When I have leftover turkey on hand after the holidays, I use it to create delicious dishes including turkey noodle soup, hearty turkey casserole and this fresh and colorful turkey vegetable soup. I intentionally roast more turkey than I need each year during the holidays so that I have plenty on hand as leftovers. I love to repurpose my turkey into a hearty and delicious turkey vegetable soup. The great thing about this recipe is that it’s easily customizable, which means you really can use whatever veggies you happen to have on hand, and still end up with a great meal.
Turkey Vegetable Soup Ingredients
There are two components to this recipe, which include a homemade turkey broth, as well as the soup itself. The broth is made with a leftover turkey carcass, onion, carrot, celery, herbs and seasonings. The soup contains the homemade broth, diced turkey, tomatoes, tomato sauce and vegetables including potatoes, green beans, carrots, celery and corn.
How Do You Make Turkey Vegetable Soup?
Start by preparing the turkey broth. Place the carcass, vegetables and seasonings in a large pot with water, then bring everything to a simmer. Let the broth cook for 3-4 hours, then strain out the solids. Melt butter in a pot, and add the carrots, onions and celery. Cook the veggies until they are tender. Next, stir in the turkey, tomato products, homemade broth, potatoes and seasonings. The soup will simmer until the potatoes are tender. You don’t need to bring it to a boil, just a medium simmer works perfectly. Add the corn and green beans and cook everything for a few more minutes. Finally, sprinkle parsley over the soup and enjoy.
Tips For The Perfect Soup
This recipe assumes you’re using leftover turkey and that you have a carcass on hand to make homemade broth. You can absolutely make this recipe without the homemade broth if you don’t have the time or are not using leftovers. Simply substitute store bought chicken or turkey broth instead. Leftover soup will stay fresh in the refrigerator for up to 3 days, and can be stored in the freezer for 2 months. Just be aware that if you freeze the soup, the vegetables will be softer when the soup is reheated. I typically use frozen corn and green beans in this recipe because I always have them on hand, but fresh will also work well.
Flavor Variations
This soup is great as-is, but you can switch up the ingredients to accommodate for whatever veggies you have in the fridge with good results.
Protein: Feel free to use ground turkey or diced cooked chicken instead of the diced turkey. You can also add extra protein by stirring in 1 cup of canned beans such as white beans. Vegetables: There are so many other types of veggies that work well in this soup, so get creative! Some great options include spinach, mushrooms, zucchini, cabbage, peas or butternut squash. Add-Ins: You can make this soup even heartier by stirring in some cooked pasta or grains such as rice, quinoa or barley. Just be aware that these additions may soak up some of the broth, so you may need to add more liquid to the finished soup. It’s also fine to substitute olive oil for the butter.
This turkey vegetable soup is sure to be a hit with both kids and adults alike. I don’t even wait for the holidays to make it, I serve this recipe year round to my family!
