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This easy Turkey Wild Rice Soup recipe is a favorite at parties, holiday gatherings, or anytime you need to use up leftover turkey. It’s creamy, delicious, and ready in just 40 minutes.
Once the holiday is over, it’s a race to put those Thanksgiving leftovers to use as quickly as possible. But since you JUST wrapped up the biggest food holiday of the year, you need recipes that are easy.
This tasty Turkey Wild Rice Soup is one of the best ways to use up that leftover Thanksgiving turkey (Leftover Turkey Soup is awesome, too).
Table of Contents
Recipe ingredients
At a Glance: Here is a quick snapshot of what ingredients are in this recipe.
Please see the recipe card below for specific quantities.
Ingredient notes
- White button mushrooms: Or baby portobello mushrooms. I prefer the texture and flavor of fresh mushrooms, but canned mushrooms work in a pinch.
- Morton Nature’s Season Seasoning Blend: I buy this Morton’s online to sprinkle into soups, roasted vegetables, dips, and beyond.
- Poultry seasoning: To make Homemade Poultry Seasoning, combine 2 teaspoons ground sage, 1 1/2 teaspoons ground thyme, 1 teaspoon dried marjoram, 3/4 teaspoon ground rosemary, 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg, and 1/2 teaspoon freshly-ground black pepper. You’ll just need ¼ teaspoon, so store the rest in a jar with a tight-fitting lid.
- Homemade turkey stock: If you’re working with a leftover bird from the holidays, follow my recipe for Homemade turkey broth. Homemade Chicken Broth or store-bought low-sodium chicken broth is good, too.
- Chicken base: Similar to bullion cubes, chicken base is a concentrated form of chicken stock solid as a powder or paste. I love Better than Bouillon‘s paste.
- Kitchen Bouquet seasoning: A little bit goes a long way. Again, you can find this Kitchen Bouquet online if it’s not available in your supermarket. Solid alternatives include Worcestershire sauce, Bragg’s Liquid Aminos, dark soy sauce, or Maggi Liquid Seasoning.
- Cooked turkey: Pick that turkey carcass clean! Leftover cooked chicken works too.
- Cooked wild rice: Look for black rice or a wild rice blend. Either way, cook the rice according to package instructions before adding it to the soup.
Step-by-step instructions
- In a Dutch oven or large soup pot, melt butter over medium heat until foaming. Add mushrooms, onion, carrots, celery, Morton’s Nature Seasoning, and poultry seasoning. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are tender and have released most of their liquid, about 5 to 7 minutes.
- Stir in flour and cook until heated through, about 1 to 2 minutes. Whisk in one cup of broth until no lumps of flour remain.
- Stir in remaining broth, chicken base, Kitchen Bouquet seasoning, turkey, and cooked wild rice. Heat to a low simmer, about 180 degrees.
- Stir in half and half and return to 180 degrees (do not boil).
- Season to taste with salt and pepper (I like ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper). Or, transfer to a slow cooker and keep warm. Serve in bowls with fresh parsley.
Recipe tips and variations
- Yield: My Turkey Wild Rice Soup recipe makes about 14 cups of soup.
- Storage: Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
- Make ahead: Get a head start on this recipe by prepping the vegetables early (store separately in the refrigerator).
- Customize your soup: This soup is ready for your personal touches. Try a few cloves garlic, or herbs and spices like bay leaves, rosemary, or thyme. Use cooked long grain brown rice or even white rice instead of wild rice if you prefer, or serve the soup with fresh lemon juice to cut through the richness.
- Chicken Wild Rice Soup: If you have a leftover rotisserie chicken on hand, this soup is just as good with chicken.
Frequently Asked Questions
What kind of rice soup I put in my turkey soup?
I love wild rice because it’s very sturdy and holds up well, overlooking periods of cooking and serving. Long-grain brown and white rice work well, too, but they should be cooked before adding to the soup pot.
How do you add rice to soup without getting soggy?
Rice needs to go into the soup cooked. If you cook it in the pot, it will keep cooking long after its “done” phase and will eventually disintegrate. By cooking the rice separately, and cooling it down, it will preserve its shape and texture when added to hot soups and stews.
More leftover turkey recipes
Soup and Stew Recipes
Leftover Turkey Noodle Soup
Casserole Recipes
Turkey Tetrazzini
Chicken and Turkey Recipes
Turkey Pot Pie
Chicken and Turkey Recipes
Turkey ala King
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Turkey Wild Rice Soup
This easy Turkey Wild Rice Soup recipe is a favorite at parties, holiday gatherings, or anytime you need to use up leftover turkey. It's creamy, delicious, and ready in just 40 minutes.
