Greek Lemon Turkey Soup (an after Thanksgiving special recipe)
Nov 23, 2018, Updated Nov 21, 2023
A Hearty, Healthy & Zesty Soup using 2 cups of diced freshly roasted turkey from your Thanksgiving feast. Make again using leftover chicken!
Like many of us – who wants to cook the week after Thanksgiving?
Yet – with all that leftover turkey meat ( I use white meat for this recipe) this is a one pot soup, that eat likes a meal and is delicious!
Instead of classic orzo rice, I have use a medium grain white rice… Calrose rice. It has great natural thickening properties, which is what I love.
This soup has tons of vegetables – a waistline savor after the holidays. You know me, I’m always looking to add extra veggies to soups.
Avgolemono soup:
A Greek lemon chicken soup that is thickened with an egg sauce (whipped eggs and lemon juice.) With rice and vegetables, it’s a meal in itself! Almost every culture has some version of chicken soup, noodles or not.
My Avgolemono style soup recipe is a redux on the classic Greek version.
Extra veggies – turkey substitutes for chicken – a little extra thickness in consistency.
Ingredients matter!
I have purchased the freshest celery, heirloom colorful carrots, parsnips, leeks and garlic.
Homemade stock is preferable, duh. The canned stuff is full of flavorings and preservatives, and does not have the right body or flavor. Use the chicken from the broth in this recipe too, or in a bevy of other recipes from chicken salad to chicken tacos.
My Trick: This recipe was developed so that the vegetables are bright and tender-crisp.
So – instead of sautéing the veggies first, then adding the broth and rice.. this is the order (an a recipe game-changer):
Bring the broth to a boil in your pot, add rice, stir cook for 10 minutes, cooking about half-way.
Add the veggies now, top with lid and simmer until the rice has perfectly softened, and the veggies are tender crisp. Add cubed cooked turkey.
Next, whip the eggs, add cornstarch to lemon juice and add all to the pot and bring just to a simmer – and remove from heat.
Great garnishes are lemon slices, lots of fresh-cut parsley and ground pink peppercorns.
Calrose rice:
A medium-grain rice developed at the Rice Experiment Station at the University of California at Davis (U.C. Davis) from the japonica variety. It was developed to deliver the best flavor when grown in the northern California climate. The cooked grains are softer, moist, sticky and absorb flavor well. Calrose is an all-purpose table rice as well as a rice for specialty Mediterranean and Asian cuisine such as paella, risotto, pilaf and rice bowls. Japonica rice or Aborio rice can also be used.
Enjoy this special Soup!
I make it every year after Thanksgiving. When I get a craving for it during the year, I make it also with cooked cubed white meat chicken.
Karen
Greek Lemon Turkey Soup (an after Thanksgiving special recipe)
Ingredients
- 2 cups cooked white meat roast turkey, cut into 1/2 cubes
- 8 1/2 cups homemade chicken broth , or turkey broth
- 1 cup Calrose rice*, medium grain rice
- 1 1/2 cups fresh carrots, peeled, ½” dice (I chose heirloom)
- 1 1/2 cups celery, peeled, ½” dice
- 1 cups leeks, cleaned, ½” dice
- 3/4 cups parsnip, peeled, ½” dice
- 1 1/2 teaspoons garlic, minced or finely grated
- 2 large eggs, I use pasture raised
- 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- 4 tablespoons fresh parsley leaves , chopped, for garnish
- 1/2 teaspoon ground pink peppercorns, for garnish
Instructions
- Add all the broth to a 4 – 6 quart non-reactive, heavy soup pot. Bring to a boil. Add the rice, stir well and bring back to a boil. Cover and lower heat to a simmer. Cook for 10 minutes. (Will be partially cooked.)
- In the meantime beat eggs well until very frothy. HINT: add the eggs to a mini food processor and pulse until very frothy for best results. Add cornstarch to lemon juice and mix well until fully dissolved. Set aside.
- Uncover the pot and add all vegetables and garlic. Stir well. Cover and cook for 10 minutes. Test that the rice has fully cooked, softened and plump, vegetable should be crisp-tender.
- Add the eggs and lemon juice mixture to the pot of soup and stir constantly over LOW heat until it just comes to a boil. Remove from heat. The soup will be nicely thickened. Add in turkey until warmed through.
- Serve the soup in individual bowls. Garnish with parsley all over and cracked pink peppercorns… lemon slices are nice too!
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This soup looks lovely. Can I freeze it?
Hi Louanne ~ Thanks for the question. YES you can freeze the soup. Best to defrost a day in the refrigerator, then reheat over low heat covered. 😀Karen
PS: I freeze soups in 2 cup containers.
I make this soup after Thanksgiving every year since Karen has posted it. It’s my family’s favorite soup! And, I make it with leftover chicken in colder months.
Was super easy to make. I sometimes add different vegetables too. Nice and lemony! Be sure to add plenty of parsley!
Thanks Beth for sharing your thoughts about this soup! So thrilled to hear you make it often and it is a family favorite… I too make it with chicken throughout the year. 😀Karen
Delicious! My Greek husband (who for years had been FLUSHING my beloved by all generic post thanksgiving turkey soup until he got busted coming out of the bathroom with an empty bowl🤨) LOVED. The avgolemono and fresh herbs brighten the slightly gamey turkey flavors beautifully. I had to restrain myself from sautéing the veggies but I did and absolutely don’t regret. Thanks for the recipe! Now we can all eat together!
Hi Dawn! Thank you so much for taking the time to write to me. Happy to hear you LOVED the soup and followed the recipe. Hint: you can make it year-round with chicken (works perfectly with skinned rotisserie chicken.) 😀Karen