Turkey Rice Soup
Enjoy this easy comfort recipe of Homemade Turkey Rice Soup using a leftover turkey carcass, with veggies and brown rice!
This Turkey Rice Soup combines the leftover Thanksgiving turkey sitting in your fridge, with cooked brown rice and vegetables, simmered in a savory homemade broth. It’s perfect for a chilly day, or a busy day after the big holiday (if you’re shopping Black Friday sales). We love it served with leftover rolls or hot crunchy bread.
Turkey Rice Soup
This easy turkey soup is a hearty and comforting meal that’s ready in under 2 hours, because you are cooking down the turkey carcass. It also uses up holiday leftovers or you can make it entirely from scratch!
The best flavor for turkey soup comes from using a leftover turkey carcass. What is a turkey carcass? Leftover turkey bones–don’t throw them away!
You may remember your mom freezing the carcass after Thankgsgiving, and then making soup later. Well, it’s super easy. Of course the question is, how long can a carcass stay in the freezer? HA. If you’re like me, you put things in the freezer, and then you forget it’s there. So use them up!
Why I love this recipe
- It’s a great recipe to use up all the Thanksgiving leftovers.
- This soup is a great meal to have ready if you’re out cutting down a Christmas tree, and need to come back to a pre-cooked meal.
- Guests and family love it, and it makes a great meal served with bread and a side salad.
You just can’t get much cozier than a bowl of this soup.
Gather these ingredients
- A picked over turkey carcass: Leftover turkey meat, in small pieces
- Veggies: Celery, carrots, onion
- Bay leaves
- Poultry seasoning
- Chicken broth plus water to cover the bones
- Garlic salt or powder
- Kosher salt
- Ground black pepper
- Uncooked brown rice: or you can use white rice
- Frozen green peas, pearl onions, whole green beans (or canned or leftover from TG)
- Fresh shaved Parmesan cheese
How do you make homemade turkey soup with a carcass?
- Place the turkey carcass (it can be frozen) in a large, deep pot, and add the celery, carrots, onion, bay leaves, poultry seasoning, and chicken broth. Pour in additional water if needed, to cover the bones. Place the lid on the pot and bring to a boil over medium-high heat; reduce heat to medium, and simmer.
- Remove the carcass and any bones and all vegetables by using a large strainer. Pour the stock back into the pot. Allow the turkey carcass, extra pieces, and vegetables to cool. Pick any meat off the carcass (discard the bones), cut up the veggies to small pieces, and place it all back in the pot of stock.
- Season to taste with garlic salt and pepper. Stir in the rice and return to a boil over medium-high heat. Lower heat to medium, and simmer, depending on if you use white or brown rice.
- Stir in the frozen vegetables: Peas, pearl onions, and green beans. Continue to simmer until rice is tender. Time will differ if you use white rice, brown rice, or if you use pre-cooked rice.
- Season to taste and serve hot with fresh shaved Parmesan cheese.
How long can you keep a turkey carcass before making soup?
A turkey carcass can be kept in the freezer for 2 to 3 months if stored properly. So guess what? My carcass was in the freezer three months to the day! Which meant it was time for Easy Homemade Turkey Soup. :)
After you cook a turkey, the carcass should not be kept in the refrigerator for more than 3 to 4 days, which is why I freeze it in a plastic Ziploc bag.
How to make your own poultry seasoning
Did you know if you don’t have “poultry seasoning” that you can make your own?
Combine sage, thyme, marjoram, rosemary, nutmeg, and black pepper together. You can store with your other spices until needed.
Tips and substitutions:
Here are the basic ingredients that I use for this easy turkey soup recipe: Celery, carrots, onions, brown rice, seasonings like kosher salt and black pepper and poultry seasoning, the rest of the turkey carcass, and brown rice.
If you want to skip the step of adding uncooked brown or white rice, you can use pre-cooked and cut off some of the cooking time.
You can make this recip without a carcass and just used chopped up turkey.
But here’s the secret to the best turkey soup. To make it even better, rummage through your freezer again and see what frozen veggies you have. We also used frozen peas, pearl onions, and green beans. I had a bag of frozen corn, but I didn’t want to add more starch (since we added brown rice).
My love for soup probably goes back to my favorite childhood soup, Campbell’s Tomato Soup. I have a Smoked Tomato Bacon Soup that I shared a few years back, too. Homemade is always better! But there is just something about the flavors of a turkey soup made from a turkey carcass.
ENJOY!
More soup recipes to try:
Best Baked Potato Cheddar Ham Soup
Get the Recipe:
Turkey Rice Soup
Ingredients
- 1 picked over turkey carcass
- 2 celery stalks, chopped
- 2 carrots, peeled
- 1 onion, peeled and quartered
- 2 bay leaves
- Leftover turkey meat, in small pieces
- 2 Tbsp. poultry seasoning
- 2 quarts chicken broth plus water to cover the bones
- Garlic salt or powder
- Kosher salt
- Ground black pepper, to taste
- 2 cups uncooked brown rice, or white rice
- 1 8 ounce package frozen green peas
- 1 8 ounce package frozen pearl onions
- 1 8 ounce package whole green beans
- Fresh shaved Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Place the turkey carcass (it can be frozen) in a large, deep pot, and add the celery, carrots, onion, bay leaves, poultry seasoning, and chicken broth. Pour in additional water if needed, to cover the bones. Place the lid on the pot and bring to a boil over medium-high heat; reduce heat to medium, and simmer for 1 hour.
- Remove the carcass and any bones and all vegetables by using a large strainer. Pour the stock back into the pot. Allow the turkey carcass, extra pieces, and vegetables to cool for about 15 minutes. Pick any meat off the carcass (discard the bones), cut up the veggies to small pieces, and place it all back in the pot of stock.
- Season to taste with garlic salt and pepper. Stir in the rice and return to a boil over medium-high heat. Lower heat to medium, and simmer 20-25 minutes. (If using white rice, cook for 15 minutes.)
- Stir in the frozen vegetables: Peas, pearl onions, and green beans. Continue to simmer until rice is tender, about 10 minutes more. Season to taste and serve hot with fresh shaved Parmesan cheese.
Notes
Hello and welcome to my home and table!
I’m Sandy—lover of food, family, cooking, THE BIG BOARD, travel, and bringing people together. Through great recipes and connection around the table, we become better, stronger, and more courageous people. Feasting on Life is real, and every time we do it, we grow a little more. Read more...
