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Ground Turkey Soup is hearty, comforting and ready in less than 30 minutes. It’s filled with veggies like carrots and kale, rice, herbs and a flavorful broth that warms you from the inside out.

ground turkey soup with carrots, rice, kale

This Ground Turkey Soup recipe is my family’s favorite soup! It’s got an amazing broth that’s really rich in flavor, the meat is juicy and the kale adds just a little crunch. If you’d like to try some more Ground Turkey Recipes, try my Cheesy Turkey Taco Pasta and Teriyaki Turkey Rice Bowl.

At just 230 calories a serving, you can feel really good about serving this ground turkey soup to your family. Plus it’s versatile – feel free to swap out the meat or the veggies for something you like better.

bowls of soup, pot of soup, slat and pepper shakers, parmesan cheese in a bowl

Ingredients for Ground Turkey Soup

  • Vegetables – Carrots, celery, onion, and kale. The first three are sauteed to soften, and the kale is added at the end so it retains a little crunch for texture.
  • Lean ground turkey – I buy the lean ground turkey, but you can buy one with a little more fat. I find that cooking the lean turkey in just a little bit of olive oil, then boiling it with the soup help to make it very moist and juicy.
  • Dried oregano
  • Minced garlic
  • Diced canned tomatoes
  • Low sodium chicken broth – I prefer low sodium so I can control the salt content.
  • Cooked white or brown rice – this is a great way to use up leftover rice you might have in your freezer. Or, don’t use the rice at all and add a small pasta instead.
  • Fresh parsley
  • Parmesan cheese (for topping, if desired)

How to Make Ground Turkey and Vegetable Soup

This ground turkey soup is rich and hearty, and is the perfect comfort food for when you’re trying to eat more on the healthy side, and it’s a great way to get my kids to eat their vegetables. Want another healthy soup option? Try my Navy Bean Soup

Saute vegetables. Saute onions, carrots, and celery in a little bit of olive oil in a large soup pot. Stir them often to avoid burning and cook just long enough to soften.

Cook the ground turkey. Stir in minced garlic and add the ground turkey. Break up the meat with a spatula as it cooks and season with salt and pepper, cooking until no longer pink. If you want, discard any grease, but I like that it adds a little extra flavor and there’s really not that much.

Add seasonings, tomatoes, and chicken broth. Add the dried oregano and cook for a few minutes before pouring in canned tomatoes with their juice and chicken broth. You could also use turkey stock if you have that available.

Simmer the soup. Bring the soup to a boil, then place the lid on the pot and turn the heat down to low; simmer until the veggies are soft.

Add the kale. Just before you’re ready to serve, stir in a bunch of chopped kale. The kale does wilt down quite a bit and very quickly, so serve it right away. I don’t like it when the kale sits too long as it tends to get a little mushy. Stir in the minced parsley as well.

collage of images to make turkey rice soup

Expert Tips and Variations

  • Feel free to omit the kale or use spinach instead. Both leafy greens do wilt quickly, so add them at the end, just before serving.
  • White or brown rice can be used, but should be cooked separately and added hot. Or use a small cut pasta like macaroni or shells, also cooked first. Potatoes would be great, too.
  • Try with Italian seasoning instead of oregano.

How to Serve

If you plan to add rice to your soup, heat it up and add a scoop to each serving bowl. I don’t recommend cooking the rice in the soup because it will make the broth starchy and thick.

This soup is a hearty meal on its own, but if you want to stretch it a little further you can serve it with a copycat Olive Garden Salad and some homemade garlic bread or sliced baguette. I like to top each bowl with some freshly shredded Parmesan cheese for an extra kick of flavor.

bowl of ground turkey soup with parmesan cheese

Storage and freezing

If you are expecting to have leftovers, I recommend storing the rice separately from the soup. Otherwise the starches release into the soup and continue thickening it as it sits.

Storage: Transfer cooled soup to an airtight container and store in the fridge for 3-4 days. Reheat in a pot on the stove or in the microwave.

Freezing: If freezing, the same storage rule applies for the rice.

