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Leftover Turkey Noodle Soup is an easy and delicious way to use up leftover turkey after the holidays.
With Thanksgiving less than two weeks away, this is your friendly reminder that you should never throw away the turkey carcass after your holiday meal. Instead, use that carcass to make this Leftover Turkey Noodle Soup!
This easy, classic soup has been one of our go-to post-Thanksgiving recipes for years – and it’s about time we shared it with all of you.
Make a turkey stock with the leftover turkey carcass
After you’ve carved the turkey, save the carcass and bones, and make a delicious homemade turkey stock following this recipe. (If you save the turkey neck from your roast turkey, add that in too.)
After making the stock, you can freeze it for later, or make this Leftover Turkey Noodle Soup right away.
How to make Leftover Turkey Noodle Soup
Start by cooking your favorite noodles – we like the extra wide egg noodles (affiliate link) for turkey noodle soup. Drain, and rinse under cold water so the noodles don’t stick together.
In a separate soup pot, saute onions, celery, carrots and thyme in olive oil. Then pour in your homemade turkey stock and bring to a boil. Lower the stock to a simmer and cook for fifteen to twenty minutes – just until the vegetables are tender.
Add bite-sized pieces of leftover cooked turkey to the pot, then remove the pot from the heat.
To serve, place a single serving of the noodles in the bottom of each bowl, then ladle hot soup over the noodles and serve immediately.
Why do we cook and store the noodles separately from the soup?
If you add all of the noodles to the hot soup, the noodles will continue to cook and absorb the liquid. The noodles will eventually become mushy and you won’t have much of the soupy broth left either.
Can I use store-bought turkey stock?
Of course! But if you have a leftover turkey carcass, why not make a homemade stock? It’s easy and it tastes so much better too!
You might like these other Thanksgiving soup recipes:
- New England Turkey Chowder
- Cream of Turkey Soup
- Cream of Turkey Soup with Fennel and Apple
- Turkey Stracciatella Soup
- Curried Turkey and Rice Soup
We love seeing what you made! Tag us on Instagram at @afamilyfeast or hashtag #afamilyfeast so we can see your creations!
Leftover Turkey Noodle Soup
Ingredients
3 quarts turkey stock, see our homemade stock recipe here
12 ounces extra wide egg noodles (affiliate link)
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 1/2 cups onion, diced half inch
2 cups celery, diced half inch
3 1/2 cups carrot, diced half inch
2 teaspoons fresh thyme or half that of dried
4–5 cups leftover turkey, cut into bite sized pieces
Instructions
Make turkey stock (following these instructions) or use boxed stock. Set aside.
Heat a large pan of water and once boiling, salt the water and add the noodles and cook according to package directions.
Drain and cool under cold water and hold for later.
In a 5-quart Dutch oven or other heavy bottomed soup pot, heat olive oil over medium high heat and once shimmering, add onion, celery, carrots and thyme and cook 10 minutes stirring often.
Add stock and bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer and cook 15-20 minutes or until vegetables are tender.
Add turkey and remove from heat.
To serve, drain noodles and place a portion of noodles in each serving bowl then top with the soup and serve.
Store the noodles separate from the soup and combine when ready to serve so the noodles don’t overcook.
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Hi MARTHA
Am still so enjoying your recepies….but….
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How do I go about it?
Thank you
HAPPY THANKSGIVING
️MARIELLE ………………….. FROM MONTREAL CANADA
Hi Marielle – I can take care of that for you. It looks like you received the last Become a Better Cook lesson email back in July – but I see that you are still receiving our instant alerts when we post a new recipe (3 times a week) as well as our weekly email highlighting some of our most popular recipes. Would you like to unsubscribe from both? Let me know and I will remove you from the list(s). Thanks for your interest in our recipes.