Leftover Turkey Noodle Soup made with homemade turkey broth from the leftover turkey carcass, loaded with turkey and noodles. Perfect use of that leftover turkey.
Well it’s cold outside, and it’s white and pretty. But I mean super cold, like – 20 degrees C (-5 degrees F). It’s also full blown soup weather. And I love it. Seriously. I love everything about it. And now that Thanksgiving is over, I bet you have lots of leftover turkey!
And I, like many of you my dear friends, roasted a turkey. A big turkey and now we’re struggling with the leftovers. But I have the perfect solution for you. Ahem, I mean recipe. You need this recipe in your life. Especially if it’s cold outside.
Making your own broth
But that’s what I love about this soup, it’s simple. You can add as much turkey as you want and it can be dark and/or white meat. I also used these Asian Egg Noodles I had, about 8 oz of them, because I love lots of noodles in my soup.
You get an amazing turkey flavor to this soup from making your own broth from a turkey carcass, but if you want you can of course use store bought chicken broth or turkey broth.
Ingredients
Broth
- Veggies – We want to use carrots, celery, and onion to develop the base of our soup.
- Turkey – We’re making soup right from the carcass, we’re not wasting anything today! This will give tons of amazing flavor and flu fighting power to our soup.
- Seasoning – Salt and pepper – be sparing with this ingredient in the early broth stage.
- Water – A lot of this will simmer off and reduce, leaving us with beautiful broth.
Soup
- Turkey – We’re using turkey breast today. We want something that will shred easily after cooking.
- Noodles – Egg noodles, whatever your favorite brand happens to be! Keep in mind they cook way quicker than regular pasta.
- Bouillon – We’re using an entire cube for tons of extra flavor, you can always substitute it for vegeta if you’ve got it on hand!
- Parsley – Fresh parsley all chopped up.
- Seasoning – Salt and pepper.
How to make leftover turkey noodle soup
- Create the broth: a large soup pot, add turkey carcass, water, onion, celery sticks and carrots. Season with salt and pepper. Cook for about 1 1/2 hours. Remove carcass and everything else from the soup, using a mesh strainer or a slotted spoon, keep the carrots and put them to the side. All there should be left in the pot should be the broth.
- Combine the soup: Add turkey meat and noodles to the pot. You might need to add a couple more cups of water as some of it may have evaporated. Chop the cooked celery and carrots and add back to the pot. Season with salt and pepper and add the bouillon cube or vegeta. Cook for another 8 minutes until noodles are cooked.
- Serve: Garnish with parsley.
Other cooking methods
This dish doesn’t just need to be made on the stove top! We’ve got plenty of options.
Slow cooker
You’ll want to assemble all the ingredients except the egg noodles and fresh parsley. Cook on LOW for 7 – 8 hours or HIGH for 3 – 4. Add the egg noodles and allow to cook for a further 8 minutes or until they are tender. Garnish with parsley and serve.
Instant pot
If you’d like to make this recipe in your pressure cooker you’re in luck because it’s super simple. Just combine all the ingredients and cook on the manual high setting for 30 minutes. Add the egg noodles and allow to cook with the residual heal for 8 minutes or until tender. Garnish with parsley and serve.
Storing Leftover Broth
I love to keep extra broth on hand for hen sniffles season rears its ugly head. I portion it out into reasonable sizes and freeze them for future use. You can incorporate it into any dish that requires broth or stock!
Storing Leftover Soup
This will keep fresh in the fridge for up to 3 days. If you’d like to prepare this recipe ahead you’ll want to assemble everything like normal, but hold off on the noodles. Sadly thawed noodles don’t retain their texture very well.
When you’re ready to thaw out the soup, heat it up on the stove and incorporate the noodles then.
Craving More Leftover Creations? Try These
- Ham and Cheese Breakfast Muffins
- Turkey Shepherd’s Pie
- Ham and Cheese Penne
- Turkey with Pistachio Pesto and Arugula Sandwich
- Ham and Bean Soup
- Easy Hamburger Soup
- Cheeseburger Hamburger Helper
- Hawaiian Cola Turkey Sandwiches
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Leftover Turkey Noodle Soup
Equipment
Ingredients
For the Broth
- 1 turkey carcass leftover from a carved turkey, all meat removed
- 14 cups water
- 1 large onion peeled
- 2 stalks celery washed
- 3 carrots peeled, cleaned
- 1/2 tsp salt or to taste
- 1/4 tsp pepper or to taste
For the Soup
- 2 to 3 cups turkey meat chopped, white or dark
- 8 oz egg noodles dry
- 1 bouillon cube or 2 tbsp Vegeta
- 1/4 tsp salt or to taste
- 1/4 tsp pepper or to taste
- parsley chopped
Instructions
- In a large soup pot, add turkey carcass, water, onion, celery sticks and carrots. Season with salt and pepper. Cook for about 1 1/2 hours.
- Remove carcass and everything else from the soup, using a mesh strainer or a slotted spoon, keep the carrots and put them to the side. All there should be left in the pot should be the broth.
- Add turkey meat and noodles to the pot. You might need to add a couple more cups of water as some of it may have evaporated.
- Chop the cooked celery and carrots and add back to the pot. Season with salt and pepper and add the bouillon cube or vegeta. Cook for another 8 minutes until noodles are cooked.
- Garnish with parsley.
Recipe Notes
- This recipe will work for leftover chicken as well.
- You can use no salt added broth instead of water for extra flavor.
- Please keep in mind that nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary greatly based on products used.
Nutrition Information:
Originally shared Nov 2015.
Claudia Simons says
This was such a great way to use our leftover turkey ( and carrots and celery from a veggie tray). I made it in the slow cooker, which was perfect for extracting flavor from the carcass. I love so many of your recipes!
jo says
Thank you!!
Audrey Niehaus says
You get way more flavor if you roast the bones first, till they are dark brown. Then make the broth with the roasted bones
Theresa Clark says
Can I add better than beef boullion instead of chicken cubes
Nicole Beaulieu says
Yes for sure
C.S. says
If I used chicken broth instead of homemade broth, how much should I use?
Joanna Cismaru says
I would go with about 10 to 12 cups.
Phyllis S says
Have recently made several of your recipes and they
are all winners with my family. Thank you!
jo says
I’m glad you like them. 🙂
Thalia @ butter and brioche says
I don’t have any leftover turkey but I definitely will be going out to buy some so I can make this delicious noodle soup – it is all I am craving right now!
jo says
LOL I hope you try it, if you make some for Christmas it will be a perfect use of the leftover turkey. 🙂
Annette says
Could you use ham instead of turkey?
jo says
Hi Annette,
So glad you stopped by. You certainly could or you can try this recipe for leftover ham soup.
Diane McBride says
Can’t wait to make it.