A Delicious Leftover Turkey Recipe for Turkey and Wild Rice Soup
- Minya Irby
- Dec 31, 2025
- 5 min read
Some of the best things to love about homemade turkey soup are that it’s delicious, it’s healthy, you know exactly what’s in it (because you’re the home chef), and it can be made from leftovers. It’s also a timely recipe for anyone looking for ways to use leftover turkey (carcass and all) to prepare a light and hearty dinner after enjoying a hefty holiday feast.
This recipe is not a quick Tuesday night meal, at least not at first. This is a low and slow, deep and rich, Sunday night sensation! If you happen to be someone who throws the leftover turkey carcass in the trash after it’s ravishing, hopefully this recipe will make you think again. So instead, take the holiday turkey carcass out of the freezer and spend an easy Sunday morning making the best turkey and wild rice soup your family and friends will never forget.
Why Homemade Turkey Soup is Healthy
The carcass of the turkey is comprised of bone marrow and connective tissue. The process of roasting and then simmering it pulls beneficial minerals from the carcass that support bone health, nerve function, and electrolyte balance, like calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, and potassium. Slow roasting also breaks down the collagen into a gelatin that supports both skin and gut health by soothing and healing the digestive tract. Making this soup a part of your regular diet may also improve joint pain and stiffness through the anti-inflammatory amino acids that develop from roasting and simmering those old turkey bones.
Golden Turkey and Wild Rice Soup
This Golden Turkey and Wild Rice Soup recipe will provide enough servings for this week's lunch meal prep. You can also freeze it to eat later in the week as a quick and healthy meal, or share it with family and friends.
Cooking Instructions:
Step 1:
Start by preheating the oven to 225°. In a large roasting pan, place only the frozen turkey carcass inside. Cover and roast without opening for 4-5 hours for deep caramelization. Roasting the carcass for 4-5 hours will intensify and concentrate the flavors making the broth silky, rich and thick.
While the turkey is roasting, you'll have plenty of time to prepare the other ingredients you need (listed below) to pull it all together.
Step 2:
You'll need the base of any great soup recipe, which is the mirepoix: carrots, onions, and celery washed and chopped, and diced up. You can dress up the base by adding green or tri-colored bell peppers if that’s your flavor - but remember, adding tri-color bell peppers changes the flavor profile by adding a slight sweetness to the finish.
Set them aside to gently sautée over a medium-high heat in a 6 quart or larger Dutch oven or stock pot with 1 tablespoon, but no more than 2 tablespoons of the fat from the renderings of the turkey.
Step 3:
Let the renderings heat up in the pan before adding the mirepoix and your bell peppers, if you chose to use any. Next, sauté the mirepoix with salt and minced or chopped garlic. Use just a pinch of salt to help the veggies sweat and break down. But if you’re a garlic-a-holic, like me, then start with 4-5 cloves. Now, if you really want to be bold and let loose, then you can roast the garlic with the carcass. But the garlic doesn’t need to be roasted for 4-5 hours, just for the last 20-30 minutes.
Now, this is a versatile soup because it contains wild rice. So, instead of the bell peppers, you could go with mushrooms - portabella, shiitake, or lion’s mane. But whichever you choose, make sure you sauté it in the turkey renderings with the mirepoix. You don’t want to start this process of sautéing until after you’ve taken the carcass out of the oven, and allowed it to cool enough so that you can harvest any remaining chunks of turkey meat to be added to the sauté.
Step 4:
As the veggies and turkey chunks are slightly browning add a teaspoon of black pepper, then pour in the remaining rendering or dropping from the roasted turkey into the pot and allow it to cook up, making small bursting bubbles or deep sizzling for 2-3 minutes, stirring consistently, so as not to allow it to stick and burn.
Step 5:
Add 2 quarts of chicken broth and the carcass to the pot and bring to a boil. Once it’s a rolling boil, add 2 cups of wild rice. Season after you add the rice, in case you’re using a seasoned package of wild rice. Let the wild rice boil with the other ingredients for 3-5 minutes.
Within that 3-5 minute time frame, add your seasonings: onion powder, garlic powder, turmeric, paprika, chicken or vegetable bouillon, cayenne pepper, poultry seasoning, celery salt, rosemary, thyme, oregano, parsley, and bay leaves. Stir consistently. After about 3-5 minutes reduce heat to low, cover and let simmer for 20 minutes.
Step 6:
Check for rice tender, plumpness and a clean turkey carcass. Remove the carcass and dispose. Taste and adjust seasoning, add cornstarch slurry. Stir, cover, and let it simmer for another 10-15 minutes before turning off the heat, and allowing soup to rest, stirring periodically before serving.
The cornstarch slurry adds a glossy finish and thickens the body of the soup. You can substitute cornstarch with arrowroot powder, which will accomplish the same task and deliver the same result; but I prefer broth over making a flour rue while sautéing the vegetables.
Serve with crusty bread.
Ingredients:
1 Frozen Turkey Carcass
Mirepoix
4-6 Carrots peeled and diced
4-6 Celery stalks diced
1 Yellow onion diced
4-6 cloves of garlic minced or 1tbsp minced garlic
Optional Ingredients:
½ cup Green Bell Peppers chopped
¼ cup Tri-Color bell peppers (¼ c each color)
Or mushroom option: portabella, shiitake, or lion’s mane
1 ¼ cup chopped mushrooms
2 tbsp Turkey fat renderings for sautée
1/4 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
64oz Chicken broth/stock
2 cups Wild rice
½ tbsp garlic powder
½ tbsp onion powder
½ tsp turmeric
½ tsp paprika
1 tbsp chicken/vegetable bouillon
½ tsp cayenne pepper
½ tsp poultry seasoning
¼ tsp of celery salt
½ tbsp rosemary
½ tbsp thyme
½ tbsp oregano
1 tbsp parsley
4 bay leaves
1-2 tbsp cornstarch or arrowroot powder mixed into a slurry
