Sweet Tomatoes Creamy Turkey Soup was a seasonal favorite served at the restaurant. This soul-satisfying soup is hearty, deeply flavored, and topped with crumbled stuffing.
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Leftover Turkey Soup
Don’t wait until the week after Thanksgiving to make this creamy turkey soup! It tastes so good that it is worth roasting a whole turkey, or at least a turkey breast or turkey legs, any time of year just for the leftovers!
Once a favorite at the now-closed Sweet Tomatoes and Soup Plantation chain, this cream of turkey soup is the perfect antidote for blustery winter days.
Why This is the Best Recipe for Creamy Turkey Soup
This recipe is so much more than just another chicken soup made with turkey. The smooth, creamy base is packed with fresh vegetables and chunks of turkey.
It tastes so good on its own, but after adding the stuffing garnish, the flavor becomes out of this world.
Recipe Ingredients
To make this Sweet Tomatoes and Soup Plantation recipe, you will need:
- Carrots
- Celery
- Butter
- Onions
- All-purpose flour
- Turkey broth
- Cooked turkey meat
- Poultry seasoning
- Salt
- Ground black pepper
- Fresh flat-leaf parsley
- Heavy cream
- Instant stuffing mix or leftover stuffing
Ingredient Notes
Roasting a turkey at home is the best choice, but if you can’t or don’t want to cook your own, you can always buy precooked turkey at the supermarket. Avoid the cold prepackaged deli turkey meat, and head to the hot prepared food section.
Turkey stock isn’t always available in cans, but you can usually find a turkey base, like Organic Better Than Boullion, in the grocery store or online.
Ingredient Substitutions
Depending on which poultry seasoning you buy, it can be a little on the salty side. But don’t just leave it out because it brings a ton of flavor to this soup. Instead, if you are trying to avoid excessive salt, look for a salt-free brand or make your own version.
Heavy cream has a lot of fat and calories, but it creates this soup’s velvety texture. For a healthier option, try whisking three tablespoons of cornstarch into two cups of skim or whole milk instead.
How to Make Creamy Turkey Soup
Here are the steps to make this creamy turkey soup recipe:
Prepare the Vegetables
- Chop the carrots and celery, and put them in a medium pot. Cover with water.
- Simmer until the carrots soften and the celery becomes translucent.
- Drain the vegetables and reserve for later.
Prepare the Soup
- Melt the butter in a large stockpot over medium heat.
- Once the butter stops foaming, add the onions to the pot and cook until the onions soften.
- Add the flour, reduce the burner to medium-low heat and cook the raw flavor out of the flour for a minute or two. Don’t allow the flour to get darker than a pale yellow.
- Stir in a cup of turkey broth and scrape the bottom of the pot to loosen any stuck-on bits. Increase the heat to medium and allow the liquid to thicken while stirring.
- Continue to add the turkey stock in one cup increments while stirring.
- Once all the turkey stock is in the pot, add the turkey meat, the reserved cooked celery and carrots, poultry seasoning, salt, pepper, and parsley. Stir to combine.
- Pour in the heavy cream, and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes more over medium-low heat.
- While the soup is simmering, prepare the stuffing according to the directions on the box.
How to Serve Creamy Turkey Soup
Ladle the soup into a bowl and add crumbled stuffing on top.
What Goes Well With Cream of Turkey Soup?
With its rich flavor and starchy stuffing garnish, it doesn’t take much to make this soup a meal. A simple mixed green salad with a balsamic vinegarette or a basic Italian dressing is all you need.
How to Store Creamy Turkey Soup
You can keep leftover turkey soup in the fridge for two to three days in a sealed container. Store the stuffing separately for up to six days.
How to Freeze Cream of Turkey Soup
Cream-based soups tend to develop a grainy texture after freezing, but it is possible to keep them in an air-tight container in the freezer for up to six months.
Just make sure that the soup is cold before freezing to prevent bacteria growth. Remember not to overfill the container because the soup will expand when frozen.
How to Reheat Leftover Turkey Soup
Always thaw frozen cream of turkey soup in the fridge. To prevent the soup from separating, reheat the soup over low or medium-low heat on the stovetop while continuously stirring.
If the soup does separate, add a bit of cream or milk and whisk well until it recombines.
Reheat the stuffing in a pan on the stove over medium heat.
Popular Turkey Recipes
Favorite Soup Recipes
- Acorn Squash Soup
- Cabbage Soup
- Chicken and Gnocchi Soup
- Cream of Celery Soup
- Creamy Onion Soup
- Dixie Stampede Soup
- Olive Garden Tuscan Soup
- Panera Butternut Squash Soup
- She Crab Soup
Check out more of my easy soup recipes and the best Thanksgiving dinner recipes here on CopyKat!
Sweet Tomatoes Creamy Turkey Soup
Ingredients
- 1 cup diced carrots
- 1 cup diced celery
- 4 cups water
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1 1/2 cups chopped onions
- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 8 cups turkey broth
- 1 cup cooked turkey meat
- 2 teaspoons poultry seasoning
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 tablespoon chopped flat-leaf parsley
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 6- ounce box instant turkey stuffing prepared according to package directions
Instructions
- In a medium-sized pot, add the carrots, celery, and water.
- Cook for approximately 10 to 12 minutes over medium-high heat.
- Drain the carrots and celery and set aside.
- Start the soup by making the roux: Melt the butter in a large stockpot over medium heat.
- Add the onions and cook until they are translucent.
- Add the flour. Reduce the heat to medium low and cook for 1 to 2 minutes. The color should darken, and the roux should smell like cooked pie crust.
- Increase the heat to medium, and add 1 cup of turkey broth to the roux. Stir until thickened.
- Add another cup of turkey broth, and stir until thickened. You may need to raise the heat just slightly to ensure rapid thickening.
- Add half of the remaining stock, stir until thickened, and then add the remaining turkey stock.
- Add the turkey meat, cooked celery and carrots, poultry seasoning, salt, pepper, and parsley. Stir until well mixed.
- Add the heavy cream, and cook for an additional 10 to 15 minutes on medium-low heat.
- When you are ready to serve, ladle the soup into a bowl and top with cooked stuffing.
Patty P
Love this soup, one change: I sauté the carrots and celery with the onion, then add the flour and proceed as directed. One last hint, if you have any turkey fat left from roasting the bird, sub part or all for the butter. turkey fat is where the flavor lives!
Shelly
My family said this was the best Turkey Soup they have ever had, I agree!
sherry
Fabulous!
MICHELLE CHRISTMAS
I made this recipe with homemade turkey stock from our Thanksgiving turkey and it was amazing! It actually tasted even better than Sweet Tomatoes with my homemade stuffing! We will be making this again very soon!
Thanks for the recipe!
Tracie Smith
I love this soup. It is everything I love about Thanksgiving in a soup.
birdlady
Turkey soup also has cranberrys and sweet potatoes in it that is why it tastes like turkey dinner in a soup.
Terri
This is the best soup I’ve ever tasted! You must try it. Sweet Tomatoes makes it fresh during December. There is nothing like it. I could taste every ingredient. And the herbs are outstanding.
stephaniemanley
I really like this soup. It is one of my favorites.
k d
I’ve never had this but it looks awesome
ThinRecipes
This looks great! I might have to pick up a turkey breast at the market today so I can make this for lunch tomorrow. There is no such thing as a fresh or thawed turkey or turkey breast here, so its going to have to wait a day or two, but this is truly making me crave this soup — and it’s about 90º here! 🙂
stephaniemanley
There is just something about turkey soup that is so comforting no matter what temperature it is. I really think turkey is so under utilized. It has so much more flavor than chicken.