Best Homemade Turkey Soup Recipe (made with leftover turkey!)
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Turkey soup is only as good as the broth it’s made with. I’m going to share my tips about how to make the best turkey soup AND help you clean up after your big turkey dinner easily.
Review from Anne, “Kristen this is an amazing recipe, loved the soup. I used leftover roasted turkey as garnishing on top and it was delicious. ★★★★★”
Many turkey soup recipes are made with chicken stock, so they won’t taste like authentic, homemade turkey soup. Luckily, making turkey stock is so easy that you can do it in your sleep – literally.
This is a recipe that I’ve made a million times—or at least once a year for the past twenty-something years—pretty close to a million. You can trust that I know what I’m doing when it comes to making turkey soup.
What makes this the BEST turkey soup recipe
This soup is 90% about the delicious homemade turkey stock. You could drink the stock on its own; it’s so good.
It’s also ridiculously easy to make. All you’ll do is remove as much meat as possible from the turkey carcass, break the bones into pieces to fit into your largest pot or crockpot, and fill it with water. You’ll slowly simmer the stock overnight and wake up to the most amazing-smelling home and a pot of tasty turkey broth.
You’ll notice that I add nothing besides the turkey bones to the pot. While you can certainly add herbs, onion, carrots, etc., it’s not necessary. The roasted turkey provides all the flavor you need.
Why I love this turkey soup recipe
- This is the recipe my mom made after every Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner so there’s big-time nostalgia going on here. My mom makes the best cozy food, and this is her recipe.
- It’s super easy to make.
- The broth, made from simmering that pile of turkey bones you have, is unbelievably flavorful.
- Eating a bowl of this soup is like getting a big hug. Honestly, it’s all good feelings here.
Key ingredients
To make soup, you’ll start by simmering the bones from your roast turkey in water to create a wonderfully rich and flavorful broth. Once you have your turkey stock, you’ll need these ingredients for the soup:
- Onion, carrots, and celery – the classic turkey soup trio.
- Turkey meat – this comes from the roast turkey. If you don’t have enough leftover turkey, you can use chicken instead.
- Cooked egg noodles – I love noodles in my turkey soup! It’s best to cook them separately and add them to your bowl otherwise the noodles will turn mushy if you have leftover soup.
How to make turkey soup
The recipe is remarkably simple and goes something like this:
- Grab your biggest pot (or crockpot!), pop in the turkey bones, and fill the pot with water.
- Simmer. Keep simmering. Strain.
- Sauté some onions, carrots, and celery.
- Now add the turkey broth you just made and some leftover turkey meat. Easy!
Store and reheat
Store: If you have leftover soup, store it in an airtight container in your fridge. It will keep for up to 3 days.
Reheat: Warm the leftovers in a pot over medium heat. You can also use a microwave.
Freeze: This soup freezes very well! Let it cool completely and store it in freezer-proof containers for up to 3 months. I love reusable Stasher freezer bags for freezing soups.
Best Homemade Turkey Soup Recipe (made with leftover turkey!)
Ingredients
Turkey Stock
- Bones from your roast turkey
Turkey Soup
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 1 medium onion (minced)
- 3 large carrots (chopped)
- 4 stalks celery (chopped)
- 6 cups turkey stock
- 3 cups reserved turkey meat (see notes)
- Sea salt (to taste)
- Optional: cooked egg noodles
Instructions
Turkey Stock
- Remove all of the meat from the turkey and reserve 3 cups for the soup. If you've cooked your stuffing in the turkey, make sure to remove it all.Bones from your roast turkey
- Break the roast turkey into 3 or 4 pieces that are small enough that they will fit into your largest pot. Fill the pot with cold water so that the water comes 2-inches above the bones. Bring the pot almost to a boil then reduce the heat so that it is barely simmering. You want the water to move around and a few small bubbles to rise, but not to boiling. Cook for 8-10 hours, leaving the lid off. (See notes if you'd like to use your crockpot instead.)
- Strain the turkey stock through a colander into a large bowl and discard the bones. Strain the stock once more through a fine-mesh sieve. You can either use the turkey stock immediately or let it cool and refrigerate it for up to 3 days or freeze it for up to 3 months.
