Tex-Mex Turkey Soup

This Tex-Mex Turkey Soup is a warm and comforting post-holiday meal. This quick and easy turkey soup recipe is a delicious way to make use of your Thanksgiving leftovers.

After the marathon days of cooking leading up to Thanksgiving, it’s nice to take a break with some simple leftover meals. If all goes right, you’ll have plenty of leftover turkey to throw in soups, quesadillas, sandwiches, and the like.

I love to get a little creative with my turkey leftovers since we’re always craving something a little different. This recipe takes advantage of several items you may have left in the fridge, but this is not your Grandma’s leftover turkey soup. The Tex-Mex twist makes it a complete departure from the flavors of the holiday.

This flavor-packed turkey soup is ready in a little over 30 minutes, from start to finish!

Ingredient Notes

• Olive oil
• Carrot – Peeled and diced.
• Celery – Diced.
• Yellow onion – Diced.
• Minced garlic
• Diced green chiles – A small can, drained.
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• Chili powder
• Ground cumin
• Dried oregano
• Low sodium broth – Either chicken or beef.
• Enchilada sauce – A can of your favorite brand of red enchilada sauce. We love Hatch. Go with mild or medium, depending on your taste.
• Diced tomatoes – A can of regular or fire roasted diced tomatoes.
• Milk – I use 2%.
• All-purpose flour
• Cooked turkey – Leftover shredded or chopped holiday turkey. Substitute rotisserie chicken to make this soup anytime of year.
• Frozen corn – There’s no need to thaw it in advance.
• Black beans – Rinsed and drained canned black beans.
• Cilantro
• Monterey Jack cheese – For garnish.

If you’re not cooking a turkey for the holidays, this soup is delicious made with rotisserie chicken.

How to Make Tex-Mex Turkey Soup

1. Heat olive oil in a large pot. Add the diced onion, carrot, and celery and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes. Add diced green chiles, garlic, salt, pepper, chili powder, cumin, and oregano.
2. Cook and stir for another minute or two.
3. Add the chicken broth, enchilada sauce and diced tomatoes.
4. Increase the heat under the pot and bring it to a low boil. Reduce heat to LOW and simmer for 10 minutes to blend flavors.
   

1. In a small bowl, whisk together the milk and flour and whisk the milk mixture into the soup. Cook and stir for a minute or two.
2. Add the frozen corn, black beans, and turkey. Stir to combine. When the mixture just barely comes to a low boil, reduce heat to low and allow to simmer for about 5 minutes. Add the cilantro and stir to combine.
   

Since everyone seems to stumble out of bed at varying times the day after Thanksgiving, I like to cook up a batch of this soup and transfer it to a slow cooker to keep it warm for a couple of hours.

Serving Suggestions

Garnish individual servings of Tex-Mex Turkey Soup with shredded Monterey Jack cheese and set out some hot sauce for those that want to kick it up. It is delicious with tortilla chips for dipping or crumbling over the top.

Storage Tips

Promptly refrigerate any leftovers in an airtight container. For the best quality, consume leftover Tex-Mex Turkey Soup within 3 to 4 days. For longer storage, place in freezer-safe containers and freeze for up to 2 to 3 months. Be aware that soups that contain milk or cream may separate when reheated so I recommend refrigerating, if possible.

Reheat leftover soup gently in a saucepan on the stove or in the microwave, adding additional broth or water to thin, if needed.

This post was originally published on November 23, 2012. It has been updated with new text and images.