Warming and light, Turkey and Rice Soup is a wonderful way to enjoy leftover turkey. Tender turkey, vegetables and rice are swirled in a savory broth and finished with a splash of fresh lemon juice and a bright blend of parsley, lemon zest, and garlic. A welcome and restorative meal after days of decadent eating.
With this simple soup recipe, using ingredients that you likely have on hand, you'll be serving up steaming bowls in just 30 minutes.
Jump to:
- Ingredients You Need to Make Turkey and Rice Soup
- Why is this the best Turkey and Rice Soup?
- Should I rinse rice for soup?
- Recipe Options
- How to Make Turkey Stock (Optional)
- How to Store and Reheat
- More Ways to Enjoy Leftover Turkey
- Plan Your Holiday Menu
- How to Make Turkey and Rice Soup
- Turkey and Rice Soup
- 💬 Comments
Ingredients You Need to Make Turkey and Rice Soup
- Leftover Turkey: White meat, dark meat or a blend.
- Onion: Yellow, white, or sweet onions work well.
- Butter: Salted or unsalted.
- Carrots: Peeled or unpeeled, your choice!
- Celery: This is a good way to enjoy those outer ribs that you may have removed for the more tender celery ribs beneath.
- Broth: Turkey broth (or homemade turkey stock - instructions below), or chicken broth or stock.
- Rice: Long grain white rice. Rinse your rice if you like a brothier soup as the outer starch will thicken the soup, particularly if you reheat it. (I don't mind this and typically don't rinse the rice.)
- Lemon: Juice and zest.
- Parsley: Flat leaf or curly, your choice.
- Garlic: A couple of fresh, fat garlic cloves.
- Kosher Salt: To taste.
Why is this the best Turkey and Rice Soup?
The splash of fresh lemon juice and sprinkle of an aromatic blend of minced fresh parsley, garlic, and lemon zest (Italian Gremolata) at the end elevate this comforting soup from ordinary to extraordinary. It's just the right finish to enhance and brighten the soup's deeply savory flavors.
Should I rinse rice for soup?
Rice has a powdery starch coating that can be rinsed off, so should you rinse it? It depends on what you're cooking. If you're boiling rice on its own, you should rinse it first to prevent the grains from sticking together, or worse, getting gummy.
In soup, the powdery starch will thicken the broth (particularly in any leftover soup). So if you want a thinner, brothy soup, rinse your rice. If you don't mind a thicker soup, there's no need to rinse.
Recipe Options
- You can make this with a wild rice blend or brown rice, but note that they have a longer cooking time (~45 minutes). Cook the rice separately and add it along with the turkey at the end, just long enough to reheat.
- If you're making this soup from leftover Thanksgiving turkey, I recommend making stock from the turkey carcass. It's easy and gives this soup wonderful flavor! Instructions on making turkey stock from scratch below.
- Love lemon? Increase the juice and zest to one full lemon.
How to Make Turkey Stock (Optional)
Though it's not essential for this soup, homemade turkey stock tastes amazing and is easy to make. Here's how to make it:
- Add the turkey carcass and, if you like, the little bag of treasures that you’ve pulled from the turkey before roasting (neck, gizzard, heart and liver) into a large pot or, ideally a stock pot, and add enough water to cover.
- Then add two quartered onions, a large handful of fresh parsley, a few ribs of chopped celery, a handful of black peppercorns and a bay leaf if you like.
- Bring this to boil then reduce the heat and leave simmering away for a few hours, occasionally skimming off any foam that rises. Let simmer until the volume of liquid has reduced by about half and your turkey stock has a rich, golden color.
- Let the stock cool, then strain out the solids and either enjoy it within a week or freeze in canning jars (make sure you leave a couple of inches for the liquid to expand as it freezes).
How to Store and Reheat
Store leftover Turkey and Rice soup in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 4 days. Gently reheat in a saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring often.
Be sure to rinse your rice before adding it in step 2 of the recipe if you plan to freeze this soup (see section above about rinsing rice for soup). Also note that soups with starchy ingredients like rice will be thicker when thawed and reheated, so plan on adding more stock or broth if needed. With these notes in mind, you can freeze this soup in a freezer safe container for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight before reheating.
More Ways to Enjoy Leftover Turkey
- Turkey Pot Pie (A lighter version of the classic with a puff pastry crust.)
- Turkey Pot Pie Soup (I love to serve this with Pie Crust Crackers made from scraps of my Lard Pie Crust.)
Plan Your Holiday Menu
How to Make Turkey and Rice Soup
In a 3-quart saucepan, sauté onion in butter over medium heat for 3-5 minutes, or until softened. Stir in celery, carrots, broth, and rice; bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer until rice is nearly tender, 10 to 12 minutes.
While soup cooks, stir together lemon zest, parsley, and garlic in a small bowl. Juice lemon in separate bowl.
Stir turkey meat into soup and cook just until heated through. Add lemon juice and stir. Ladle into bowls and garnish with parsley, garlic, and lemon zest mixture (gremolata). Serve hot.
Turkey and Rice Soup
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 large onion diced small
- 3 ribs celery thinly sliced into half moons
- 2 large carrots thinly sliced
- 8 cups chicken broth or homemade Turkey broth (see recipe note #1)
- ¾ cup long grain white rice (see recipe note #2)
- ⅓ cup minced flat leaf parsley
- 2 medium cloves garlic minced
- ½ medium lemon juice and zest
- 2 cups cooked turkey shredded, ~10 ounces
- kosher salt to taste
Instructions
- Melt butter in a 3-quart saucepan over medium heat. Add onion; cook and stir until softened and translucent, 3-5 minutes.
