This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
Today I am sharing one of my absolute favorites — Leftover Thanksgiving Turkey Noodle Soup! Complete with Turkey Bone Broth. A delicious recipe after a day full of food.
We all have our favorite things to do with leftover turkey and there are so many delicious recipes to choose from with leftovers. I have to say, for me, it will forever be the simple classics — turkey sandwiches and soup. Ah, all the feels.
When making this soup with your leftovers, it’s essential to make your own turkey stock for the BEST turkey noodle soup. I have so many memories of a giant pot on the stovetop with the entire turkey carcass stuffed into it boiling away, making my entire home smell even more like Thanksgiving than it already did the day before. I’ve included ALL of the tips for making homemade bone broth below. A few things though: This works best with a *roasted* turkey. So if you have leftover smoked or fried turkey, I don’t recommend using those. Well, at least in this recipe. The flavor is totally different.
After that, this recipe is simple, classic, and comforting. The perfect post-Thanksgiving meal to continue the comfort — only in a lighter soup!
Leftover Thanksgiving Turkey Bone-Broth
Ingredients
- 1 leftover roasted turkey carcass
- 1 yellow onion, halved
- 4 stalks celery, cut in half
- 2 carrots, cut in half
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 sprig fresh rosemary
- 8 sprigs fresh thyme
- 2 tsp black peppercorns
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- water about 16-18 cups *see note below
Instructions
- Place the turkey carcass (don't worry about a little remaining meat on the bone! it doesn't have to be perfect) in a very large pot. Add the onion, celery, carrot, bay leaves, rosemary, thyme, peppercorns and the apple cider vinegar.
- Fill the pot with water. This will likely be close to 16-18 cups of water, but this depends on the size of your pot. Don't worry, some of the water will cook off/evaporate during the cooking process.
- Bring the pot to a boil, once boiling, reduce heat to low, cover, and cook for 12-24 hours.
- When the cook time is complete, use a fine mesh strainer, strain the broth and discard the carcass/scraps from the cooking process.
- Storing Tips: Allow the broth to cool completely before pouring into mason jars. I recommend using wide mouth mason jars. If you are using regular mason jars and you are planning on freezing them, only fill them about 3/4 way full. The broth expands in the freezer and can cause the glass to break. The broth is good in the fridge for about 7-10 days. Or you can freeze for about 3 months.
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Turkey Noodle Soup
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 1/2 cups diced yellow onion
- 1 cup diced carrot
- 1 cup diced celery
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 10 cups homemade turkey bone broth
- 1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves
- 1 tsp dried, ground sage
- 4 cups diced, cooked turkey meat
- 3 cups uncooked fusilli pasta
Instructions
- Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. When hot, add the onion, carrot, celery, garlic, salt and pepper and cook, stirring, until the veggies are just tender, 5 to 7 minutes.
- Pour in the broth, thyme, sage, and the cooked turkey. Bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce heat to a simmer.
- Add the pasta and stir to combine. Cook, covered, until the pasta is al dente (cook time will vary based on the type of pasta you use. Mine took about 10 minutes).
- Serve immediately and enjoy!
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I have made chicken soup tons but never leftover thanksgiving turkey soup and I did it this year and wow it has such a different taste! It was so good! Obviously it will change depending on how you season your turkey but wow I will definitely do this again with next years leftovers
Can this be frozen? If so at what point would you freeze?
Yes!! I would freeze it without the noodles for best results. Then reheat and add noodles after thawing.
What container do you freeze the broth in?
large glass mason jars.
I made this turkey stock and soup with my leftovers from Thanksgiving and it was AMAZING!! Thank you once again for the most flavor packed soup recipe. Your recipes never fail me…..
Thank you,
Susie Klein
When making the broth, does the whole turkey carcus need to be submerged? I filled my pot with 18 cups of water and it doesn’t cover even half of it. Do I just fill the rest of the pot? Do I double the ingredients as well?
Yes, you can just keep filling if you have a huge turkey and it needs more water. You’ll end up with a TON of broth– but you can freeze it!
Have any suggestions for making this in the crockpot? How about substituting rice for noodles, when would I add it in? Thanks!
I haven’t yet madethis recipe in the crockpot yet– but if you want to do rice instead of noodles i’d go with this recipe instead! Just sub turkey!
https://thedefineddish.com/dairy-free-creamy-chicken-wild-rice-soup/
Hi! Can you make the bone broth in the instant pot?
yes for sure! I recommend doing it no manual high-pressure for 120-180 minutes!
I added a dollop of leftover gravy and holy smokes, it’s so good!!!! Love this recipe!
Delicious! Followed the broth recipe and noodle soup recipe. Wow. I am blown away with the flavor. I want my husband to smoke another turkey to have the bone broth on hand.
oh yees!! if you smoke the turkey– the broth is super smokey, but it’s delicious in Gumbo!!
We LOVED this – first time to use our turkey bones for something and it was so fun / fulfilling to make the broth. Took soup to neighbors (with Covid, eek) and they loved it. We did use our smoked turkey carcass and it was still wonderful! Thank you!
Hello Alex,
Any ideas on what type of soup to make with smoked turkey stock? I’m at a loss on what to make with my stock.
Kind Regards,
Andrea
I would definitely make a gumbo with smoked turkey stock!!! Here is a recipe you can follow, just sub the turkey stock + leftover turkey for the chicken broth and chicken! 🙂
https://thedefineddish.com/whole30-chicken-and-sausage-gumbo/