Need a cozy soup? This healthy Turkey Lemon Rice Soup is the perfect bowl to cozy up to. The perfect family-friendly meal, this recipe will get your dinner on the table in less than an hour!
We love an easy one-pot meal and this easy turkey rice soup recipe is just that! We always have a ton of turkey leftover after the holiday season so this is one of our favorite ways to use up what we have on hand so we don’t get bored of eating plain turkey leftovers for a week. Full of protein, vegetables, and rice, this soup will fill you up and warm you up from the insides! Don’t have any leftover turkey, easily swap the turkey with shredded chicken breast or rotisserie chicken. This simple lemon rice soup is so tasty, filling, and easy to make. Perfect for any day of the week!
Why You’ll Love this Turkey Lemon Rice Soup
- It uses up leftovers. Like we mentioned earlier, we love making this soup with leftover turkey. On top of that, there’s always extra carrots, onions, and celery around whenever we have a holiday meal so this soup uses it up as well.
- It’s easy. There’s nothing easier to make than soup. Add everything to a pot and simmer til it’s done.
- It’s tasty. Your family will be reaching for seconds with this flavorful turkey rice soup. Full of herbs and lemon-y flavors, it’s such a cozy and delicious meal that it’s hard to not like it.
Ingredients You’ll Need
This is just a list of ingredients you will need to make this healthy Turkey Rice Soup. Full measurements are listed further down below.
- Olive oil
- Onion — chopped
- Celery stalks — chopped
- Carrots — peeled and finely chopped
- Garlic — smashed and minced
- Red bell pepper — diced
- Leftover cooked turkey — shredded
- Basmati rice
- Kosher salt and pepper
- Fresh herbs: rosemary, Fresh sage, Fresh thyme
- Bay leaf
- Broth or stock – use chicken or vegetable stock
- Gluten free flour
- Coconut cream
- Lemon
How to Make This Creamy Turkey Rice Soup
- Saute the vegetables: Heat the oil in a Dutch oven or stock pot over medium heat. Saute the onion, celery, carrots, pepper, and garlic until soft, 4-5 minutes. Stir in the basmati rice and continue to cook for 1-2 minutes, stirring often.
- Add in more ingredients and boil: Add the leftover turkey, seasonings, herbs, and stock. Mix well to combine and bring to a boil.
- Add in the thickener: Meanwhile, in a small bowl whisk well the flour with 2 tbsp water and stir it into the soup.
- Add in the rest of the ingredients and simmer: Once the soup boils, reduce the heat to low and add the coconut cream and lemon juice. Cook on low for 18-20 minutes, or until the rice is done.
- Adjust if needed and enjoy! Remove and discard the bay leaf and adjust the seasoning, if needed. Season the turkey rice soup with thyme and enjoy!
Tips and Substitutions
- Turkey: Feel free to swap the turkey with shredded chicken. To save on time, you may use shredded Rotisserie chicken. If you want to keep this vegetarian, you can use a different protein such as chickpeas.
- Vegetables: Add more or swap vegetables of your choice if you’d like! If you have leftover spinach, broccoli, peas, green beans, etc.
- Rice: If you have cooked leftover rice, you can simply just stir it into the end of the soup. If you use a different type of rice, be sure to adjust the timing accordingly (ie. wild rice and brown rice takes longer than white rice).
- Make sure you stir into the pot a few times during cooking, to avoid the rice sticking to the bottom.
FAQs
If you don’t have fresh herbs, you can use dried herbs instead. For every one tablespoon of fresh herbs, swap for one teaspoon of dried herbs.
This soup holds up great when reheated so you can make this ahead of time. Simply allow the soup to cool and then transfer it to an airtight container into the fridge.
If you’re not a fan of rice, feel free to leave it out. Consider adding more veggies if you prefer. You may add noodles or beans.
Here are a few salad recipes I think go well with my turkey soup: Parmesan Zucchini Corn Salad, Butternut Squash Salad, Cucumber, and Tomato Salad, Avocado Tomato Salad, and my Mexican Street Corn Salad.
Want More Soups?
- Vegan Cabbage Soup
- Chicken Mushroom Soup
- Chicken Enchilada Soup
- Italian Chicken Veggie Soup
- Easy Stuffed Pepper Soup
- Creamy Chicken Tortilla Soup
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Creamy Turkey Lemon Rice Soup
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 large onion chopped
- 2 celery stalks chopped
- 3 medium carrots peeled and finely chopped
- 3-4 cloves garlic smashed and minced
- 1 red bell pepper diced
- 3 cups leftover cooked turkey shredded
- 1 cup basmati rice
- 1 tsp kosher salt or to taste
- 1/2 tsp ground pepper
- 1 tsp fresh rosemary chopped
- 1 tbsp fresh sage chopped
- 5 sprigs fresh thyme leaves picked
- 1 bay leaf
- 5 cups broth or stock
- 1 tbsp GF flour
- 8 oz coconut cream one can
- 1 large lemon juiced
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a dutch oven or stock pot over medium heat. Sautee the onion, celery, carrots, pepper, and garlic until soft, 4-5 minutes. Stir in the basmati rice and continue to cook for 1-2 minutes, stirring often.
- Add the leftover turkey, seasonings, herbs and stock. Mix well to combine and bring to a boil.
- Meanwhile, in a small bowl whisk well the flour with 2 tbsp water and stir it into the soup.
- Once the soup boils, reduce the heat to low and add the coconut cream and lemon juice.
- Cook on low for 18-20 minutes, or until the rice is done. Make sure you stir into the pot for a few times during cooking, to avoid the rice sticking to the bottom.
- Remove and discard the bay leaf and adjust the seasoning, if needed.
- Season with thyme and enjoy!
Notes
- Turkey: Feel free to swap the turkey with shredded chicken. If you want to keep this vegetarian, you can use a different protein such as chickpeas.
- Vegetables: Add more or swap vegetables of your choice if you’d like! If you have leftover spinach, broccoli, peas, green beans, etc.
- Rice: If you have cooked leftover rice, you can simply just stir it into the end of the soup. If you use a different type of rice, be sure to adjust the timing accordingly (ie. wild rice and brown rice take longer than white rice).
- Make sure you stir into the pot a few times during cooking, to avoid the rice sticking to the bottom.
Ellie says
Absolutely delicious! Thank you so much for this comforting and EASY recipe!
I subbed ground turkey bc that’s what I had and used brown rice for more nutrients. Save your celery, onion and carrot scraps in the freezer over time and use them to make this! I did that and it turned out great!
Rena Awada says
Perfect. Glad you loved it
Shannon says
My 9-year-old son chose this recipe for me to make for dinner. We didn’t have leftover turkey but I used 1 pound of ground turkey. I put the turkey in with the onions to brown it and then added the other vegetables. It turned out fantastic! I will definitely make this again.
Rena says
Amazing. So glad he loved it
Ali says
This looks amazing! Think cauliflower rice would work vs basmati or would it get mushy?
Rena says
It will be a bit mushy but of course healthier. Plus its a soup, you can get away with the swap
Florence says
Can I substitute something for the coconut cream. Family member allergic to coconuts.
Rena says
Any cream would work like heavy or whipping cream. Even milk.