Easy Ground Turkey Soup with Vegetables
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This Easy Ground Turkey Soup with Vegetables checks all of the boxes for a great weeknight dinner. Simple to prepare with pantry stables, healthy, hearty and it is an incredibly flavorful soup.
With soup season upon us, you need something that will warm your bones and feed your soul. This hearty soup does just that and it can be prepared quickly so it is one of my favorite weeknight meals. Ground turkey and vegetables make this soup tasty and light. Pasta makes it comforting.
This savory soup will be one that you make over and over again. During the winter put this on a regular rotation along with hearty Italian Lentils and Rice Soup.
Table of content
How to make the best ground turkey vegetable soup
Ingredients you will need and substitutions
This easy soup is made with simple ingredients that most of us have on hand or you can easily find in your grocery store.
- Ground Turkey: I use lean ground turkey when I make this delicious soup, but you can use any type or ground turkey you like. If you don’t have or can’t find ground turkey, feel free to use ground chicken.
- Carrots, Celery and Onion: This combination of vegetables is known as soffritto in Italian and you will find it in a lot of my soup and sauce recipes such as Nonna’s Chicken soup and Rigatoni Bolognese.
- Garlic: Use fresh for the best taste and dice it very small.
- Italian Seasoning: This is a combination of herbs such as dried oregano, basil, marjoram, rosemary and thyme.
- Tomato Paste: This really adds depth of flavor to this delicious soup.
- Turkey Stock or Broth: I have used store bought stock and even substituted chicken broth or stock in a pinch and they work just fine. I find that low sodium allows me to control how much salt and seasoning I use
- Bay leaf
- Green Beans: Use fresh or frozen. You can substitute green peas if you prefer.
- Olive Oil: You can use vegetable oil, but I like the flavor olive oil adds to this simple recipe.
- Salt and Black Pepper
Step by Step instructions
- Brown the turkey in a Dutch oven or large pot, then transfer it to a plate or bowl.
- Sauté the carrots, celery and onion until tender in the same pot. Stir in the garlic, Italian season, salt and pepper and cook until fragrant about a couple of minutes.
- Add the tomato paste and cook for a minute or two then add the turkey back in and stir to mix well.
- Stir in the remaining ingredients and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Turn the heat down to medium to medium-low and cook uncovered.
- In another pan, cook the pasta according instructions on the box.
- When the pasta is al dente, drain it and ladle it into soup bowls then top with the soup.
Cooking Tips and Variations
- Brown the turkey only until most of the pink is gone. This will keep the turkey from drying out before you add it to the soup.
- Make sure to cook your pasta separate from the soup. Pasta noodles are notorious for absorbing all of the liquid from the soup. Add the pasta at the last minute avoids this problem.
- If you have left overs, store the pasta separate from the soup to avoid the above problem.
- Don’t want to use pasta? No problem, add white rice or brown rice instead!
- You can really add any other vegetables that you like. Potatoes, zucchini, broccoli, cauliflower or hearty greens are great recipe additions. The extra veggies are a great way to make this a really hearty ground turkey soup and all you are addling a healthy ingredients!
- If you want to give the soup a flavor boost omit the salt from this recipe and add a chicken bouillon cube. Then adjust the seasonings at the end.
- One of my favorite tricks that adds an immense amount of flavor to a soup or stew is to throw a parmesan cheese rind into the soup during the last 20 minutes of cooking. The flavor it adds is amazing! Just remember to pull it out and discard it before serving.
Serving Suggestions
Ground turkey soup is so hearty and delicious that it really can be a meal all by itself. But if you want to round out your menu, serve it with a crisp salad and side of bread such as my No Knead Focaccia or Extra Moist Cornbread.
We always top the soup with grated pecorino romano or parmesan cheese for that final Italian touch! Yum!
FAQ’s
This recipe is perfect as a make ahead meal because it tastes even better the next day. Any leftover soup will keep in the refrigerator for 3-4 days as long as it is in covered container. It can be frozen for up to 3 months if stored in freezer-safe containers.
Yes! This soup is perfect on the stove top because it can be ready quickly, but it also lends itself to slowly cooking for a longer period of time. Just brown your meat before adding it to the slow cooker or crock pot. Then add the rest of the ingredients and set it to 3-4 hours on high.
More Delicious Savory Soups
Who doesn’t crave a delicious bowl of soup on a cold day? Here are some additional recipes that your whole family will love. My Italian Chicken Rosa Marina Soup with Spinach and Tomatoes and Chicken Tortellini Soup are absolutely the perfect comfort foods! You will also love my mom’s delicious recipe for Zucchini and Potato Soup.
One of our Thanksgiving favorites is this Homemade Turkey Soup, but it can be enjoyed all year round.
I love to get your feedback so if you tried this Easy Ground Turkey Soup or any other recipes on this website, please leave me a comment below. I hope you enjoy our recipes and look forward to hearing from you!
You can also follow me on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest for more recipes your family will love!
Ground Turkey Soup with Vegetables
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Ingredients
- 1½ lbs Ground turkey
- 3 tbsp Olive oil
- 1 cup Celery sliced small
- 1 cup Carrots sliced small
- 1 cup Onion diced small
- 1 clove Garlic minced
- 2 tbsp Tomato paste
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
- 8 cups Turkey or chicken stock or broth homemade or store bought
- 1 Bay leaf
- 1 cup Green beans cut to 1" inch pieces, frozen or fresh
- 2 tsp Salt
- ½ tsp Black pepper ground
- 2 cups Ditalini Pasta dried
Instructions
- Heat 2 tbsp of olive oil in a Dutch oven or sauce pan. Brown the ground turkey, 1 tsp of salt and ¼ tsp of ground black pepper, until there is almost no pink left. Transfer the browned turkey with any liquid to a bowl or plate and set aside.
- Add 1 tbsp of olive oil to the same pan. Stir in the carrots, celery, onion, remaining salt and pepper and Italian seasoning. Cook about 2 minutes on medium heat or until the vegetables start to soften.
- Add garlic and cook until just fragrant. Stir in the tomato paste and cook for an additional minute or two. Then add the turkey an liquid back in to the vegetables.
- Stir in the turkey stock and bay leaf. Bring to a boil and add in the green beans. Turn the heat down to medium and continue to boil uncovered.
- In another pan cook the Ditalini pasta according to package directions. When the pasta is al dente, drain it and ladle into soup bowls. Ladle the soup over the pasta and stir to combine.
Notes
- Brown the turkey just until most of the pink is gone. This will keep the turkey from drying out before you add it to the soup.
- Make sure to cook your pasta separate from the soup. Pasta noodles are notorious for absorbing all of the liquid from the soup. Adding the pasta at the last minute avoids this problem.
- If you have left overs, store the pasta separate from the soup to avoid the above problem.
- Don’t want to use pasta? No problem, add white rice or even brown rice instead!
- You can really add any other vegetables that you like. Potatoes, zucchini, broccoli, cauliflower or hearty greens are great recipe additions. The extra veggies are a great way to make this a really hearty ground turkey soup and they are healthy ingredients!
- If you want to give the soup a flavor boost omit the salt from this recipe and add a chicken bouillon cube. Then adjust the seasonings at the end.
- One of my favorite tricks that adds an immense amount of flavor to a soup or stew is to throw a parmesan cheese rind into the soup during the last 20 minutes of cooking. The flavor it adds is amazing! Just remember to pull it out and discard it before serving.
