This warming leftover turkey vegetable soup is so comforting and delicious. It’s a very handy recipe to have up your sleeve during the festive season!
I always used to buy a whole Turkey for Christmas dinner, but these days I just tend to buy a turkey crown instead. I always end up with loads of leftovers which is exactly what I want!
I think I enjoy the quiet, slow paced few days between Christmas and New Year more than the big day itself – I tend to hunker down and live off all the bits and pieces in the fridge – I make turkey sandwiches, Turkey and ham pie and this leftover turkey soup recipe.
Just like my tattie soup recipe, there’s nothing fancy about this recipe at all – it’s good, homely comfort food.
The recipe below is exactly how I always make it – but please feel free to change it up depending on what ingredients you have.
You can add whatever veggies or herbs you might have to hand. Think of the recipe as a blueprint – it’s very adaptable. Don’t you just love that kind of cooking?
how do you make soup with leftover turkey meat?
This recipe is pretty adaptable, but you should always start off by sweating diced celery, onion or leek and carrot in melted butter until the vegetables are soft. You could also add a couple of cloves of garlic if you like.
When the vegetables are soft (keep the heat low so they don’t colour) add turkey or chicken stock, the herbs, rice and the leftover meat.
I also like to throw in a few herbs and a couple of bay leaves – I love the flavour of sage, parsley and rosemary (just a small amount of the latter though – a little goes a long way.) Fresh thyme would also be lovely.
can I use something else other than rice?
Yes! I like to use long grain white rice in this recipe, but sometimes I ring the changes by adding Scotch broth mix or pearl barley.
They do take much longer to cook than the rice though – and if you use broth mix, it usually needs to be soaked in cold water for several hours before using.
i don’t like chunky soup – can i blend it?
Yes, you can blend this soup if you prefer – when the soup is ready, stir in about 100ml of double (heavy) cream. Blend the soup to the desired consistency and season to taste.
can i freeze this soup?
Yes this soup can be frozen. Store the (completely cold) soup in airtight containers or suitable freezer bags. Place in the freezer and use within one month.
Can i use leftover chicken instead?
Yes! This recipe is also great for using up the leftover meat from a roast chicken.
did you make this leftover turkey soup?
I hope you loved it! Let me know what you thought of the recipe by leaving a comment below, and please rate the recipe by clicking on the stars in the recipe card.
more warming soup recipes for you to try
More turkey recIPEs
- Rolled turkey breast with apricot and cranberry stuffing
- slow cooker turkey crown
- air fryer turkey crown
Leftover turkey and vegetable soup
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 2 sticks celery, finely diced
- 1 large leek, sliced finely
- 3-4 carrots, peeled and chopped into dice
- 1 teaspoon finely chopped rosemary leaves
- 2 tablespoons freshly chopped parsley
- 1 tablespoon freshly chopped sage leaves or 1 teaspoon dried
- 1 or 2 bay leaves
- 75g white long grain rice
- 1.5-2 Litres hot turkey or chicken stock
- Around 200g leftover turkey, shredded into bite size pieces
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Gently heat the butter and oil in a large saucepan. When the butter has melted, add the leeks, celery , carrots, and chopped herbs, add a little salt and pepper, place a lid on and sweat the vegetables over a very low heat for about 10-15 minutes, or until they have softened.
- Once the vegetables have softened, pour in the hot stock, add the rice, bay leaves and leftover turkey, pop a lid on the pan and simmer on a low-medium heat for about 15-20 minutes or until the rice is tender.
- Check the soup for seasoning before serving.
Notes
The soup will thicken up a lot, so you’ll need to add more stock or broth when reheating.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 8 Serving Size: 8Amount Per Serving: Calories: 383Total Fat: 16gSaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 10gCholesterol: 187mgSodium: 288mgCarbohydrates: 7gFiber: 1gSugar: 2gProtein: 49g
Calories and nutritional information are provided by a third party application and should be viewed as indicative figures only.
What about those with dairy allergies? Seems a lot of your soup recipes feature butter, and some people cannot eat the stuff or simply don’t wish to/don’t like the taste.
Hi, I do use butter in a few of my soup recipes for flavour, but if there are allergies or you simply don’t like butter you can omit and use a little more oil 🙂