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.
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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 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.
What makes this the best Turkey and Rice Soup?
The splash of fresh lemon juice and sprinkle of gremolata at the end elevate this comforting soup from ordinary to extraordinary. Gremolata is a versatile Italian condiment, a simple blend of minced parsley, garlic, and lemon zest. It's just the thing to enhance and brighten savory flavors.
Should I rinse rice?
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 wild rice 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
Homemade turkey stock tastes amazing and is easy to make. Here's what to do:
- Add the turkey carcass and, if you like, the little bag of treasures that you’ve pulled from the turkey before roasting (neck, etc.) into a large pot or, ideally a stock pot, and add enough water to cover.
- Then add two quartered onions, a large handful or two 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, until you decrease the volume of liquid by about half and your stock has a rich, golden color.
- Let it 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).
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.)
How to Make Turkey and Rice Soup
Step 1: 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.
Step 2: While soup cooks, stir together lemon zest, parsley, and garlic in a small bowl. Juice lemon in separate bowl.
Step 3: 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.
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.
Nothing is perfect but this is close.
You made my day, 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!