This quick turkey soup recipe is on the table in less than 30 minutes. Filled with leftover turkey, vegetables, and pasta in a savory broth, this turkey soup tastes like it’s been simmering all day long.
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This is Our Go-To Turkey Soup Recipe Because…
- It uses staple ingredients I always have on hand.
- Turkey soup takes minutes to make but tastes like it’s been simmering all day!
- It’s a budget-friendly recipe and a great way to enjoy leftovers.
- It’s versatile; add leftover vegetables and turkey and any variety of pasta.
What You’ll Need For Turkey Soup
- Broth: To keep this soup quick and easy, you can use boxed turkey stock, turkey broth, or chicken broth.
- Seasoning: Poultry seasoning adds a homemade flavor to boxed broth—it’s a favorite spice blend that’s great in almost any chicken dish. You can find it at any grocery store, order it online, or make it homemade.
- Flour: A sprinkle of flour is optional, but it’s one of my secrets to a great brothy soup—it adds a little bit of body to the broth.
- Turkey: I use leftover turkey in this recipe; you can also use rotisserie chicken or leftover chicken.
- Vegetables: This soup is simple and delicious, with carrots, celery, and onion. You can add other vegetables like sweet potatoes, mushrooms, zucchini, green beans, or corn.
- Noodles: Add any kind of pasta or egg noodles to this recipe. For planned leftovers, cook the pasta or rice on the side and add it to each bowl. You can also use white rice, brown rice, or a wild rice blend.
To Make Homemade Broth
If time allows, you can make this homemade turkey soup recipe from scratch. Use the turkey carcass or bones from Thanksgiving to make homemade turkey stock in the slow cooker.
I put everything in the slow cooker after dinner and let it cook overnight so I’m ready for soup the next day. Once the broth is prepared, follow the directions below to prepare the soup.
How to Make Turkey Soup
- Soften the onion and stir in flour. (Recipe below.)
- Stir in the remaining ingredients (except noodles) and simmer.
- Add noodles and cook until tender.
Storing Leftovers
- For planned leftovers, cook the pasta on the side (or rice if you’d like) and store them separately.
- Refrigerator: Turkey soup can be stored in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 4 days.
- Freezer: Freeze turkey soup without the pasta or rice for up to 4 months. Cook fresh pasta and add to each bowl for serving.
Love That Leftover Turkey
Did you enjoy this Turkey Soup Recipe? Leave a comment and rating below.
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 medium onion diced
- 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- 3 large carrots large, peeled and sliced
- 2 ribs celery sliced
- 2 to 3 cups cooked chopped turkey or shredded
- 8 cups turkey broth or chicken broth, homemade or store bought
- ½ teaspoon poultry seasoning
- 1 bay leaf
- 4 ounces medium shells about 1 ½ cups, or other medium pasta
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley optional
- salt and black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Heat olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until tender, about 3-4 minutes. Add flour and cook for 1 minute more.
- Stir in carrots, celery, chopped turkey, broth, poultry seasoning, and bay leaf. Simmer uncovered for 10 minutes.
- Add noodles (*see note) and cook for an additional 8-10 minutes or until tender. Remove from the heat, discard bay leaf, and stir in parsley.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve.
Notes
- Pasta: To retain the texture of pasta, noodles, or rice, cook them separately and add to each bowl when serving, especially if you are making the soup ahead.
- Chicken broth can be substituted for turkey broth.
- Store leftovers in the refrigerator for up to 4 days or in the freezer for up to 4 months.
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Main Course, Slow Cooker, Soup, Turkey
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You don’t even say when to add the broth. Incomplete recipe
The broth is listed in step 2.
Stir in carrots, celery, turkey, broth, poultry seasoning, bay leaf, and salt and pepper to taste. Simmer for 10 minutes.
Hi Sherri — You might try being inquisitive instead of accusatory. For example, “I don’t see where to add the broth. Could you please clarify?” And “Thanks so much for posting this recipe freely for all of us to benefit from.”
well said. you must be a Ted Lasso fan!
Exactly and said so much nicer than what I was thinking. Thank you for making a comment that probably most of us support.
And to Sherri, kindness in spoken words will carry you farther than negativity.
As for the recipe, I’m going to make it with my leftover turkey to freeze for those chilly days when I come home from work dog-tired. I love having pull-out-of-the-freezer meals on hand. And I love budget-conscious recipes, too!
I hope you love it Susan!
Great Recipe!
Great recipe
great recipe! Similar to an old family recipe my mother used to make. Using your recipe, simply adding 1 cup uncooked barley and 1 cup uncooked rice at the start and let simmer until both are cooked. Makes this a truly fabulous meal.
I just made this for the first time for a church supper. Everyone RAVED over it! A new soup to add to my recipes
So glad everyone enjoyed it, Brenda!
Not a big celery fan so I used turnips as a sub. Came out very delicious and hearty
I just made this tonight and it was incredible. I had made my own turkey bone broth with some crushed red pepper, added mushrooms and kale that were going bad in the fridge, and the zest from the lemon and was blown away with the flavor.
I will make this regularly now. Thank you!!!
Another win ! From Holley’s arsenal Of fab recipes ! Made it ate it love loved it!
Thank you Sherry! So happy to hear you are enjoying our recipes :)
I adapted this soup recipe with chicken broth, potatoes and a splash of lemon for brightness. Tasted so good that the husband had seconds. I liked the use of flour.
This is a lovely, simple and yummy recipe. I made the chef’s homemade Turkey stock for use in this recipe….outstanding. This soup has depth of flavor and just the right amount of ingredients. The only thing I added was a couple of smashed cloves of garlic to the broth. Cooking the pasta separately is a must. It’s a sin not to make this!
Just made this. The recipe was easy to follow and my family loved it! I will definitely make it again. Thanks for sharing!
This soup is the definition of home-ey. My husband is not a soup guy but he told me this one is good.
So happy to hear this recipe is a hit at your house, Julia!
Amazingly easy and so good! I used a box of turkey broth and a box of low sodium chicken broth with 3 uncooked turkey drumsticks. It will be added into our “rotation” for sure!
Delicious! Thanks for sharing Kathy.
Great recipe.
I tried this turkey soup recipe to use up my Christmas turkey and it was delicious and easy to make! I highly recommend this recipe to anyone who needs to come up with something different.
I loved this so much, I contiplating buying another guy just to make this again. I am currently in the process of making this with chicken for my lunches this week!
This recipe was perfect to use with the homemade turkey broth and leftover turkey we had from Thanksgiving. I also used riced cauliflower instead of pasta. My husband had two servings which is a clear indication that it was delicious!
great recipe, though I would make two suggestions…..boil the pasta separately, rinse and place a serving portion in each soup bowl and ladle the soup over the top (this way you can freeze the leftover soup and always have fresh noodles each time you serve it)….also, boil (with a slow rolling boil) the carrots and celery in the broth for an hour and ad the turkey when you boil the pasta in another pan, so that the turkey remains more or less in tact (rather than disintegrating into the broth if cooked too long, the turkey already being cooked just needs to be heated up, not recooked).
Easy and delicious!
This is so easy, so quick, and so delicious! I omitted the bay leaf and used chicken broth and added basil, thyme, and a bit of lavender to mine–Foolproof!