Turkey and Lentil Soup

Wondering what to do with your roast turkey leftovers? This Leftover Turkey and Lentil Soup is your answer! Such a quick, easy and delicious way to use up leftover roast turkey – it takes just 30 minutes and only uses 1 pan! (If you don’t have any leftovers, don’t worry… I have included instructions for how to make this with fresh turkey breast fillets too… or you can use leftover chicken if you prefer!)

Course Leftovers, Main Course, Soup

Cuisine American, British

Prep Time 5

Cook Time 25

Total Time 30

Servings people

Calories 287kcal

Author Eb Gargano

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion finely diced
2 medium carrot diced
2 sticks celery thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic grated or crushed
400 g tin chopped tomatoes
400 ml chicken stock (from a cube is fine, I used 1 x Kallo Organic Chicken Stock Cube)
2 dried bay leaves
Salt and pepper to taste (see Note 1)
400 g tin green or brown lentils drained
300 g cooked turkey chopped into bitesize pieces (see Note 2 for what to do if using fresh turkey)
Fresh parsley for garnish (optional)

Metric - US Customary

Instructions

Place the oil, onions, carrots and celery in a large pan over a low heat. Cover with a lid and fry for 4 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are softened but not brown.
Remove the lid and add the garlic. Fry for 1 more minute, stirring occasionally.
Add the tomatoes, stock, bay leaves, salt and pepper (see Note 1). Bring to the boil, then simmer with the lid off for 15 minutes. Stir occasionally.
Add the drained lentils and cooked turkey. Stir well to combine, then simmer for a further 5 minutes. If the soup gets too dry, add a little boiling water to ensure it is the correct consistency for your own personal tastes.
Taste and add more salt and/or pepper, if necessary.
Serve garnished with fresh parsley (optional).

Notes

This is up to you and your tastes, but personally I only add black pepper, as the salt in the stock cube makes it salty enough for my personal taste.
If using fresh turkey breast fillets, first cut the fillets into small pieces, then stir-fry in 1 tablespoon olive oil over a high heat until lightly browned on most sides – this should take 3-5 minutes. Remove to a plate, then follow the recipe above exactly as written, adding the cooked fresh turkey (along with all the tasty juices!) back into the soup at the same time as you would with leftover roast turkey.
Suitable for freezing if using fresh turkey. Not suitable for freezing if using cooked turkey. (This is because you should not reheat food more than once, especially turkey.)
Nutrition information is approximate and meant as a guideline only.

Nutrition