Leftover Turkey Soup

Chop your vegetables. 

Melt butter and olive oil in a large pot. Add carrots, celery, onion, thyme, and rosemary to the pot and saute for about 5 minutes.

Add chicken broth, rice, salt, and pepper, to pot with vegetables and stir well. Bring to a boil, then turn heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes.

At this point, you have two options:

For a broth based soup: Add turkey and heat through. Serve.

For a creamy soup: Combine half and half and flour and whisk until smooth. Stir into soup and simmer for 5 minutes to thicken. Add turkey and heat through. Serve.

Tips:

Prep extra vegetables and add them to freezer bags with the spices. Freeze for later. I also recommend, if you have enough turkey, bagging and freezing that to go with the veg. If you run out of turkey, you can always use shredded chicken. This will make it super easy and fast to get delicious, homemade soup on the table.

You can use water and bouillon to make your chicken broth. Just follow the instructions for how much bouillon you need for 6 cups of water--different brands vary.

This recipe calls for 1/3 cup of flour. It makes for a really thick soup. If you don't want it that thick, you can always add less flour, like a 1/4 cup.

This soup is AMAZING served over mashed potatoes! Just a recommendation for the rest of your leftovers. ;)