Turkey soup on Friday is as much a tradition as the bird on Thursday, and it deserves more thought than putting every leftover into one pot. Roast turkey already brings the flavor of a finished dinner, so I want a broth or sauce that gives it a different setting without cooking the meat until it turns stringy. Noodles, rice, barley and dumplings each make a different kind of bowl, from clear vegetable broth to a spoonful with enough cream and pastry to recall pot pie. The carcass can supply stock overnight while the good meat stays refrigerated, and bread stuffing can become dumplings if you give the mixture a quick test first. White meat, dark meat or a mixture all work as long as you remove skin and bones and keep the pieces small enough to heat evenly. Set the turkey aside until the base is ready, then heat it through just before the soup reaches the bowls.
Turkey Noodle Soup
Turkey noodle soup needs a clear broth and noodles that still have a shape, especially after a holiday dinner full of soft sides. Cook the egg noodles separately so the pot doesn’t become thicker every time someone asks for another bowl. Let the onion and carrots soften before the turkey joins them, because already-roasted meat only needs to heat through. Dark and white meat both work, and a mixture gives the broth more interest than breast alone without requiring another cooking project. Put the noodles in the bowls first, ladle the turkey and vegetables over them and leave the remaining noodles out of the storage container if lunch tomorrow is part of the plan.
Turkey Noodle Soup
Ingredients
Method
- Melt butter in a 6-quart soup pot over medium heat. Cook onion, carrots and celery for 7 minutes until beginning to soften, then add garlic for 30 seconds.
- Pour in turkey broth and add bay leaf, thyme, soup salt and pepper. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook for 15 minutes until carrots are tender.
- Meanwhile, boil the noodle water with its teaspoon salt in a separate saucepan. Cook egg noodles according to the package, about 7 to 9 minutes, until just tender and drain.
- Add roast turkey to the soup and simmer gently for 5 to 8 minutes until pieces reach 165°F. Remove bay leaf.
- Divide cooked noodles among 6 bowls and ladle turkey, vegetables and broth over them. Keep any noodles intended for leftovers separate from the stored soup.
Turkey Rice Soup
Lemon and eggs make turkey rice soup silky without cream, with rice cooked directly in the broth to supply a little starch. Temper the eggs slowly with hot soup before returning them to gentle heat. Keep stirring as the mixture warms, and let the turkey become hot before that final stage so you aren’t trying to reheat thick cold pieces inside a delicate egg finish. The lemon should taste bright, with no little white curds from eggs heated too quickly.
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Turkey Rice Soup
Ingredients
Method
- Heat oil in a 6-quart pot over medium heat. Cook onion and celery for 5 minutes until soft, then add broth, rice, salt and pepper.
- Bring to a simmer, cover loosely and cook for 16 to 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until rice is tender.
- Stir in diced turkey and simmer gently for 5 to 7 minutes until it reaches 165°F. Reduce the heat to its lowest setting.
- Whisk eggs, egg yolk and lemon juice in a bowl. Slowly whisk in 1 cup hot broth taken from the pot, adding it in a thin stream so the eggs warm gradually.
- Stir the tempered mixture back into the soup. Heat gently while stirring for 2 to 3 minutes until the soup reaches 165°F without boiling, then remove from heat and serve immediately.
Turkey Wild Rice Soup
Roasted squash gives turkey wild rice soup its golden body, with half-and-half smoothing the puree and dark grains left whole for chew. Cook pure wild rice separately while the squash roasts. Some grains should split open without dissolving completely. Add the turkey once the puree is ready and keep the final simmer gentle, using the measured extra broth if the squash makes the base too thick to pour around the rice.
Turkey Wild Rice Soup
Ingredients
Method
- Bring wild rice and its 3 cups water to a boil in a saucepan. Cover and simmer on low for 45 to 55 minutes until tender with some grains split, then drain excess water.
- Meanwhile, heat the oven to 425°F. Toss squash with 2 teaspoons oil on a rimmed sheet and roast for 25 to 30 minutes, turning once, until tender and browned at the edges.
- Heat remaining oil in a 6-quart soup pot and cook onion for 5 minutes. Add garlic and sage for 30 seconds, then broth, salt, pepper and roasted squash; simmer for 5 minutes.
- Blend the squash mixture smooth with an immersion blender, keeping the blade submerged. Stir in cooked wild rice and roast turkey and simmer gently for 5 to 8 minutes until the turkey reaches 165°F.
