Leftover Turkey Soup - Use up your leftover turkey in this easy to put together soup that is just perfect for the day after Thanksgiving.
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Are you the kind of person who buys a turkey way bigger than you need for Thanksgiving, so you can have tons of leftovers?
No judgement. I'm totally that kind of person.
I buy a huge turkey. I pack up leftovers for everyone and then I hide away the rest for re-purposing. Some of my favorite things to make in the days following Thanksgiving are Turkey Sliders, Leftover Thanksgiving Casserole and of course soup! A lot of times I will make my own turkey stock using the carcass of the turkey, but honestly, some years, I just don't have the time.
When I talk to my friends about making soup, they think the thought of making homemade stock is way too much effort for them. I try to keep things easy here, so I'm sharing this Leftover Turkey Soup recipe sans homemade stock. So make sure to stock up on the broth.
Tip on the broth or stock: It's going to definitely be on sale during the two weeks leading up to Thanksgiving. I always load up my pantry during these weeks. It keeps, unopened, for a good amount of time and I use it like crazy in so many recipes, so I take advantage.
Related: Instant Pot Bone Broth
Can I Cook The Noodles Right In The Soup?
There is one aspect of this recipe where I feel I have some explaining to do. You know I like to make recipes into one pot meals whenever possible. That being said, I feel like it's very important to cook your noodles in a separate pan than the soup. It is my experience that noodles left to soak in a big pot of soup is not a good outcome. The noodles sit in the pot and they just suck up all the both and you end up with mushy noodles and not enough broth.
Instead, what I do when the noodles are done, I ladle in a small amount of the soup, to the noodle pan. Just enough to keep the noodles from getting dry. Then, when I am serving, I scoop the noodles in a bowl and then pour the soup right over the noodles.
Make sense?
Good.
What are your go-to recipes to use up leftover turkey from Thanksgiving?
Printable Recipe Card
Leftover Turkey Soup - Easy Day After Thanksgiving Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 T olive oil
- 1 C diced onion
- 1 C diced carrot
- ½ C diced celery
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- ½ teaspoon black pepper freshly cracked
- 1 teaspoon seasoned salt
- ½ teaspoon dry thyme
- 2 C diced leftover turkey
- 6 C turkey broth vegetable or chicken broth okay too
- Egg noodles
Instructions
- Heat oil in a large pot over medium/high heat. Add onion, carrot and celery. Cook 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally, just until beginning to soften. Add garlic, salt, pepper and thyme. Cook 1 minute more. Add in turkey and broth. Increase heat to high and bring just to a boil, then turn down heat to low and simmer 45 min.
- Meanwhile prepare egg noodles according to package. Drain.
- To serve, place noodles in bowl and pour soup over noodles.
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Iriz says
I am. Making this as we speak but I have no egg noodles. I’ve added rice instead so let’s hope all goes well! 🙂