Turkey Pot Pie Soup
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Turkey Pot Pie Soup is the best way to use leftover turkey! Easy to make in the instant pot, slow cooker or on the stove-it’s healthy & tasty! This post is sponsored by our friends at ButcherBox.
This post was shared in 2020 but has since been updated.
If you have no clue what to do with leftover turkey meat, this turkey pot pie soup recipe is for you.
There are a lot of different ways you can use up turkey. Make a sandwich, leftover turkey soup, turkey wild rice soup, turkey broth, eat it cold out of the fridge…
But my favorite way to use up leftover Thanksgiving turkey is this Turkey Pot Pie Soup Recipe! (It’s super similar to our Chicken Pot Pie Soup)
This soup is quick and easy, veggie loaded, naturally gluten free, and you can easily make it dairy free (paleo and Whole30 friendly too!). The soup gets its creaminess from potatoes – no milk, flour or cornstarch necessary!
The best part about this soup is without a doubt the turkey. We used leftover ButcherBox turkey, which is in my opinion the best turkey.
If you’re searching for other Thanksgiving Recipes – check out these Healthy Thanksgiving Recipes!
Liz’s Tips for turkey pot pie Soup
- Thicker Soup: If you want to thicken your soup you can whisk in a cornstarch slurry. Mix 1 tablespoon of cornstarch with 1/2 cup of broth and stir into the soup while it’s cooking.
- Make Homemade Broth: Homemade turkey broth takes this recipe over the top! It’s very easy to make your own broth, just follow this turkey bone broth recipe!
Ingredients
I like to make this in a large dutch oven, but you can also make it in the slow cooker or instant pot.
Substitutions:
Herbs: I love using fresh herbs instead of dried. Use 1/2 teaspoon of fresh herbs in place of 1 teaspoon of dried herbs. It really elevates the flavor!
Milk: You can use whole milk, almond milk, coconut milk or oat milk. If you want to add heavy cream.. feel free to do so!
Corn: Some people like corn in their turkey pot pie. Feel free to add in 1 cup of thawed frozen corn in once cooked!
Veggies: You can use any vegetables you have on hand in this recipe. More onion, carrots and celery are always a good idea! I’ve also stirred in chopped spinach after making this and it’s great!
Vegetarian: Skip the turkey and double up on all the veggies for a vegetarian pot pie soup!
Stovetop/Instant Pot/Slow Cooker: You can make this soup however you’d like! All instructions are included in the recipe below!
Broth: Any broth will work in this recipe. We recommend turkey broth, chicken bone broth or vegetable broth.
Meat: I like to use the Thanksgiving leftovers from our crockpot turkey breast. You can use leftover chicken in this pot pie soup as well! Or this Leftover Turkey Soup is great too!
Noodles: You can add noodles to this soup if you’d like. Cook them separately and stir in before serving or try this Turkey Noodle Soup.
Make a Pot Pie: I wouldn’t recommend adding this soup filling to a pie crust and baking it. Instead, try our Healthy Chicken Pot Pie and sub cooked turkey for chicken.
How to make Turkey Pot Pie Soup:
- Sauté your onions, carrots, garlic, celery and spices until translucent in the instant pot.
- Add potatoes, leftover turkey and broth. Turn to High Pressure, sealing, and cook for 9 minutes. Allow it to natural release for 5 minutes. Manually release the rest of the pressure after 5 minutes.
- Remove the big potato pieces and add to a blender.
- Blend with milk and a bit of broth.
- Add your blended potato/milk mixture, along with frozen peas, into the instant pot and stir to combine.
- Stir & enjoy!
Cutting the potatoes into large and small pieces makes it easier to take out the big pieces for blending. The soup may look a little funny when you first stir it together, but just keep stirring!
Separation is normal when you refrigerate or freeze this. Just stir it up and you’ll be fine!
Can you make Turkey Pot Pie Soup in the instant pot?
Yes, I love making pressure cooker Turkey Pot Pie Soup! I’ve included all instant pot instructions below in the recipe card.
Making this soup in the instant pot is almost identical to making it in the crockpot or the stove. It is quicker than making it in the slow cooker and about 10 minutes quicker in the instant pot than making this on the stove!
Tip for the instant pot: Heat your liquid in the microwave before adding it to the instant pot. It will take less time to come to pressure.
How to Serve
Serving: This soup is a pretty hearty soup, so it’s fine to enjoy on its own – but I also have served it with an apple walnut salad and it’s yummy if you want some extra veggies!
