Make this delicious, creamy turkey wild rice soup with wild rice, carrots, and onions in your slow cooker, using your Thanksgiving turkey leftovers!
Another Thanksgiving has come and gone, and we still have some leftovers, thankfully! Speaking of LEFTOVERS…today I’m posting a recipe for Creamy Turkey Wild Rice Soup. I’ve been making this soup for years (using good old turkey leftovers!).
I found the original recipe in an old Taste Of Home Magazine years ago and tried it. The creamy turkey wild rice soup was so good! I’ve been making it ever since, with a few slight changes to the original recipe.
Why NOT use the leftover turkey and carcass to make a huge pot of delicious soup? If you’re gonna go to the trouble of roasting a huge turkey, then make it “go the distance” for you.
The original recipe for creamy turkey wild rice soup was made on the stove top, but I adapted it for crock pot cooking. I’ve included both sets of instructions in the printable recipe below.
Scroll Down For A Printable Recipe Card At the Bottom Of The Page
Could I Make This Recipe With A Whole CHICKEN Instead Of A Turkey?
Yes. You can also substitute a whole chicken, if desired. Remember to make sure you have at least 2 cups of shredded meat for the soup. Prepare the recipe the same exact way.
How To Make Creamy Turkey Wild Rice Soup
Start with that leftover turkey. Yeah. Use that beast you fixed for Thanksgiving. Our 15 pounder looked like this when it came out of the oven on Thanksgiving.
The next morning, the leftover turkey looked like this photo below… in a huge pot of water, with onions, celery, carrots, spices, etc. I’m telling you, that turkey never knew what hit it!
The turkey carcass (with some meat still attached) cooks for about 1½ hours (covered). Chopped onions, carrots, celery, salt and pepper are also added to the large pot of water.
When done, let the turkey cool. Once the turkey has cooled, cut or pull all the turkey meat you can get off the bones. You will need about 2 cups of turkey for this soup.
Add Ingredients To A Slow Cooker (crock pot)
Put the broth from the turkey (and the veggies, too) into a large crock pot. The total mount of broth should be at least 4 cups. If making the turkey the way shown, you can use the strained broth created by cooking the turkey as replacement for store bought broth.
Add 2 cups of shredded turkey to the slow cooker. Add one box of Long Grain and Wild Rice (and seasoning packet) and butter to the soup.
The original recipe called for 2 cups of wild rice. Using all wild rice is really tasty, but I found this package and seasonings to be perfectly easy (and a bit more economical).
Cook the creamy turkey wild rice soup on low temperature for 4 hours. After that, add some flour, whisked well with cool water to help thicken the soup broth slightly.
Put the lid back on slow cooker, and let the soup cook for another hour. Add light cream to the soup, and cook for 15 minutes.
The Creamy Turkey Wild Rice Soup Is Ready To Serve
Taste test the soup before you ladle it into bowls. Add salt or pepper, if desired, to suit your taste buds. The creamy turkey wild rice soup is now ready to be served!
Here is the finished creamy turkey wild rice soup, after the cream has been added. It looks great, and is ready to eat!
This creamy turkey wild rice soup is a really easy soup to make, and tastes absolutely delicious. I sure hope you will give this recipe a try next time you want to make something with Thanksgiving leftovers.
Don’t throw that turkey carcass away… make a huge pot of delicious hot and filling soup! Thanks for stopping by, and I sincerely hope you will come back again soon for more recipes. Have a great day.
Looking For More SOUP Recipes?
You can find all of my recipes in the Recipe Index, located at the top of the page. I have lots of delicious soup recipes, including:
- Chicken, Wild Rice and Bacon Soup
- Garden Vegetable Chowder
- Grandma’s Southern-Style Chicken n’ Dumplings
- Cream of Asparagus Soup
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Recipe Adapted From: Taste Of Home Magazine, submitted by Terri Holmgren, Swanville, Minnesota (magazine issue unknown – I cut out her recipe years ago and couldn’t find it online)
- 1 turkey "carcass" (with some meat still attached)
- 1 medium onion , chopped
- 2 celery ribs , diced
- 2 carrots , diced
- 1 Tablespoon butter
- 1/2 cup all purpose flour
- 1/4 cup water
- 4 cups turkey or chicken broth
- 1 box wild rice OR 1 box Long Grain and Wild Rice Mix + seasoning packet (Rice A Roni)
- 2 cups light cream
- 2 cups diced turkey (or chicken)
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley flakes
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- Additional salt & pepper , to taste (if desired)
- Place leftover turkey "carcass" in large stock pot. Cover with water. Add onion, celery, carrots, salt and pepper. Cover pot and boil for 1 1/2 hours on medium-low. Remove turkey; let cool, then cut all the meat off the bones. Discard bones. Pour 4 cups of the broth (with veggies) into a crock pot. Shred turkey meat, then add at least 2 cups of the meat back into the crock pot. Add entire box of rice (plus seasoning packet). Add salt, pepper, dried parsley, and butter to soup. Cook on Low for 4 hours.
- After 4 hours, mix together the flour and water until smooth. Stir this mixture into the soup in the crock pot until combined. Let soup cook for another hour.
- Stir in cream, and cook on LOW for another 15 minutes.
- Taste test; add additional salt/pepper, if desired, then serve!
If cooking on stove top: Saute onions, celery and carrots in butter 3-4 minutes. Reduce heat; add in flour-cook until it is bubbly. Add in broth, stirring constantly. Bring to boil; reduce heat. Add rice, turkey, cream, salt, pepper, garlic powder, etc. Simmer for about 20 minutes. Serve.
Another way to make this quicker, use store bought broth and shred up a rotisserie chicken or use pre-cooked turkey.
Here’s one more to pin on your Pinterest boards!
wild rice turkey leftover soup
Great recipe BUT some of us watch our sodium and boxed rice mixes are very high sodium and over priced rice consumption. How would I change this recipe to use regular brown rice?
Hi, Linda. Not sure how to respond, since I have never tried making it that way before. You would definitely need to make sure the brown rice gets fully cooked, and would have to use a variety of spices to suit your taste.