I didn’t intend for this to be a blog post. This dish started as me just using up the turkey carcasses we froze after Thanksgiving.
But then I tasted it.
As usual with home cooking, simple ingredients, slow cooked, with flavor make the best best dishes. And this soup was SO delicious I had to share it. So here we are. If you don’t have a turkey carcass left over, consider just making this with chicken. It is that good you can’t wait until next year.
I made a huge pot of Turkey stock yesterday in our lobster pot and cooked for 3+ hours. If you have never made stock, check out my post here.
While it simmered, I cleaned out the fridge and tackled organizing projects in the kitchen. So basically, a clean fridge plus a delicious soup with crusty bread on a cold rainy day = the perfect evening. Plus making stock is so great for using up all those veggies in the veggie drawer that have seen better days.
Sometimes it can be hard to sell my family on soup for dinner, but everyone took a bite of this and raved. It is totally thanks to the delicious broth that adds so much depth of flavor, plus the comforting, stick to your ribs feeling from the creaminess of the butter and milk and cream.
I hope you still have a turkey carcass you can use up! If not, just pull this post up next year. You’ll be so glad you did!
Happy Eating, xoxo Katie
Creamy Turkey and Wild Rice Soup (find printer version here):
- 3/4 cup uncooked wild rice blend*
- 1 small yellow onion , chopped
- 2 medium carrots , diced
- 2 ribs celery , diced
- 6 Tablespoons butter , divided
- 1 clove garlic , minced
- 4 1/2 cups turkey (or chicken) broth
- 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/4 teaspoon dried marjoram
- 1/4 teaspoon dried sage
- 1/4 teaspoon dried rosemary
- salt and freshly ground black pepper , to taste
- 1 1/2 pounds turkey meat, diced (can substitute chicken breasts, see step 5)
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cups milk
- 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream (or half & half)
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Prepare rice according to package instructions.
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Melt 1 Tbsp butter in a large soup pot over medium heat.
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Add onion, carrots and celery and sauté until slightly tender. Add the garlic and sauté for 30 seconds.
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Stir in the broth, thyme, marjoram, sage, rosemary and season with salt and pepper to taste.
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*If using chicken breasts, add and bring mixture to a boil. Cover the pot with a lid and allow mixture to boil for 10-12 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through, then remove chicken to a cutting board to rest for 5 minutes.. If using pre-cooked turkey, skip to next step.
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Reduce the heat to low and add turkey meat (or chicken meat) and cooked rice to the soup.
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In a separate medium saucepan melt remaining 5 Tbsp butter over medium heat.
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Add flour and whisk constantly for 1-2 minutes. Slowly add the milk, whisking vigorously, and cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture begins to thicken.
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Add this mixture to the soup pot and cook for 5 more minutes. Stir in heavy cream or half & half. Serve warm.
Adapted from Tastes Better From Scratch’s Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup
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