If you are looking for a great recipe for your leftover turkey, you found it in this Turkey Rice Soup!
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This Turkey Rice Soup is perfect to make with your leftover turkey because it has all the things in it that you probably already have on hand from your Thanksgiving cooking extravaganza: carrots, onion, celery, garlic, and fresh herbs.
I make my Turkey Rice Soup with butter and a little half and half to give it some creaminess. If you want to make this dairy-free, it’s easy to do. Just use oil in place of the butter to sauté the vegetables and either skip the half and half or use a plain non-dairy creamer.
This is an easy way to make good use of a lot of your leftovers. I just love the flavor of this Turkey and Wild Rice soup and it won’t take you nearly as long as it took to make your Thanksgiving feast.
If you use your turkey bones to make stock this soup will really sing, but it’s also great using chicken stock, so use what you have.
Sherry wine compliments the flavor well here, but if you don’t have it that’s okay, your soup will still be delicious.
The first time I had slivered almonds in my turkey and wild rice soup I knew I’d never go back to leaving them out. Another great addition if you have them. They give the soup an unexpected, but welcome crunch.
If it’s no where near Thanksgiving when you’re reading this, but you still are craving this cozy soup, you can certainly make this soup with leftover chicken as well. It’s just as good!
Ingredients for the Turkey Wild Rice Soup Recipe
4 tablespoons Butter
A well-balanced soup requires good fat content, and butter will do that for our delicious turkey rice soup. It’ll improve the mouthfeel and round out the flavors. Olive oil works, too, if you need this to be dairy-free.
Vegetables
Soup without vegetables? No, thank you! Here are my go-to veggie choices:
- 2 Carrots – I love their orangish-red color. Plus, they add a nice crunchy bite to the soup.
- 1 Large Onions – Yellow onions are your best pick. They have a naturally sweet flavor profile that’ll work great in the recipe.
- 2 Celery Stalks – This one’s for the love of greens. Celery stalks will make your soup fresh and add a nice, sharp, herbal flavor to your comforting soup.
- 3 Garlic Cloves – The aroma! Yep, that’s what we’re adding this one for. Add three minced garlic cloves and watch them work their magic. Of course, garlic has great medicinal qualities, too. (source)
8 ounces Mushrooms
Depending on the mushroom variety you like, get 8 ounces of sliced mushrooms. I love using cremini or button mushrooms for a delicious umami flavor.
4 Tablespoons Flour
This is our thickening agent. 1-to-1 all-purpose gluten-free flour works if you need your soup to be gluten free. Otherwise, all-purpose flour(unbleached, organic flour is my preference) is what I use here.
Fresh Herbs
I prefer fresh herbs over dried ones because of the flavor and aroma they add to any dish. For this recipe, use a combination of 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme and a teaspoon of chopped fresh rosemary. If you’re using dried versions, you’ll need a lesser quantity. (1 teaspoon of dried thyme and 1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary will be good)
4-5 Cups Chicken or Turkey Stock
Since this is a turkey soup, I prefer sticking to turkey broth or stock. It enhances the rest of the flavors of the soup. If you have leftover turkey bones, making homemade turkey stock will make this soup exceptional.
But if you don’t have any, you can easily use chicken broth or stock. The flavor will be slightly different but still very tasty. 4-5 cups of stock will be enough.
1 Cup Uncooked Wild Rice or Wild Rice Blend
Wild rice is long-grain rice with a nuttier flavor. It’s amazing for your heart health and keeps type 2 diabetes under control. Wild rice has a higher protein and antioxidant content when compared to white rice. However, if you prefer sticking to your regular rice, you can use white rice here. Brown rice will work, too. Make sure you alter the cooking time accordingly. You’ll need a cup of wild rice or wild rice blend.
3 Cups Shredded Cooked Turkey
Do you have any leftover Thanksgiving turkey on hand? Well, it’s time to use it! Just shred it into pieces and add it to your homemade turkey soup. You’ll need 3 cups at least. Turkey is an excellent lean protein source. Maybe you have leftover Butter and Herb Roasted Turkey Breast? That will work, too!
1/2 Teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce
Our secret ingredient for that extra punch of flavor! You can use soy sauce in place of it, too.
1/2 Cup Half and Half
Make your soup creamier and more filling with this ingredient. Don’t have any? No worries; use heavy cream or whole milk instead. Need this to be dairy free? Coconut milk (lite or full fat) is a good substitute. If you prefer a more neutral flavor than coconut milk, I recommend the Boathouse Farms dairy-free milk I use in this Non-dairy Chicken Pot Pie Recipe.
