After Thanksgiving, once our turkey is picked to the bone and we've tossed its frame into the pot for broth, we make Turkey and Wild Rice Soup. Fragrant, herbaceous thyme blends perfumes the house as it simmers in a savory, golden-rich turkey broth dotted by carrots, celery and onions. Like most good soups, it's not a complicated recipe; rather, it's simple and in its simplicity is an amazing, rich and heady flavor.
How to Make Turkey and Wild Rice Soup
To make turkey and wild rice soup, you'll begin first by picking your roasted turkey clean, and chopping the meat into bite-sized pieces. Once that turkey frame is picked clean, you'll need to simmer it in water and wine to make the broth that forms the foundation of this soup. You'll also want to precook the wild rice which keeps it nice and fluffy, and prevents it from absorbing all your broth and making what should be a light soup into a thickened porridge.
Once you have your ingredients at the ready, you'll start by sweating the onions, carrots, and celery together with olive oil and salt. Unlike sautéing, in which the vegetables are cooked hotter and allowed to brown, sweating gives these vegetables a softer, sweeter flavor and encourages them to release their liquid and steam. Once the onions are translucent, but the carrots still firm, you'll add the broth, roasted turkey meat and cooked wild rice along with several sprigs of thyme. This way, you need only wait until the carrots are cooked through to serve the soup, as the wild rice and turkey have already completed their turn cooking and need only to warm a bit in the hot broth. The fragrant tiny thyme leaves will fall away from their tough stems as the soup simmers, and you need only pluck out the stems just before you serve the soup.
Turkey and Wild Rice Soup
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 yellow onion chopped fine
- 6 celery ribs chopped
- 3 carrots peeled and diced
- 2 teaspoons finely ground real salt
- 8 cups turkey bone broth
- 3 cups roasted turkey meat chopped into ½-inch pieces
- 3 cups cooked wild rice
- 5 sprigs fresh thyme
Instructions
- Warm the olive oil in an enameled cast iron skillet over medium heat. Toss in the onion, celery and carrots, and sprinkle the salt over them. Stir to coat the vegetables in olive oil, and cover the pot with a lid. Turn down the heat to medium-low and allow the vegetables to sweat for five to six minutes, or until the onions turn translucent.
- Uncover the pot, and stir in the chopped turkey and the wild rice. Drop the fresh thyme into the pot at simmer for twenty to thirty minutes or until the vegetables are tender. Using tongs, pluck out any tough stems of thyme, and discard them. Adjust the soup's seasoning, and serve hot.
- This soup will keep in the fridge about five days or frozen up to six months.
Notes
What to Serve with Turkey and Wild Rice Soup
There's a few things that partner particularly well with this soup, especially to round it out and give you a full meal. Salads are always nice partners for soup, as are breads and rolls.
An Autumn Salad partners well with this soup, especially for a light lunch or dinner.
Maple Einkorn Dinner Rolls are perfect for sopping up the extra broth.
And Pumpkin Custard with the lightest touch of whipped cream is nice served after this soup, as a dessert.