Leftover Turkey Soup

Leftover Turkey Soup with fresh vegetables and homemade turkey broth is the best way of making the most of your Thanksgiving leftovers! This healthy soup recipe will leave you feeling energized!

One of my favorite parts about Thanksgiving is all of the leftovers, particularly leftover turkey. 

Over the years, I’ve made this leftover Thanksgiving turkey soup so many times, I’ve lost count.

It’s easy to prepare, results in the most comforting, nutritious soup, and makes incredible use of a variety of leftovers. 

The best part? It’s the perfect placement for Turkey Bone Broth in addition to the leftover meat as well as any raw veggies that didn’t get used up the day of the feast. 

Not to mention, the recipe itself is incredibly versatile, using various kinds of fresh vegetables, homemade stock or broth, as well as meat. It is the perfect way of cleaning out the refrigerator!

Turkey soup is high in protein, low in fat, and can be made low-carb or carb-forward to fit nutritional needs. 

Soup made from bones and bone-in meat are an excellent source of collagen and gelatin. Collagen and gelatin are incredible for joints, skin, ligaments, and gut health. This means a wholesome recipe like this not only tastes great, it is a phenomenal healing elixir. 

Let’s dive into the simple ingredients for turkey soup. 

Turkey Soup Ingredients: 

Avocado Oil or Olive Oil: Used to sauté the vegetables, we need a quality cooking oil.

Leftover Turkey: Pick any remaining meat off of your leftover turkey carcass and set it aside for this easy soup recipe.

You may think to yourself there isn’t much meat left. Well, I’m here to tell you, there’s probably more. Much more.

In fact, if you make my turkey bone broth recipe, you’ll be amazed at how much meat hides between the bones. Both light meat and dark meat are incredible in this healthy soup recipe. 

Bone Broth or Stock/Broth of Choice: Use any kind of broth or stock you like here! I always use some of my batch of bone broth because the rich flavorful broth includes so many health benefits.

Chicken stock, chicken broth, homemade turkey stock, and vegetable broth work great too. 

Raw Vegetables: Toss in any of your favorite vegetables for soup. I love using root vegetables here.

Onion, fresh garlic, carrots, celery, green beans, turnips, parsnips, rutabaga, sweet potatoes, and more are all great options. 

Seasonings: Add dried herbs or fresh herbs to make amazing flavorful soup.

I like fresh thyme, fresh parsley, and fresh thyme. Italian seasoning or poultry seasoning works phenomenally too.

Add sea salt and black pepper to your personal taste. If you feel like the soup tastes bland, and salt a little at a time until it begins to taste rich and flavorful. 

Recipe Customizations:

• ​This easy turkey soup recipe is also perfect for those times you have leftover rotisserie chicken or roast chicken of any kind.
• Add white rice, brown rice, wild rice, or egg noodles if you’re looking for some carbs!
• If you have bay leaves on hand, add 1 bay leaf.
• To thicken the soup, you can make a roux using equal parts of flour and butter.

Now that we’ve covered the basic ingredients for turkey soup, let’s make it! 

How to Make Turkey Soup:

Pick as much turkey off of the turkey bones as you’re able to and set it aside. If you’d like, use the leftover turkey carcass to make bone broth (this is what I do).

Heat the oil in a large stock pot such as a Dutch oven or a soup pot over medium heat. Add the onion, chopped carrots, turnip, celery, parsnip and stir well. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables begin to soften, about 10 to 15 minutes.

Stir in the fresh minced garlic, herbs, and sea salt and continue cooking for another 2 minutes. 

Add the broth and leftover turkey. Cover the pot and bring the soup to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low or low heat and cook at a gentle boil for 20 minutes or until vegetables are cooked through.

Serve soup in big bowls with your choice of crust bread or cornbread and enjoy!

Turkey soup is even more flavorful the next day and the 3-4 days following preparation. For this reason, I find making the soup ahead of time is the best way of maximizing flavor!

Storage Options:

1. Refrigerator: After the soup cools, store it in the refrigerator. You can use the same pot as you used to make the soup for storage as long as it has sufficiently cooled. Transfer leftover soup to an airtight container or several jars, and refrigerate for up to 1 week. 
2. Freezer: This recipe can easily be frozen! To do so, store it doubled bagged in two large zip lock bags (or freezer bags). Freeze soup for up to 3 months. 

To reheat soup, thaw in the refrigerator then transfer to a large pot to reheat. 

And that’s it! The best turkey soup that wins every time! 

This homemade turkey soup recipe is the best soup for the holiday season to keep your immune system functioning at an optimal level and to keep your belly feeling pleased.

A delicious soup to make the most of your turkey leftovers, this great recipe is my favorite way of taking full advantage of soup season.

It is also a great way o keep the holiday magic alive using leftover turkey meat!

You may not even need to visit the grocery store, as I’m betting you’ll have plenty of food leftover from Thanksgiving dinner to donate to this leftover turkey soup recipe.

If you’re looking for more recipes for Thanksgiving leftovers, try these reader favorites.

More Thanksgiving Leftovers Recipes:

• Leftover Thanksgiving Turkey Breakfast Casserole  
• Cranberry Sauce Bourbon Cocktail 
• Leftover Turkey Stir Fry  
• ​Vegan Cranberry Crumb Bars  

Delicious turkey soup to make your body feel energized and rejuvenated! 

This post contains affiliate links, which means I make a small commission off items you purchase at no additional cost to you.