Hearty ground turkey soup with vegetables is a clean and comforting meal perfect for soothing the belly and soul. Make it if you’re feeling under the weather, or if you just love a great nourishing soup recipe!
This is a curl-up-on-the-couch-in-your-fuzzy-socks-when-it’s-snowing-outside kind of soup.
Or a clean cold-busting remedy that tastes amazing but isn’t your typical chicken noodle soup soup.
I made this hearty soup on repeat back when my IBS was at its worst. It was one of my favorite recipes for soothing my belly while making me feel energized and satisfied.
Ever since I first made it, this healthy ground turkey soup recipe has been one of my favorite weeknight meals that instantly satisfies the soul.
It can also serve as the ultimate breakup soup, the sultry love soup, the soup to uplift, soup for the full heart, a meal to enhance your already bodacious bod, and/or the soup to heal all wounds.
If you enjoy hearty soups, you’re bound to love this healthy recipe.
All things considered, this ground turkey soup recipe is:
Recipe Highlights
- Gluten-Free and Grain-Free
- Dairy-Free, yet nice and creamy
- Paleo
- Whole30
- Filling and comforting, yet easy on the digestive system
Let’s discuss the healthy ingredients in this delicious soup, as each one plays and important role.
Ingredients for Ground Turkey Soup:
Bacon: Thick-cut bacon is cooked to crispy perfection to add tremendous flavor to the soup. The bacon fat is then used to sauté the vegetables and cook the ground turkey meat. If you don’t do bacon, replace the bacon with 2 tablespoons of avocado oil or olive oil.
Yellow Onion: Bringing robust flavor to the soup, some fresh onion goes a long way in boosting the flavor profile. If you’re a garlic lover, add in 3 cloves of minced garlic.
Lean Ground Turkey: The star of the show! Ground turkey brings a big boost of protein without adding additional fat to the soup. This high-protein soup recipe is so pleasing on the belly.
Yukon Gold Potatoes: Adding cozy carbs to this healthy soup recipe, baby yukon gold potatoes are added in. Swap them for red potatoes, russet potatoes, sweet potato, or skip them for a low-carb soup recipe.
Carrots: A couple carrots bring a touch of sweetness and soft texture to the soup.
Zucchini: Fresh zucchini squash adds bulk to the recipe, in addition to some fiber and nutrients. Swap it for yellow squash if you’d like.
Chicken Broth: Use your favorite chicken broth, chicken stock, vegetable broth, or even beef stock for the liquid in this delicious ground turkey soup recipe.
Full-Fat Canned Coconut Milk: A huge flavor enhancer, full-fat canned coconut milk brings silky smooth texture and rich flavor.
Be sure to use full-fat coconut milk from the can. I don’t recommend replacing this with any other type of non-dairy milk as there isn’t enough fat content in other kinds of plant-based milks.
You can use 2 cups of half & half instead of coconut milk if you do dairy.
Baby Spinach: Bringing an infusion of antioxidants, iron, and folate, fresh spinach boosts the nutrient profile of this healthy dinner recipe.
Sea Salt: Add sea salt to your personal taste.
Optional Additions or Changes:
- If you enjoy the flavor of tomato based soups, add 2 to 3 tablespoons of tomato paste or one can of diced tomatoes.
- For my bean lovers, add one can of white beans, black beans, or garbanzo beans.
- Mix it up with various veggies, including bell pepper, green beans, sweet corn, or broccoli.
- Add ⅓ cup white rice or brown rice.
- Leave out the potatoes for low-carb (or replace them with cauliflower).
- Skip the onion to make the recipe low-FODMAP.
- Omit the bacon and use 2 tablespoons of avocado oil if you don’t have bacon on hand.
- Add sun-dried tomatoes or artichoke hearts.
- Stir in 2 teaspoons of Italian seasoning for some herby flavor.
- Drizzle your bowl of soup with lemon juice or lime juice, or add lemon zest and lemon juice to the soup pot.
- Substitute other leafy greens like kale or chard for the spinach.
