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- If you made my highly rated turkey recipe for Thanksgiving and have some leftover turkey, you have to make this turkey soup. It's an easy one pot meal with tender turkey and hearty vegetables that is perfect for a healthy lunch, dinner or even meal prep. I should also note that I specifically kept the ingredient list short and sweet on this one because of the fact that it's commonly made after the holidays like Thanksgiving or Christmas, where you most likely spent a whole bunch of time in the kitchen already.
So I wanted you to make an easy, cozy, healthy soup recipe with what you had on hand and very little fuss. All right, let me show you how to make it. To get started, slice up three medium carrots, two ribs of celery, and one medium onion. For my soup superstars out there, you know that this triumvirate of veggies is known as mirepoix, and it's the flavor base of, oh, so many soup recipes. But you can also have fun with the flavor base. In my chicken soup recipe, I add sliced leeks, which impart a slightly sweeter flavor. Though you could also add fennel and shallot as well. But a simple soup like this is such a great fridge clean out soup, so feel free to toss in what you have on hand.
These three veggies also get added to the soup at the same time, which means you can put them all in the same prep bowl. So I'll do that now and then set them aside. Next, peel and dice two medium yellow or Yukon gold potatoes. If you happen to have sweet potatoes leftover from Thanksgiving, you could also swap those in as well. And in terms of a dice, just think bite sized pieces. You don't want any super large chunks that would be too hard to pick up on a spoon. And once that's done, place them in another prep bowl.
(gentle music) For the turkey, you'll need three cups of shredded and diced cooked turkey. You can use light meat, dark meat, or a combination of both. I have mostly light meat today as I nibbled on most of the dark meat from my turkey recipe. I can never resist that, especially with the crispy skin. And speaking of skin, I do recommend you remove any before adding the turkey to the soup.
Heat two tablespoons of olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the mirepoix veggies and saute those for four to five minutes until they've softened. Then add three garlic cloves, one teaspoon of kosher salt, and half a teaspoon of ground black pepper. And stir that for another minute. Add the potatoes, two sprigs of fresh thyme, one bay leaf, and five cups of low sodium chicken or turkey broth. For a little cost savings, I usually add four cups of broth as they typically come in 32 ounce containers and then add one cup of water. That way I don't have to open a second container of broth. Give that a stir, bring the soup to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and cover the pot.
Simmer the soup for about 20 minutes or until the potatoes are just fork tender. The beauty of this soup is that the meat is already cooked, so all you have to do is add it to the pot and simmer it for an additional one to two minutes until it's warmed through. Now tell me that isn't the easiest turkey soup recipe and so healthy too. Remove the sprigs of thyme and you'll notice how all those little bits of fresh thyme are now scattered throughout the soup, which is perfect, and remove the bay leaf as well. (gentle music)
For the finishing touch, stir in a quarter cup of roughly chopped fresh parsley before serving it up. On a rainy day like today in Southern California, this turkey soup just hits the spot and feels all sorts of cozy. I also love that it's a light meal and is easy on my gut because if you're anything like me, I'm sure you have a tendency to overindulge a bit for Thanksgiving as well. I mean, it's easy to do with all of the delicious sides like my honey glazed carrots, balsamic bacon Brussels sprouts, and my special peas dish with pear and pancetta, along with all of the various dessert options. And of course, my highly rated turkey recipe,
which gave you the leftovers for this classic turkey soup recipe to start with. All right, this soup is now calling my name and I am ready to take my bite. It has been a rainy and drizzly day today while I was cooking, the rain just stopped and now it's time to take a perfect bite of this cozy and warming soup. As I mentioned in the intro, I specifically kept this one really simple and easy with a lot of the ingredients that I figured you had left over after the holidays. So if you made a turkey, I'm sure you had carrots and celery from either stuffing the turkey or making the gravy.
Potatoes are just an easy thing that most people have on hand. And then you have the leftover turkey, and that's pretty much it. If you've made my chicken soup recipe, it's very similar, but there is a slight flavor profile difference. The chicken soup has diced leek in there and a tarragon, so it gives it kind of almost like a sweet flavor to the soup, whereas this one is a little bit more of your classic mirepoix flavor with the veggies and the turkey. And as I mentioned before, you can always swap in diced or shredded chicken into this version as well. As I mentioned earlier, this is a soup that I absolutely love to meal prep because it's just light and fresh.
So when I want a meal that doesn't weigh me down, this is a great option. It will last for about four to five days in the fridge in an individual container, or you could freeze it for up to three months, which means that you can have an easy, delicious, light and fresh meal several months into the future. If you're looking for more leftover turkey recipes, like what do I do with all of this meat after Thanksgiving? I have several recipes on my website and I will leave a link to those below. I also have a soup roundup, so if you are just in the mood for soups right now for warm and cozy meals, I have a whole bunch of those recipes as well.
I will leave a link for those below. And with that, I hope you guys enjoy this turkey recipe. If you did, make sure to give it a thumbs up as that always helps to support my channel and make sure that this video goes far and wide in reach. If you are indeed making this after Thanksgiving, I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving with your family and friends. And with that, I will see you again after the holidays. (bright music)