Crackers or a big loaf of bread will also be perfect for dipping/dunking. Some people like to top this with a homemade biscuit, or you can use pie dough to make pie crust crackers.
Storage
Storing: This soup will last for 3 days in your fridge.
Freezing: You can freeze this soup. Store in airtight containers and allow it to cool completely before freezing. I love these containers for freezing leftovers. We have more tips on how to freeze soup!
Reheating: When ready to eat, defrost the night before in your refrigerator or just pop it in a microwave/pan and heat! If stored properly, it should stay good for 4-6 months.
Other healthy leftover turkey recipes:
Here are some of our favorite ways to use leftover Thanksgiving turkey:
Turkey Pot Pie Soup
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 cup celery chopped finely
- 1 cup carrot cut in small 1 inch circles or quartered
- 1 cup onion finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon garlic finely minced
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
- 1.5 cups yukon gold Potatoes cut into 1/2 inch square pieces
- 1.5 cup yukon gold potatoes cut into quarters so that you can remove them at the end. about 2 small potatoes
- 3.5 cups cooked turkey
- 5 cups turkey broth or chicken broth
- 1/2 cup milk room temperature, regular or nondairy
- 1 cup frozen peas thawed
- 3 tablespoons fresh parsley for garnish – optional
Instructions
Stovetop Instructions
- Heat olive oil in a large pot on the stove. Add in the celery, carrot, onion, garlic, salt, pepper, rosemary and thyme. Sauté for 2 minutes or until slightly translucent.
- Add potatoes, cooked turkey and broth in the pot. Do not add milk. Cover the pot and bring to a boil. Once boiling, lower heat to a simmer and cook on medium heat for 25 minutes or until large potato pieces are fork tender.
- After 25 minutes turn off the heat and remove the large potato pieces.
- Place large potato quarters, room temperature milk + 1/2 cup of broth *from the pot* (a couple ladles full!) into a blender. Blend until smooth. Add potato/milk mixture into the pot along with frozen peas.
- Stir everything together until combined and smooth. Garnish with parsley and serve.
Crockpot Instructions
- Heat olive oil in a pan on the stove. Add in the celery, carrot, onion, garlic, salt, pepper, thyme and rosemary. Sauté for 2 minutes or until slightly translucent. (This step is optional, but recommended!)
- Layer cooked vegetables, small/large potatoes and cooked turkey in the crockpot. Add broth. Do not add milk. Cover + set to low for 6 hours.
- Once cooked, remove the large potato pieces.
- Place large potato quarters, almond milk + 1/2 cup of broth *from the pot* (a few ladles full!) into a blender. Blend until smooth. Add back into the pot along with frozen peas.
- Stir everything together until combined and smooth. Garnish with parsley and serve.
Instant Pot Instructions
- Set Instant Pot to regular sauté function. Add olive oil to the pot. Add in the celery, carrot, onion, garlic, salt, pepper, rosemary and thyme Sauté for 2 minutes or until slightly translucent. Add in small cut potatoes + stir.
- Make sure to scrape the bottom of the pot to prevent a burn notice.
- Add large potato quarters and cooked turkey on top of veggies. Pour in broth. Do not add milk.
- Turn the Instant Pot to High Pressure (manual on older models), sealing and cook for 9 minutes. Allow it to natural release for 5 minutes. Manually release the rest of the pressure after 5 minutes.
- Remove the large potato pieces.
- Place large potato quarters, almond milk + 1/2 cup of broth *from the pot* (a few ladles full!) into a blender. Blend until smooth. Add back into the pot along with frozen peas.
- Stir together until combined and smooth. Garnish with parsley and serve.
Love this recipe! So easy and not heavy but filling all at the same time.
FINALLY pulled some leftover turkey from the freezer to make this soup for dinner tonight. I followed the crockpot instructions and the only change I made was using regular milk because I didn’t have plain almond milk in the house. Came out great….rave reviews from my 15-year-old son who says we need to have this a lot more! So glad to have another soup in the dinner recipe rotation!
This was the perfect way to use up Thanksgiving leftovers while changing them up. I had a lot of leftover mashed potatoes so I stirred some of them in instead of cooking and puréing potatoes, but I’ll try that the next time. I had this soup ready when my husband and son got home from some car trouble where they were outside on a very cold, snowy night, and my whole family loved it. I love your simple, healthy recipes—thank you!
