Ground Turkey Soup, served with Beans & Spinach

At a glance

What stands out: Lighter ground turkey soup recipe comes together in less than a half hour. It’s packed with protein, vegetables, and most importantly, flavor! Your whole family will love this soup.

How long it takes: 20 minutes
Equipment you’ll need: soup pan or large saucepan
Servings: 6

This hearty soup recipe is one of our family’s favorite meals, and it’s one of ours, too, because it’s so straightforward to mix. Sometimes, when we hear the word “soup”, it conjures up an image of long hours standing over the stove simmering the soup. Put that image to rest! This soup is ready in less than a half hour.

We love to give you ideas for straightforward weeknight meals because we know that’s what most people are looking for. We know that we sure am! Life is busy but we still want to feed our families lighter meals and this ground turkey soup fits the bill evenly.

Hearty Ground Turkey Soup

A from-scratch meal in minutes (without resorting to processed food). We make this soup often on weeknights when we just don’t have time to make what we had planned. We know there are plenty of canned soups you can buy, but after trying this straightforward soup recipe, you’ll be spoiled for canned soups. This from-scratch soup is just so much better-tasting.

Made with pantry staples. Meal planning is great and it’s important when you make your grocery list, but it’s also essential to have a well-stocked pantry and freezer. This is one of those recipes that uses items that we almost always have on hand. When we're stuck for a dinner idea, out come those pantry staples to save the day. We can make a meal that’s lighter and straightforward, with no last-minute trips to the grocery store required.

Straightforward to adapt. We can hear you thinking, well, we don’t have exactly what the recipe calls for in our pantry. This recipe can easily be changed to use what you have on hand. Keep reading for ideas.

Mechele Said:

“we have made this recipe over and over for years and it is always a crowd pleaser. straightforward and rich on a weekday. Great recipe!”

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What goes in

Here’s what we keep in our stocked pantry/fridge/freezer to make recipes like these:

• Ground Turkey: Any type of ground meat (including bulk sausage) is good to have on hand for a speedy dinner. If the meat is frozen, put it in the fridge in the morning to thaw, or use your microwave to thaw it before you cook the soup.
• Chicken Broth or Stock: This is soup so you need some type of broth or stock. We always keep a few cartons of broth in our pantry. It can be used in many of our recipes. We usually buy low sodium broth so we can season the soup the way that we like it.
• Diced Tomatoes: Keep a good variety of canned tomatoes in your pantry. You’ll find that there are so many ways to use canned tomatoes, for soups, sauces, casseroles, etc.
• Canned Beans: This recipe uses great Northern beans but we typically have black beans, pinto beans, garbanzo beans, and cannellini beans on our shelves as well. (If you’re not a fan of beans, try our meatball soup. It’s somewhat similar to this recipe but features meatballs made with ground turkey, and pasta instead of beans.)
• Onions: You should always have fresh onions on hand. They are a must-have for so many recipes. Regular yellow cooking onions don’t have to be refrigerated and keep well in a cool, dry place.
• Garlic. Like onions, a head of garlic is essential and can be stored in a cool, dry place as well.
• Grated Parmesan Cheese: Doesn’t everyone have the ubiquitous green can of cheese in their house? We swear, our husband would sprinkle it on everything he eats! It’s shelf-stable although we usually refrigerate it after opening it.
• Spinach. We always have baby spinach in our fridge. Always. If we don’t, we're headed to the store. It cooks quickly and adds those important leafy greens to your menu.
• Seasoning: Keep a good selection of spices and dried herbs in your pantry. This recipe uses oregano, red pepper flakes, and basil, along with salt and pepper.

How it comes together

Brown the meat and onions. Heat up your soup pot with olive oil. To that, add ground turkey, chopped onions, minced garlic, red pepper flakes, and ground black pepper, to taste.

Cook this mixture over medium heat, breaking up the ground meat so it’s not in huge chunks, and stirring so everything cooks evenly. It will take about 7 minutes. You’ll know it’s done when there’s no longer any pink in the meat and the onions are translucent.

