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Creamy leftover turkey chowder is a dream come true for the thrifty, nourishment-focused, or just plain hungry crowd. This buttery soup is brimming with roasted turkey and all your favourite holiday vegetables; sweet potatoes, carrots, corn, green beans and peas, and finished with a generous swirl of luxurious cream.
Before you pick out a pot and get started, put that turkey carcass to good use and make your own easy turkey stock. This is a quick-fire, bone-boiling recipe of just four hours that will yield a golden, nutritious stock base for this true leftover turkey soup.
Minimising my family’s food waste is definitely a high priority for me. I’ve had a strong sense of frugality my whole life- my mother and grandmother instilled good habits in me! I mean, growing up in the socialist Soviet Union in the 80s, in the wake of a nuclear disaster that devastated agriculture and livestock was going to have an impact on the way we appreciated food.
Despite the era of abundance we live in currently, I never take food for granted and pride myself on my accessible, affordable and quality creations. You’ll find lots of tips on the blog that incorporate perfectly good leftover or expiry-near food, for example:
- How to repurpose leftovers like turkey for this soup or mashed potato for salmon fishcakes.
- I’ll suggest using up ingredients you have in your stores as substitutes rather than buying fresh and copying my recipe to the letter. I.e. using rocket instead of spinach, or penne instead of linguine, crème fraiche instead of cream.
- How to reinvent yesterday’s dinner as tomorrow’s lunch, i.e. leftover Tuscan salmon into hot cheesy salmon sandwich.
- And by including suggestions for reusing sauces, dressings and marinades; cottage cheese and red pepper dip as a sandwich spread for example.
If you’re a cook with a similar mission on your mind, you have come to the right place!
Leftover turkey soup
Tradition dictates that turkey sandwiches are how one uses up Christmas and Thanksgiving leftovers. We all do it, but to be blunt, they can be dry and disappointing!
Using up leftover turkey (or chicken) in a soup, stew or pie are by far the tastiest and most exciting ways to repurpose poultry. Not only does the broth, stock or sauce rehydrate the meat, the addition of a herby, vegetably liquor reinvigorates the roast meat with a new-found aroma and flavour.
And it’s not only meaty leftovers that can be incorporated. Tip in all the vegetables and potatoes taking up residence in the fridge.
Turkey potato soup may seem, unnervingly, like Thanksgiving rehashed for those with severe dental issues, but I assure you that is not the case! It is Thanksgiving REIMAGINED! As a classy French-inspired soup.
This creamy turkey soup recipe shares many characteristics of a classic non-seafood chowder; chunky potatoes and thick cut vegetables cooked to tender perfection and brought together in a comforting and velvety, cream-laden soup.
A non-vegetarian chowder will often contain bacon too, it brings a natural saltiness and depth of flavour to the soup. As I didn’t have any bacon to hand, I didn’t use it, but feel free to customize and throw some in if it works with the thrift theme.
Recipe tips and notes
- The aim of the ‘leftovers soup’ game is to use up Thanksgiving or Christmas sundries. This means meat, potatoes, vegetables, herbs. (Almost) anything goes!
- Most chowder recipes include bacon. There’s no bacon in mine purely because there wasn’t any in the house! Of course, if you have a few rashers that need using, slice them up and throw them in at the first recipe step.
- You can use flour or corn starch (gluten free) to create thickness.
- Dairy-free cream or milk are suitable for this recipe too. I actually prefer using oat cream, it’s neutral tasting, easy on the stomach if you’re lactose intolerant, and gives a silky finish.
- Always taste test your soup when you think it’s done. 9 times out of 10, you’ll add salt. Salt is a natural flavour enhancer and can make all the difference. Don’t forget!
Serving suggestions
You wouldn’t serve bread with Thanksgiving dinner, but of course you can with leftover turkey soup! It may be a complete meal already, but does anyone serve soup without bread?
There really is nothing more satisfying than dunking a hunk of thick-sliced bread into a steaming bowl of creamy soup. And for a chowder you need something suitably dense. My choices (in no particular order) would be:
- A malty light rye loaf– my recipe is subtly sweet with treacle and studded with sunflower seeds.
- A classic sourdough – for unparalled chew, and the remaining loaf for toasting with jam the next day.
- A baked camembert in a bread bowl– it’s the holidays! I bet there’s a wheel of camembert in the fridge already. This side piece will instantly raise your soup’s status.
Storage and leftovers
Turkey chowder can be stored in the fridge in an This is an affiliate link.airtight container for 3-4 days. The leftover turkey soup can be reheated on the stovetop or in the microwave.
However, bear in mind that this recipe calls for leftover turkey- it’s generally not advised to reheat leftovers more than once. Aside from food safety, the taste, succulence and nutritional value of the ingredients all decrease with each zap.
More recipes to try
Creamy Leftover Turkey Chowder
Equipment
- This is an affiliate link.Large pot
Ingredients
- 4 tbsp butter, divided
- 1 onion, chopped
- 2 stalks celery, diced
- 1 carrot, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 tsp dried sage
- 3-4 sprigs fresh thyme, or 1/2 tsp dried thyme
- 3 tbsp flour
- 1.75 litres / 7 cups turkey stock, or chicken stock
- 2 This is an affiliate link.bay leaves
- 2 potatoes, diced
- 1 sweet potato, diced
- 400g / 3 cups cooked turkey, or chicken
- 1 1/2 cups frozen vegetable mix, (carrots, peas, green beans, corn)
- 250ml / 1 cup double cream
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
Instructions
- Melt 2 tbsp of butter in a large pot, add the chopped onion, diced celery and carrot and sauté for 5 minutes over low heart, then add the remaining butter, minced garlic, sage and thyme and cook while stirring for 30 seconds longer.
- Sprinkle the flour all over and mix until it coats the vegetables, continue cooking for a couple of minutes, then start adding the chicken stock gradually while stirring to incorporate the roux into the liquid, add the bay leaves, turn the heat to medium and bring to a simmer.
- Now add the regular and sweet potatoes, cooked turkey (or chicken) and the frozen vegetables, bring to a simmer again, then lower the heat and simmer for 15 minutes or until the vegetable are tender.
- Stir in the cream and let it warm through until the chowder starts to bubble, season with salt and pepper to taste, add fresh chopped parsley and take it off the heat.
Notes
- I didn’t use bacon simply because there wasn’t any in my house at the time, but it is commonly found in chowder recipes. If you have some, feel free to slice the bacon and add it at the first recipe step.
- For a thicker soup, add flour or corn starch (gluten-free option).
- Dairy-free cream or milk can be used in this recipe. I prefer oat cream as it has a neutral taste and is easy on the stomach.
- Always taste test the soup when you think it’s done to make sure it has enough salt. Salt is so important for enhancing flavour!
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
A+!
I didn’t have a “sweat” potato so I skipped that 😉
I always use bone broth for my soups for added protein. Since its stronger tasting I used less, and added back water as needed. I learned from PBS‘s Lydia to add spices to the dish when vegetables are sweating. I added the sage,Thyme, and bay leaves immediately when I added the butter, onions, carrots, etc. to the pan. This gives the soup the taste that it’s been flavoring for a day, when it’s been cooking for an hour. Yum!
I am so glad you loved this soup, Sabrina!