- Add half-and-half and warm gently for 2 minutes without a hard boil. Add reserved broth in small amounts if needed to keep the soup pourable and serve.
Creamy Turkey and Dumplings Soup
Thin rolled dumplings make this creamy turkey soup different from a pot topped with biscuit-like mounds. Cut the dough into short strips and lower them into the simmering broth a few at a time so they don’t stick in one heavy stack. Leeks and parsnip give the base a mild sweetness, while the turkey waits until the dumplings are nearly cooked before it goes back on the heat. Roll the dough evenly and test the thickest strip, because its center can stay floury after the thinner edges look ready. The cream finishes the broth gently, leaving enough liquid around the flat dumplings for this to remain a soup.
Creamy Turkey and Dumplings Soup
Ingredients
Method
- Mix dumpling flour, baking powder and dumpling salt in a bowl. Rub in the cold butter until fine crumbs form, then stir in buttermilk just until a firm dough comes together; cover and rest for 10 minutes.
- Melt soup butter in a wide 6-quart pot and cook leek and parsnip for 6 minutes. Add broth, soup salt and pepper and simmer for 12 minutes until parsnip is nearly tender.
- Dust a board with the rolling flour and roll dough about 1/8 inch thick. Cut into strips about 1 by 2 inches, shaking off excess loose flour.
- Lower strips into the gently simmering broth one at a time, separating them with a spoon. Simmer uncovered for 12 to 15 minutes, stirring gently, until the thickest dumpling has no floury center.
- Add turkey and simmer for 5 to 8 minutes until it reaches 165°F and dumplings are fully cooked. Stir in cream, warm gently for 1 minute without boiling hard and serve.
Crockpot Turkey Tortilla Soup
The crockpot gives tomato, zucchini and black beans time to make a soup base while the leftover turkey stays in the refrigerator until the final reheating stage. Bake the tortilla strips separately so their crunch reaches the bowl instead of dissolving in the cooker. This is a red broth with roast turkey pieces, not ground-turkey taco filling thinned with water, and the lime belongs at the end after the vegetables are tender.
Crockpot Turkey Tortilla Soup
Ingredients
Method
- Combine tomatoes, broth, onion, garlic, black beans, zucchini, cumin, chili powder and soup salt in a 6-quart slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 4 hours until onion and zucchini are tender.
- Near the end, heat the oven to 400°F. Toss tortilla strips with oil and their 1/8 teaspoon salt, spread on a rimmed sheet and bake for 10 to 14 minutes, turning once, until crisp and lightly golden.
- Add refrigerated roast turkey to the hot soup, cover and cook on high for 15 to 25 minutes until the turkey pieces reach 165°F; stir once to distribute them.
- Stir lime juice into the soup. Divide turkey, vegetables, beans and broth among 6 bowls.
- Top each bowl with one-sixth of the crisp tortilla strips immediately before eating, keeping strips separate from any soup saved for later.
Turkey Pot Pie Soup
Pie-crust crackers give turkey pot pie soup its flaky bite without asking a pastry lid to bake over a bowl of liquid. Make the small butter dough first, then let it chill while the potatoes soften for the soup’s pureed base. That potato base supplies body without a flour roux, with carrots, pearl onions and peas left intact around the turkey. Keep the crackers beside the soup until the last moment so the first spoonful still has something crisp to meet. The soup should lightly coat a spoon rather than stand like pie filling, and stirring along the bottom during the final simmer keeps the potato starch from catching before the vegetables are done.
Turkey Pot Pie Soup
Ingredients
Method
- Mix cracker flour and salt in a bowl. Cut in cold butter until pea-size pieces remain, stir in 2 tablespoons ice water and add reserved water only if needed to make the dough hold together. Flatten into a disk, wrap and refrigerate for 20 minutes.
- Melt soup butter in a 6-quart pot and cook diced onion for 5 minutes. Add potatoes, broth, thyme, soup salt and pepper and simmer for 15 minutes until potatoes are very tender.
- Meanwhile, heat the oven to 400°F. Roll the chilled dough between parchment sheets to 1/8 inch thick, cut into 12 small triangles and place on a lined baking sheet. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes until golden and crisp.
- Blend the potato soup base smooth with an immersion blender, keeping the blade submerged. Add carrots and pearl onions and simmer gently for 10 to 12 minutes until tender, stirring often along the bottom.
- Stir in peas, roast turkey and milk and heat gently for 5 to 8 minutes until the turkey reaches 165°F. Keep the soup below a hard boil.
