Creamy soup filled with shredded leftover turkey, buttermilk dumplings, celery, carrots, onions, and thyme. This leftover turkey and dumpling soup is both delicious and comforting, a great way to use Thanksgiving leftovers.
Tomorrow is Thanksgiving!
That means that this is the perfect time to talk about leftovers!
Because by Thursday evening, as you’re packing up all the leftovers and stuffing them in your overfilled fridge, you’re going to wonder what to do with all that food.
I’ve actually had Thanksgiving dishes the last couple weeks. Otherwise, there wouldn’t be any dishes to share with you. That also means that I’ve had Thanksgiving leftovers for a little while now too.
Of course, there are always sandwiches. You can always use these garlic cheddar biscuits from my chicken pot pie as “bread” for your own DIY Thanksgiving leftover sandwich. Add leftover turkey, cranberry sauce, stuffing. All your favorite sides can go into one mini sandwich.
But the day after Thanksgiving, I personally always want something warm and cozy, like soup!
Last year’s leftovers included:
Leftover Turkey Spicy Miso Ramen
Both of which are soo amazing that I’ve eaten them over and over again.
This year, I have two brand new soups for you. The first one features this leftover turkey and dumpling soup. The second one you’ll have to wait until later this week is leftover turkey noodle soup. =)
This leftover turkey and dumpling soup is super easy to make with ingredients that you probably already have in your fridge or pantry, especially if you made yourself a chicken pot pie. Just add everything to one pot, cook for about 20-30 minutes, and then you’re all set for a delicious and inviting meal.
It’s especially welcoming when it’s raining and cold outside. I like to curl up somewhere with knee high boot socks, a blanket scarf, a good book, and a warm bowl of deliciousness.
In a medium or large pot, add about 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat. Allow the olive oil to heat for about a minute before adding diced onions, chopped celery, and chopped carrots. Cook these vegetables for several minutes until they become soft and tender.
Pour the turkey/chicken broth and add thyme into the pot, and allow the soup to simmer for several minutes. You can make your own turkey broth using the turkey carcass or use chicken broth, whichever is more convenient.
While the soup is simmering, in a medium mixing bowl, combine all purpose flour, baking soda, salt, and buttermilk. Use a tablespoon to create little dumpling balls and drop them into the soup. I approximated it. The measurements weren’t exact and my dumplings are in different sizes. And that’s okay. Whenever something comes out perfectly imperfect, I just call it rustic. =)
Cook the dumplings in the soup for a few minutes. The dumplings will puff up and appear fluffy.
Use a slotted spoon to scoop the dumplings from the soup and divide them between the bowls.
In a small bowl, mix together milk and flour until the flour has dissolved. Slowly pour the milk and flour mixture into the soup and stir to evenly incorporate into the soup. Season the soup with salt. Then add the shredded leftover turkey.
Once the turkey has warmed and soup is thick and creamy, divide the soup into each of the bowls.
Serve the leftover turkey and dumpling soup warm.
Enjoy!
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- ½ medium onion, sliced
- 2 ribs celery, chopped
- 4 medium carrots, chopped (about 1 ½ -2 cups)
- 4 cups turkey/chicken broth
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- ¼ teaspoon flour
- ½ cup milk
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ pound leftover shredded turkey (about 1 – 1 ½ cups)
- Finely chopped parsley or carrot top greens for garnish
- ¾ cup all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup buttermilk
- In a medium or large pot, add about 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat. Allow the olive oil to heat for about a minute before adding diced onions, chopped celery, and chopped carrots. Cook these vegetables for several minutes until they become soft and tender.
- Pour the turkey/chicken broth, add thyme into the pot, and allow the soup to simmer for several minutes.
- While the soup is simmering, in a medium mixing bowl, combine all purpose flour, baking soda, salt, and buttermilk. Use a tablespoon to create little dumpling balls and drop them into the bubbling part of the soup. Cook the dumplings in the soup for a few minutes. The dumplings will puff up and appear fluffy.
- Use a slotted spoon to scoop the dumplings from the soup and divide them into the bowls.
- In a small bowl, mix together milk and flour until the flour has dissolved. Slowly pour the milk and flour mixture into the soup and stir to evenly incorporate into the soup. Season the soup with salt. Then add the shredded leftover turkey.
- Once the turkey has warmed and soup is thick and creamy, divide the soup into each of the bowls.
- Serve the leftover turkey and dumpling soup warm.
- Garnish with finely chopped parsley or carrot top greens if desired.
I just made this soup, and boy is it delicious! Exactly what I was looking for, after trying this soup many years ago at a friend’s place!
IIdid run into one issue, though, even after triple checking measurements, but the dumpling dough’s consistency was really runny, more like a waffle batter! Thankfully, addi g more flour fixed it right up, but maybe I misread even after checking? I’ve been known to do that….lol
Nicely done. Looks delicious.
Thank you!
I’m trying your recipe tonight. Can you tell me where you obtained such a cute spoon?
I hope you’ll like it! The spoon is from For Such a Time Designs on Etsy.
This looks so good! Thanks for all your ideas.
This soup makes me wish I had some leftover turkey. All your soups look fabulous, but the dumplings are my favourite today!
The Leftover Turkey Soup looks so good – just saved it to my favorite recipes!
Happy Thanksgiving!
You are so ahead of the rest of us. This looks delicious. Thank you for a wonderful idea. Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours.