Homemade soups are much easier to make than you think and my turkey noodle soup recipe makes the perfect lunch or light dinner during the chilly winter months.
For my soup, I used my leftover turkey carcass and all the scraps from deboning my turkey to make a stock. Some parts of my dry brine turkey recipe are perfect for this. But you can use a store-bought chicken or vegetable stock if you’d rather skip that part of the recipe.
Ingredients
Let’s start by gathering the ingredients we need to make my Turkey Noodle Soup Recipe. In Chef Speak this is called the “Mise en Place” which translates to “Everything in its Place”.
Not only does setting your ingredients up ahead of time speed up the cooking process, it also helps ensure you have everything you need to make the dish.
Can I make this soup with chicken instead of turkey?
You certainly can. I created this recipe after Thanksgiving which is why I used turkey. You can also use beef if you like beef noodle soup.
How long does it take to make soup?
Homemade soup can be made in just about 45 minutes, but if you have the time let it simmer for just a little longer to build the flavor profile.
How do I keep the noodles in my soup from getting mushy?
The trick to any noodle soup is not adding the noodles to the very end of the process, allowing them to cook just enough before serving. A great way to ensure your noodles are perfect every time is to cook them ahead of time.
Make sure to rinse and chill them down and when you’re ready to serve simply place the noodles in the bowl and ladle the hot soup over top of them. This will help cool the soup down just a bit and the noodles will be plump and firm! It’s going to be oh so delicioso, just serve it with a salad and some crusty bread and you’ve got dinner!
What kind of noodles can I use in my soup?
There are so many types of noodles if you’re not a fan of egg noodles use one of your favorites.
Broken spaghetti, macaroni, ramen or any variety of Asian noodles are good choices. I also love using tiny pasta like acini di pepe, ditali, pastina and orzo.
Other good choices are orecchiette, farfalle or any smaller pasta shape. I also enjoy adding tortellini or mini ravioli to my soups, making them even heartier and more filling.
I don’t like noodles what else can I use?
If you’re not a fan of noodles you can use rice, barley, zucchini noodles (aka zoodles), beans, or simply add more vegetables.
More soup recipes you’ll love!
How to Make Turkey Noodle Soup
Follow along with my detailed instructions below to see how to make turkey noodle soup in your kitchen the same way I made it in the restaurant!
Turkey Noodle Soup
Ingredients
- 2 carrots diced
- 4 stalks celery diced
- 1 medium onion diced
- 1 cup of frozen peas
- olive oil for sauteing veggies
- sea salt and pepper to taste
- 4 cups homemade turkey stock or store bought chicken or veggie stock
- 2 cups turkey meat diced or pulled into small easy to eat pieces
- 2-4 cups uncooked egg noodles or your favorite pasta shape
Instructions
Turkey Stock
- place all your scraps and turkey carcass in a large pot with the peels and vegetable scraps from the soup prep. Cover with water and bring to a boil. Allow stock to simmer and reduce by 60-70% or about 4 cups of stock. This process should take about an hour or a little longer.
Turkey soup
- heat a medium stockpot and add olive oil to sweat down the veggies (mirepoix)
- Add in diced celery, carrots and onion stir well and season with a little sea salt and black pepper, allow to cook for 3-4 minutes
- Add turkey stock and turkey meat, bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer allowing to cook for at least 30 minutes. I like to let my soups simmer for 90 minutes whenever possible.
- While soup is cooking in another pot cook your egg noodles a little on the al dente side, then rinse and chill until you serve the soup.
- finish seasoning the soup as needed and add in frozen peas, allow to cook for 5 minutes longer before serving.
- Add a heaping helping of cooked noodles to the bowl and ladle over the hot soup and serve with your favorite crusty bread.
Nutrition
Jaime Prideaux
This looks delicious. We’ve had a lot of sickness going around here in our family, so this would be perfect. We made some chicken soup, but this turkey soup sounds wonderful! Thanks for sharing!
Terri Steffes
This soup looks so good, I would roast a turkey just to make it. I love a good well-seasoned soup. All the flavors that this soup has makes me want to dive in!
Theresa
Turkey Noodle Soup looks so inviting and comforting for the chilly months ahead. I like that you can make your own stock or use store bought. Sometimes I want to spend more time and do homemade, but many nights we’re short on time, so I like the option of cutting corners when I can.
Allison
I loved reading your turkey noodle soup recipe. Years ago when i was in college, i tried to make chicken soup. I put in a chicken carcass leftover from a recipe that called for deboned cooked chicken, lots of veggies and herbs. Although i cooked it for hours, it didn’t taste like chicken soup. I called my grandmother and she asked what I put in the soup, and I recited my list of ingredients. She said how can you make chicken soup with no chicken. Instead I had made a nice stock.
Beth
My husband made this tonight and it was delicious! It is the first time he’s made turkey noodle soup, but I hope he’ll make it again next year!
cait
this is such a great idea for all those leftover we have sitting in our house! cant wait to make it this weekend for my family
Destany
We had turkey noodle soup at a church pitch-in yesterday while we were decorating for the season! How timely. It was delicious, and this recipe looks very similar to what we had.
Rena
That looks amazing! Something you don’t consider often, but I love turkey and have it all throughout the year.
Jamie H
I love easy recipes like this, especially when they use up my leftovers! I can’t wait to try this recipe!
Pam Wattenbarger
We don’t have any leftover turkey but we do have leftover chicken. I’m going to use this to whip up this recipe!
Amber Myers
This would be perfect when it’s cold out. I make a ton of soups in the winter. This one sounds delicious!
Mary Frances
Looks amazing!! I’m going to make this tonight. Happy new year!
Chef Dennis Littley
Happy New Year Mary Frances! Thanks for stopping by!
Debbie Sullivan
I made this the othernight. I was delious. Tha.k You so much.
Chef Dennis Littley
Thanks for letting me know Debbie, I’m glad you enjoyed the soup!
Liz
Sounds delicious. Happy New Year!
Chef Dennis Littley
thanks Liz! Happy New Year!
Larry
I like the idea of adding the noodles to the bowl rather than the pan of soup.
Chef Dennis Littley
It keeps them tasting more like noodles then mush Larry. Happy New Year my friend!