This perfectly creamy turkey and wild rice soup recipe is the best way to use up leftover turkey meat and bones from your holiday bird. But it’s so delicious you really should make it any time of year (not just when you’ve roasted a whole turkey for Thanksgiving or Christmas). Flavored with homemade turkey stock, butter, sweet heavy cream, diced turkey, carrots, shallots, leeks, celery, white and wild rice, plus a pinch of fresh herbs — this is my homage to Maggie’s family-famous turkey soup (which is the best turkey and rice soup I’ve ever eaten).
Maggie is my sister’s mother-in-law who also happens to be one of the best cooks there is — and her turkey soup is no exception. I first ate this “Thanksgiving soup” when I flew to my sister’s for the holiday. Maggie made it the day after using the leftover turkey carcass and meat — I was immediately hooked. It’s one of those family holiday dishes we all talk about leading up to the big day that we can’t ever seem to get enough of.
And since we can’t always be together for the holidays (we’re siblings living on 3 different continents), it was time to recreate a version to honor Maggie’s. Plus, I wanted to be able to eat it more than once a year without needing a whole leftover turkey to make it (which in Italy, is only available around Christmastime).
Why We Love This Turkey and Rice Soup
- It’s based on Maggie’s turkey soup (and everything she makes is 100% delicious)
- You don’t need to roast a whole turkey to make it
- Easy to make any time of year using turkey cuts from the grocery store
- Homemade turkey stock makes it extra tasty
- It’s perfectly lightly creamy (not stodgy or thick), but feel free to make it thicker
- The flavor of sweet cream and butter permeates the soup but doesn’t feel heavy
- It’s a great way to use up leftover turkey
- It freezes really well (so you can get a head start on holiday cooking)
Turkey and Wild Rice Soup Ingredients
The ingredients used to make this turkey and rice soup are basic. I’ve substituted onions for leeks and shallots and I’ve also added wild rice to the mix for a little extra “chew”, but feel free to use regular onions and regular white rice as Maggie does. I don’t add any flour (to act as a roux or thickener) and instead, rely on the starch from the rice, but if you want a slightly thicker soup, see the recipe notes for two ways to achieve this.
- turkey legs or other bone-in turkey pieces (or 3 to 4 cups leftover cooked turkey)
- homemade turkey stock or chicken stock (or store-bought)
- heavy cream
- cooked wild rice
- cooked white rice
- extra virgin olive oil
- butter
- leeks or sub onion
- shallots or sub onion
- carrots
- celery
- garlic
- parsley
- poultry seasoning (optional)
- salt and pepper to taste
How to Make Turkey & Rice Soup — Any Time of Year
Whether you’re single, a couple, or a small or large family (even someone who loves turkey but not the thought of roasting an entire bird) and you want to make turkey and rice soup any time of year, then this recipe is for you. I’ve scaled the recipe down so it can easily be made using various bone-in turkey pieces.
- Make the turkey stock and cook the turkey legs (Skip to step #2 if you’re using leftover cooked turkey or store-bought broth). Heat a 5 to 6-quart pressure cooker (or Instapot, or large stock pot) over medium-high heat, and add 1 tablespoon of olive oil. When the oil is hot, but not smoking, add the turkey legs and sear them on all sides until golden brown. Add leftover roasted turkey (or chicken) bones and 2 to 3 cups of leftover vegetable ends and peels (like carrots, onions, celery, and leeks). *I save all of my leftover vegetable peels and pieces in a bag in the freezer for making homemade stock, but you may sub 1/2 carrot, 3/4 onion, and 1/2 celery rib. Cover the turkey, bones, and vegetables with 4 quarts of water and add 1 teaspoon of salt, bring to high pressure, cook for 30 minutes and allow it to release naturally. When the pressure cooker has released, remove the turkey legs to a bowl to cool and strain the stock through a fine mesh sieve to remove the bones and vegetables. Skim the desired amount of fat from the stock and set aside. When the turkey legs are cool enough to handle, debone the meat and chop or shred into bite-sized pieces and set aside while you prepare the soup.