Add the canned tomatoes, beans, and dried herbs. Rinse and drain the beans first. You don’t want that sludgy juicy stuff in your soup. You don’t have to drain the tomatoes though. The tomato juice adds to the broth and flavors it. Add the dried oregano and basil, too.

PILE on the spinach. It will look like a lot at first but it wilts down to practically nothing. You can do this in batches if need be but if you have a big pan, it will probably fit. Cover for a couple of minutes to let the spinach wilt. Stir the spinach a couple of times to help it wilt more quickly.

Add broth. Add chicken broth/stock and bring the soup to a simmer to make sure it is steaming hot.

Add the cheese. Once the soup is hot and you’re ready to serve it, remove the pan from heat and sprinkle in the grated Parmesan cheese. This is what makes it really, good. If you’re not a cheese-lover, your soup will still taste great, but the cheese does add a lot of flavor.

Add salt. Parmesan cheese is fairly salty so we don’t add salt to the soup right away. After you stir in the cheese, taste the soup and add salt, if needed.

Your soup is ready to eat! A lighter soup recipe ready in 20 minutes that’s good for you, is ready in less than 30 minutes, and doesn’t come from a can — isn’t that a winner?!

Ways to change it

Everyone is different and you might not keep your pantry stocked just like ours. This recipe can be changed to reflect what you keep on hand and what your family likes.

• Use whatever ground meat you prefer. You might not like ground turkey. Ground beef is fine or try this recipe with Italian sausage, it’s phenomenal! Ground chicken will work, too.
• Try a different green. Maybe you don’t have baby spinach. Try a different tender green such as baby kale, Swiss chard, or escarole. If you are using regular kale, cook the soup 5 minutes longer to make sure the kale gets tender.
• Substitute different canned beans (or use pasta instead). Any type of white bean works well, such as cannellini, great Northern, or navy beans. If you’re not a fan of beans, substitute a small pasta, such as ditalini. Follow the package directions for cooking time. Pasta will take about 10 minutes or so to cook, so you’ll have to add a little extra time.

Storing Leftovers

Refrigerate/Freeze: If you happen to have soup leftover, refrigerate it in a covered container. It will keep for a few days, or freeze it for up to three months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator.

Reheat: Individual portions can be reheated in the microwave. Larger amounts can be reheated on the stove in a saucepan over medium heat until warmed through.

Free Meal Plan

Interested in a weekly meal plan that includes this soup? Take a look at our Meal Plan #9 or Meal Plan #85. You’ll find a wholesome recipe for each weekday plus a categorized grocery list. Let us do the planning for you this week! We add a new meal plan weekly.

Browse Meal Plans

• Yield: 6
• Prep: 5 minutes
• Cook: 15 minutes
• Total: 20 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 pound ground turkey
• 1 medium yellow onion, diced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 pinch red pepper flakes
• ¼ teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• ½ teaspoon dried basil
• 1 can (14.5 ounces) diced tomatoes, undrained
• 1 can (15.8 ounces) great northern beans, rinsed and drained
• 8 ounces baby spinach
• 3 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus extra for garnish

Method

1. Heat the oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Brown the turkey with the onions, garlic, red pepper flakes, and black pepper until the turkey is cooked through and the onions are translucent (about 7 minutes).
2. Add oregano, basil, tomatoes (with liquid), and beans. Stir to combine.
3. Reduce heat to medium-low, add spinach and cover for about 2 minutes or until spinach is wilted. Stir to combine.
4. Add broth, stir, and increase heat to medium. Continue to cook until soup comes to a simmer and is heated through, about 5 minutes.
5. Remove from heat, stir in Parmesan and serve.

Notes

Meat alternatives: Ground beef, sausage, or ground chicken can be substituted for the ground turkey.

Spinach alternatives: Any tender green can be substituted for the spinach, such as baby kale or escarole.

Storage: If you happen to have soup left over, refrigerate it in a covered container. It will keep for a few days, or freeze it for up to three months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator. Reheat individual portions in the microwave or larger amounts in a saucepan on the stove.