Turkey Soup

Published Oct. 31, 2023

Turkey Soup
Christopher Testani for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.
Total Time
About 1 hour
Prep Time
15 minutes
Cook Time
40 minutes
Rating
5(532)
Comments
Read comments

This simple, comforting soup is an easy way to use up leftover Thanksgiving turkey. If you’re feeling up to it, make your own homemade turkey stock, or use store-bought for a quick dinner and a respite after a marathon of holiday cooking. If you happen to have leftover gravy, add a bit at the very end of cooking for a silky richness and deeper flavor. Like many soups, this one freezes well, though you might need to add a splash of broth or water when reheating, as the pasta will continue to absorb the broth as it sits (see Tip). 

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Ingredients

Yield:8 to 10 servings
  • 3tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 1large yellow onion, chopped
  • 3medium carrots, diced (2 cups)
  • 2 to 3ribs celery, diced (1½ cups)
  • 4large garlic cloves, minced (2 tablespoons)
  • 2teaspoons fresh thyme leaves, or 1 teaspoon dried
  • 12cups (3 quarts) turkey or chicken broth
  • Kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal)
  • Black pepper
  • 2cups dried egg noodles
  • 3cups cooked, shredded turkey 
  • ¼cup chopped fresh parsley, plus more for serving 
  • ½cup prepared turkey gravy, plus more to taste (optional) 
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (10 servings)

254 calories; 10 grams fat; 4 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 4 grams monounsaturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 22 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams dietary fiber; 7 grams sugars; 19 grams protein; 961 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Melt the butter in a large pot over medium meat. Add the onion, carrots and celery and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables start to soften, about 12 minutes. Add the garlic and thyme and cook until fragrant, 1 minute more.

  2. Step 2

    Add the broth, 1 teaspoon salt, and a few grinds (or shakes) of black pepper, and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Stir in the noodles, then lower the heat and simmer uncovered, stirring occasionally, until they’re tender, about 10 minutes. Stir in the turkey and parsley; cook until the meat is just heated.

  3. Step 3

    Add the gravy, if using, then taste and season with more salt and pepper, if desired. Serve hot with a sprinkle of parsley.

Tip
  • To freeze, cool the soup to room temperature in the pot, then transfer to airtight containers and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge, or run the container under hot tap water until the soup releases. Reheat in a saucepan on the stove, partially covered, until simmering, adding more water or broth if necessary.

Ratings

5 out of 5
532 user ratings
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Comments

Knowing this makes a decent size batch, we pull out about half of the soup and set it aside before adding the noodles. That allows us to reheat and add noodles for the next bowls, or freeze easily and not worry about soggy noodles on the reheat….

This was such a wonderful solution to too much leftover turkey sitting in the fridge. I followed the recipe exactly as delineated and was struck by the elegant simplicity of the ingredients, which ultimately led to a fabulous flavor. The use of thyme and some turkey gravy to the broth worked magic and really finished off the dish. This one is a keeper. I am already looking forward to next Thanksgiving’s leftovers and repeating this recipe (probably even before then).

Great and easy recipe. I added sautéed chard and mushrooms as well, and subbed rice for noodles.

I made this soup for the first. It came out mild but with a very full pleasant full bodied taste. This is not Thanksgiving time so I poached three cups of turkey breast by placing it into ten cups of water and bring the water to a slow boil. I then added it to the diced onion, celery, carrots, fresh thyme and garlic. After the soup was fully cooked I shredded the turkey with a fork. It was slightly tougher than poached chicken. These recipes always take longer than the stated time.

made this in February of '25 , i cooked turkey breasts , then added to this soup, delicious!!!

Use the whole packet of noodles (ignore the 3 cups) but break them up if they are long, fine with olive oil instead of butter

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