- Sauté the vegetables. Add the remaining tablespoon of olive oil and butter to a large pot set over medium heat. Add the shallots, leeks, carrots, smashed garlic cloves, poultry seasoning, herbs, a sprinkle of salt, and sauté for 7 to 8 minutes or until the vegetables are tender and the onions are translucent.
- Add the turkey stock and diced turkey meat. Add the turkey stock and meat to the pot and season with salt and pepper. Bring the mixture to a boil and immediately reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes to allow the flavors to meld together. Remove the garlic cloves from the soup and discard.
- Add the rice and the heavy cream. Add the cooked rice and heavy cream and simmer for 10 more minutes, or until everything is warmed through. Garnish with parsley if desired and Enjoy!
How to Make Turkey and Wild Rice Soup step-by-step recipe photos
Can You Freeze Creamy Turkey and Rice Soup?
While some people may advise against freezing cream-based soups, this turkey and rice soup freezes quite well. See the above (left) photo for what turkey and rice soup looks like after it’s been frozen and reheated. It’s just a little bit darker. Portion the completely cooled soup into desired serving sizes and place it into air-tight containers and freeze. You can either gently reheat from frozen over medium heat or thaw the soup overnight in the refrigerator before reheating and serving.
Looking for More Delicious Leftover Turkey Recipes & Holiday Dishes to Make?
If you love the holidays as much as we do, it’s never too early to start thinking about what you’re going to serve or bring to the potluck this year. Whether it’s an Italian-inspired meal, or more traditional fare — above are a few of our favorite crowd-pleasing dishes that are perfect for any celebration.
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- Easy Turkey Tinga Tacos (A Perfect Way to Use Up Leftover Turkey)
- A Better Homemade Turkey Pot Pie (The Ultimate Pot Pie Recipe)
- The Very Best Southern Cornbread Dressing (an old Family Recipe)
- Easy Creamy Mushy Peas Recipe
- Bakery Style Pumpkin Spice Pumpkin Bread (w/Toasted Walnuts)
- Black Sesame Triple Coconut Cream Pie
- All-Natural Kabocha Pumpkin Pie Tart w/Pecan Crunch
- Pumpkin Cheesecake w/Chestnut Graham Cracker Layer
- Granny’s Perfect Pumpkin Bread w/Toasted Pumpkin Seeds
- White Chocolate Caramel Cheesecake w/Oreo CookieCrust
- Apple Rum Cake with Pecan Crunch
- The Very Best Southern Pecan Pie
- Sweet Cherry Crumb-Crunch Pie w/Scratch Made Cherry Pie Filling + Streusel
- Simple and Delicious Mascarpone Apple Torte
- Aunt Betty’s Southern Pecan Tassies (Like Mini Pecan Pie Cookies)
Let’s get started!
Print
The Best Turkey and Wild Rice Soup (for anytime of year)
- Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
- Yield: 4-6 servings depending on hunger level 1x
Description
This turkey and wild rice soup is a perfect way to use up leftover turkey meat and bones from your holiday birds. But it’s so delicious you can and should make it any time of year (not just when there’s a whole turkey carcass left over from the holidays). Deeply flavored with homemade turkey stock, butter, sweet heavy cream, turkey, carrots, shallots, leeks, celery, white and wild rice, plus a pinch of fresh herbs — this is my take on Maggie’s famous turkey soup (which is the best turkey and rice soup I’ve ever eaten).