- Divide soup among 6 bowls and serve 2 pastry crackers with each, placing them against the bowl rim or alongside just before eating.
Turkey Vegetable Soup
Vegetable soup gives leftover turkey a lighter setting after a dinner full of rich sides, with cabbage, green beans, zucchini and small potato cubes in clear broth. Add the vegetables in stages so the zucchini stays intact while the potatoes finish. The turkey joins the tender vegetable base only long enough to heat through, and a small spoonful of vinegar sharpens the broth without making the bowl sour.
Turkey Vegetable Soup
Ingredients
Method
- Heat oil in a 6-quart pot and cook onion over medium heat for 5 minutes. Add garlic for 30 seconds, then potatoes, cabbage, broth, bay leaf, salt and pepper.
- Bring to a simmer and cook for 12 to 15 minutes until potatoes are almost tender.
- Add green beans and zucchini and simmer for 7 to 9 minutes until all vegetables are tender but still hold their shapes.
- Add roast turkey and simmer gently for 5 to 8 minutes until the turkey reaches 165°F. Remove bay leaf.
- Stir in vinegar and divide turkey, vegetables and broth evenly among 6 bowls.
Turkey Barley Soup
Mushrooms and barley give roast turkey a savory broth with more chew than noodles, and a little white miso adds depth without turning the soup into a cream-based mushroom bowl. Brown the mushrooms before the broth arrives so their loose water doesn’t dilute the pot. Pearl barley needs time to soften, while the turkey does not, so let the grain finish most of its cook first. Stir miso smooth with a small amount of hot broth before adding it back rather than dropping a cold lump between the barley grains. Taste only after that addition, because the broth and miso both bring salt and the soup may need less adjustment than you expect.
Turkey Barley Soup
Ingredients
Method
- Melt butter in a 6-quart pot over medium-high heat. Cook mushrooms for 8 to 10 minutes until their loose water evaporates and edges brown.
- Add onion and carrot and cook for 4 minutes. Stir in barley, broth, thyme, salt and pepper and bring to a simmer.
- Cover loosely and simmer over medium-low heat for 30 to 40 minutes until barley is chewy-tender, stirring occasionally; follow a longer package time if needed.
- Add roast turkey and simmer gently for 5 to 8 minutes until it reaches 165°F. Spoon 1/2 cup hot broth into a bowl and whisk miso into it until smooth.
- Remove soup from heat, stir in the miso mixture and serve while the broth remains loose around the barley.
Leftover Turkey Chili
Roast turkey makes a good red chili when it goes into a finished sauce instead of standing in for raw ground meat at the browning stage. Char fresh tomatoes and onion first, then blend them into a smoky base with a little chipotle. Large butter beans stay visible beside the turkey pieces, with a small amount of masa giving the liquid body without a pot full of grated cheese. Keep the turkey in bite-size chunks and fold gently so the chili doesn’t become a tangle of dry shreds. This should be thick enough to eat with a spoon but still loose enough for the beans and meat to move when you ladle it.
Leftover Turkey Chili
Ingredients
Method
- Heat the broiler and set a rack about 6 inches below it. Toss tomatoes, onion and garlic with oil on a rimmed broiler-safe sheet and broil for 10 to 14 minutes, turning onion once, until tomatoes soften and develop dark patches; remove garlic early if it browns first.
- Blend roasted vegetables with 1 cup broth and chipotle until mostly smooth, following blender instructions for hot ingredients. Pour into a 6-quart pot and add remaining broth, cumin, paprika, cocoa and salt.
- Simmer uncovered for 15 minutes, stirring often. Add butter beans and simmer for 5 minutes.
- Whisk masa with water until smooth and stir into the chili. Add turkey and simmer gently for 5 to 8 minutes until the sauce lightly thickens and turkey reaches 165°F.
- Stir in lime juice, rest for 3 minutes and serve without shredding the turkey chunks.
Turkey Gnocchi Soup
Roasted red peppers turn this turkey gnocchi soup a soft coral color, with spinach and small potato dumplings sharing the creamy broth. Blend the peppers into the base before the gnocchi goes in so the dumplings stay whole, then add the roast turkey only for its final reheating and serve before the potato pillows swell enough to crowd out the soup.
Turkey Gnocchi Soup
Ingredients
Method
- Heat oil in a 6-quart pot over medium heat and cook onion for 5 minutes. Add garlic and tomato paste for 1 minute, then peppers, broth, basil, salt and pepper.