This was downright DIVINE! I did add a big serving spoonful of mashed butternut squash to the blender just because, and also used regular whole milk. Aside from that, I followed the stovetop recipe exactly and now I may just go out of my way to cook turkey when it’s not thanksgiving! 😂 Perfect recipe on every way, thank you!!
This was quite easy and delicious! I made the following changes. I used broth that I made from my leftover turkey bones with a little meat left on. Then, rather than add the additional potato to puree in a blender, I used my leftover whipped potatoes in the blender with some of the broth. One additional tweak…I also had about a cup of leftover gravy so, I added that too for additional rich turkey flavor!
Absolutely the best soup we have had. This will be a regular recipe for left over turkey in our home!
I want to make this, but I don’t have Almond milk and it’s too cold to go to the store. Will regular 2% mike do just as well? Thank you
Never mind – I found my answer. I just needed to read your entire article!
This soup is DELICIOUS! I’ve made it three times in the last three weeks – once with leftover Thanksgiving turkey and twice with store bought rotisserie chicken – and it’s been fabulous every time. So easy, healthy and did I mention that it’s delicious?!! Keep the great recipes coming!
This was absolutely delicious! I used my leftover Thanksgiving Turkey and ate it for a few days. I’ve shared the recipe with friends and family and they all loved it also.
AMAZING! This was so good and easy to throw together. My husband doesn’t even like Turkey and was still talking about it two days later.
So happy you both enjoyed it, Brandy! Thank you!
Made this tonight (IP version) and it was phenomenal! Seasonings were perfect. I omitted the peas (didn’t have them) and added chicken since I only had about a cup of leftover turkey. Still came out great. Will definitely be trying more recipes in the future!
So glad you liked it! Thank you so much, Cori!
Perfect way to finish up leftover turkey from Thanksgiving! This soup is so easy to make and delicious. Highly recommend!
Thank you so much, Katie!
First recipe I’ve ever made from them and I’ll definitely be back for more. It was so yummy and easy to make!!
So happy you enjoyed it, Lindsey!
This soup is delicious! My daughter had 2 bowls!
So happy you like it!
Followed as written and it turned out to be so delicious!
So glad you liked it, Eliza!
Made this with Thanksgiving leftovers! It was a keeper! I made a few modifications based on our tastes and what I had on hand. Omitted peas, added corn and green beans. I didn’t have rosemary so I did sage and poultry seasoning along with the thyme. I was skeptical of the thickening and creaminess coming from almond milk, broth, and potatoes blended. But it is so good! You would never know! I plan to try with chicken in the future.
Thank you so much, Jenni! Love those substitution ideas! Definitely try it with chicken too!
This recipe was easy to follow and SO TASTY! Perfect for leftover turkey after hosting Thanksgiving. I did mine in the crock pot and was not disappointed! This recipe makes enough for the whole family. I even followed The Clean Eating Couple’s bone broth recipe and used it for this soup. A must try!!!
Thanks Angela!! So glad. you liked it 🙂
Made the turkey pot pie soup. It was so delicious!! And so easy to make. Will definitely be making this for my kids when they come home for Christmas.!
Love hearing that, Connie! Thank you so much!
We made this on the stovetop with leftover turkey and turkey stock from Thanksgiving, and were incredibly impressed with how flavorful this came out! The blended potatoes and milk really make this super creamy, just like a pot pie. We will definitely make this again!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Vicky! Thank you so much!
I made this soup with my turkey bone broth and my leftover turkey and it was amazing! It made a huge batch , was super easy and was perfect for turkey leftovers!
So happy to hear this, Liz! Thank you so much!
This was so easy and so delicious!
Thanks, Lindsay!! So happy you liked it!
Delicious way to use leftovers. My dads favorite soup is cream of turkey, but I wanted to find a healthier way to turn our leftovers into a warm, hearty meal the next night. So easy to make, I followed the instant pot instructions and dinner was quick and delicious. Perfect for after thanksgiving or any time of year.
So happy you and your dad enjoyed it, Elissa! Thank you!
I hate leftover turkey – usually. However, I can’t wait to have leftover turkey again, so I can make this soup. Thanks clean eating couple for another delicious and healthy recipe!
Thanks, Jessica! So glad you liked it! You can also make it with leftover chicken 🙂
This soup is amazing! Used oat milk andthat worked out great1
Thanks, Marianne! Glad you enjoyed it!!
Your recipes and format are awesome. Loved recipes for nutrition value and simplicity as well as their presentation and instructions.
Thank you, Ursula!! I’m so happy you like them!