One Pot Turkey Wild Rice Soup
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This One Pot Turkey Wild Rice Soup is easy to make and perfect for a cold winter day. It’s loaded with turkey, wild rice and veggies and goes perfectly with some crispy bread.
This soup is seriously comforting on a cold day, whether it be the dead of winter or a rainy spring night. It’s full of fresh veggies and tender turkey, all thickened up in a rich creamy broth. This Turkey Wild Rice Soup is so perfect for those days when you just want something easy to curl up with and get lost in, so let’s get into it and whip up something that is perfect for now or later.
All the one pot meals that have been popping up in the past few years may seem like a bit of a fad, but there’s real reasons to use just one pot for recipes like these. Not only does it make things a lot easier both during cooking and clean up, but you can develop a lot of great flavor when each step is done in the same pot. You’ll find that the flavor you get making this soup in this method really kicks the dish up a notch.
Ingredients
- Turkey – We’re using turkey breast today. We want something that will shred easily after cooking.
- Butter and olive oil – Be sure your butter is unsalted and your olive oil extra virgin.
- Veggies – We want to use carrots, celery, and onion to develop the base of our soup.
- Flour – We need a thickener in this soup, and flour will do in a pinch.
- Cream – Half and half is what we’re looking for today. Feel free to substitute in something lower fat if you’re watching calories.
- Rice – We want uncooked wild rice for lots of fiber and chew. If you don’t have any on hand feel free to reference this handy dandy guide for information on other varieties.
- Broth – Low sodium chicken broth is what you should be looking for in the grocery store, low or no sodium as we want to control our salt.
- Herbs – Bay leaf, poultry seasoning, thyme, parsley, rosemary, and sage. Aim to pick up these herbs fresh but if that’s not an option, dried will work as well. Be sure to pull the bay leaf out before eating your soup.
- Seasoning – Salt and pepper to taste.
How To Make One Pot Turkey Wild Rice Soup
- Saute the sauteables: In a large soup pot, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat then add the turkey and cook until browned and cooked through, about 5 to 7 minutes. Remove the turkey from the pot. Reduce the heat to medium and melt the butter. Add the onions, carrots, celery and garlic. Cook until the onion is translucent and soft; about 3 minutes.
- Assemble the soup: Add flour and mix well. Slowly stir in the half and half, wild rice and chicken broth. Add the bay leaf. Bring to a boil then reduce the heat to medium-low, and cover. Cook until rice is cooked; about 30 to 45 minutes. The time depends on the rice you use.
- Finish the soup: Remove the bay leaf from the soup and season with salt and pepper to taste then add the poultry seasoning and the fresh herbs. Add the turkey back to the pot and cook for another 5 minutes. Garnish with parsley and serve.
How Else Can I Make This Soup?
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 flour and cream. Cook on LOW for 7 – 8 hours or HIGH for 3 – 4. Whisk your flour and cream over the stove till it combines and thickens. Add the cream mixture to the slow cooker in the last 20 minutes.
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 except the flour and cream in your pressure cooker and cook on the manual high setting for 30 minutes. Whisk your flour and cream over the stove till it combines and thickens. Add cream mixture and allow to warm.
Other Ingredients You Can Use
There’s so many other ingredients you can use in this recipe!
Veggies
Potatoes, corn, kidney or navy beans, lentils of any color. Any kind of veggie that holds up well to being cooked down in a soup will go perfectly with this dish as it’s so versatile and adaptable.
Meats
Turkey isn’t the only protein that will make this soup crave-able. I also like to use chicken breast cooked in the same method!
Grains
I like wild rice because it gives a nice chew to this dish and can cook down for the entire cook time without getting too mushy, but it’s not the only grain that works! Barley and farro, short grain brown rice, or medium grain white rice will all work. If you find your rice is releasing too much starch making your soup too thick, just rinse your uncooked rice till the water runs clear before adding.
Leftovers
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 rice. Sadly thawed rich doesn’t retain its texture very well. Make some rice and incorporate it when you’d like to thaw and enjoy your Turkey Wild Rice Soup.
More Must Try Soup Recipes:
- Avgolemono Soup
- French Onion Soup
- Mulligatawny Soup
- Lasagna Soup
- Cheesy Chicken Enchilada Soup
- Egg Drop Soup
- Buffalo Chicken Wing Soup
- Minestrone Soup
- Cabbage Soup
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One Pot Turkey Wild Rice Soup
Prep: 15 mins
Cook: 1 hr 5 mins
Total: 1 hr 20 mins
Serves: 8
This One Pot Turkey Wild Rice Soup is easy to make and perfect for a cold winter day. It's loaded with turkey, wild rice and veggies and goes perfectly with some crispy bread.
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 lb turkey breast cubed
- 3 tbsp butter
- 1 large onion chopped
- 2 medium carrots chopped
- 2 stalks celery chopped
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 3 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 2 cups half and half
- 1 cup wild rice uncooked
- 6 cups chicken broth low sodium or no sodium added
- 1 bay leaf
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 tsp poultry seasoning
- 1 tbsp thyme fresh, chopped
- 1 tsp rosemary fresh, chopped
- 1 tbsp sage fresh, chopped
- 2 tbsp parsley fresh, chopped
Instructions
- In a large soup pot, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat then add the turkey and cook until browned and cooked through, about 5 to 7 minutes.
- Remove the turkey from the pot. Reduce the heat to medium and melt the butter. Add the onions, carrots, celery and garlic. Cook until the onion is translucent and soft; about 3 minutes.
