This Turkey and Rice Soup is hearty, delicious and comes together in just about 30 minutes. Packed with wild rice, plenty of veggies and leftover turkey, it hits the spot during the holidays or any other time of year.
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Homemade Turkey and Rice Soup
This Turkey and Rice Soup is the perfect warm and cozy comfort food to make with leftover holiday extras. In just about 30 minutes, you can easily have homemade soup ready for the whole family. For a real treat, serve with a sprinkle of fresh parsley and a loaf of Rustic Cheddar Cheese Bread, homemade Parker House Rolls or our Quick Dinner Rolls.
I absolutely love the texture of wild rice in soup, but feel free to substitute any other kind of long grain white rice or brown rice if you prefer. You can also use leftover chicken or rotisserie chicken to make this recipe, and mix and match your favorite veggies.
Want to make your Turkey and Rice Soup in the crockpot? See below for our easy instructions, or try any of our other favorite crockpot recipes.
Ingredients in Turkey and Wild Rice Soup
- Butter - salted or unsalted will work, or you can even substitute olive oil.
- Onion - white, sweet or yellow onions will work great.
- Celery - slice celery into about ½” pieces.
- Carrots - peel and slice your carrots into ½” pieces.
- Turkey - you can use any kind of leftover turkey meat, including white meat, dark meat or a combination. Cooked chicken will also work. In fact, rotisserie chicken is one of my favorite kitchen hacks for making soups like this one.
- Wild Rice - I like wild rice because it gives the soup a nice texture, and it’s super healthy. Any kind of wild rice blend will work. Barley would also be good, and of course you can substitute white rice or brown rice. Just make sure and check the packaging to see the recommended cooking time that is listed. Egg noodles would work great too.
- Chicken Broth - use any type of chicken broth or chicken stock that you’d like.
- Salt and Pepper
How to Make This Turkey Soup Recipe
- Caramelize the onion. In a large sauce pot over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the chopped onion and cook over medium heat until the onions are a light caramel color, or about 5 minutes.
- Add the rest and simmer. Add the celery, carrots, cooked turkey, rice, chicken broth, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer and cook the soup for about 20-30 minutes, or until the rice is tender.
- Serve. Remove from the heat and add additional salt and pepper as needed. Enjoy!
How to Make Leftover Turkey Soup with Rice In the Crockpot
- In a large sauce pot over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the chopped onion and cook over medium heat until the onions are a light caramel color, or about 5 minutes.
- In a slow cooker, add the caramelized onions, celery, carrots, rice, chicken broth, salt and pepper. Cook on low for 5-6 hours or high for 2-3 hours.
- Once the rice is almost completely tender, add the turkey and cook for an additional 30-45 minutes.
- Set the crockpot to warm, add additional salt and pepper as needed and serve. Enjoy!
Frequently Asked Questions
Yup! Just cool completely and transfer to freezer bags. Lay them flat in the freezer and store for up to 3 months. Once you are ready to use, you can thaw overnight in the fridge, or else transfer directly into a pot on the stovetop and re-heat on medium-low heat, stirring often.
If you want to go the microwave route, just transfer into a microwave-safe container and reheat for about 30 seconds at a time, stirring in between.
Nope, this recipe calls for adding uncooked rice to the soup. It will cook as the soup simmers, giving it extra flavor and slightly thickening the broth.
Absolutely. You can substitute any kind of long grain white rice if you prefer. You may just need to adjust the cooking time because white rice cooks much faster than wild rice.
Storing and Reheating
- Refrigerator: store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
- Freezer: store cooled soup in freezer bags for up to 3 months. To thaw, transfer to the fridge overnight.
- To reheat: put soup into a dutch oven or sauce pot and warm over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until warmed through.
Turkey and Wild Rice Soup Recipe
Ingredients
- ¼ cup Butter
- 1 medium Onion chopped
- 3 ribs Celery sliced
- 2 large Carrots thinly sliced
- 2 cups Turkey cooked and cut into ½" chunks
- 2 cups Wild Rice
- 5-6 cups Chicken Broth
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- ½ teaspoon Pepper
Instructions
- In a large sauce pot over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the chopped onion and cook over medium heat until the onions are a light caramel color, or about 5 minutes.
- Add the celery, carrots, cooked turkey, rice, chicken broth, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer and cook the soup for about 20-30 minutes, or until the rice is tender.
- Remove from the heat and add additional salt and pepper as needed. Enjoy!
Nutrition
More of Our Favorite Winter Soup Recipes
- Lasagna Soup
- Taco Soup
- Southwest Black Bean Soup
- Loaded Baked Potato Soup
- Turkey Enchilada Soup
- Tomato Soup
- Creamy Potato Broccoli Cheese Soup
- Chicken Noodle Soup
- Broccoli Potato Cheese Soup
- More Soup Recipes
- More Turkey Recipes
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This homemade Turkey and Wild Rice Soup is made with leftover turkey making it quick and easy to throw together. It's hearty, delicious and can be ready in about 30 minutes.
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