Turkey Rice Soup
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What to do with leftover turkey
Turkey rice soup is a great way to use leftover turkey. There are so many things you can do with leftover turkey (especially after the holidays). For one thing, you can put it in the freezer for a rainy, sloppy day when you need a warm soup. This turkey rice soup recipe fits that bill. I also like this recipe because I can use up turkey gravy (or chicken gravy). I’ve even added some leftover mashed potatoes and used less rice – just because I had the ingredients. The recipe asks for flour and milk (or cream or half and half). With this recipe, when you use leftover gravy, you don’t add flour to the soup because it’s already in the gravy. What I like about this recipe is that you can adapt it to fit your palate, your pantry, and your refrigerator.
I suggest you chop the celery and onions fine because it makes for a creamier soup. Folks who don’t like onions won’t even know they are in there. Folks who have trouble with celery won’t be able to tell there’s celery in there. If you don’t have celery, you can add celery seed instead. Depending on how creamy you want this soup, you can use heavy or light cream, or any percentage of milk. It’s your choice. Using real cream definitely gives it a creamier taste.
The recipe for turkey rice soup
Turkey Rice Soup
Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp butter
- 1 cup thinly sliced carrots
- 1/2 cup chopped celery
- 1/2 cup chopped onion
- 1/4 tsp. thyme
- 1/8 tsp. dried rosemary
- 5 cups turkey or chicken broth
- 3/4 cup rice, TOTAL; Use a combination of wild, brown, or white rice.
- 2 tsp salt
- dash of pepper
- 2-4 Tbsp. flour OR 1/4-1/2 cup turkey or chicken gravy
- 1/4-1/2 cup milk OR cream Or half-and-half
- 4 cups chopped turkey
Instructions
- Melt butter in a suacepan. Add carrots, celery, onion, and spices. Stir and cook until vegetables are almost tender.
- Add broth, rice, salt and pepper
- Simmer and cook until the rice is tender. (The type of rice you use will decide how long it needs to cook)
- Blend flour and cream (OR half and half OR milk) until it is a smooth paste. OR, add the gravy you have on hand and skip the flour and cream.
- Add the flour/cream OR the gravy and stir until it is smooth
- Simmer until warmed, then add the turkey.
- Heat through.
- Taste and add more seasoning as desired