- Simmer for 8 minutes until onion is very soft. Blend the broth smooth with an immersion blender, keeping the blade submerged.
- Add turkey and return to a gentle simmer for 5 to 7 minutes until pieces reach 165°F.
- Add gnocchi and cook according to the package, about 3 to 5 minutes, until tender. Fold in spinach until wilted.
- Stir in cream and warm gently for 1 minute without boiling hard. Serve promptly while the dumplings remain distinct.
Turkey Carcass Soup
Save the carcass for stock while keeping the meat you want to eat refrigerated until the soup is nearly ready. The overnight broth gives green lentils and turnip a savory base without another carton of stock. Strain carefully and measure the amount you need rather than assuming every bird gives the same yield. The bones and spent vegetables have finished their job, while fresh carrot, lemon and reheated turkey pieces make the strained broth into a complete soup instead of returning scraps and bone fragments to the bowl.
Turkey Carcass Soup
Ingredients
Method
- Break the cooked carcass into pieces that fit in an 8-quart slow cooker. Add stock onion, stock carrots, stock celery, bay leaf, peppercorns and the 12 cups water, keeping below the cooker maximum-fill line; cover.
- Cook on high for 1 hour, then on low for 6 to 7 hours. Keep the reserved cooked turkey refrigerated while the stock cooks.
- Lift out large bones with tongs and strain stock through a fine-mesh sieve into a large heatproof container. Discard all bones, peppercorns and spent vegetables and skim excess fat.
- Measure 8 cups strained stock into a 6-quart soup pot, topping up with the reserved water only if necessary; cool and refrigerate or freeze any extra stock promptly. Add lentils, fresh carrot and salt and bring to a simmer.
- Simmer for 15 minutes, add turnip and continue for 20 to 25 minutes until lentils and turnip are tender.
- Stir in the refrigerated roast turkey and simmer for 5 to 8 minutes until it reaches 165°F. Add lemon juice and serve, checking that no bone fragments entered the strained stock.
Turkey and Stuffing Dumpling Soup
Stuffing dumplings need a test before the whole batch goes into the water, because yesterday’s bread stuffing can be dry and crumbly or already quite moist. Mix in the eggs and flour, let the mixture rest, then poach one small dumpling to see whether it holds together. The finished texture should be tender and bread-like, with little herb and onion flecks from the stuffing, rather than a smooth flour dumpling. Poach them separately from the turkey soup so a broken test piece doesn’t cloud the whole pot. Give each bowl two dumplings and enough clear broth around them to soften their edges without losing the shape you just worked to keep.
Turkey and Stuffing Dumpling Soup
Ingredients
Method
- Mix chopped stuffing, eggs, flour and the 1/4 cup breadcrumbs in a bowl just until combined. Refrigerate for 15 minutes so the bread absorbs moisture.
- Melt butter in a 6-quart soup pot and cook onion, carrots and celery for 6 minutes. Add turkey broth and pepper and simmer for 15 minutes until vegetables are tender.
- Meanwhile, bring poaching water and salt to a very gentle simmer in a wide 4-quart saucepan. Add 1 teaspoon of the dumpling mixture as a test and simmer for 3 minutes to check whether it holds together, then remove and discard that small test piece. If it breaks apart, stir reserved breadcrumbs into the remaining mixture a tablespoon at a time before shaping.
- Shape the adjusted mixture into 12 equal balls with damp hands. Lower them into the gently simmering water without crowding, working in 2 batches if needed, and poach for 12 to 15 minutes until firm enough to lift and centers reach 165°F.
- While dumplings cook, add turkey to the soup and simmer gently for 5 to 8 minutes until it reaches 165°F. Keep the soup hot without a hard boil.
- Lift dumplings with a slotted spoon, place 2 in each bowl and ladle turkey, vegetables and clear broth around them.
Making stock from the turkey carcass overnight
Strip the meat you want to eat from the carcass and refrigerate it promptly in a covered container. The stock gets the bones and joints, not the best slices of breast. Break the carcass into pieces that fit comfortably in a large slow cooker, then add onion, carrot, celery, a bay leaf and a few peppercorns. The full carcass-soup recipe gives the amounts for an eight-quart cooker. Keep below its maximum-fill line rather than forcing a large bird and extra water into a smaller vessel, and use the cooker for the overnight stage instead of leaving a stovetop pot unattended.
