This creamy turkey dumpling soup is the perfect dish to serve up after the holidays. Using leftover turkey, mashed potatoes, and green bean casserole in a new way is always quite exciting!
Making soup with leftover turkey is nothing new, but it is always delicious. Last year I made Creamy Leftover Turkey Wild Rice Soup, and this year I made turkey and dumplings.
This recipe is unique because it uses all sorts of Thanksgiving leftovers. Leftover turkey meat, leftover mashed potatoes, and even leftover green bean casserole can all be added to this thick and flavorful soup.
Why This Recipe Works
- It's great for leftovers. From the leftover turkey to the mashed potatoes and green bean casserole, have you ever seen a recipe using up so many leftovers at once? Repurposing leftovers is always a bonus in my book!
- It's easy to make. This recipe is great for experienced and inexperienced cooks. Perfect for getting comfortable in the kitchen by using basic skills.
- It's worth the wait. This soup will take about an hour of your time from start to finish, but it's all worth it in the end. This creamy turkey soup is filling, comforting, and soooo gosh darn tasty you'll want a second bowl.
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🥘 Ingredients
Butter- Butter will be used to cook down the veggies until they're tender.
Mirepoix- You'll need a combination of celery, carrots, and onion for a great aromatic base in this soup.
Mushrooms- These will provide a great depth of flavor but can be left out if desired.
Garlic- Use fresh garlic or minced garlic from a jar.
Seasonings- You will want to use dried thyme, salt, pepper, onion powder, ground sage, and ground nutmeg to make this soup well-rounded and flavorful.
Flour- Use all-purpose flour to thicken the soup.
Cream of Mushroom Condensed Soup- Adding cream of mushroom will enhance the flavors and make the soup more hearty.
Milk and Water- For the liquid base of the soup. Getting it to the right consistency while keeping it nice and rich.
Mashed Potatoes- Use your leftover mashed potatoes or even instant mashed potatoes. They'll dissolve into the soup and act as a thickener.
Cooked Turkey Meat- You can use cooked turkey or chicken. Both will work fine. Just make sure the meat is chopped or shredded and the bones are removed.
Green Beans- You can use canned, fresh, or frozen green beans. I like to use leftover green bean casserole (topping and all!)
Canned Biscuits- These will be the "dumplings" on top, which means we don't have to go through the trouble of making them from scratch.
For specific quantities, see the recipe card below.
🍽 Equipment Needed
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🔪 Instructions
Check out how to Make Creamy Turkey Dumpling Soup with these simple step-by-step instructions:
Add butter to a large pot over medium-high heat and cook until melted.
Stir in the chopped carrots, celery, onion, and mushrooms.
Add the garlic and stir. Cook for 30 seconds.
Stir in the thyme, salt, pepper, onion powder, sage, and nutmeg. Mix until combined.
Whisk in the flour to combine, and then let cook for another 2 minutes.
Add in your condensed soup and stir to combine.
Add in the water, milk, and mashed potatoes. Stir until the potatoes are mostly dissolved, and the broth looks smooth.
Add the turkey and chopped green beans. Stir.
Bring the soup to a boil, and while the soup is heating, prep the biscuits by cutting them into 8 pieces each.
Once the soup is boiling, add the biscuits to the pot.
Reduce the heat to low and then cover the pot with a lid.
Cook covered on low heat for 20 minutes. Stir halfway to prevent stuff from sticking at the bottom of the pot.
Remove the lid and stir again. Remove the soup from the heat.
Serve warm.
🧾 Substitutions
This leftover turkey and dumplings recipe is very easily customizable to what you may have on hand. Check out these simple substitute ideas.
Mashed Potatoes. If you don't have 2 cups of already cooked mashed potatoes, you can add in 1 cup of instant potatoes. You can also omit this entirely and just add in small diced potatoes instead of the mashed potatoes. Added in at the same step.
Turkey. If you do not have cooked turkey on hand, shredded or chopped cooked chicken can be used.
Green Beans. You can use fresh green beans that have been washed and trimmed, or you can use leftover green bean casserole (onion topping and all).
Cream of Mushroom Soup. A great sub for this is to just use cream of chicken soup.
