Southwest Turkey Soup

Looking for the Best Leftover Turkey Soup Recipe? This Southwest Turkey Soup is just what you need. Made with a creamy, spicy broth, leftover turkey, corn, and black beans, this Turkey Soup is full of flavor and incredibly simple to make.

The Best Leftover Turkey Soup

When it comes to Thanksgiving, I am always swimming in leftovers! And while I love leftovers, I can quickly become sick of eating the same thing over and over again.

That's when I turn to this recipe for Leftover Turkey Soup.

This hearty turkey soup is a delicious way to transform leftover turkey (or chicken) into something new and delicious that tastes NOTHING like Thanksgiving! Which after a huge feast, we tend to want something new--right?!

This Southwest Turkey Soup is creamy, hearty, and slightly spicy. It is full of tender turkey, black beans, peppers, onions, and a rich tomato broth, much like a Chicken Tortilla Soup.

It also happens to be incredibly easy to make, thanks to the fact we are starting out with leftover turkey, and versatile as well. You can adapt the spices and ingredients for this turkey soup based on what you have at your house. It can also be made on the stove, in the slow cooker, or in the Instant Pot.

This Leftover Turkey Soup is a winner and the perfect way to transform your Thanksgiving leftovers.

Notes on Ingredients

• Turkey: I prepare this soup using leftover Brined Turkey or leftover Instant Pot Turkey Breast. But of course, you can make this soup using leftover Rotisserie Chicken or leftover shredded chicken, to make this recipe suitable year-round.
• Stock: Use low-sodium, store-bought, or homemade chicken stock or turkey stock.
• Taco Seasoning: While you can use store-bought taco seasoning, I always opt for my homemade blend of taco seasoning, to control the sodium content and omit unnecessary additives.
• Beans: I choose to use black beans in this Turkey Soup, but you can certainly use pinto beans or kidney beans.
• Diced Tomatoes with Green Chiles: AKA Rotel tomatoes. Be sure to select mild, not hot Rotel tomatoes or your soup will be really spicy!
• Corn: If you have leftover cooked corn from Thanksgiving, use that! If not, just add frozen corn or drained canned corn to the soup.
• Cream Cheese: The cream cheese gives this soup a creamy finish and helps to tame the spiciness of the soup. Just be sure to use room-temperature cream cheese so that it easily blends into the soup. You can also opt to omit the cream cheese to keep this soup dairy-free as well.

How to Make Leftover Turkey Soup

• In a small saute pan, heat a bit of oil and add the minced onion and diced green peppers.
• Saute just until the onion and peppers begin to soften. Taking this extra step will really help to add depth of flavor to the turkey soup.

• Add the sauce peppers and onions to the slow cooker, along with the leftover turkey, corn, black beans, seasonings, broth, and tomatoes.
• Give everything a good stir to incorporate.

• Set to cook on high for 4 hours or low for 6 hours.
• Open up the slow cooker and add in cubed, softened cream cheese.
• Continue to cook the soup on low for 30 minutes.
• Give everything a good stir to incorporate the cream cheese into the broth before serving.

Serving Suggestions

Serve this Turkey Soup just as you would Tortilla Soup. It is delicious with corn chips, cilantro, diced avocado, and/or shredded cheese. If you happen to have leftover cornbread or corn casserole, that is a natural pairing for the southwestern soup as well.

Instant Pot Directions

This Southwest Leftover Turkey Soup can easily be modified to prepare in the Instant Pot if desired.

• Turn the Instant Pot to saute and add in a bit of oil. Once heated, add in the diced green pepper and onion and saute for 2-3 minutes, or until the onion begins to soften. Once the onion is softened, turn the Instant Pot OFF.
• Add in the stock and scrape up any browned bits off the bottom of the inner pot. This will help to prevent a burn notice from occurring.
• Add in the cooked turkey, beans, corn, seasonings, and diced tomatoes, and stir to combine.
• Cook on high pressure for 5 minutes with a full natural release of pressure.
• Once the pressure has been released, add the cubed cream cheese to the cooked soup and close the lid. Let sit for 5 minutes and then stir everything to combine.

Stovetop Directions

No Instant Pot or Slow Cooker? No problem! You can whip up this leftover turkey soup in under 30 minutes on the stove.

• In a large heavy-bottomed saucepan or dutch oven, heat a bit of oil and add the minced onion and diced green peppers, and saute just until they just begin to soften.
• Stir in the stock, turkey, corn, beans, seasonings, and diced tomatoes.
• Bring the mixture to a boil and then reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for 20-30 minutes. If the soup thickens too much as it simmers, add up to an additional 1 cup of stock.
• After simmering, add the cubed, softened cream cheese to the soup and stir until melted and combined. This should only take a few minutes.

Note on Leftover Turkey

Whenever using leftover poultry to make a soup or casserole, it is best to use leftover turkey that has been cooked or frozen within 3-4 days after preparation, as leftover turkey should only be stored for 3-4 days after cooking. That means if your leftover turkey is more than 4 days old, you want to toss it--not use it to make this soup!

If you happen to have leftover turkey soup, you can store it in a sealed container in the refrigerator. The soup itself can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 4 days PAST the time your turkey was cooked, not the time you prepared your soup.

More Leftover Turkey Recipes

• Turkey Tetrazzini
• Copycat Panera Turkey Sandwich
• Turkey Club Wrap
• Thanksgiving Egg Rolls

Need more ideas for how to transform your Thanksgiving Leftovers? Be sure to check out all my recipes for Thanksgiving Leftovers.

If you give this Turkey Soup a try, be sure to leave a comment below. 

This post was originally published in 2017 and updated with new tips in November 2020.