Start on high for an hour, then switch to low for six to seven hours with the lid closed. The liquid should develop a savory turkey flavor without needing an aggressive rolling boil. Heavy seasoning can wait, since the roast may already carry salt and the stock may be reduced later. Lift out the large bones first, then strain through a fine-mesh sieve so small fragments and peppercorns do not follow the broth into the soup. Do not mash the spent vegetables through the sieve unless you deliberately want a cloudier stock.
Use the hot stock immediately for soup, or cool it promptly in shallow containers, using an ice-water bath when helpful. A deep pot left on the counter cools slowly in the middle. Refrigerate once divided rather than waiting for the entire batch to reach room temperature; keep within the usual two-hour limit for perishable food at room temperature. Remove the firm fat layer after chilling if you want a leaner broth. Label extra stock and freeze it in measured portions so the next soup starts with the amount it actually needs.
Freezing turkey soup for January
Decide which portions are for the freezer before the soup spends several days in the refrigerator. Leftover roast turkey should be used within three to four refrigerated days of cooking, and making soup is not a reason to ignore how long the meat was stored beforehand. Cool the finished soup promptly in shallow containers and freeze the portions you will not use soon. Label the soup name, the date and any finishing ingredients it still needs. One- or two-serving containers are easier to thaw than a solid block large enough for another holiday table.
Clear broth, turkey, beans and most cooked vegetables freeze well. Noodles, rice, barley and gnocchi keep absorbing liquid and may become softer after thawing, so freeze the broth-and-turkey base before adding those ingredients when you are planning ahead. Store pastry crackers and tortilla strips separately to protect their texture. Cream-based soups and the lemon-egg rice soup can separate or thicken after freezing; they are better made with the final dairy or egg step after thawing when practical. Already-finished portions can still be frozen, but expect a softer or less smooth result rather than promising they will be identical to the first bowl.
Leave headspace in freezer-safe containers for expansion and use within about two to three months for good quality. Thaw in the refrigerator, or reheat a small frozen portion in a saucepan with a little water, stirring as it loosens. Bring leftovers to 165°F throughout, checking the center rather than only the bubbling edge. Use gentle heat with creamy soup and stir often. Add fresh-cooked noodles or a crisp topping at the end if those were stored separately, and reheat only the amount you intend to eat.
Questions people ask
How long should leftover turkey simmer in soup?
Usually only long enough for the pieces to reach 165°F after the vegetables and grains are ready, which is why these recipes add cooked turkey near the end. Small diced pieces heat faster than thick cold chunks, so use the cut size described and check the meat itself. An extra hour of simmering will not make already-roasted breast more tender. Keep the pot at a gentle simmer while reheating so the broth can warm the meat without shaking it apart.
Can I use only white meat or only dark meat?
Yes, either works, and a mixture is useful when the container holds small pieces from several parts of the bird. Remove skin, cartilage and bones before measuring the cooked meat so those cups contain what will actually go into the bowls. Dark meat is more forgiving, while breast benefits especially from the late reheating step. Cut both into similar-size pieces rather than adding a thick breast slice beside tiny scraps and expecting them to become hot at the same moment.
Do I need homemade turkey stock for every soup?
No, a low-sodium prepared turkey broth works for the soups that list it, and chicken broth is a practical substitute if turkey broth is unavailable. Taste before adding extra salt because the leftover roast may already have been brined or heavily seasoned. The carcass soup is the exception because making its stock is part of that complete recipe. Use a plain savory broth rather than leftover gravy, which contains thickener and fat that would change the soup’s texture and liquid balance.
Why are my stuffing dumplings breaking apart?
The stuffing may be wetter or more loosely chopped than the mixture needs, or the poaching water may be boiling too hard. Chill the combined mixture as directed, test a teaspoon first and add the measured reserved breadcrumbs only if it needs more binding. Shape the twelve serving dumplings after that test and poach gently until their centers reach 165°F. Adding a large unmeasured amount of flour can make them stay together at the cost of turning the bread center heavy and gummy.
What if the soup is too thick the next day?
Cooked starches continue taking up liquid in the refrigerator, so a soup with rice, barley, noodles or dumplings often needs loosening during reheating. Add water or broth a little at a time and stir gently while bringing the portion to 165°F. Taste afterward instead of adding more salt before the texture has settled. For future batches, keep cooked noodles and crisp toppings separate from the stored soup, and reserve a little plain broth if you know the whole pot is not being eaten immediately.
