This Turkey, Leek and Wild Rice Soup uses leftover turkey, veggies and herbs from the big Thanksgiving or Christmas feast and turns them into a delicious and healthy post-holiday soup!
After a big holiday meal, I usually send most of the juicy slices of turkey, the stuffing, the mashed potatoes and the cranberry sauce home with my guests. There’s usually enough “leftover” leftovers for my little family to have a nice dinner or two, and then we are happily done with turkey dinner until the next holiday. After the turkey dinner with all its fixings has been cleared out, what’s left in the fridge are leftover ingredients (a single leek, a few carrots, some bunches of herbs….) and a turkey carcass with lots of good little bits still clinging to the bones. This Turkey, Leek and Wild Rice Soup does a fantastic job of collecting the leftover ingredients and bits of cooked turkey, and turning them into a satisfying and healthy one-pot meal. This soup is light and fresh tasting, with a satisfying texture from the wild rice. It’s also protein and veggie-packed, to help get your healthy eating habits back on track.
What goes in Leftover, One-Pot, Turkey, Leek and Wild Rice Soup?
If you look in the fridge after the big feast, chances are you’ll have most of the ingredients you need for this soup! It’s the perfect way to turn those Thanksgiving or Christmas leftovers into a whole new dish.
- Butter: Just a few tablespoons of butter are used for sautéing the vegetables and herbs. The addition of a small amount of butter adds lots of rich flavour to the broth.
- Avocado oil: Adding healthy avocado oil to the butter increases the “smoke point” without contributing much flavour. Other neutral tasting, high heat oils such as grapeseed oil or sunflower oil can also be used.
- Leeks, celery, carrots and kale: There are always a few stalks of celery, a single leek, a couple of carrots and a bit of kale left in my fridge after a holiday meal and this soup is a great way to use them up. Feel free to add or substitute other veggies you may have left over.
- Fresh thyme, rosemary and parsley: Buying fresh herbs in bunches, when you only need a small amount for your holiday dishes, inevitably means you will have lots of leftovers herbs. Thyme, rosemary and parsley all add delicious herby flavour to this soup. If you don’t have fresh herbs, dried herbs can be substituted.
- Garlic: A few cloves of chopped fresh garlic add lots of savoury flavour.
- Wild rice blend: Add texture to this soup with delightfully chewy wild rice. Unlike white rice, wild rice has a delicious nutty flavour, along with protein, antioxidants, fibre and lots nutrients. You can find different wild rices at the grocery store, sometimes with the other rices, or sometimes in the health food section. A mix of several types of rice is nice for both taste and texture, so you may want to look for a wild rice blend. I use the wild rice blend from Lundberg, which takes about 40 minutes to cook in the soup. If you use another type of rice, be sure to check the instructions on the package as cooking times may vary.
- Turkey or chicken broth: Turn your leftover turkey carcass into a homemade broth, or use a good quality store bought broth. If using a store bought broth, look for one with reduced sodium. You can always add more salt to taste, but it’s hard to recover a too-salty broth. Store bought turkey broth can be hard to find, so feel free to use chicken broth in this soup if turkey broth is unavailable. Here’s a link to my recipe for Simple Golden Chicken Broth if you wish to make your own.
- Cooked turkey: Use up those leftover bits of delicious Thanksgiving or Christmas turkey! Chop it into chunky bits for lots of delicious and satisfying texture. If you have leftover chicken, that also works beautifully in this soup.
SERVING SUGGESTIONS
The nice thing about this Turkey, Leek and Wild Rice Soup is that it is a complete one-pot meal, so not much else is needed. If you still have holiday leftovers, a turkey sandwich on the side is nice, though my favourite thing to do is eat up any leftover holiday appetizers alongside a big bowl of this soup. With little bits of cheese and crackers, dips, spreads and marinated olives, I almost look forward to this post-holiday meal more than the big feast itself!
DRINK PAIRINGS
While we’re on the subject of leftovers, this soup pairs very nicely with your leftover holiday wine. Turkey dinner favourites such as chardonnay, riesling and pinot noir will all be delicious with this soup. If you’re going alcohol-free, leftover fresh-pressed apple cider offers a tart and sweet counterpoint to the savoury and salty soup.
Turkey Leek and Wild Rice Soup
Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp Butter
- 1 Tbsp Avocado oil (or other neutral tasting oil with a high smoke point such as grapeseed oil)
- 1 leek, white and light green part only, chopped
- 3 stalks celery, chopped
- 4 carrots, chopped
- 1 cup shredded kale (about 3 kale leaves, tough stems removed and shredded)
- 2 Tbsp fresh thyme leaves (or 2 tsp dried thyme)
- 2 tsp chopped fresh rosemary (or 1 tsp dried rosemary)
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- freshly ground black pepper
- 3/4 cup wild rice blend, well rinsed
- 8 cups low sodium turkey or chicken broth
- 2 cups chopped cooked turkey
- chopped fresh parsley for serving (optional)
Instructions
- In a large dutch oven, heat the butter with the avocado oil over medium heat. When the butter has melted and small bubbles appear, add the chopped leek, celery, carrot, kale, thyme, rosemary and salt. Add a few cracks of freshly ground black pepper to taste, and cook, stirring frequently, until the vegetables soften. Adjust the heat if necessary to make sure the vegetables don't brown.
- Add the garlic to the vegetables in the pot and stir until fragrant, about 30 seconds to 1 minute. Stir in the wild rice and the broth. Increase the heat and bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer the soup until the rice is tender but still has a bit of "chew", about 40 minutes. Stir in the cooked chicken and adjust salt and pepper to taste. Ladle into bowls and garnish with chopped fresh parsley, if desired.
RECIPE NOTES
- This recipe works just as well with leftover cooked chicken, or a store-bought rotisserie chicken.
- Be sure to rinse the rice well before adding it to the soup to get rid of extra starches and rice dust that could discolour the soup.
- I use the Lundberg Wild Rice Blend that takes about 40 minutes to cook. If you use a different kind of rice, be sure to check the instructions on the package as cooking times may vary.
- This soup is gluten-free, if you ensure that your broth is gluten-free. Some store-bought broths contain gluten, so be sure read package labels carefully.
- Cooled, leftover soup can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. Reheat in a saucepan over low heat. You may need to add more broth when reheating since the rice will absorb the liquid over time.
