Best Homemade Turkey Soup Recipe (made with leftover turkey!)
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
Turkey soup is only as good as the broth itās made with. Iām 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, āKristen this is an amazing recipe, loved the soup. I used leftover roasted turkey as garnishing on top and it was delicious. ā ā ā ā ā ā
Many turkey soup recipes are made with chicken stock, so they wonāt taste like authentic, homemade turkey soup. Luckily, making turkey stock is so easy that you can do it in your sleep ā literally.
This is a recipe that Iāve made a million timesāor at least once a year for the past twenty-something yearsāpretty close to a million. You can trust that I know what Iām 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; itās so good.
Itās also ridiculously easy to make. All youāll 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. Youāll slowly simmer the stock overnight and wake up to the most amazing-smelling home and a pot of tasty turkey broth.
Youāll notice that I add nothing besides the turkey bones to the pot. While you can certainly add herbs, onion, carrots, etc., itās 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 thereās big-time nostalgia going on here. My mom makes the best cozy food, and this is her recipe.
- Itās super easy to make.Ā
- 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, itās all good feelings here.
Key ingredients
To make soup, youāll 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, youāll need these ingredients for the soup:
- Onion, carrots, and celery ā the classic turkey soup trio.
- Turkey meat ā this comes from the roast turkey. If you donāt have enough leftover turkey, you can use chicken instead.Ā Ā
- Cooked egg noodles ā I love noodles in my turkey soup! Itās 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.
- SautƩ 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 BenedictĀ
Roasted Brussels Sprouts Pizza
Leftover Turkey Shepherdās Pie
For more inspiration, check out all of our turkey dinner leftover recipes!
Truly appreciate the way you made this delicious soup. Everything is so nicely described that really helped me.
So all the bones in the crock, but no timer. Ā So lm hoping that putting it on low is correct. Ā There is meat on the bones which will fall off so do l remove it and store it or can l freeze it in the broth? Ā
Hi Barbie! When making turkey stock in my crockpot (which is my favorite method) I remove the meat from the bones, put them in the crock and cover them with water, then cook it on low for 10 hours. You can easily cook it for even longer, making sure to top off the water if it’s getting too low. Here’s the full recipe: https://www.theendlessmeal.com/crock-pot-turkey-stock/
Making this soup tonight looking forward to enjoying it with my family
Are you able to use drippings to make gravy with the broth in the bottoms of the roasting pan?
You could definitely use some of the broth to make gravy!
Very easy to make. I used the crockpot method for the broth. Used a variety of seasonings as it defiantly needed more than just salt. Turned out absolutely delicious!
This is a totally decent recipe. I didnāt have any turkey meat, so got some chicken thighs as recommended and cooked in the broth. I would highly recommend either using breasts or trimming as much fat as possible from the thighs- I trimmed a lot off them and it was still too fatty. Also, I seasoned the soup with fresh ground pepper, it really needs more than just the sea salt.
Perfect Easy Soup…. I just add a little garlic and spinach ?
I’m a newbie at making soup and get frustrated because I have questions and do not wish to ruin this great turkey stock. 1. Do i skim the fat off the stock before using for soup? 2. If I saute the vegetables, do I still need to boil them? Stupid questions I know, but I so would like to make something good.
Most of the time, I leave the fat in turkey stock. (I do remove it from beef stock though as there’s usually a lot of it.) If you want to remove it, strain the turkey stock into a large mixing bowl then put it into your fridge for at least 24 hours. The fat will solidify on top and you’ll be able to easily scrape it off. You can use the fat for cooking; it’s tasty!
Sauteeing the veggies makes them more sweet and flavorful so you don’t want to skip this step. They only need to be simmered briefly to soften them completely. š
Can you use vegetable broth or chicken broth if you donāt have turkey broth? Thank you!Ā
Chicken broth would be the best substitute in this recipe. Just make sure it’s either homemade or a quality store-bought bone broth for the best flavor.
Kristen, your writing is so cute and a joy to read. And this soup sounds delectable. āŗļø
Thank you, Alex!
Nice ‘Rosol’ soup you have there š
haha I had to look up what that meant! Looks like Poland has their own version of chicken/turkey soup. š
Love this recipe and making it with the bone broth is so rich. Nice basic recipe and easy. (I do bone broth in pressure cooker.) Thank you for recipe.
Also to defat the broth, being very cold outside, I put the pot outside in garage overnight. Besides there was no room in refrigerator.
I almost always do the same with mine!
You’re so welcome, Joan!
Try putting all the carrots, onions, celery along with the spices you have listed as well as a package of frozen peas and a half pound of barley or rice and not making stock but a hearty soup! I cook it basically 2 hrs, pull all the bones and skin etc and serve!!
Good idea!
The soup turned out rancid. I kept it at low all night for 10 hours until the next morning. Then I refrigerated it. We were going to have it for lunch, but it was sour.
This recipe is horrible. We could have all gotten extremely sick. Luckily I tasted it before hand and realized it was rotten.
Please do not make this for your family.
I suspect that the temperature was too low. When making the stock, the water should be hot enough to move around with little bubbles rising. If it’s not moving at all, it won’t be hot enough to be safe to eat.
That wasnāt nice of Mr. Anonymous. He clearly messed it up. You took the time to write out a nice recipe that reminds you of happy family times and he had to say all that?
Maybe you shouldn’t have used that turkey you bought out of that guy’s trunk on that NYC street corner in the South Bronx.
Turkey soup has been a family tradition in my family for a long long time. Im almost 70 an learned it from my grandma.. But were going back many a years where u used everything. in it. with that said lets see how strange this get an if anyone wants to experament wth it. Dont forget the little dab of (homemade ofcourse) stuffing ,an that dab of cranberries. an if you had a vegie like corn yes throw that in too. even peppers are good. Like said no waste in this family. youll be surprised @ how good it can be. an if you love garlic like us throw in a dash of it to.
I’ll have to try adding a little cranberry sauce and stuffing next year!
Thank you Very Much!
You’re so welcome!