3 Great Turkey Soup Recipes (2024)

If your taste buds crave Tex-Mex, Tuscan White Bean or Curry—these recipes will use up turkey leftovers.

Posted Fri, Dec 5, 2014 at 11:26 am PT

Got leftover turkey clogging your freezer? Use it up with these mouth watering recipes—perfect for a chilly winter weekend or a busy weeknight.

Tex-Mex Turkey Soup

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• ½ cup minced onion
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 teaspoons chili powder
• ½ teaspoon cumin
• ½ teaspoon oregano
• 4 cups water
• 1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed tomato soup
• 1 (28 ounce) can diced tomatoes
• 1 cup salsa
• 4 cups shredded cooked turkey
• 1 tablespoon dried parsley
• 3 chicken bouillon cubes
• 1 (14 ounce) can black beans, rinsed, drained
• 2 cups frozen corn
• ½ cup sour cream
• ¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro

Toppings:

• 6 cups tortilla chips
• ¾ cup chopped green onion
• 1 cup shredded Cheddar-Monterey Jack cheese blend
• ½ cup chopped fresh cilantro
• ½ cup sour cream

Directions

1. Heat olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add minced onions and cook until onions begin to soften, about 4 minutes. Add garlic, chili powder, cumin and oregano and cook, stirring, for 1 minute.
2. Stir in water, tomato soup, diced tomatoes, salsa, shredded turkey, parsley and bouillon cubes. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, and simmer 5 minutes or until bouillon cubes dissolve. Add black beans, corn, sour cream and cilantro. Simmer for 20 to 30 minutes.
3. Serve soup with crushed tortilla chips, chopped green onion, shredded cheese and additional cilantro and sour cream.

Prep and cooking time: 50 minutes
Serves: 6

This recipe is from AllRecipes Check the site for more recipes.

Turkey White-Bean Soup with Olio Nuovo

Ingredients:

• 5 medium yellow onions
• 7 celery stalks
• 7 carrots
• 2 leeks
• 1 sprig rosemary (6 in.)
• 8 sprigs thyme, plus 2 tbsp. finely chopped leaves
• 6 sprigs flat-leaf parsley, plus 4 tbsp. finely chopped leaves
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 ¼ teaspoons salt, divided
• 1 teaspoon peppercorns, plus 1 tsp. pepper
• 1 turkey carcass (meat removed), including turkey neck, chopped into large pieces
• ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 4 cups shredded cooked turkey meat, both light and dark
• 2 cans (14 ½ oz. each) cannellini or other white beans, rinsed and drained
• About ¼ cup olio nuovo (new oil; see “Types of Olive Oil,” below)
• About ½ cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. Make stock: Peel and quarter 3 onions. Cut 3 celery stalks and 3 carrots into 1-in. lengths. Cut leeks (white and light green parts only) into 3/4-in. lengths, rinse thoroughly, and drain. Cut rosemary sprig in half. Divide cut-up vegetables, rosemary, thyme sprigs, parsley sprigs, bay leaves, 1 tsp. salt, the peppercorns, and turkey carcass between two 8-qt. pots (or use 1 very large pot). Add 20 cups cold water to each pot and bring almost to a boil over high heat. Just before stock reaches a boil, lower heat. Maintain a very gentle simmer for 4 hours, skimming off foam for the first 30 minutes.

2. Strain stock through a colander into a large bowl. Wash pot and line colander with cheesecloth. Strain stock through cheesecloth-lined colander back into pot.

3. Chill stock, covered, at least 5 hours or overnight. Skim fat from stock and discard. You should have at least 15 cups stock (if you don’t, add enough water to make up the difference).

4. Make soup: Cut remaining 2 onions and remaining 4 celery stalks into 1/4-in. dice. Peel remaining 4 carrots, halve lengthwise, and slice 1/4 in. thick.

5. Bring 15 cups stock (freeze any leftover for another use) to a simmer over medium-high heat.

6. Heat extra-virgin olive oil in an 8-qt. pot over medium heat. Add diced onions, celery, and carrots, plus 1/2 tsp. each salt and pepper. Cook until vegetables are softened but not browned, about 20 minutes.

7. Stir in garlic and chopped thyme and cook, stirring occasionally, 1 to 2 minutes, or until garlic is fragrant. Add hot stock and bring to a simmer. Stir in remaining 3/4 tsp. salt and 1/2 tsp. pepper.

8. Add turkey meat and beans to soup and simmer until heated through, 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in chopped parsley. Add salt to taste. Serve soup in shallow bowls drizzled with olio nuovo and sprinkled with parmesan.

Types of Olive Oil

The USDA has adopted these international standards for olive oil grades:

Extra-Virgin. The highest grade you can buy; the olives are pressed without using chemicals or adding heat, and they go through the press only once. To qualify as extra-virgin, the oil must also be free of specified taste “defects” and have less than 0.5 percent acidity.

Olio Nuovo. Italian for “new oil,” this is an extra-virgin oil less than 3 months old. Intensely green, with a pungent, vibrant taste, it quickly loses its bite, so use it right away. (Most California-produced brands of olio nuovo appear in late fall, soon after the harvest, and often sell out quickly.)

Virgin. A lower grade than extra-virgin, lighter in flavor and higher in acidity.

Olive oil. Virgin oil blended, in varying ratios, with refined oil, which comes from olives that have already been pressed at least once; heat or chemicals may be used to extract more oil from the paste. Neutral in flavor and cheap.

Light. Refined oil with a small amount of virgin oil, if any; may also have other vegetable oils. “Light” doesn’t mean lower in calories, just a lighter taste.

Infused/Flavored. Oil in which fruit or herbs were steeped. Can also mean the olives were pressed with fruit or herbs, or that fruit or herb oils were added to the oil after pressing; both methods result in a more intense flavor than the steeping.

Serves 12

This recipe is from My Recipes. Check the site for more recipes.

Curried Turkey Soup

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon stick margarine or butter
• 4 teaspoons curry powder
• 1 teaspoon minced peeled fresh ginger
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 4 (16-ounce) cans fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth, divided
• 2 cups chopped onion
• 1 cup chopped leek
• ½ cup diced peeled Golden Delicious apple
• ½ cup diced carrot
• ½ cup diced celery
• 3 cups finely shredded cooked turkey
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1/8 teaspoon white pepper
• 1 (12-ounce) can evaporated skim milk
• ½ cup all-purpose flour

Stir-ins and Toppings:

• 2 ¾ cups hot cooked rice
• ¾ cup diced peeled Golden Delicious apple
• 1/3 cup chopped dry-roasted peanuts
• 1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 1/3 cup flaked sweetened coconut, toasted

Directions:

Melt margarine in a large Dutch oven over low heat. Add curry powder, ginger, and garlic; saute 2 minutes. Add 2 cans of broth, onion, and next 4 ingredients (onion through celery), and bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer 20 minutes or until vegetables are tender.

Place half of the vegetable mixture in a food processor, and process until smooth. Spoon into a bowl. Repeat procedure with remaining vegetable mixture.

Combine the vegetable puree, 1 can of broth, turkey, juice, pepper, and milk in pan, and stir well. Combine 1 can of broth and flour in a bowl. Stir with a whisk; add to vegetable mixture in pan. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes or until thick, stirring constantly.

Spoon 1/4 cup rice into each of 11 bowls; top with 1 cup soup, about 1 tablespoon diced apple, 1 1/2 teaspoons peanuts, 1 1/2 teaspoons parsley, and 1 1/2 teaspoons coconut.

Serves 11

This recipe is from My Recipes. Check the site for more recipes.