morning, I skim the fat way and what’s left is the most flavorful stock that will be perfect for leftover soup and pot pies to enjoy all throughout the winter.
This is one of my favorite soups to make post Thanksgiving as I usually have most of the ingredients on hand and it comes together in a cinch.
Have a great weekend, everyone! xoxo
PrintLeftover Turkey & Wild Rice Soup
Print Recipe
Pin RecipeIngredients
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/2 cup chopped onion
- 1/4 cup chopped carrot
- 3/4 cup chopped celery
- 6 oz mushrooms, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 4 tablespoons flour
- 4 cups turkey stock (or chicken stock)
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 bay leaf
- 1/2 cup wild rice
- 2 1/2 cups chopped leftover turkey
- 1/4 cup half and half
- 1 tablespoon chopped, fresh thyme
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
Instructions
- In a large stock pot, melt the butter and olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion, carrot and celery and cook about 10 minutes until onions are soft and translucent.
- Add the mushrooms and garlic and cook about 5 minutes more.
- Add the flour and cook, stirring often, for 3-4 minutes until flour is brown and cooked through.
- Add the turkey stock, soy sauce, and bay leaf. Stir to break up any flour bits. Turn the heat up to medium-high and bring soup to a boil. Turn heat back down to medium and let simmer for 30 minutes.
- Add wild rice and simmer for 35 minutes.
- Add turkey, milk, thyme, salt and pepper. Cook for 20 minutes more.
- Serve soup in large bowls and garnish with extra thyme if desired. I love to eat this soup with a leftover roll slathered in cranberry sauce!
106 Comments
This soup!! It looks so good and perfect for me since, one I have tons of leftovers and two i have tons of mouths to feed for the next week!! YAY!
Have fun skiing!
We had our meal elsewhere and weren’t sent home with leftovers, but I may just go buy a turkey on sale this weekend so that I can make this soup!
Step number 5
Nice soup recipe. Thank you,.
Only after I gathered the ingredients and started the soup did I realize the recipe says nothing else about the rice except in the list of ingredients. When do you add it? I added with the broth but I don’t know if it will be cooked enough? And should it be covered like the wild rice container says? Thank you.
My apologies! The recipe has been updated!
Just FYI- now it has 1/2 cup wild rice listed twice in the ingredients. I added during step 4 bc that was closest to the wild rice container recipe. I simmered for a longer time bc I had a “PE” class to attend for an hour. I also added about a cup of chopped organic baby spinach that I needed to use( I sneak spinach in anywhere I can)and added more chicken stock to stretch it out. My husband and I thought the soup was delicious! Very easy and covered up the over-fried turkey…( don’t get me started
Kelley~I know I said my husband and I thought the soup was DELICIOUS!, but it must have been more so than I thought bc he tells everyone about it{he didn’t know about the mushrooms because I diced very small} .:) I can’t wait to make it again, but I’ll have to use chicken( rotisserie?) and will definitely double this time. Even adding more broth didn’t stretch as far as I would like.(probably bc we ate so much at a time.)I’ve told so many people about your recipe. Thanks again!
Just to be sure, you cook the carcass, remove it and let it sit out all night, or do you refrigerate it till morning? I’m ready to reach out and grab that bowl as it looks perfect! Yum!!!
I discard the carcass the night before and let the stock sit over night. I then skim the fat off the top, strain the stock and then use it right away or freeze!
Just to be clear, when you let it sit over night. It is not refrigerated. I plan on making the stock tonight.
Are you referring to this leftover soup recipe or my slow cooker stock recipe? This soup doesn’t have to sit overnight and if you do so, make sure to refrigerate it. If you’re making the stock, yes, keep the slow cooker on low over night.
I made this soup with Thanksgiving leftover turkey. It was the best soup I have ever eaten. I am getting ready to make it with Christmas leftover turkey.
Hi just a ? I have made chicken noodle soup and have never let sit over night to discard the fat. Have you tried it without taking the fat off? I seems like you would be losing a lot of flavor from it.
Just curious
Blake
It’s up to you. I’m using a leftover turkey carcass and it tends to have more skin and fat left on it so I prefer to skim the excess fat off. Do what you like!
the directions don’t mention when to ad the wild rice.
The recipe has been updated- so sorry!