🍴 Recipe Tips
I include nutmeg in this soup to help give it a flavor kick and a bit of a warm undertone. It's one of my favorite things to do when making a comforting soup recipe and has been a trick of mine for years.
You can use any canned biscuits for the dumplings. I used Dollar General's Butter flavored biscuits, but you can use Pillsbury, store brand, or any other biscuits as long as the flavor is either original or complements the soup (like butter).
🥗 Side Dishes
This soup would taste great served alongside a simple green salad or heart crusty bread with butter. Even my Dinner Rolls would taste fantastic alongside this soup.
💭 FAQs
This creamy turkey soup with potatoes is good for about 3 or 4 days if kept stored in an airtight container in the fridge. I recommend eating it within 2 days for the best textures and flavors.
This is not a good soup to freeze. When thawed and reheated, the textures won't be as good. I recommend eating this soup within a few days.
If you want to make homemade dumplings for this soup, go right ahead! I like to use canned biscuits or potato gnocchi whenever I can to save myself time and effort.
More great soup recipes to check out soon
- Cheesy Potato Soup
- Poor Man's Beef Stew
- 5 Ingredient Instant Pot Chili
- Stove Top Beef Stew
- Easy Zucchini Corn Chowder
📖 Recipe
Creamy Turkey Dumpling Soup
Equipment
- Ladle
Ingredients
- ¼ cup butter ($0.38)
- ½ cup carrots, chopped ($0.14)
- ½ cup celery chopped ($0.12)
- 1 medium sized onion, diced (about 1 cup) ($.70)
- 1 cup sliced mushrooms ($1.49)
- 3 cloves garlic, minced ($0.05)
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme ($0.10)
- 1 teaspoon salt ($0.10)
- 1 teaspoon pepper ($0.10)
- 2 teaspoon onion powder ($0.20)
- ¼ teaspoon ground sage ($0.05)
- ⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg ($0.02)
- ⅓ cup flour ($0.03)
- 1 can (10.5 ounce) cream of mushroom ($0.58)
- 6 cups water ($0.00)
- 2 cups milk ($0.19)
- 2 cups mashed potatoes ($0.46)
- 2 cups shredded or chopped cooked turkey meat ($3.10)
- 1 cup chopped fresh green beans, optional ($0.58)
- 16 ounce canned biscuits ($0.58)
Instructions
- Add butter to a large pot over medium-high heat and cook until melted.
- Stir in the chopped carrots, celery, onion, and mushrooms.
- Add the garlic and stir. Cook for 30 seconds.
- Stir in the thyme, salt, pepper, onion powder, sage, and nutmeg. Mix until combined.
- Whisk in the flour to combine and then let cook for another 2 minutes.
- Add in your condensed soup and stir to combine.
- Add in the water, milk, and mashed potatoes. Stir until the potatoes are mostly dissolved and the broth looks smooth.
- Add the turkey and chopped green beans. Stir.
- Bring the soup to a boil and while the soup is heating prep the biscuits by cutting them into 8 pieces each.
- Once the soup is boiling, add the biscuits to the pot.
- Reduce the heat to low and then cover the pot with a lid.
- Cook covered on low heat for 20 minutes. Stir halfway to prevent stuff from sticking at the bottom of the pot.
- Remove lid and stir again. remove the soup from the heat.
- Serve warm.
Notes
Recipe Tips
- You can swap out the cream of mushroom for cream of chicken if desired.
- You could also swap out the fresh green beans for leftover green bean casserole.
- I include nutmeg in this soup to help give it a flavor kick and a bit of warm undertone. It's one of my favorite things to do when making a comforting soup recipe and has been a trick of mine for years.
- You can use any canned biscuits for the dumplings. I used Dollar General's Butter flavored biscuits, but you can use Pillsbury, store brand, or any other biscuits as long as the flavor is either original or complementing to the soup (like butter).
- This soup would taste great served alongside a simple green salad or heart crusty bread with butter.
Storage
- This creamy turkey soup with potatoes is good for about 3 or 4 days if kept stored in an airtight container in the fridge. I recommend eating it within 2 days for the best textures and flavors.
- This is not a good soup to freeze. When thawed and reheated the textures won't be as good. I recommend eating this soup within a few days.
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