- Add flour and mix well. Slowly stir in the half and half, wild rice and chicken broth. Add the bay leaf.
- Bring to a boil then reduce the heat to medium-low, and cover. Cook until rice is cooked; about 30 to 45 minutes. The time depends on the rice you use, it’s best to check the package for instructions.
- Remove the bay leaf from the soup and season with salt and pepper to taste then add the poultry seasoning and the fresh herbs. Add the turkey back to the pot and cook for another 5 minutes.
- Garnish with parsley and serve.
Video
Recipe Notes
- Although I used turkey breast, chicken breast can be used as well. You can also use leftover turkey meat or leftover roast chicken.
- Poultry seasoning is a mix of different herbs including sage, marjoram, rosemary and many others.
- Half and half can be found near the milk and cream in the dairy section of your local grocery store. Half and half is a blend of equal parts whole milk and light cream. It averages 10 to 12% of fat.
- Please keep in mind that nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary greatly based on products used.
Nutrition Information:
Calories: 335kcal (17%)Carbohydrates: 26g (9%)Protein: 21g (42%)Fat: 17g (26%)Saturated Fat: 8g (50%)Cholesterol: 64mg (21%)Sodium: 217mg (9%)Potassium: 574mg (16%)Fiber: 2g (8%)Sugar: 2g (2%)Vitamin A: 3085IU (62%)Vitamin C: 6mg (7%)Calcium: 117mg (12%)Iron: 1.9mg (11%)
This recipe is awesome & so easy in the Instapot! This will be a staple with the leftover Thanksgiving turkey carcass & even more often by substituting chicken. I love this site!
Do you think this recipe will work if I omit the half and half and flour? I’m going for a brothy soup, Any suggested adjustments to amount of broth if I make this change? Thank You so much!
You can omit those ingredients for sure. The amount of broth can be left the same. If at the end you’d like it to be brothier (the starch from the rice may thicken it) you can always add some more broth and adjust the seasoning as you see fit.
Thank you, Jo! So I’m gonna be one of those people that made some changes and comments about their own concoction and not the recipe as it was intended :-), but what I did changed the consistency but not any of the amazing flavors – and the flavors you came up with were definitely amazing!
I made a turkey bone broth from the Thanksgiving remains and subbed that for chicken broth, and then subbed cubed chicken for cubed turkey. Also we prefer brothy soups to thick soups, so I cooked the wild rice separately and added it at the very end. I also added an extra tablespoon of flour to the mirepoix to help thicken it, since we weren’t sucking up any of the broth with the uncooked wild rice.
It was a hit!! Was similar in consistency to the Maine chowders that my mom makes, which are creamy without being too thick. Oh and fresh herbs were key! – adds such verdant freshness and complexity of flavor!!
I have made many of your recipes and each one is magical! Keep going strong!!
Thanks Lisa! I’m glad you made your own changes, that’s what cooking is all about. 🙂
Do you have to use fresh herbs? If I use dried will it taste the same? Sounds so delicious!
I always prefer to use fresh herbs, the flavor is much more vibrant. You can definitely use dried herbs if you have them on hand.
Jo,
You are one darn good cook. You have the best recipes. I always like the recipes that are from scratch, not a box food cook. I learned a lot of WONDERFUL recipes from my mother. She was a fabulous Mother, cook, seamstress and a lovely woman. If it would be possible, it would be great to share them with you.. We grew up on beef shank, veal shank, and very European food or cooking. At that time, those cuts of meat were cheap. Little did we know what I grew up on is now considered gourmet food and is so much more expensive today. Mother used chicken feet in her chicken soup and it was the most gelatinous and delicious soup. Everything was homemade. There were five children. Dad was a coal miner in Pa. Those were memorable times. A lot of your recipes, like your turkey wild rice soup is how I cook. I love your recipes.
Thanks for a great blog,
Cecilia
OMG I would be honored, please feel free to send them to me at [email protected]. 🙂
This recipe was a success for my meal prep! I used a non-dairy half and half instead, and did chicken breast and turkey broth instead of turkey breast and chicken broth. I also switched up my seasonings a little bit (Italian herbs and some creole salt), but all in all it’s a deliciously hearty recipe!
Glad you liked it, Sierra!
This soup is real comfort food . If you are feeling under the weather this will keep you going . A meal in a bowl !
I added in some frozen corn with the chicken at the end – helped make it a little thicker and rounded out the flavor. Delicious!
I made this soup last night, but made changes for my food allergies. I made it with already cooked rotisserie chicken, replaced the onion with 6-8 cloves of minced garlic, added a half of chopped red bell pepper, and about eight sliced mushrooms, increased the carrots, and used the celery inside the stalk along with the leaves . Instead of flour to thicken, I used instant potato flakes, which I do to thicken almost everything. I find that the prep times stated in recipes are quite understated. Once I got all the ingredients today, pulled the chicken apart, I spent well over 30 minutes prepping, and I used to be a sous chef. With all the fresh herbs (I would lower the Rosemary a bit) and some other herbs I have for soup, it was delicious.
What an interesting flavor combo, I’m curious to try this dish now. Thanks for the recipe!
My pleasure, hope you try it!
It was delicious with garlic pita chips and a salad!
That’s wonderful, so glad you liked it!
Muy bueno .Lo dejo para el invierno .Aca en Argentina una media de temperatura de 30g Gracias JO.
IF you use already cooked turkey or chicken, are the directions the same?
Pretty much, except you won’t have step 1 where you have to cook the turkey.
I don’t care for wild rice, can I use Jasmine rice instead?
Sure that should be fine, just adjust the cooking time accordingly.