THANK YOU, looks so good, I want this tomorrow night!
made this for tonight, it is really good soup, a definite keeper.
OBSESSED with that wooden spoon! where can I find it?!
I got it at World Market!
My husband just kept saying, “this is sooooo good!” My mom gave me a frozen turkey (leftover from thanksgiving), and I’ve been trying to use it all up. I still had the carcass, so was able to make the homemade stock as well. Yum!
The recipe still shows 2 separate rice amounts and 2 separate stock amounts.
Thanks for catching the typo. It’s been corrected to reflect the right amounts. Thanks!
I’ve made this soup 5 or 6 times now, it is easily my favorite soup, make it every chance I have.
Hi… making the soup now… Are you sure you didn’t mean 4 quarts of stock vs 4 cups? I’m at step #4 with about 12 minutes to go of the simmering of the stock and it’s simmering down to hardly 2 cups by now. I’m glad I have extra stock left… I’m sure I’ll have to add more to the soup when done. I’ve been cooking to over 30 years and can follow a recipe to a tee… hoping this turns out ok… There just doesn’t seem to be enough soup base. It smells delicious though. Also…How many does this recipe serve?
I was wondering about the amount of stock as well. My soup has been reduced to a stew! Yummy but doesn’t go far with a family of 6! Should i have used 4 quarts?
I just kept adding stock or broth because the rice kept soaking it up? I double the recipe when I make it so I fudge the amounts and add chopped spinach or kale too.
I bet the added greens make this even more delicious. Yes, add more stock if necessary!
Kelley, do you think I could make the soup(except for the Turkey) ahead of Thanksgiving day, Freeze it, and then add the turkey as it becomes available?
We are so excited to make it that I might want it ready for Thanksgiving night snacking…
Sure! What a great idea!!
Great soup
IS the wild rice supposed to be raw or already cooked?
uncooked.
I pre-cooked my rice and added it with the turkey. I didn’t turn muddy-colored. This turned out to be incredibly good – will now be a holiday staple!
Hands down the best leftover soup recipe ever! Thank you Mountain Mama! I haven’t been this surprised with a recipe in a long time.
This is smelling delicious, but turned a dark brown/ sludgy color when I added the wild rice instead of the beautiful broth color of yours – did I do something wrong?
Hmmmmm….perhaps it was the rice blend you used? That’s all I can think of. How did it taste?
It came out beyond delicious! My husband is passing around the recipe at work already! I guess it didnt matter in the end, just wasn’t “the look” I was expecting. Oh well, thank you for the quick response!
I precooked my wild rice and it didn’t color the soup = plus you get to skip that 35 minute simmer if this step is already done.
This is a terrific turkey soup recipe. I’d made stock from the turkey carcass the day before, and was looking for some soup inspiration. Found it. What’s different in this recipe, and something I hadn’t done before, was the use of flour, soy sauce and milk. I doubled the recipe, used the 3 quarts of stock I had on hand, added a chopped red bell pepper and a leek to the sauté, omitted the half & half (because it didn’t seem right…sorry, I’ll try it next time), and used a box of Far East Long Grain and Wild Rice (including the spice package). It worked. Best effort so far (of many). Thanks!
Oh my Lord I got hungry just READING this recipe!!! I’m not sure how I came across your site but it is book marked now!!!! I’m getting ready to make it now!!!
This recipe will be forever served on November 28. I made it on November 27 with our left over turkey from Thanksgiving. My mom was losing her battle with gallbladder cancer and wasn’t eating anything but yogurt. The broth of this soup was the last meal she ever had. She kept asking for more and more. She passed away in the morning of November 28. My whole family call this my mom’s love soup. Thank you for allowing her to have an amazing last meal. We will forever cherish this recipe.
First off, let me tell you how sorry I am for your loss. My love and prayers go out to you and your family. Secondly, a heartfelt thank you. I love to cook because food is so much more than just food; it’s a tool to connect, empower, heal and love. I am so incredibly touched that you were able to share this soup with your mom and your family as your last meal. Warmest wishes this holiday season and God bless.
I am making this as I type and this comment mived me to tears! Blessings! P.S. This smells amazing and can’t wait to actually get it in my belly! ❤
🙂
could you use regular white rice if that’s what you have on hand?