Turkey Soup
- Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook for 5 minutes. Add the carrot and cook until it begins to brown in a few places, about 5 minutes.1 teaspoon olive oil, 1 medium onion, 3 large carrots
- Add the celery, turkey stock, and reserved turkey meat to the pot and bring it to a boil. Simmer for 5 minutes, or until the carrots and celery are soft. Season to taste generously with sea salt.4 stalks celery, 6 cups turkey stock, 3 cups reserved turkey meat, Sea salt
- If you're using the egg noodles, add them cooked to your soup bowl, ladle in the soup, and garnish with a little sprinkle of parsley.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
We have thoroughly tested this recipe for accuracy. However, individual results may vary. See our full recipe disclosure here.
Wondering what to do with all your turkey dinner leftovers?
If you have a pile of turkey dinner leftovers in your fridge, here are a few of our other favorite recipe that put them to good use.
Thanksgiving Leftovers Eggs Benedict
Roasted Brussels Sprouts Pizza
Leftover Turkey Shepherd’s Pie
For more inspiration, check out all of our turkey dinner leftover recipes!
Great way to stretch your turkey for more meals. I keep onion peels and all the scrapes from even the turkey meal to add to the stock flavors.
I love that you do that – I do that, too! I always have 2 bags in my freezer – one for bones and one for veggie scraps. Such a great way to add flavor and cut down on waste.
Do my stock in the slow cooker over night (min 10 hours on low). Makes fantastic jelly stock as it cools
That’s usually the way I do it too! Makes clean up so easy and the long, slow cook makes great stock.
LOVED the idea of starting the stock right after Thanksgiving dinner! Made cleanup so much quicker.
Made the soup as described but while the onions etc were cooking I added lots of other seasonings…bay leaves, garlic, cumin, turmeric, Italian spices making the soup much richer in flavor. Thanks for getting me started with a great basic recipe.
Aw, I love this! Getting the stock going right after dinner really does make everything feel easier. And your seasoning additions sound absolutely wonderful; all those warm spices would make the soup so rich and cozy.
I’m so happy the recipe gave you a good starting point. Thanks for sharing your beautiful tweaks! 💛
Delicious! I made it with rice instead of noodles, but the proportions of everything were perfect and the flavors were well balanced. Love how you include the amounts of ingredients in the step by step directions so I didn’t have to keep scrolling back and forth!!
Aw, I’m so happy you loved it! Rice sounds like a perfect swap — cozy and delicious. And I’m really glad the ingredient amounts in the steps were helpful; I always hope it makes things easier in the kitchen. Thanks so much for your sweet note! 💛
Wow! What a quick ,easy and wonderful soup. All my family was impressed. I am now becoming a great cook, thanks to you. Thank you for sharing.
That’s amazing to hear! So happy the soup impressed your family—and even happier to hear you’re feeling more confident in the kitchen. You’re doing the cooking magic! 🍲✨
Outstanding end product. I freeze all bones, gristle, fat, etc. and add to 3 – 4 liters of water the night before. Add several bay leaves, 2 chopped carrots, and chopped celery stalk. Bring to boil, reduce heat to bare simmer (95°C) and allow to stew 4 to six hours.
Pour off liquid through strainer into large pot. Discard all solid left overs. Any clean chunks of meat can go into clean pot. I place the covered pot outside to cool over night, or in fridge. Next day, carefully remove as much fat as possible. The broth will have reduced to approximately 2 Liters (8 cups).
Follow the Recipe as described.
Suggest cooking 2 Cups of Egg noodles. Add 30 mL (1 tbsp) apple cider vinegar to water to form up noodles.
Simple, very flavourful soup with great mouth feel. Suggest at least 3 cups meat.🍁🍁🍁
Wow—what an incredible method! Your homemade broth sounds rich, flavorful, and full of care, and I love the tip about adding vinegar to the noodle water. Thank you for sharing your process—it adds so much depth to the recipe. I’m sure your version tastes amazing! 🍁🍲
By far the easiest and best ever Turkey Soup. Freezes well too!
I’m so happy to hear the recipe was a hit!
I add left over turkey gravy and cornbread stuffing to the soup. If I don’t have any left over turkey gravy I use one package of commercial turkey gravy mix.
Oh how interesting!
Do the celery or carrots have to be peeled with a vegetable peeler or can you throw it in as is?
The celery can just be chopped – no peeling necessary. For the carrots, it depends. If they’re looking good, I don’t peel them. But if they’re a little sad looking, then I prefer to peel them.
It’s amazing how much flavor came out of the turkey carcass and water! Delicious and simple recipe – total winner
This recipe was easy to put together and delicious!!
I made my first turkey ever for Thanksgiving and used your recipe to make soup. It turned out great! You’ve inspired me to try making soup more often.