Now that we’ve covered the simple ingredients for ground turkey vegetable soup, let’s whip it up!
How to Make Hearty Ground Turkey Soup with Vegetables:
Heat a Dutch oven or large pot over medium heat and add the chopped bacon. Cook until much of the fat has rendered, about 2 to 3 minutes.
Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until translucent, about 5 minutes.
Scoot the onions off to the side of the pot and add the ground turkey (or sausage). Brown for 2 minutes, flip, and brown another 1 to 2 minutes. Use a spatula to chop the meat into smaller pieces.
Add the remaining ingredients except the spinach to the pot, cover, and bring to a full boil. Reduce the heat to a gentle boil and continue cooking 20 to 30 minutes, until potatoes are cooked through. Stir in the spinach and cook until wilted, about another 2 to 3 minutes.
Serve the soup with your favorite gluten-free cornbread, gluten-free sandwich bread or cheese and herb Irish soda bread, and enjoy!
This hearty ground turkey recipe tastes even better the next day and the 3-4 days following prep. Feel free to make it in advance to allow extra flavor to develop!
How to Store Ground Turkey Soup:
Store ground turkey soup in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. This recipe also freezes very well! I suggest double bagging the soup in two large zip lock bags or freezer bags. Freeze for up to 3 months.
This great recipe can also be prepared in the pressure cooker or slow cooker in addition to a large stock pot.
The best thing about this flavorful soup is it only requires a few minutes of active prep time and wholesome ingredients you can find at any grocery store. The whole family is guaranteed to love it during the colder months of the year.
If you’re looking for more healing soup recipes, try these reader favorites!
More Healthy Soup Recipes:
- Immunity-Boosting Turmeric Chicken Soup
- Instant Pot Paleo Pumpkin Chili
- Ground Beef and Cabbage Soup
- Instant Pot Steak and Potato Soup
- Zucchini and Yellow Squash Soup
- Italian Wedding Soup with Rice
- Ground Turkey Taco Soup
Enjoy this delicious recipe during soup season or any time of year when a comfort food craving strikes.
Hearty Ground Turkey Soup with Vegetables
Ingredients
- 4 slices thick-cut bacon chopped
- 1/2 yellow onion diced
- 1 lb ground turkey *
- 3 small yukon gold potatoes chopped
- 2 large carrots peeled and chopped
- 1 medium zucchini squash chopped
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 1 (15-ounce) can full-fat coconut milk
- 3 cups baby spinach
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
Instructions
- Heat a dutch oven or large pot over medium heat and add the chopped bacon. Cook until much of the fat has rendered, about 2 to 3 minutes.
- Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until translucent, about 5 minutes.
- Scoot the onions off to the side of the pot and add the ground turkey (or sausage). Brown for 2 minutes, flip, and brown another 1 to 2 minutes. Use a spatula to chop the meat into smaller pieces.
- Add the remaining ingredients except the spinach to the pot, cover, and bring to a full boil. Reduce the heat to a gentle boil and continue cooking 20 to 30 minutes, until potatoes are cooked through. Stir in the spinach and cook until wilted, about another 2 to 3 minutes.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
This post contains affiliate links, which means I make a small commission off items you purchase at no additional cost to you.
I originally shared this recipe on February 26, 2020. I added information to the post to be more helpful, but the recipe itself remains the same.
has anyone tried this with 2% milk or something with a little less saturated fat?
I’ve made this several times. So good!!
Isn’t it just so tempting to go back to?! I’m pretty obsessed with it, myself 😉 Happy you enjoy the soup, Molly! xoxo
Absolutely fantastic, sooooo delicious and healthy!!! Wow!!! This was so amazing! I ate my first bowl as is. Second bowl added a bit of tyme and oregano and pepper though it honestly didn’t need it. What a great way to get in a variety of veggies, healthy fat (coconut milk), and turkey!!! Thank you!
Can you make this in the crock pot??
Hi Amber!