Salt and Pepper
Not sure I even need to include this in the list. of ingredients. Of course we need salt + pepper. No one likes a bland soup! Nope!
Optional Ingredients
1/2 Cup Sherry Wine
Just half a cup of it will make your soup shine with a subtle, sweet flavor.
1/4 Cup Slivered Almonds
Almonds and good health go hand in hand. Plus, they’ll add a nice crunch to your soup. You’ll only need 1/4 cup of these.
How to Make Turkey Rice Soup
It’s a simple and fail-proof recipe. Just stick to the steps, and you’ll have a comforting bowl of turkey rice soup ready in no time!
- Take a large pot or Dutch oven and heat butter in it over medium heat.
- Add your veggies, season them with salt and pepper, and cook for about 5 minutes.
- Next, drop in your mushrooms and garlic. Cook for another 5 minutes.
- Now add the flour and let everything cook for 3-5 minutes.
- Add chicken or turkey stock, herbs, Worcestershire sauce, and rice.
- Let everything come to a simmer before covering and simmering some more. Thirty minutes will do.
- Add your shredded turkey leftovers (and sherry, if you’re using it) and let everything cook for 15-20 minutes, uncovered.
- Stir in the half and half and dress with slivered almonds.
- Adjust the seasonings and consistency, and enjoy!
Variations to Try
- Chicken and Rice Soup – Use shredded rotisserie chicken, chicken broth, and rice for it. The rest of the recipe remains the same.
- Make it Anti-inflammatory – This Anti-Inflammatory Chicken and Rice Soup is nourishing and delicious!
- Skip the Meat – Making a vegetarian version? Just skip the turkey and add more veggies and use vegetable broth instead. Sweet potatoes would be a great vegetable to add here. You can also add some beans or lentils in place of the lentils.
Tips for Storing Leftover Turkey Soup
Soups are a breeze to store and this Turkey Rice Soup is no different. Just let your leftover soup come to room temperature before pouring it into an airtight container and storing it in the fridge. It’ll easily survive 3-4 days.
If you want to freeze your tasty soup for later use, skip the rice. Freezing with rice will make your soup mushy and soggy. So, cook your soup without the rice, and add them when you’re ready to serve. This way, you’re looking at four months of freezer life.
If you make this Turkey Rice Soup recipe, or any of my other healthy recipes, please leave a star rating below! It’s so helpful for other readers to see which recipes are tried and true! I’d also love to see it–share your photo of this dish and tag me on Instagram and I’ll feature you!
If you’d like more delicious and healthy soup recipes, scroll below the recipe card and see what I’m loving during this season!
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Leftover Turkey and Wild Rice Soup
- Total Time: 1 hour 10 mins
- Yield: 6-8 1x
Description
This Turkey and Wild Rice Soup is perfect for your leftover turkey or use leftover chicken!
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 2 carrots, chopped
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 2 celery stalks, sliced
- 8 ounces sliced mushrooms (chopped if you prefer, but not necessary)
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 4 tablespoons flour
- 4–5 cups turkey or chicken stock
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme leaves
- 1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
- 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 cup uncooked wild rice
- 1/2 cup sherry wine (optional)
- 3 cups shredded cooked turkey
- 1/2 cup half and half
- 1/4 cup slivered almonds (optional)
- salt and pepper
Instructions
- Melt your butter in a large Dutch oven or stock pot.
- Add the carrots, onion, and celery to the pot, season with salt and pepper, and cook until softened, about 5 minutes.
- Add the mushrooms and garlic and cook another 5 minutes.
- Add the flour and cook about 3-5 minutes.
- Add 4 cups of the turkey or chicken stock, thyme, rosemary, Worcestershire sauce, and rice.
- Bring to a simmer and then cover and simmer for 30 minutes.
- Add the sherry and turkey and simmer, uncovered, another 15-20 minutes, until the rice is cooked.
- Stir in the half and half and slivered almonds.
- Taste and add salt and pepper as needed.
- Add more stock if soup is too thick for your liking. Enjoy!
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 60 mins
- Category: soups
Nutrition
- Calories: 335
- Sugar: 5.5g
- Sodium: 253.7mg
- Fat: 12.8g
- Saturated Fat: 5.9g
- Carbohydrates: 28.7g
- Fiber: 2.9g
- Protein: 24.1g
- Cholesterol: 77.5mg
Healthy Soups Everyone Loves
Is there anything better than soup season? Here are some favorite healthy soups from my website! I hope you find a new one to love.
