Ok, how long do you reeeeally want that leftover turkey lurking in your freezer? I only keep it a short time, mostly just long enough to figure out what all to do with it, and try to use it up as quickly as possible. Then there’s no worry of it getting freezer burned, dried out, or just plain “old tasting”. Plus – –  I need the room for Christmas! Thanksgiving takes up a lot of space. But with holiday baking, Christmas is times THREE. 

So get it out and get it over with, I say! It’s always great to freeze it, and enjoy some good old-fashioned BEEF after turkey day, (and that 3-day feast of of leftovers that follows!) But, it really shouldn’t remain in the freezer until Easter. 😉

My hubby and I both came down with nasty colds, so out mine came. The next to last bag of ours. I comforted us with one of both of our favorite concoctions….just plain ol’ good Turkey and Rice Soup. Easy on the tummy, and I never need to buy anything extra. The last of the celery got used and didn’t rot in the PIA to clean refrigerator bin, and I had half of a bag of sweet baby carrots to use up in the freezer to boot. It’s simple. It’s delicious. And it just might be my favorite soup of all time.

It’s like an old friend that loves you no matter what. Even when your nose looks like Rudolph’s.  

It was one of my favorite soups as a child when home from school sick with a bad cold or the flu, and it still comforts me just as much as an adult as it always did. Normally, my pots of soup take me a half a day or more to make, depending on what I’m making. (Good soups always do, I say! 😉 ) But since we’re using pre-cooked turkey, this soup came together in just 1 hour. And that’s including hunting for the carrots in the bottomless pit freezer, and figuring out my recipe per what I had on hand. So I’m sure you can whip this up in 45 minutes or less! Not bad for a made-from-scratch pot of soup!! 😉

Since soup was going to pretty much be our only nourishment, and we reeeeeally needed extra nourishment lemme tell ya, this cold actually hurt from head to toe, I made this extra hearty. It was going to be our only main food for a couple of days, (no way was I going to be cooking anything else!), so I wanted to make sure this was going to stick to our ribs and knock the crap out of these colds. 😉 So you can cut back on how much rice you add if you’d like. (*Such as 1 1/2 cups water to 3/4 cups rice.) Or make the full batch and freeze that last cup, as rice freezes well and makes for a quick lunch helper using up the last of chili, roasted meat and gravy, or a quick stir-fry! But if you want a super good “stoup”, as Rachael would say, you’ll enjoy it just as is.

*It will thicken a lot when chilled. But just reheat the leftovers slowly, if you have any!, over low heat, covered and stir occasionally, and you shouldn’t really have to add any extra liquid unless you want to. You really don’t want to water down soups because it will severely diminish the flavorings and seasonings that you added. If you absolutely have to add more liquid, simply add a little more chicken broth and taste. But only add a very little bit at a time. I left ours as is, and we loved it nice and thick and rich the next day! 😀 Just always remember, that it will thin out when it gets hot again. So be careful that you don’t over add and possibly ruin it. 😉 

And I guess that’s about all I can tell ya! 😀  Always use quality ingredients and you can’t go wrong. Add as much or little of the ingredients that you prefer. And switch out any for half, or all, of your own favorite. Don’t care for carrots? Add peas or green beans. Just use what you have on hand. 

So I hope that you all are healthy and this helps you to not let that turkey sit in the freezer until you finally pitch it, and it finds it’s way into a nice pot of this comforting soup instead, and not the bottom of the garbage can come spring! One of the best soups to make when people in the house aren’t feeling well. Rice is very easy on the tummy, and the turkey and broth provide lots of protein while the veggies add a nice amount of vitamins that our bodies need to keep healthy and kick colds to the curb! 😉 The perfect storm that colds and flu hate! 😉

Take care all, and I’ll see you all later! Stay warm, stay healthy! ~Kelly

*Just a little extra note before I go, I’ve hit a personal milestone!

This is my 350th blog post in just over a year and a half! 350 recipes! Can you believe it?!!

Hope you all have enjoyed this culinary journey so far!

So many more wonderful things to come, too! 😀 

Yield: 3 quarts | 6 servings

Creamy Turkey & Rice Soup

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Ingredients

For Rice:

• 2 cups + 1 Tbl. water
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. celery salt
• 1 1/2 Tbl. butter
• 1 cup long grain white rice

For Soup:

• 1 (32 oz.) box chicken broth
• 1 large bay leaf
• 3 Tbl. Superior Touch Better Than Bouillon Chicken Base
• 1 cup sliced baby carrots (half of an 8 oz. bag)
• 1 cup sliced celery, or one large rib
• 1 medium to large sweet onion, chopped
• 1 tsp. dried parsley, or 1 Tbl. fresh, minced, adding just before serving
• 1/2 tsp. poultry seasoning
• 1/4 tsp. herbes de provence
• 1/8 tsp. coarse ground black pepper
• 1/16 tsp. onion powder
• 1 Tbl. butter
• 1 cup heavy cream or milk, or more chicken broth is ok, too
• 2 lightly packed cups pulled cooked turkey

To Thicken:

• 2 Tbl. cornstarch
• 2 Tbl. cold milk

Instructions

Make rice first: In medium saucepan, bring water, salts and butter to a boil, stir in rice, cover tightly and reduce heat to Low. LOW boil/simmer rice for 15 minutes. Do not lift lid. Slide pan from heat and let stand until needed, still covered, just leave it be.

In 4-6 quart pot: Pour in chicken broth, and everything For Soup except the cream (or milk) and turkey. Cover with lid tilted, bring to a medium boil and cook until veggies are tender, 8-10 minutes, then turn heat down to a low simmer.

Stir in heavy cream (or milk). *You can also use chicken broth instead if you prefer. But you need that last extra cup.

Add pulled cooked turkey.

In small juice glass, mix cornstarch and cold milk, stir into pot to thicken.

Simmer for 1 more minute. Gently stir in rice.

Serve hot with chunks of crusty bread and butter for sopping, or good old-fashioned saltine crackers!