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The holiday table is cleared, the turkey is still in the fridge, and everyone at the table is ready for something warm that does not taste like a rerun.

This soup is the answer to that exact moment: leftover turkey, simmered into a creamy pot of wild rice, mushrooms, and carrots that eats like a fresh dinner.

Why this one works

The move that matters is cooking the wild rice on its own, before it ever meets the pot. Wild rice needs 45 to 60 minutes to turn tender, which is far longer than the soup itself needs, and rice cooked in the broth would drink the pot dry while the vegetables turned soft around it.

Cooked separately, the grains stay chewy and nutty, and they go in near the end, when the soup only needs 20 minutes to bring everything together. The full method for getting the rice right lives in how to cook wild rice so it stays chewy, not mushy.

The rest of the pot is built the same careful way: butter and vegetables first, flour stirred in to make a roux, broth whisked in slowly so the base turns smooth instead of lumpy, and the half-and-half stirred in off the boil so the cream stays silky.

Wild rice itself is worth knowing a little about, since it is not rice at all in the usual sense — it is the seed of an aquatic grass, and Minnesota adopted it as the official state grain in 1977.

Turkey and Wild Rice Soup

The holiday table is cleared, the turkey is still in the fridge, and everyone at the table is ready for something warm.

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 1 hour hr 30 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 45 minutes mins

Servings: 8 servings

Course: Dinner

Cuisine: American

Ingredients Method

Ingredients

  

Wild rice

• 1 cup uncooked wild rice

Soup

• 6 tablespoons salted butter
• 1 medium yellow onion chopped
• 2 celery stalks chopped
• 2 large carrots sliced into 1/4-inch rounds
• 8 ounces fresh crimini mushrooms sliced
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 8 cups chicken broth
• 2 teaspoons dried parsley Note: or 1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/4 teaspoon dried rosemary
• 4 cups cooked shredded turkey Note: or cooked chicken
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup half-and-half Note: or heavy cream
• 2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

Method

 

1. Cook the wild rice. Prepare the wild rice according to the package directions, which usually takes 45 to 60 minutes, until the grains split and stay chewy; drain. This can be done 1 to 2 days ahead and kept chilled until you are ready to make the soup.
2. Sauté the vegetables. Melt the butter in a large Dutch oven or heavy pot over medium heat. Add the onion, celery, carrots, mushrooms, and garlic, and cook, stirring, for about 8 minutes, until the onion has softened.
3. Make the roux. Sprinkle the flour over the vegetables and stir it in, cooking for 1 minute. Slowly add the broth, stirring constantly, then raise the heat to medium-high until the soup comes to a low boil.
4. Simmer. Reduce the heat to medium and add the cooked wild rice, parsley, salt, pepper, thyme, rosemary, and shredded turkey. Simmer for 20 minutes.
5. Finish. Stir in the milk, half-and-half, and lemon juice, and heat for 3 to 5 minutes, keeping the soup just below a boil — never let it boil once the dairy is in. Taste and adjust the salt and pepper as needed. Serve immediately.

Make it your own

No leftover turkey in the fridge? A pulled-apart rotisserie chicken works the same way, and the soup becomes chicken wild rice soup without changing a single other step.

If the table runs toward vegetables, double the mushrooms, carrots, or celery — the pot stays balanced, and the extra vegetables only make the bowl heartier. A handful of frozen peas stirred in with the turkey adds color and a little sweetness, and an extra squeeze of lemon at the end keeps the cream from tasting heavy.

What to serve with it

Ladle it up with crusty bread, and if the evening stretches outside, mulled apple cider over the fire pit and fire-pit acorn squash round out the table. If the grain itself wins you over, the one-pan chicken wild rice skillet puts it to work on a weeknight.

Storing and reheating

The soup keeps in the fridge for 3 to 4 days in an airtight container, and the rice will keep drinking broth as it sits, which is normal — stir in a splash of broth when you reheat it.

Reheat it gently on the stove until it is steaming all the way through, and bring leftover turkey dishes to 165°F, the temperature the USDA sets for reheated leftovers.

It also freezes for up to 2 months, though the cream may separate a little on thawing; warm it slowly and stir it back together over low heat.

Make the rice a day ahead and the soup itself is a weeknight pot, which is the whole point — this is the one I’d bring to a table still full of people who aren’t ready for the holiday to end.