Ingredients
- two turkey legs or other bone-in turkey pieces washed and patted dry *
- 2 to 2 1/2 quarts homemade turkey or chicken stock (or store-bought) (2 to 2.35L)
- 1 cup heavy cream (240g)
- 2 cups cooked black or wild rice (340g)
- 1 cup cooked white rice (170g)
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (30g)
- 2 tablespoons butter (30g)
- 1/4 cup leeks, diced (white and light green part only) (30g)
- 3/4 cup shallots or onion, diced (100g)
- 3/4 cup carrots, diced (100g)
- 2/3 cup celery, diced (85g)
- 2 garlic cloves, smashed
- parsley, finely chopped, to taste
- 1/8 teaspoon poultry seasoning (optional)
- 3 leaves of fresh sage (optional)
- 15 individual leaves of fresh rosemary removed from the stem (optional)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt, or to taste
- freshly cracked black pepper, to taste
*You may use about 3 cups of leftover cooked turkey to speed up this recipe. If you don’t have a cooked turkey, using two medium-sized turkey legs (or other equivalent-sized bone-in turkey meat) should yield about 3 cups of cooked turkey meat. From two turkey legs, I ended up with 14 ounces (400g) of cooked meat which was just over 3 cups.
Instructions
- Make the turkey stock and cook the turkey legs (Skip to step #2 if you’re using leftover cooked turkey or store-bought broth). Heat a 5 to 6-quart pressure cooker (or Instapot, or large stock pot) over medium-high heat, and add 1 tablespoon of olive oil. When the oil is hot, but not smoking, add the turkey legs and sear them on all sides until golden brown. Add leftover roasted turkey (or chicken) bones and 2 to 3 cups of leftover vegetable ends and peels (like carrots, onions, celery, and leeks). *I save all of my leftover vegetable peels and pieces in a bag in the freezer for making homemade stock, but you may sub 1/2 carrot, 3/4 onion, and 1/2 celery rib. Cover the turkey, bones, and vegetables with 4 quarts of water and add 1 teaspoon of salt, bring to high pressure, cook for 30 minutes and allow it to release naturally. When the pressure cooker has released, remove the turkey legs to a bowl to cool and strain the stock through a fine mesh sieve to remove the bones and vegetables. Skim the desired amount of fat from the stock and set aside. When the turkey legs are cool enough to handle, debone the meat and chop or shred into bite-sized pieces and set aside while you prepare the soup.
- Sauté the vegetables. Add the remaining tablespoon of olive oil and butter to a large pot set over medium heat. Add the shallots, leeks, carrots, smashed garlic cloves, poultry seasoning, herbs, a sprinkle of salt, and sauté for 7 to 8 minutes or until the vegetables are tender and the onions are translucent.
- Add the turkey stock and diced turkey meat. Add the turkey stock and meat to the pot and season with salt and pepper. Bring the mixture to a boil and immediately reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes to allow the flavors to meld together. Remove the garlic cloves from the soup and discard.
- Add the rice and the heavy cream. Add the cooked rice and heavy cream and simmer for 10 more minutes, or until everything is warmed through. Garnish with parsley if desired and Enjoy!
Notes
- Substitute white or yellow onions for some or all of the leeks and shallots. Just be sure to end up with about 1 cup (125g) of chopped onions.
- Substitute white rice for the wild rice if you’d like.
- Substitute homemade turkey stock with chicken stock or store-bought broth.
- If you want a slightly thicker turkey soup, you can achieve this by doing one of the following things:
- Create a roux by adding 1 tablespoon of flour to the sautéed vegetables and cook for 4 to 5 minutes stirring constantly before adding the turkey stock and proceeding with the remaining instructions…OR
- Cook the rice directly in the turkey stock. Toast 1 1/2 cups of uncooked rice directly in the butter and olive oil until fragrant and slightly opaque. Add the vegetables to sauté and continue with the instructions being sure to cook the rice until tender before adding the turkey meat and remaining ingredients.
- Increase the amount of rice by up to one cup if you’d like.
- Increase the amount of heavy cream to make this soup even more luxurious. I kept it on the lighter side because when I made this, it was summertime (bikini weather), but Maggie’s soup does not skimp on real butter or heavy cream, so use as much or as little as you’d like.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Category: Soups & Stews
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 2 Cups
