Why you’ll love this recipe:
This turkey wild rice soup is easy, creamy and perfect for using up all your leftover turkey.
Plus, this leftover turkey soup is delicious the next day and can be frozen too (without the cream). Get your crusty bread ready as you’re going to want to dip into this cozy goodness!
- Comfort food in a bowl
- Quick 30-minute recipe
- Creamy and flavorful
Soup is a staple in our household during those chilly winter months. If you need more leftover turkey recipes, try my incredibly delicious leftover turkey salad. If you’ve also got leftover ham (like me) this lentil soup with ham is the perfect hearty meal.
Key Ingredient Notes:
The best part of this hearty soup is that you only need pantry staples!
- Leftover turkey – I use 1 pound of leftover turkey that has been shredded so that it is easy to eat in the soup. Both the white and dark meat works well.
- Stock – A high-quality chicken or turkey stock is the base for our soup recipe.
- Cream – Use heavy cream for the creamy flavor. Half & half or milk can be used in place of heavy cream
- Rice – Wild rice tends to be longer and has a more nutty and earthy flavor. The hull is also thicker and more rigid which adds texture to this soup. I used roll cut wild rice not the soup grade rice as I prefer cooking it separately, so it doesn’t go mushy.
- Herbs – Be sure to taste the soup along the way because most of the flavors come from the herbs and spices. So measure them according to your taste requirements.
How to make this recipe:
- Sauté the carrots, celery, onion, and garlic in melted butter over medium heat. Sauté for 8 minutes. Add in the salt, pepper, rosemary, thyme, oregano, and flour. Mix and cook for 2 minutes.
- Pour in the stock and simmer over medium heat until thickened.
- Stir in the heavy cream and the shredded turkey. Simmer over medium heat for 8 minutes.
- Add the wild rice and fresh parsley, serve immediately. Enjoy!
Time-Saving Tips:
- Use cooked wild rice and add it to the soup. It gets mushy if I cook it in the soup.
- If you have leftover chicken, you can use it in place of leftover turkey.
- If you plan to freeze the soup, it’s best to leave out the cream and add it when you are going to reheat it.
Storing Tips:
- Let the leftover turkey wild rice soup cool to room temperature. Transfer it to an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 4 days.
- Alternatively freeze the soup in a freezer-safe air tight container without adding cream. When you defrost it, warm it up and stir in the cream. Cream tends to spilt when frozen.
FAQs:
You can make this turkey wild rice soup or my incredibly delicious leftover turkey salad
Soup grade wild rice is broken, cut, or in pieces. This is so that it can be added directly to soup while it cooks. For this recipe I prefer cooking the rice before and then adding it to the soup. I used roll cut wild rice.
Wild rice is also called manoomin. It originates from the upper Midwest. According to research they still hand harvested it by knocking the grains into a canoe.
More Soup Recipes!
- Creamy Cauliflower Soup
- Instant Pot Vegetable Soup
- Lentil soup with ham
- Irish Potato Soup
- Quick Chicken Noodle Soup
Turkey Wild Rice Soup
Equipment
- dutch oven or large pot
Ingredients
- 6 tablespoons butter
- 1 cup diced carrots
- 1 cup diced celery diced
- 1 small onion
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon dried rosemary
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- 6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 5 cups turkey or chicken stock
- 1 ½ cups heavy cream Note 1
- 1 pound leftover turkey shredded
- 8 oz prepared wild rice
- 2 tablespoons fresh parsley chopped
Instructions
- In a Dutch oven or large pot, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the carrot, celery, onion, and garlic. Sauté for 8 minutes.
- Add in the salt, pepper, rosemary, thyme, oregano, and flour. Mix and cook for 2 minutes.
- Pour in the turkey or chicken stock, stir and simmer over medium heat until thickened.
- Pour in the heavy cream and the shredded turkey. Stir and simmer over medium heat for 8 minutes until thickened.
- Stir in the wild rice and fresh parsley, serve immediately. Enjoy!
Notes
– Let the soup cool to room temperature, then transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 4 days.
– If you plan to freeze the soup, it’s best to leave out the cream. Cream-based soups separate when they’re defrosted causing a grainy, unpleasant texture.
– To freeze the soup, transfer to a freezer-safe container without the cream. Reheat the soup on the stovetop over medium heat, then stir in the cream.
Nutrition
* Disclaimer: All nutrition information are estimates only. Read full nutrition disclosure.
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