I imagine you can! If I were to do it, I would sauté the onion and brown the turkey in a skillet, add that to the crock pot along with the rest of the ingredients and cook on High for 4 hours. This is just me guessing, but I think it would turn out well. My only concern is zucchini isn’t a very hearty vegetable, so you may want to add it later on in the cooking process so that it doesn’t get mushy. Let me know how it turns out! xo
This was delicious! Followed your recipe with the addition of some sliced mushrooms and fresh garlic and used avocado oil instead of bacon drippings. Absolutely scrumptious, satisfying and healthy. Thank you for this wonderful recipe which I will use regularly.
Love the idea of adding mushrooms! My pleasure, Ronnie..so happy you enjoy the soup, and thank you for the sweet note! xo
This was delish!! I had to make a couple changes, as it was what I had on hand. Added about a 1/4 cup of fresh basil at the end with the spinach, as I was a bit short on fresh spinach. Didn’t have any zuccini so added a couple stalks of chopped celery and some extra carrot which I sauteed along with the onion. I also didn’t have full fat coconut milk so used reduced fat coconut milk and added a small splash of half/half at the end. I also added the 1/3 cup of rice as you suggested in your foot notes. Regardless it was sooo delicious!! My husband said this is his new favorite soup of all time, so thanks for that!! Next time I will be making this again exactly as written, but it is adaptable to make minor changes if need be. Can’t wait to try it with the zuccini, one of my fave veggies 🙂 Thanks again, can’t wait to try your other recipes.
All of those changes sound amazing! I’m happy to hear you and your husband enjoy the recipe. I love how adaptable it is as well! xoxo
Very tasty. Definitely should have browned the bacon though.
I made this for the first time this morning with a few modifications. I had already cooked 1.5 pounds of ground chicken what was seasoned with salt and pepper. I lightly sautéed the vegetables after browning the bacon. I then tossed them in my instant pot and put the ground meat on top. I sprinkled 3 tbsp of yellow rice and a pinch of johnny’s seasoning salt. I then topped it with the spinach and another good pinch of Johnny’s . Lawry’s would work if you don’t have johnny’s. I then turned my instant pot to soup and set it for 10 minutes. I came back 3 hours later and it was delicious. For my own preference I took another heaping handful of fresh spinach and stirred it in while it was still warm. Perfection! I will be having this often. If you would like it a little lower carb, omit the rice and add a tbsp of mct oil.
Is the calorie count for the whole batch? 642 seems high for 1 serving.
Hi Rhonda! I’ve been told by folks who have made the recipe that it should be more like 6 to 8 servings, in which case the calorie count will be lower because I base it on 4 servings. I just eat a lot of food, so I tend to base the servings off of the portion size I eat.
Making this tonight, but don’t have yukon gold’s on hand, so will be trying it with baby red potatoes instead. Looking forward to trying it!
That’s a great substitute! I hope you enjoy!! xoxo
Does this freeze well?
Hi Amber! I haven’t tried it yet! I’ve found soups that have a decent fat content like this one tend to freeze well, so I would have no reservation about doing it myself. Let me know if you try it!
I just made this soup 🙂 it is comforting, delicious and healthy! I love all of the colours. The only things I changed were: I added sage, nutmeg and fennel seed when browning the turkey to give it a sausagey taste, and then I added the coconut milk in at the end with the spinach so it wouldn’t curdle. I also added quite a bit more salt! Such a yummy soup 🙂
Oooh, I love the idea of sage and nutmeg! Sounds amazing. Thanks for sharing, Mia! xoxo
Making it right now ,looks like a keeper,👍
Hope you love it, Marlene! xo
Any thoughts on using Oat Milk? I have allergies too. Thanks!
Hi Tracy,
The tough part about replacing the coconut milk with a different non-dairy milk is you loose the richness from the fat. You could leave out the coconut milk altogether and keep it brothy, or if you’re okay with trying out the oat milk knowing it won’t be super creamy, my guess is it will still taste great but just won’t have as silky of a texture. Hope you love it! xoxo
This looks like a new staple!
I slimmed it down a bit by adding lite coconut milk and pureeing some of the broth and potatoes. Still tasty.
So happy you liked it Amy! Enjoy! xoxo