Sure thing!
great!! thank you for responding 🙂
This was amazing for a day-after Thanksgiving family gathering. EVERYONE asked for the recipe. I doubled the liquid to 8 cups and this served 6 adults as a main course. This is a keeper!
It’s one of my favorites too! Such a great way to use up the leftover turkey. Enjoy!
Looks tasty. Going to make it next week. I think I’m going to add a good deal more seasoning, though.
How much soup will this recipe make?
serves 6.
Made this today. Simply amazing. I added little leftover stuffing dumplings. OMG!!
LOVE the idea of stuffing dumplings! Enjoy!!
Made a double batch of this today as written, with no additional seasoning except a little more salt, since I used reduced sodium chicken broth. Turned out wonderful!
I can confirm, in case anyone wondered, that it does very well in a crock pot. I followed the instructions on the stove through step 3, then dumped everything into the pot and set it to cook for 10 hours. The rice did absorb a good portion of the broth, but there was still enough for a thick soup consistency. We needed every bit of that double batch to be able to feed five, though. Probably due to the decreased broth content. The added thickness, however, made it pair very well both with yeast rolls and with Fritos scoops.
There’s still leftover turkey in the freezer, so I’m going to make this again after Christmas. I’m thinking that I’ll add an extra half cup or so of wild rice to the mix, and make it more of a turkey and rice casserole type dish.
Thanks for sharing this recipe! Everyone loved it!
I’m so glad you liked it! Thanks for the kind comment!!
Just to confirm, the garlic cloves are put in whole? Not sliced or minced? Thanks.
They’re minced. Thanks for catching the typo. The recipe has been updated!
Making this right now, just finished adding the rice. My house smells amazing. Can’t wait to pour myself a bowl on this damp drizzly day.
Perfect for this dreary weather! Enjoy!!
My kids absolutely loved this soup! I did not put mushrooms in. Didn’t have any and my kids are not a fan. Like everyone I too had to had extra broth. I only had about 3 extra cups. Definitely would have used more if i had it. I also left out the cream. It wasn’t needed. The soup was on the thick side. Will be making this soup again for sure!
Just tried this recipe and it was a huge success. We loved it. We did not add half and half because we didn’t need it. We added 3extra cups of turkey stock because we love our soup soupy not strewy! Deep rich taste. Loved and will make again. We toasted rosemary sourdough to compliment!
Kelley… Thank you for this recipe! For years, I’ve been meaning to make stock from the carcass of the annual bird; this year, I succeeded, and then I searched for the perfect soup recipe. So happy I found yours! After slow-cooking the remains for 10+ hours, I had enough stock to double your recipe. Yippee ki yay! #winning
The soup turned out perfect – rich, hearty, and delightfully tasteful. Paired with dinner rolls and brussel sprouts, my family loved it; and it’s nice to have enough for leftovers.
This dish will definitely be made again next year! Happy Holidays!
Made this today after church for lunch. Used 3 cups chicken stock and leftover turkey gravy (about 1 and 1/2 cups). Didn’t use carcass. Saving for freezer turkey stock.
Decreased wild rice to 2 tbsp and added 2 tbsp brown rice.
Absolutely delicious!!!!
Hearty soup for a chilly day.
Thank you.
Love this recipe!!!
These leftover turkey & wild rice soup are stunning. I’m not a talented baker, but I would love to give these a try! Thanks, Kelley
Just finished making this soup from our Christmas turkey carcass. DELICIOUS! We do low sodium so making our own broth is key. We added extra mushrooms. How do you get a turkey carcass in April? This is key to my fast holiday clean up. I bag the carcass right from the table and pop it in the freezer. Thats my clean up! Then at a later date, when we are hungry for turkey again, I take it out of the freezer and make broth and finish the de- boning.
I thought this tasted amazing. I love the creaminess of the soup. I made my soup in the crock pot. I forgot to add the sherry. I can’t wait to make this again, this time with the sherry!
It’s one of my favorites. Glad you enjoyed it!
I’ve been making this family favorite for years, and have never seen sherry in the ingredients? Am I missing something? Please reply soonest as I’ll be assembling this week. Thank you.
? Kelley? Any comments about Sherry, that I don’t see in the recipe, but sounds like a great addition?
We made this for dinner tonight – absolutely delicious! We did add more broth at the end as it was a little thick for our taste, but overall this is a fabulous recipe!
