Easy Turkey Tortilla Soup
A fantastic way to turn those Thanksgiving leftovers into a family meal everyone will love. Turkey Tortilla Soup is easy to make and is loaded with southwestern flavors. Adjust the seasonings to make it as spicy or mild as you want.
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! Everyone in the US, that is. To all my International friends….Happy Thursday. 🙂 Landon has been asking for weeks how many sleeps are left until Thanksgiving….well, I’m thankful that the day has finally arrived so that I don’t have to answer that question. Until tomorrow, when the new question will be…how many sleeps until Christmas. I’m not complaining, I’m just as excited as he is to decorate the house and wrap the gifts. Bow making is my specialty so there will be a ton of bows, glitter, tinsel and anything else that creates sparkle within a 1 mile radius of me.
But for today, I’ll do what I try to do every single day and that is to take a minute to reflect on the things that I’m grateful for. The roof over my head, the food on the table, the family that (although they drive me bonkers most of the time) I love with every fiber of my being…..good health, wrinkles, that one gray hair that keeps coming back, bigger jeans and a ridiculously amazing career that I still have to pinch myself to realize it’s not just a dream. And today….I’m especially thankful for leftovers. In all shapes and forms.
From the kitchen scraps I set aside from making all the dishes…to the leftover food on the dining room table, I waste nothing. I mentioned this a little bit in yesterday’s post with that epic sandwich but today….today we’re going to talk about this amazingly Easy Turkey Tortilla Soup, which tastes nothing at all like Thanksgiving. Isn’t that the goal with the leftovers? We, actually, have a process for the leftovers…it goes something like this: Day 1 lunch…full plate of Thanksgiving dinner, like the day on replay….Day 1 Dinner, takeout. Day 2 lunch….some type of leftover turkey sandwich…Day 2 Dinner….soup. You get the picture. By Black Friday dinner, we’re all turkey’d out so I try to make something that doesn’t resemble that gut busting meal whatsoever.
This is it….this Easy Turkey Tortilla Soup is a copy cat Chik-Fil-A recipe I created awhile ago with chicken. And you can easily do that again, all year long. It’s perfect for a quick weeknight dinner and freezes incredibly well for an easy on-the-go lunch you can take to the office. If you’re not really feeling like tex-mex….you could easily make the standard turkey soup using this one for Chicken Soup. And don’t forget the stock. Happy Thanksgiving, I hope your day is filled with love, laughter and lots of food….if not, at the very least, lots of wine.
Get the Recipe: Easy Turkey Tortilla Soup
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 cup diced onion
- 3/4 cup diced carrot
- 1/2 cup diced red bell pepper
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 jalapeno, seeded and minced
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 2 cups diced cooked turkey breast, or chicken breast
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 1/2 tablespoon cayenne pepper
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
- 5 cups turkey stock or chicken stock
- Juice of one lime
- 1 cup half and half
- 3/4 cup sour cream
- 3/4 cup canned cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
- 1/2 cup canned black beans, rinsed and drained
- 1/4 cup fresh chopped cilantro
Instructions
- In a medium stockpot or dutch oven, heat the olive oil over med-high heat. Add the onion and carrot to the pot, cooking until softened. Stir in the bell pepper and cook for an additional 3-4 minutes. Add the garlic, jalapeño and flour. Cook for 1 minute. Stir in the turkey, chili powder, cayenne pepper, cumin, salt and pepper, cook for 1 minute. Slowly stir in the stock and lime juice. Bring the soup to a boil and then turn the heat to low.
- Slowly stir in the half and half and sour cream until completely incorporated. Add the cannellini beans and black beans. Simmer for 10 minutes. Stir in the cilantro and serve immediately.
- Top with tortilla strips or crushed tortilla chips, if desired.
7 Comments on “Easy Turkey Tortilla Soup”
This is perfect for leftover turkey. So comforting!
I love soups and this recipe sounds incredibly delicious! Can’t wait to try!
Perfect spicy after Thanksgiving soup, Kellie! (And I’ll take the wine too!) Hope you and your family had a great Thanksgiving.
this looks so good! great way to spice up the leftovers!
what a great way to use up leftover turkey!!
“How many SLEEPS…!” I LOVE IT! 😀
I love Thanksgiving leftovers, and this soup is a perfect way to take care of them!
Happy Thanksgiving!
Oh yeah, I can go for a bowl o’ this great soup!