Delicious, quick and easy! This leftover thanksgiving turkey noodle soup is healthy, gluten free and dairy free! It's a great way to get though all of those holiday leftovers. Whip it up in just 30 minutes using only one pot, the best kind of meal. Especially after a busy day of holiday cooking.
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I always worry about having enough turkey and ham at a holiday dinner. Of course, this is never the case and we consistently end up a lot of extra food.
If you make this soup and still have more leftovers, I recommend whipping up a batch of my incredible Creamy White Chicken Chili with shredded turkey instead of chicken. It's soooo good!
And if you have leftover ham, be sure to try my Creamy Ham And Bean Soup, Ham Fried Rice or these super popular Crustless Ham And Cheese Quiche Muffins.
Ingredients & Substitutions
- Fresh vegetables: diced carrots, celery and onion (yellow or white) are the perfect base for this soup and add great flavor.
- Extra virgin olive oil: coconut or avocado oil will also work. You can even use butter (salted or unsalted) if you're not worried about keeping this recipe dairy free.
- Minced garlic: for convenience sake, I generally keep a jar of minced garlic in my refrigerator at all times! You can also chop up 1-2 fresh cloves or use ⅛th teaspoon of garlic powder.
- Other spices: salt, ground black pepper, bay leaves and Italian seasonings.
- Vegetable broth: chicken broth will also work. You can even make your own, homemade turkey broth if you're feeling up to it!
- Hot sauce: just a bit for a delicious kick. If you like spicy food, add more.
- Gluten free brown rice pasta: or your preferred gluten free pasta. You can also use regular wheat pasta or egg noodles if you're not worried about making this recipe gluten free.
- Shredded turkey: all of those Thanksgiving or Christmas leftovers! Both dark and white meat are scrumptious.
- Optional: if you have leftover fresh herbs from roasting your holiday turkey (rosemary, thyme or sage), chop them up and toss them in.
How To Make Leftover Turkey Noodle Soup:
Keep scrolling for the full recipe card and measurements. We’ll start here with a quick overview!
Prep work:
- Dice carrots, celery and onion into small pieces.
Sauté veggies:
- Measure olive oil into a large pot on the stovetop and turn heat to medium.
- Add veggies to the pot and sauté 5-10 minutes, until onions are becoming translucent.
- Measure minced garlic into the pot and sauté 30-60 seconds longer.
Add remaining ingredients:
- Add seasonings, bay leaf, broth and hot sauce. Turn heat to high and bring mixture to a boil.
- Add brown rice pasta and leftover turkey meat.
- Reduce heat to low and cover. Simmer until pasta is al dente.
- Ladle into serving bowls and enjoy!
Serve Turkey Noodle Soup With
- Simple Garden Salad
- Cheesy Twice Baked Potatoes
- Grilled cheese sandwiches
- Crunchy garlic bread
- Bread and butter
- Saltine crackers
- Savory scones
- Rolls
Variations
Protein: instead of turkey, you can absolutely use chicken in this recipe.
Cream: if you're not worried about keeping this recipe dairy free, you can some heavy cream or half and half to create a creamy turkey noodle soup. Delish!
Rice: Add in a handful of wild rice, if desired. It will cook into this soup beautifully and add great texture.
Veggies: feel free to mix various vegetables to your soup. I really enjoy adding green beans.
Can turkey noodle soup be frozen?
All of the ingredients in this recipe will freeze well except for the rice pasta.
If you want to freeze, I would recommend adding noodles to only the portion of soup that you want to eat immediately. Transfer the rest to a separate pot or bowl where it can cool before freezing (freeze for up to 2 months).
When you're ready to eat your soup, heat it up in a pot and then cook noodles in broth!
How long will turkey soup last in the fridge?
Allow soup to cool completely and place it in an airtight container. Store in the refrigerator for 2-4 days! Reheat your soup in the microwave or in a pot on the stovetop.
Pin it for later!
Homemade Turkey Noodle Soup Recipe
Equipment
- Large soup pot or Dutch oven
Ingredients
- 1 & ½ cups (about 4 large) carrots *diced
- 1 & ½ cups (about 3-4 large stalks) celery *diced
- 1 medium yellow onion *diced
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- ½ teaspoon minced garlic *see note below
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasonings
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 & ½ teaspoons salt
- 1 bay leaf *optional
- 8 cups (about 4, 14.5oz cans) vegetable broth *see note below
- 1 teaspoon hot sauce *optional *see note below
- 2 cups gluten free brown rice pasta *see note below
- 3 cups shredded turkey *see note below
Optional:
- If you have leftover fresh herbs from the holiday, chop them up and toss them in! Rosemary, thyme or sage would all be yummy.
Recipe notes:
Minced garlic: I always keep a jar of minced garlic in my refrigerator. It's a huge time saver. You can also chop up 1-2 fresh cloves or use ⅛th teaspoon of garlic powder. Vegetable broth: I've started using broth base/bullion in all of my soup recipes (rather than boxed/canned). When you use bullion, you can mix it with hot water. This allows soup to heat faster and saves you time in the kitchen. Find bullion by the canned broth at the store or get it on Amazon! Hot sauce: I add just 1 teaspoon of hot sauce to my soup. I love the flavor and kick it adds. If you don't like spicy food you can add even less or leave it out all together! If you love spicy food, feel free to add more. Gluten free brown rice pasta: you can really use any type of pasta you prefer! If you don't need this recipe to be gluten free you can even use regular, wheat pasta or egg noodles. I like using brown rice pasta in this recipe because it has a nice texture, very similar to wheat pasta. Turkey: both white and dark meat will taste incredible in this soup!Instructions
- Dice carrots, celery and onion into small pieces.1 & ½ cups (about 4 large) carrots, 1 & ½ cups (about 3-4 large stalks) celery, 1 medium yellow onion
- Measure extra virgin olive oil into a large pot and place it on the stovetop. Turn heat to medium and allow oil to heat for a moment.1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- Add veggies to the pot and sauté 5-10 minutes, until onions are becoming translucent. Stir in minced garlic and sauté 30-60 seconds longer.½ teaspoon minced garlic
- Add Italian seasonings, ground pepper, salt, bay leaf, vegetable broth and hot sauce.1 tablespoon Italian seasonings, 1 teaspoon ground black pepper, 1 & ½ teaspoons salt, 1 bay leaf, 8 cups (about 4, 14.5oz cans) vegetable broth, 1 teaspoon hot sauce
- Turn heat to high and bring soup to a boil.
- Add rice pasta and shredded turkey.2 cups gluten free brown rice pasta, 3 cups shredded turkey
- Reduce heat to low and cover. Simmer until pasta is al dente.
- Ladle into serving bowls and enjoy!
Storage instructions:
- Allow leftovers to cool completely and transfer them to an airtight container. Refrigerate for up to 4 days. I don't recommend freezing this soup, as noodles will become mushy upon reheating. You can make this soup without noodles and freeze, then add noodles when reheating, if desired.
Nutrition
Did you make this recipe?!
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Melba says
Perfect timing! Looks so delicious and Frank has been asking for soup every day fue the past week.
stacey_olson says
Yay! Enjoy!