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 8 ounces mushrooms sliced
- 1 medium onion finely diced (about 1 cup)
- 1 carrot finely diced (about ½ cup)
- 1 celery rib finely diced (about ½ cup)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons Morton Nature’s Season seasoning blend
- 1/4 teaspoon poultry seasoning
- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 6 cups turkey broth or chicken broth
- 2 tablespoons chicken base
- 1/4 teaspoon Kitchen Bouquet seasoning
- 2 cups cooked turkey diced or shredded
- 2 cups cooked wild rice
- 2 cups half and half or heavy cream
- minced fresh parsley for garnish, optional
Instructions
- In a Dutch oven or large pot, melt butter over medium-high heat until foaming. Add mushrooms, onion, carrots, celery, Morton's Nature Seasoning, and poultry seasoning. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables have softened and released most of their liquid, about 5 to 7 minutes.
- Stir in flour and cook until heated through, about 1 to 2 minutes. Whisk in one cup of broth until no lumps of flour remain.
- Stir in remaining broth, chicken base, Kitchen Bouquet seasoning, turkey, and cooked wild rice. Heat until barely simmering, about 180 degrees.
- Stir in half and half and return to 180 degrees (do not boil). Season to taste with salt and pepper (I like ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper) and garnish with fresh parsley. Or, transfer to a slow cooker and keep warm.
Notes
- White button mushrooms: Or baby portobello mushrooms. I prefer the texture and flavor of fresh mushrooms, but canned mushrooms work in a pinch.
- Morton Nature’s Season Seasoning Blend: I buy this Morton’s online to sprinkle into soups, roasted vegetables, dips, and beyond.
- Poultry seasoning: To make Homemade Poultry Seasoning, combine 2 teaspoons ground sage, 1 1/2 teaspoons ground thyme, 1 teaspoon dried marjoram, 3/4 teaspoon ground rosemary, 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg, and 1/2 teaspoon freshly-ground black pepper. You’ll just need ¼ teaspoon, so store the rest in a jar with a tight-fitting lid.
- Turkey broth: If you’re working with a leftover bird from the holidays, follow my recipe for Homemade turkey broth. Homemade Chicken Broth or store-bought broth is good, too.
- Chicken base: Similar to bullion cubes, chicken base is a concentrated form of chicken stock solid as a powder or paste. I love Better than Bouillon‘s paste.
- Kitchen Bouquet seasoning: A little bit goes a long way. Again, you can find this Kitchen Bouquet online if it’s not available in your supermarket. Solid alternatives include Worcestershire sauce, Bragg’s Liquid Aminos, dark soy sauce, or Maggi Liquid Seasoning.
- Cooked turkey: Leftover roasted turkey; diced or shredded. Or substitute leftover cooked chicken.
- Cooked wild rice: Look for black rice or a wild rice blend. Either way, cook the rice according to package instructions before adding it to the soup.
- Yield: My Turkey Wild Rice Soup recipe makes about 14 cups of soup.
- Storage: Store leftovers in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
Nutrition
Serving: 1 cupCalories: 216kcalCarbohydrates: 31gProtein: 7gFat: 8gSaturated Fat: 5gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 21mgSodium: 221mgPotassium: 251mgFiber: 2gSugar: 3gVitamin A: 232IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 51mgIron: 1mg
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Meggan Hill is a classically-trained chef and professional writer. Her meticulously-tested recipes and detailed tutorials bring confidence and success to home cooks everywhere. Meggan has been featured on NPR, HuffPost, FoxNews, LA Times, and more.
I really love wild rice and I am so excited to try this recipe with my leftover turkey. It is all dark meat except the wings. I have to scale it down as there are only two of us. I will probably add a partial can of cream of mushroom soup I need to use up. I will comment my for sure happy thoughts. lol
Hi Elizabeth! I hope the soup turned out well! – Meggan
This recipe was a little more time consuming for me because I didn’t realize the wild rice would take so long to cook, and I started it close to the end of the recipe. However, once it was finally ready, it was well worth the wait! Everyone loved it! Great way to use up some leftover turkey! The rice texture was perfect. My daughter who doesnt like mushrooms, has no idea how many mushrooms were in this recipe. I used my chopper and they blended right in with the turkey and other ingredients. I will be looking for more recipes from culinaryhill.com. So, so yummy! So glad I found you!
Hi Jill, thank you so much for taking the time to write and leave your review! I’m so happy everyone loved it, even the discerning ones! 🙂 I’m glad you found me, too! I hope you love the other recipes, and please write if you have any questions. Take care! – Meggan