Turkey and rice soup is a delicious and easy way to use Thanksgiving leftovers, or just when you're craving a steaming bowl of cozy soup any time of year. Packed with tender turkey, healthy veggies, and rice, this tasty soup is hearty and satisfying enough for a weeknight dinner.

A spoon dipped into a bowl of turkey and rice soup.

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Homemade soup is the best soup, and having leftover thanksgiving turkey is the perfect excuse to make this delicious turkey rice soup. If you want more leftover turkey soup inspiration, you may like this turkey lentil soup, or turkey buckwheat soup with sweet potatoes, too.

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Why you'll love this recipe
Ingredient Notes
How to make turkey and rice soup, step by step.
Tips and variations
Serving Suggestions
Still have turkey leftovers?
Recipe
Comments

Why you'll love this recipe

Delicious. This hearty soup is simple yet flavorful. It's a perfect healthy comfort food to enjoy after all the holiday feasting.
Easy. This broth based soup is very easy to make with simple ingredients and very little effort since we are using previously cooked leftover turkey meat.
One pot. You won't have a ton of clean up with this delicious soup. It's a one pot meal, so you can take a break from the kitchen.

Two bowls of turkey and rice soup on a white countertop.

Ingredient Notes

Ingredient quantities and full instructions are in the printable recipe card at the end of this post.

Turkey. This soup is a great way to use thanksgiving leftovers. I'm using the turkey breast, but you can use the dark meat too. You can also use leftover chicken instead, and even rotisserie chicken will work. And if you don't have leftovers, you can still make soup by poaching a chicken breast, or turkey breast in the broth, before slicing or shredding.
Vegetables. Onion, carrots, and celery form the flavor foundation here, as in many soups and other dishes.
Rice. For this turkey rice soup recipe, I'm using long grain white rice. However, you can easily substitute brown rice for extra nutrition, or even make a turkey and wild rice soup. But you will need to check the cooking time for brown rice or wild rice, which will both differ from white rice. You will need to increase the simmering time by about 10 minutes, but check the package to be sure.
Turkey broth. I like to make homemade turkey stock with the leftover turkey carcass. If you have homemade turkey broth, definitely use that. If not, the grocery store version will be completely fine. They can be high in sodium, though, so if sodium is a concern, look for no-sodium, or low-sodium broth. You can also use chicken broth or chicken stock.
Seasoning. Garlic and Italian seasoning make this soup even more flavorful. Fresh parsley for garnish adds freshness as well as visual appeal. If you don't have Italian seasoning, you can substitute one teaspoon each of oregano, basil, thyme, and rosemary. Or you can make your own; here's my easy recipe for homemade Italian seasoning.

The ingredients for making this recipe in glass bowls on a wooden board.

How to make turkey and rice soup, step by step.

In a large pot, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the carrots, onion, and celery and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are softened.
Add the garlic, Italian seasoning, and rice, and cook, stirring, for another minute.

Process shots showing the first two steps on the recipe process.

Stir in the turkey or chicken broth and bring to a boil.
Reduce heat to a simmer. Simmer for 20 minutes, until the rice is cooked.

Process photos of the next two steps in the recipe process.

Stir in the turkey meat, and bring back to a simmer.
Remove the soup from the heat, stir in the parsley, and serve.

The final two steps of the recipe process.

Tips and variations

Turkey. Although this turkey and rice soup is a perfect recipe to use turkey leftovers, you can make it anytime of year using a turkey leg or small turkey breast. Poach the turkey, covered in simmering liquid (stock or water) for 40 minutes to one hour. You can also air fry for the same amount of time. With either cooking method, the turkey should be cooked to an internal temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit.
Slicing. I cut the cooked turkey into 1 inch cubes. You can also shred the turkey using two forks, or your fingers, if you prefer.
Rice. Put the rice in a fine mesh sieve and rinse it under cold water until the water runs clear. This removes the starchy coating on the rice so that it won't clump or stick together. A long grain white rice works great, and takes about 20 minutes to cook. If you use brown rice or wild rice, add 10-15 minutes to the cooking time. Cook rice until it's soft but not mushy.
Vegetables. This is an ideal soup for adding extra veggies. Some great additions are frozen peas, frozen corn, zucchini slices, chopped kale or spinach, broccoli, cauliflower, sweet potato or butternut squash cubes, or mushrooms.
Spice. Add a quarter teaspoon of red pepper flakes for a hint of spice, and/or a tablespoon of lemon juice for brightness.
Serving size. This recipe makes six, one and a half cup servings. You can double the recipe, or use the "servings" toggle on the recipe card to increase or decrease ingredient quantities to get the number that you want.
Allergies. This turkey and rice soup is already gluten free and dairy free. If celery is an allergen, omit it, or replace it with one of the vegetables mentioned above. For a lower carb version, replace the rice with cauliflower rice, or just leave it out.
Storage. Store leftover soup in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
To Freeze. This soup freezes beautifully, so it's great for meal prep. Cool the soup to room temperature, then freeze it in individual portions for convenience. Thaw in the fridge overnight, and re-heat in the microwave or on the stovetop in a saucepan on low heat.

Two black and white bowls of turkey rice soup and a black metal spoon.

Serving Suggestions

Serve this turkey soup with slices of crusty bread or cornbread on the side. You can also round out the meal with a grilled cheese sandwich or a salad like this shaved brussels sprouts salad with apples.

Besides parsley, you can top servings with garnishes like fried sage leaves, crispy lemon roasted chickpeas, tortilla crisps, or a swirl of sour cream or Greek yogurt.

Still have turkey leftovers?

Did you make this recipe? Please leave a rating in the comments below and let us know how it turned out. Did you make any changes? We would love for you to share and your feedback is important! Thank you for visiting The Food Blog!