Day-After-Thanksgiving Turkey Carcass Soup

With this warm and cozy leftover turkey soup, you can enjoy every last bit of your Thanksgiving meal.

Leftover Turkey Soup Ingredients

These are the ingredients you'll need to make this turkey soup with Thanksgiving leftovers:

Turkey carcass: Use the picked-over turkey carcass from your holiday dinner.
Stuffing: This turkey carcass soup recipe is a great use for all your holiday leftovers, including stuffing.
Fresh vegetables: You'll need to dice an onion, two carrots, and two celery stalks.
Seasonings: This flavorful turkey soup is seasoned with poultry seasoning, ground sage, bay leaves, garlic salt, and black pepper.
Broth: The ingredients are cooked together in store-bought or homemade broth.
Rice: Long-grain white rice makes this hearty soup even more filling.
Frozen peas: A package of frozen green beans adds a burst of flavor and color.

How to Make Leftover Turkey Soup

You'll find the full, step-by-step recipe below — but here's a brief overview of what you'll find when you make this leftover turkey soup:

Make the stock: Place carcass, stuffing, onion, carrots, celery, poultry seasoning, sage, and bay leaves in a deep pot. Cover with broth and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for about an hour. Remove the carcass from the pot and discard the bones.
Make the soup: Return the meat to the pot. Season the soup with garlic salt and pepper. Add the rice, bring the soup to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Cook for about 15 minutes, add the peas, and continue cooking until the rice is tender.

More Thanksgiving Leftover Ideas

In need of a little more delicious inspiration? We've got you covered. Explore these collections of our best ways to dress up Thanksgiving leftovers:

Allrecipes Community Tips and Praise

"Awesome recipe," raves . "Super easy and a great way to use the turkey carcass, instead of throwing it away and wasting it. I decided to make this at the last minute, so I didn't have any rice. Instead, I added a few chopped up potatoes and it was great!"

"I did not put in the peas and added egg noodles instead of rice," says . "It was so good! My family liked it too (even my picky eater daughter). It even tasted better the next day."

"This soup is so great," according to . "Everyone loves it and several people had seconds — the flavors are excellent and we really like how the stuffing adds another dimension to the soup."

Editorial contributions by

Day-After-Thanksgiving Turkey Carcass Soup

4.5

(265)

angled shot of carcass turkey soup in bowl with peas and carrots

Prep Time:

15 mins

Cook Time:

1 hr 40 mins

Total Time:

1 hr 55 mins

Servings:

Ingredients

1 picked-over turkey carcass
1 ½ cups leftover stuffing
1 onion, peeled and diced
2 carrots, peeled and sliced
2 celery stalks, chopped
1 tablespoon poultry seasoning
1 teaspoon ground sage
2 bay leaves
2 ½ quarts chicken broth
1 cup water, or as needed (Optional)
½ teaspoon garlic salt, or to taste
ground black pepper, to taste
2 cups (uncooked) regular long-grain white rice
1 (16 ounce) package frozen green peas

Directions

Place turkey carcass in a large, deep pot. Add stuffing, onion, carrots, celery, poultry seasoning, sage, and bay leaves.

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Pour in chicken broth. Add additional water if needed to cover. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium and simmer, skimming off any foam, for about 1 hour.

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Remove carcass and any bones. Pick any meat off carcass and bones. Return meat to the pot and discard bones and skin.

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Season soup with garlic salt and pepper. Stir in rice and return to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium and simmer for 15 minutes.

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Stir in peas and continue to simmer until rice is tender, about 10 minutes more.

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Adjust seasonings to taste before serving.

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Serve hot and enjoy!

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Cook’s Note

I usually make cornbread muffins to serve with this soup.

Nutrition Facts (per serving)

370	Calories
7g	Fat
64g	Carbs
12g	Protein

Nutrition Facts
Servings Per Recipe 10
Calories 370
% Daily Value *
Total Fat 7g	9%
Saturated Fat 2g	9%
Cholesterol 17mg	6%
Sodium 1550mg	67%
Total Carbohydrate 64g	23%
Dietary Fiber 4g	16%
Total Sugars 8g
Protein 12g	23%
Vitamin C 11mg	12%
Calcium 73mg	6%
Iron 4mg	22%
Potassium 317mg	7%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.

** Nutrient information is not available for all ingredients. Amount is based on available nutrient data.

(-) Information is not currently available for this nutrient. If you are following a medically restrictive diet, please consult your doctor or registered dietitian before preparing this recipe for personal consumption.