Easy Leftover Turkey Soup
Once you’ve eaten all the leftover turkey sandwiches that one human being can tolerate, use the rest of that gigantic Thanksgiving turkey to make the best, Easy Leftover Turkey Soup you’ve ever had! Top your bowl of this hearty, satisfying soup with a generous amount of cheese and serve it with crusty bread on the side.
Sometimes the best recipes happen completely by accident. That’s how this delicious soup happened.
It was late in the afternoon two days after Thanksgiving when I realized that I had absolutely nothing planned for supper. The grandkids were getting hungry and it was either get in the kitchen and cook or go out to eat.
Honestly, I was so tired I would have just skipped dinner rather than put forth enough effort to make myself presentable for going out. So, into the kitchen I went.
I started pulling out Thanksgiving leftovers that I thought might go together in a soup. And, my goodness, what a delicious soup it turned out to be!
All that leftover celery, onions, potatoes, and mushrooms combined with the turkey and stock made a flavorful and nutritious soup that we all thoroughly enjoyed. Even the kids. Though I did have to fish all the mushrooms out of their bowls. Still.
🛒 Ingredient Notes
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- Chicken or Turkey Stock (Ideally you’d make stock from the turkey carcass leftover after roasting your Thanksgiving turkey. However, you can always use purchased stock.)
- Yukon Gold Potatoes (Use any potato you like and have on hand. I happened to have Yukon Golds when I first made this recipe.)
- Diced Cooked Turkey (Use your leftover Thanksgiving turkey or make this soup with a purchased rotisserie chicken.)
- Fontina Cheese (Use any kind of cheese you want. Parmesan, white Cheddar, Mozzarella, and Swiss all work well.)
You’ll find detailed measurements for all ingredients in the printable version of the recipe at the bottom of this post.
🥄 How to Make Turkey Mushroom and Potato Soup
This is one of the easiest soups you’ll ever make. For real.
Start by sauteing some celery, onions, and mushrooms with butter in a soup pot. Then add the stock, cream of chicken soup, potatoes, turkey, and seasonings.
Let that all simmer together just until the potatoes are cooked through. Top individual servings with grated cheese.
Serve with my Steakhouse Honey Wheat Bread or Easy Homemade Bread slathered with butter for a special treat!
🔀 Variations
- Just before serving, add a handful of frozen peas or baby spinach. Continue cooking until the peas are heated through or the spinach is wilted.
- Serve with pasta or egg noodles. Cook the pasta or noodles separately so they don’t get too mushy. Add to individual serving bowls and ladle the soup over.
- Substitute oil for the butter if you like.
🍚 Storing and Freezing
- Storage: Place in an airtight container and keep in the refrigerator for up to four days.
- Freezing: Transfer the cooled soup into a freezer-safe container (or individual serving size containers) and freeze for up to 3 months.
❓ Questions About Leftover Turkey Soup
To make this soup in the slow cooker, after sauteeing the vegetables transfer everything to the crock pot and cook for about 3-4 hours on high or 4-5 hours on low.
You can use any purchased chicken stock, broth, or bouillon for this recipe.
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📖 Recipe
Easy Leftover Turkey Soup
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 2 ribs celery diced
- 1 cup chopped green onions
- 8 ounces mushrooms sliced
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 32 ounces chicken or turkey stock
- 10.5 ounces cream of chicken soup
- 2 cups Yukon Gold potatoes diced
- 2 cups cooked turkey diced
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- 4 ounces grated Fontina cheese (or cheese of your choice)
Instructions
- Melt the butter in a large soup pot. Add the celery, onions, and mushrooms. Cook, stirring occasionally, until celery and onions are wilted and mushrooms and cooked down (about 6-7 minutes).
- Add remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a strong simmer and cook until potatoes are done (about 15-20 minutes).
- Serve in individual bowls topped with grated cheese.
Notes
- To serve with pasta or egg noodles, cook the pasta or noodles separately so they don’t get too mushy. Add to individual serving bowls and ladle the soup over.
- To make this soup in the slow cooker, after sauteeing the vegetables transfer everything to the crock pot and cook four about 3-4 hours on high or 4-5 hours on low.
- Place in an airtight container and keep in the refrigerator for up to four days. To freeze, transfer the cooled soup into a freezer-safe container (or individual serving size containers) and freeze for up to 3 months.
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information is calculated by software based on the ingredients in each recipe. It is an estimate only and is provided for informational purposes. You should consult your health care provider or a registered dietitian if precise nutrition calculations are needed for health reasons.
I can’t wait to make this recipe….YUM!
Thanks for sharing!
What a fantastic use of your leftovers! ‘Tis the season for soup, and this one looks amazing!! Thanks for sharing…
-Shannon
You are so right…. soup is almost always an ad lib dish for us and probably why we love making it. I love the look of your soup and have been craving something similar. Perfect! Especially with those big slices of mushrooms! Wow!
I love happy accidents! Since I adore mushrooms, this soup would be perfect in my eyes! Yum, Hugs, Terra
It sure was pretty nearly perfect to us, Terra. Great way to use all those leftovers!
Lana, I just wanted to let you know I used your Turkey & Southern Cornbread Dressing recipe for the 3rd year in a row, and once again they were both HUGE hits with the family! Thank you SO much for a recipe that makes cornbread dressing that tastes like my mom’s.
Guess what I’m gonna try next? (Uh huh -this soup recipe that sounds sooo good.) Thank you!
I’m so glad to hear that you’ve been using this recipe and enjoying it so much! And I’ll bet you’re going to love that soup as well.
I just finished preparing a turkey pot pie with the leftovers. I have always liked reruns.
Miss P