Savor the flavors of Thanksgiving all year round with a hearty and creamy turkey rice soup. A warm, comforting bowl packed with tender turkey, wholesome rice, and savory goodness.
Why you'll love this recipe
I'm a soup kinda gal. Truly, it's the ultimate comfort food, perfect for warming up on a chilly day or when you're feeling under the weather.
- It's creamy while still being made with wholesome ingredients. You get to control the sodium, or whether you use dark turkey meat or turkey breast. I guess what I'm saying is it's a customizable soup recipe. I love being in control!
- This turkey and rice soup is also an excellent way to use up leftover turkey from Thanksgiving and holiday feasts. Leftovers? What leftovers?!?!
- You can make a big batch and freeze soup in mason jars for later, ensuring you have a quick and delicious meal on hand whenever you need it.
This was inspired by my crockpot chicken and wild rice soup and pairs well with easy yeast dinner rolls or buttermilk cornbread muffins.
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Ingredients
If you have the turkey, you're halfway there! Everything else can easily be grabbed from your pantry, fridge, or grocery store.
- turkey - You'll use cooked, cubed turkey, making it a wonderful way to use leftover turkey. It's up to you if you use light or dark meat, or a combination of both.
- rice - Plain white rice is what we're using here. If you have leftover rice, you could use it in this recipe. Just add it to the soup at the end and heat until rice is warmed through.
- chicken stock - I love making chicken stock from rotisserie chicken! You can also use store bought chicken broth or stock.
- whole milk - This is really important because when it combines with cornstarch, it's what's making the soup nice and creamy!
Substitutions
- Rice - For a whole grain option, you can use fully cooked brown rice or wild rice and add it to the soup with the turkey.
- Milk - you can use 2% milk but whole milk is still my number one preference. It straddles the world of rich and creamy without being over the top.
- Turkey - Substitute the turkey for shredded rotisserie chicken if you don’t have turkey on hand!
See this creamy chicken pot pie for another comfort food classic.
How to make turkey rice soup
Step #1: Let's start by adding olive oil to a large pot, then adding some diced onion. Once that starts to soften, reduce the heat and add mushrooms and garlic.
Step #2: Next, celery and carrots join the party along with some Italian seasoning, which makes seasoning the soup easy peasy.
Italian seasoning is usually a blend of dried basil, oregano, rosemary, thyme and sometimes marjoram.
If you don't have it on hand in your spice pantry, you can use a combination of the above spices.
Step #3: Here we're adding the chicken stock and white rice into the pot. This is where we'll gently cook the turkey rice soup until the rice is tender.
Give it a stir a few times so the rice doesn't stick to the bottom.
Step #4: Add the cooked and cubed turkey to the pot. Bring the soup back to a simmer.
Step #5: This step is how we thicken the soup - by making a slurry. Sounds fancy, but don't worry, it's super simple!
To do this, we'll whisk together the milk and cornstarch until no lumps remain.
The cornstarch mixture goes into the simmering soup. After a few minutes, it will start to thicken as it gently boils.
Step #6: Want to go the extra mile?
For a little pop of color and extra flavor, top with freshly chopped parsley.
Isn't it dreamy???
Top tip
If you're planning to make a big batch for leftovers, consider cooking the rice separately. Then, add it to the soup just before serving to prevent it soaking up all the liquid.
Variations
- For a rich and indulgent version of turkey rice soup, you can substitute the milk with half and half. You can also add up to 1 additional tablespoon of cornstarch to the slurry for a thicker soup.
- If you have leftover roasted vegetables, they can be added for extra flavor and as a way to sneak in those daily veggie servings.
If you tried this creamy turkey rice soup or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the comments.
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Related
Looking for other soup recipes? Try these:
Creamy Turkey Rice Soup
Ingredients
- 2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 small onion chopped
- 8 ounces baby bella mushrooms sliced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 2 stalks celery chopped
- 3 carrots peeled and chopped
- ½ teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 6 cups chicken stock
- 1 cup white rice
- 2 cups cooked turkey diced or shredded into bite-sized pieces
- 2 cups whole milk
- 2 Tablespoons cornstarch
- ¾ Tablespoon kosher salt more or less, to taste
- Freshly ground black pepper to taste
- fresh parsley to garnish optional
Instructions
- Heat a large pot over medium heat. Add the olive oil (2 Tablespoons) and cook until heated. Add the small diced onion and a pinch of kosher salt. Sauté 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon.
- Reduce heat to medium low and add 8 ounces sliced mushrooms and 3 cloves of minced garlic. Cook 2-3 more minutes, until the mushrooms start to soften. Stir in the celery and carrots and ½ teaspoon Italian seasoning. Stir to combine.
- Raise the heat to medium high. Pour 6 cups chicken stock and 1 cup rice into the pot. Stir to combine and bring the stock to a gentle boil. Reduce heat to medium low and simmer the soup for 10-15 minutes, stirring occassionally so the rice doesn't stick to the bottom. Cook until rice is just cooked through.
- Add 2 cups cooked and cubed or shredded turkey to the pot and bring the soup back to a simmer.
- In a small bowl, whisk together 2 cups whole milk and 2 Tablespoons cornstarch until no lumps remain to make a slurry. Pour the cornstarch mixture into the simmering soup and stir well. Allow the soup to simmer for 3-4 more minutes, stirring frequently. As it gently boils, it will thicken. Taste the soup for seasoning and add salt and black pepper as needed.
Notes
Nutrition
This Farm Girl Cooks is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories and other nutritional values can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.
Tammy
I made a turkey and than made a broth de boned the turkey from the left overs strained all the bones and made this soup it is really good I doubled it to freeze it
Linda
Great recipe!! I used a long-simmered turkey carcass for the stock (I am pretty sure it was more than 6 cups in the end, but I didn't measure) and I cooked a full cup of high protein brown rice in the stock until it was done, THEN added in all the veggies and continued the recipe. Thanks for sharing!!
Deanne Frieders
So glad you liked it, Linda. I'm sure the turkey stock was extra delish!
Ron Harrison
Great recipe! Wonderfully creamy and flavorful. Truly a comfort food! I used half-and-half instead of milk, using only one cup (instead of two) and increasing the amount of broth by one cup. I used Herbes de Provence instead of Italian seasoning. Thanks so much for this great recipe!
Deanne Frieders
Great ideas Ron. That sounds delicious.
Anne Starr
Your recipe sounds tasty! I am going to make it this evening. Thank you sharing! I am going to use my leftover gravy as the creamy add-in.
Deanne Frieders
That's a great idea. I hope you loved it.