Turkey Noodle Soup

We love making soup recipes with any leftover meat. Turkey is one of our favorites because we always seem to have so much leftover from our holiday meal. This soup is so comforting, delicious and is loaded with veggies.

Turkey leftovers are great in many recipes. You can try them in Leftover Turkey Soup, Easy Turkey Pot Pie Recipe and Easy Turkey Cranberry Sliders Recipe.

Why This Recipe Works

If you are anything like my large family, we love a good soup to warm up too. This Turkey Noodle Soup is perfect for that because of the flavor and how easy it is to make.

I love that it can be made in a variety of ways with many different types of vegetables. We have even tossed in diced tomatoes and corn for even more flavor.

Ingredients

• Vegetable Oil – Feel free to use olive oil
• Onion, Celery, Carrots – Chop into bites size pieces. We like to use this food chopper so they chopped about the same size.
• Cloves Garlic, minced – Learn How to Mince Garlic Cloves
• Turkey Broth – Chicken broth can be used in this recipe in case you don’t have any leftover turkey broth.
• Egg Noodles – Use any type of pasta that you prefer, even gluten-free noodles. You can use rice for an easy substitute. We like making Instant pot White Rice Recipe ahead of time.
• Cooked Turkey – Shredded or cubed Turkey. You can also use cooked chicken.

Scroll to the bottom for the full recipe in the recipe card.

How to Make Turkey Noodle Soup

Step 1 – In a large pot, heat the vegetable oil over medium heat. Add the onion, celery, and carrots. Cook for 5-7 minutes, until the vegetables begin to soften.

Step 2 – Add the minced garlic and cook for another 30 seconds, until fragrant.

Step 3 – Pour in the turkey or chicken broth. Add the bay leaves, thyme, kosher salt, pepper, and rosemary.

Step 4 – Bring the soup to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes to allow the flavors to blend together. Add the egg noodles to the pot and cook according to package instructions, usually about 6-8 minutes.

Step 5 – Once the noodles are tender, add the cooked turkey. Simmer for an additional 2-3 minutes until the turkey is heated through.

Step 6 – Remove the bay leaves. Stir in the chopped parsley and lemon juice. Serve warm and enjoy!

Expert Tips

• Soup Flavor – If your turkey’s already pretty seasoned (like leftover roasted turkey), you might not need as much salt in the soup. Give it a taste after adding the turkey to make sure it’s not too salty.
• Adding Turkey – We recommend the shredded turkey in towards the end of the cooking time. If you add in the turkey to early, it could cause the turkey to dry out.

How to Make Turkey Stock

Use your leftover turkey carcass and make turkey stock. The bones make a rich and flavor stock and it is easy to make to in a large soup pot.

• Place the leftover turkey carcass in the large pot with any leftover yellow onion, celery, garlic and fresh herbs. This is a great recipe to use any leftover vegetables that you have in the fridge.
• Then cover everything with water and top the pot with the lid. Allow everything to simmer for a couple of hours.
• Strain the liquid from the bones and vegetables and save the turkey. You can use the stock to make this soup or store in an airtight container to use in other soup recipes.

For even more tips, see How to Make Chicken Stock.

Serving Suggestions

This Turkey Soup is delicious served just as it is but we like to serve with the following side dishes.

• Easy Homemade Artisan Bread Recipe
• Olive Garden Breadsticks Recipe
• Easy Homemade Dinner Rolls

Serving with a side of bread make sure you get every last drop of the soup.

Storing and Freezing Tips

• Storing Leftovers – Refrigerate any leftovers in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
• Freezing Leftovers – Turkey Soup Leftovers freeze great in a freezer safe container. We do recommend freezing soup without the noodles as they can get mushy when thawing the soup. Freeze soup for about 3 months.
• Reheating Leftovers – We like to reheat the leftovers on the stovetop in a Dutch Oven, but you can reheat in the microwave in a microwave safe bowl.