Thank you! It looks like lots of readers have added extra broth– I do too sometimes if is too thick. Glad you enjoyed the flavor and recipe!
I’ve made this at least four times now, it is absolutely my favorite. Used chicken instead of turkey.
Love this recipe…..it has become our go to recipe for leftover turkey. I did add extra broth…..probably twice what the recipe called for.
Noted- that’s been a note from readers for years. It definitely needs more broth than called for. -thank you for the comment!
Best turkey soup I’ve ever tasted. Really!! Made this for a pre-Thanksgiving get together. Bought turkey legs and roasted them to make it quick and easier than a whole bird. Other than that just followed the recipe, and tripled it for our party. So good, perfect comfort food.
Thank you!!
Great recipes! Can’t to make some delicious meals this winter!
I live in high altitude also and making recipes work can be sketchy – thanks.
This soup is excellent! Perfect for fall or a holiday. Great use of leftovers indeed. Easy to make. So tasty. Restaurant quality soup.
This was a great way to get rid of my leftover Thanksgiving turkey. It was worth the effort, so yummy.
Delicious, satisfying, comfort food. Will definitely make it again!
This soup is amazing.
Thank you! It’s a hit whenever I make it!!
I need to go buy a couple more turkeys while they are on sale! This is the best soup EVER! Thank you so much for posting this wonderful recipe! Mmmmmm
I truly enjoyed this recipe, I didn’t have mushrooms, so added more trinity – carrots, celery and onion. This’ll definitely become a new tradition in my family! Thanks!
Try it with the mushrooms next time. It adds such a nice meatiness and depth!
Best turkey soup ever! So warm and comforting and exactly what I was looking for. I had my turkey carcass and some wild rice and went googling. So glad I found this. The wild rice and mushrooms and cream make it another level amazing.
Thank you, Kelley for my new go to turkey soup recipe!
It’s my fave too! I made it day before yesterday!
Thank you for your effort to make this delicious item.
Quick, easy and very delicious. One of my favorite fall and winter soups.
wow, i have learned a lot of recipes from you.
The result was surprising, my whole family enjoyed the food I cooked,
Thanks again, I hope you will share more, I will follow your page.
goodbye.
Kelley your soup actually looks intimidating and your recipe makes a rookie like me jealous. Thanks for posting this. I plan to make mine and I won’t stop fixing it until it is perfect. Wish me luck.
Don’t be jealous. It’s not really that hard. Go for it and best of luck. It’s totally worth the little bit of effort!
Really great soup recipe! Thank you
This soup is fantastic! I have made it several times. To be sure I have enough broth, I pre-cook the wild rice separately for half the time called for on rice pkg, strain and then dump in soup to finish cooking. Only changes I made were 1) I used half shiitake/half regular mushrooms, sliced and 2) I added a 1/2 cup dry sherry at same time as turkey, half & half, thyme, and S&P. (I think wine always makes soup taste better;-)
This is truly THE most amazing soup! I found your recipe years ago, looking for something to make with the Thanksgiving leftover turkey. Now, I always double it and add extra stock. I’ve given the soup and recipe to many family and friends and everyone loves it! Thank you so much for sharing it – it is looked forward to by so many❤️
Thank you. It’s certainly a reader favorite! 🙂
I have been really enjoying your recipes. Last night I made this turkey and rice soup with our leftover turkey from xmas and all I can say is…I’ve never seen my family finish something so fast!!! It was such a hit and I made plenty to have some leftover and there is no leftovers with this soup! It is that amazing! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!!
For the addition of Turkey stock, wild rice, and chopped Turkey steps do you cover the pot or do you cook this uncovered the whole time? I’ve been doing uncovered.
I do cook it uncovered.
Delicious! I had to make a couple changes due to my son’s food allergies. Wheat free flour and soy milk instead of cream. It turned out great. Still delicious with substitutions due to a wheat or dairy allergies.
This soup is very good.
Love your article, thank you for sharing.
This is a great and tasty soup that we have been making with turkey or chicken, whenever we feel like eating it. We just use regular brown rice and sometimes add potato. My only complaint is that there is absolutely no need to simmer the soup for 30 minutes at step 4. Just throw in the rice right away and you can have it half an hour early!