Weekend Recipe: Creamy Turkey and Wild Rice Soup

This turkey and rice soup from Cook's Country is a great way to make use of leftover Thanksgiving turkey.

Unfortunately, all the turkey and rice soup recipes we found tasted of weak broth studded with undercooked rice and rubbery turkey. Our Creamy Turkey and Wild Rice Soup recipe avoids these pitfalls by sautéeing and simmering the turkey carcass with vegetables and a combination of chicken broth (for flavor) and white wine (for brightness), which produced a rich, savory broth. To speed up the cooking of the rice, we added a small amount of baking soda to the soup — this helped break down the tough fibers in the rice and reduced our cooking time by about 15 minutes. Adding the leftover turkey at the very end of cooking ensured that it stayed tender.

Creamy Turkey and Wild Rice Soup
Serves 6 to 8

Leftover turkey wings, thighs, or drumsticks can be used in place of the carcass.

INGREDIENTS

Turkey Broth:
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 onions, chopped
1 celery rib, chopped
1 smoked turkey or chicken carcass, cut into 4 pieces (see note)
3 cups white wine
6 cups low-sodium chicken broth

Soup:
1 cup wild rice
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup heavy cream
3 cups chopped cooked turkey
Salt and pepper

INSTRUCTIONS

1. For the turkey broth: Melt butter in large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Cook onions, celery, and turkey carcass until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Add wine and chicken broth and simmer over medium-low heat for 1 hour. Strain broth, discarding solids.

2. For the soup: Wipe out Dutch oven and toast rice over medium heat until rice begins to pop, 5 to 7 minutes. Stir in turkey broth, carrots, thyme, and baking soda and bring to boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, until rice is tender, about 1 hour.

3. Whisk flour and cream in bowl until smooth. Slowly whisk flour mixture into soup. Add turkey and simmer until soup is slightly thickened, about 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Serve.