More Delicious Soup Recipe You’ll Love to Try

Recipe

Turkey, Kale and Rice Soup

4.73 from 22 votes
Ground Turkey Soup is hearty, comforting and ready in less than 30 minutes. It's filled with kale, rice, herbs and a flavorful broth.
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Servings 6 servings

Ingredients
  

  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 3 medium carrots sliced into ¼ inch rounds
  • 1/2 medium onion diced (about 1 cup)
  • 3 celery stalks sliced into ¼ inch pieces
  • 1 pound lean ground turkey
  • 1 teaspoon oregano
  • 1 tablespoon minced garlic about 3 cloves
  • 14 ounce can diced tomatoes drained
  • 6 cups low sodium chicken broth
  • 1 cup hot cooked white or brown rice
  • 4 cups kale packed, coarsely chopped
  • 1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
  • Optional garnish: shredded Parmesan cheese if desired
  • Salt & pepper
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Instructions
 

  • In a 5-quart soup pot, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add onions, carrots and celery and cook, stirring often, for about 5 minutes or until vegetables begin to brown and soften. If veggies begin to brown too quickly, turn down the heat.
  • Add ground turkey, breaking into small chunks. Season with a pinch of kosher salt and pepper. Continue to stir frequently until meat is completely cooked; about 5 minutes.
  • Add oregano and garlic and stir for about a minute. Pour in chicken broth and tomatoes. Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer for 10 minutes.
  • Stir in kale and season with salt and pepper. Remove from heat and let sit long enough the kale to kale wilt; 1-2 minutes or longer, if desired. Taste and adjust seasonings as needed. Stir in fresh parsley.
  • Place a small scoop of hot, cooked rice into the bottom of each serving bowl. Ladle soup over the rice and garnish with grated Parmesan, if desired.

Notes

If you are expecting to have leftovers, I recommend storing the rice separately from the soup. Otherwise the starches release into the soup and continue thickening it as it sits.
Storage: Transfer cooled soup to an airtight container and store in the fridge for 3-4 days. Reheat in a pot on the stove or in the microwave.
Freezing: If freezing, the same rule applies for the rice.
Keyword turkey rice soup

Nutrition

Calories: 230kcalCarbohydrates: 21gProtein: 26gFat: 6gSaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 42mgSodium: 245mgPotassium: 890mgFiber: 2gSugar: 4gVitamin A: 9663IUVitamin C: 63mgCalcium: 122mgIron: 3mg

Nutritional Disclaimer Kristin Maxwell of “Yellow Bliss Road” is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. For accurate calorie counts and other nutritional values, we recommend running the ingredients through your preferred online nutritional calculator. Calories and other nutritional values can vary depending on which brands were used.

Kristin Maxwell

Kristin Maxwell is the creator and main recipe developer, writer, and photographer of Yellow Bliss Road. A self-taught cook and self-appointed foodie, she specializes in easy, flavorful and approachable recipes for any home cook.

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4.73 from 22 votes (14 ratings without comment)

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Comments

  1. Sharon says:

    Wow!! I didnโ€™t expect to like this so much (so healthy ๐Ÿ™‚ Itโ€™s so flavorful! I did have to use chicken Italian sausage because I didnโ€™t realize it was chicken sausage until Iโ€™d already chopped all the veggies, so bonus flavor there. Thank you for the great recipe!

    1. Kristin says:

      You are so welcome Sharon! Thanks for stopping by.

  2. Amanda says:

    Could you use anything in place of kale? I have all the other ingredients except that. Will it be ok with out it?

    1. Kristin Maxwell says:

      You can omit it and it will be fine. Or you could replace with other veggies like spinach or zucchini.

  3. Rachel says:

    Our family LOVE soup! This one was so easy and super tasty (not to mention healthy too). I followed the instructions apart from using a whole small sweet onion, and some of my favorite seasonings I keep on hand. Kinders poultry/butter blend and Trader Joe’s Green Goddess dry season and a bit of thier citrus garlic blend as well as Braggs 21 blend rather then individual spices (that one is fantastic in spoups). I used pre-made rice since I had it on hand. Thanks for the excellent inspiration, I’ll certainly make this one again soon.

    1. Kristin says:

      Fantastic feedback Rachel! Thanks for stopping by to share.

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