- Sweet Potato Soup
- Spicy Black Bean Soup.
- Easy Oven Chicken Stew
- Autumn Squash Soup
- Chicken Quinoa Soup
- Crockpot Chicken Noodle Soup
- Cold Busting Soup
This recipe was first published in 2016. A video was added in 2019 and more details were added to the post text in 2023.
Soo good and easy!
Delicious!!! I didn’t add the cream because I froze some of it. I’ll add the cream after thawing it just before I heat it.
This recipe is delicious! We used leftover smoked turkey which was amazing!
Oh that sounds amazing!
This soup is insanely good! The flavor is crazy delicious if you use leftover turkey carcass to make the stock…carcass, herbs (parsley, sage, thyme) and veggies (onion, garlic, carrot, celery) then strain. The sherry wine is an absolutely must! I did not use flour, mushrooms or almonds because of dietary restrictions. I cooked the wild rice separately and rinsed it a couple of times before adding it to the soup with the turkey, so the soup would keep its beautiful color. This recipe has found a permanent place in my recipe book; thank you for sharing!
Thanks so much for your feedback!
Rave reviews from this household, including our youngest food critic. I imagine it’s perfect as written but I doubled fresh bone broth and eyeballed it with no issues. My partner insists the mushrooms and cream were what made this soup stand out. We will be adding this to our regular rotation.
So happy to hear. Thank you for your feedback!
Insanely good! Made this recipe with zero substitutions; hubby and I gobbled it all up in one sitting. What I thought would serve two dinners turnout out to be one haha
So happy to hear this!
I had a hard time with the rice. It turned my soup pink and had a starchy consistency. It still tasted ok, but thankfully we weren’t serving it to guests. I think next time I will pre-cook the rice and add it with the turkey. I also used poultry seasoning instead of the fresh herbs because I thought it would give a little more depth of flavor. The kids loved it and I’m sure they’ll request it again.
I just finished making/eating this DELICIOUS soup. Made it exactly as written but left out the half and half and in my opinion it didn’t suffer at all. My husband kept saying… so good…. delicious!…..I know what my turkey bones will be used for over the next years. Thanks for a delicious recipe..🤤
Pretty good, but still missing a little something on the seasoning side for me. I was careful to not over-salt. My wife ended up doctoring it with a little bit of Maggi sauce.
I made your soup tonight and it was delicious! My husband loved it. I did tweak it a bit. No mushrooms and my husband doesn’t like rosemary or thyme so I added 1/4 tsp poultry seasoning and used milk instead of half and half. I will definitely make this again soon. Thanks for the recipe.
Great recipe! I’ve made something similar for years, but decided to try your recipe today. Came out great. A tip for using up thanksgiving leftovers, you can add leftover gravy, green bean casserole, cooked veggies and even a bit of stuffing/dressing when you add the turkey.
Thanks for the recipe.
Any subs for dairy?
I think coconut milk would work well! Ripple also makes a great dairy-free milk that is a great substitute.
Almond milk works as a sub for the half&half and use olive or avocado oil instead of the butter.
I just made this and used broth instead of butter or oil and used canned full fat coconut milk equal sub for dairy. Spectacular recipe!
Followed the recipe exactly and it was fantastic! My husband said it was the best soup I’ve ever made. Thank you so much we will definitely make it again 🙂
This was great! I used almond milk instead of half and half, otherwise I stuck to the recipe. Even the leftovers are delicious. Thank you for the recipe.
This is a terrific recipe! Best way to use turkey leftovers that we’ve experienced. Thanks for sharing it!
I subbed avocado oil for butter and coconut milk (canned full fat) for the half and half. Super good!!! Also added a little bit of onion powder and garlic powder. I’d high recommend.
Can you use white rice instead of wild?
I cubed 2 large turkey tenderloins I smoked (Instead of shredding turkey) … and then made it without the wine & almonds and used a frozen mushroom blend from Whole Foods that give it a nice earthy flavor. Also added in frozen cauliflower & used a bag of left over frozen soup started vegetables & threw in as well some frozen cubed butternut squash….and it turned out delicious! Very good balanced recipe to take up an extra veggies which need to be used. Was a nice change of pace from the usual flavor of chicken & vegetable soup.
I am mushroom adverse. Would there be any other substitutions for mushrooms?
Oh I forgot!! Didn’t have any bread or crackers so I topped my soup with dry Mrs Cubbinsons seasoned stuffing mix. Wow, so good!!!