Use your leftover turkey to make this simple and delicious turkey noodle soup! The broth for this soup is so flavorful thanks to veggies, garlic, and fresh herbs. It’s the perfect hearty and comforting soup for a cold day and a great way to use those Thanksgiving leftovers!
Homemade soup always hits the spot during the colder months of the year. I have a lot of delicious soup recipes, but a few you need to try are creamy chicken and rice soup, potato soup, and chicken enchilada soup.
You can only eat so many turkey sandwiches before you need another way to use that leftover Thanksgiving turkey. I love making these turkey cranberry and brie egg rolls and swapping chicken with turkey and making my creamy chicken and rice soup or harvest chicken salad.
This year I’m sharing my easy and incredibly flavorful turkey noodle soup. It’s ready to eat in 30 minutes, uses 3 cups of turkey, and it’s a relatively healthy soup and a nice option if you’re craving something hearty, but lighter after a heavy holiday meal.
Fresh herbs and poultry seasoning give the broth a boost of flavor that you don’t always find in turkey soup recipes. The dill stirred into the soup at the end is what makes my recipe unique. It adds a lovely fresh, citrusy, subtle anise flavor that brighten up all the flavors.
Ingredient Notes
Onion, carrots, celery – These veggies help create the base flavor for the soup. The combination of onion, carrots, and celery is sometimes called a mirepoix.
Garlic – I like to grate garlic into soups so that it dissolves into the broth. A microplane zester is the best tool to use when you’re grating garlic. You can substitute with a 1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder.
Poultry seasoning and bay leaf – I love using poultry seasoning to enhance the flavor of the broth. It’s used in many recipes for Thanksgiving turkey and stuffing so the flavor fits well with this soup.
Thyme and dill – You’ll want to use fresh thyme and dill versus dried herbs for this soup to give it the best flavor. Stirring the fresh dill in at the end of the cooking time adds an amazing fresh flavor to the soup!
Chicken broth – Use low sodium chicken broth to ensure the soup isn’t too salty. Sometimes during the holiday season you can find turkey broth, feel free to substitute with that.
Egg noodles – I used dry egg noodles rather than fresh, but you can use either, just be aware that the cooking times will be different. You can use wide or extra wide egg noodles.
Turkey – Chop the turkey into chunks or shred it. You can use dark meat or turkey breast, whatever leftover turkey you have works great! You can also use rotisserie chicken.
Tips for Making Turkey Noodle Soup
- Saute the veggies in butter for extra flavor.
- No need to remove the thyme leaves from the stem. Add the entire sprig into the soup and then remove it once the soup is done cooking.
- Add the turkey in at the same time you add in the egg noodles. Turkey is notoriously dry and cooking it for an extended time in the soup will make it even more dry.
- Don’t overcook the noodles. Cook just until al dente. They will continue to cook and soften in the hot soup even after you take it off the heat.
- If you plan to freeze this soup, I recommend cooking the noodles separately and adding them into individual servings. Once defrosted the egg noodles are mushy and fall apart.
Substitutions and Variations
- Add extra veggies to the soup. Bell pepper, peas, and spinach would all be good additions.
- Use different herbs. Substitute thyme with sage or flat leaf parsley.
- Make the soup creamy and stir in a 1/2 cup of half and half or heavy cream at the end.
Storage
The soup will keep for up to 4 days in an airtight container in the fridge. The egg noodles will get softer the longer the soup sits and will absorb more of the broth. When reheating you may want to add additional chicken broth. Reheat the soup in the microwave or in a saucepan on the stove.
Turkey soup can be frozen for up to 3 months, but I suggest doing it without the noodles. Add cooked noodles into individual servings after the soup has cooked.
More Soup Recipes
Fall and winter are soup season and I’ve got a lot of choices for you to make!
In a large pot, melt the butter over medium-high heat. Add in the onion, celery and carrots and sauté until they’ve softened, about 5 minutes. Add in the garlic and poultry seasoning and cook another minute. Season with salt and pepper.
Pour the chicken broth in and drop in the sprigs of thyme and bay leaf. Stir everything together.
Bring the soup to a gentle boil then add in the egg noodles and shredded chicken. Cook for 10 minutes or until the noodles are soft. Stir in the chopped dill and remove the stems from the thyme and the bay leaf. Season with additional salt and pepper as needed then serve.
The soup will keep in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. The noodles will get softer and may fall apart the longer the soup sits.
Calories: 324kcalCarbohydrates: 35gProtein: 28gFat: 9gSaturated Fat: 4gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 89mgSodium: 231mgPotassium: 628mgFiber: 2gSugar: 3gVitamin A: 3606IUVitamin C: 3mgCalcium: 53mgIron: 2mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
If you make this Turkey Noodle Soupplease leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! I love hearing from you and do my best to respond to your comments. And if you’re on Instagram tag @reciperunner so I can see your beautiful creations!