- Add celery, carrots, broth and rice. Bring to boil; reduce heat and simmer 10-12 minutes, until rice is tender, but still has a little bite.
- Meanwhile, zest lemon into a small bowl and add minced parsley and garlic; stir to combine. Juice lemon half into separate small bowl. Set both bowls aside.
- When rice is tender, add turkey meat; cook and stir until heated through, 2-3 minutes. Stir in reserved lemon juice and season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Ladle soup into bowls and garnish with parsley mixture. Serve.
Notes
- Homemade turkey stock (instructions in post) or chicken stock make this soup even better!
- Rinse your rice if you want to remove the powdery surface starch that can thicken the soup.
- Store in the refrigerator and enjoy within 4 days.
One of the best turkey rice soups I have made! My husband LOVED it! More please!
I love to hear that, Barb! So happy that you and your husband enjoyed it!
Delicious! First time on your website, and I was intrigued by the gremolata. The splash of lemon as well as the parsley, minced garlic, and lemon zest in the bowls elevated it to the best turkey and rice soup we've ever had. We like lemon, so I zested and squeezed an entire lemon. I used homemade turkey bone stock and basmati rice, rinsing it as directed when planning to freeze. This recipe made a full meal for two adults and two kids plus about 1-1/2 quart bags of soup leftover for future meals. Easily adaptable to rotisserie chicken, adding a handful peas, etc. A keeper.
Hi Sunshine! Thanks for your detailed recipe notes. I'm so glad this was a hit with you and your loved ones!
So good! The favor is great just the right amounts of everything to make a great soup
I'm so glad you enjoyed it, Julie!
Super tasty! Any tips on keeping the rice from absorbing all the broth?
Hi Rachel! So glad you're enjoying it. The best way I know is to cook the rice separately to add when you're reheating the soup (I often do this with soups that contain pasta as well).
I am putting this one on the menu for this year! I do love a good turkey sandwich after Thanksgiving, but soup season is here (it's cold this morning!), and a hot bowl of turkey and rice soup sounds absolutely delicious right about now!
I can't wait for you to try it, David!
So So 😊 yummmmmm
So glad you enjoyed it, Kara!
The gremolata took it over the top. Absolutely love the flavors of this soup. Mine although purple due to the heirloom carrots I used and the rustic flavors of a mix of white and wild rice brought it to a new place for me...I will definately use this recipe again.
I forgot the 5 star review.. noteworthy
I'm so glad you enjoyed this soup, Linda! Thank you for coming back to let me know.
Well this certainly was a labor of love! Making the stock, the soup (picking the carcass), the gremolata. . . I think I used every pot, bowl, colander, kitchen tool and inch of counter space today. I found myself wondering if it was worth the effort. Then we sat down to steaming bowls of homemade soup and WOW it was worth it! Gremolata is something new to me and it really made the soup sing. And for all the effort, we’ve plenty left for tomorrow, Sunday game day. Thank you, Marissa, for a fresh new take on leftover turkey.
aww...I'm so happy this soup was a hit for you and your family, Deborah!
Nothing is perfect but this is close.
So glad you enjoyed this, Holly!
A bowl of warm soup for a cold day! Perfect! Thank you for sharing!
My pleasure! Thanks, Dennis.
We're having turkey tetrazzini tonight, but there should be enough leftover turkey for your fabulous soup! It will be nice as the snow moves in...ugh.
I bet you make a mean turkey tetrazzini, Liz! Definitely save a little turkey for this soup - I promise it's a keeper. And yes, snow, we've got it in the forecast too...
This is a great reminder to make turkey stock this year! I'll be honest that some years I forget it - or just pass on it as I'm too tired to deal with it after making the entire meal. But I'm doing it this year - this soup looks amazing, and I'm sure it has so much flavor thanks to the stock and extra turkey!
It's so good, David! Always nice to have homemade turkey stock, right? So much better than store bought.
Perfect timing for this cozy looking soup, Marissa! We always make turkey soup after Thanksgiving. Yours looks so warming and delicious!
Thanks, Katherine! I hope you'll give this one a try!
This soup has everything I need right now, so hearty and looks delicious. I love the taste of lemon in soups. Thanks for sharing 🙂
My pleasure, Muna! Thank you for your kind comment.
Turkey (chicken) & rice soup is an ultimate comfort yet not overly heavy recipe that is deeply associated with my childhood (As a kid, you got sick - you got a bowl of chicken soup! Best remedy ever!) You're also right that it's a great way to eat cleaner/healthier after all the decadent and festive meals. I'm even a little bit jealous that you might have some turkey leftovers after celebrating Thanksgiving 🙂 Delicious!
So true about the ultimate comfort food, Ben! Sometimes I think that I enjoy meals from leftovers even more than the main meal.
Hi Marissa! This sounds so comforting! It's just going to be the two of us this year so I'm making a couple of bacon wrapped turkey tenderloins. No carcass to make stock so I'll make due with chicken stock .My favorite part of Thanksgiving is the leftovers. 🙂
Hi Dorothy! I bet those turkey tenderloins will be incredible. I'm with you on the leftovers. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving, my friend.
Simple, warming and delicious...a perfect soup recipe, esp. if you have some leftover turkey or chicken.
Thank you, Angie!