Description
A comforting and hearty turkey soup featuring tender shredded turkey and fluffy sweet potato dumplings, simmered in a flavorful broth with fresh vegetables and aromatic herbs.
Ingredients
Scale
Turkey Soup
- 2 pounds turkey breast tenderloins
- kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 4 celery hearts, chopped
- 2 medium carrots, chopped
- 1 medium white onion, finely chopped
- 6 cloves of garlic, finely minced
- 6–8 sprigs fresh thyme
- 3 bay leaves
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon Jamaican allspice
- 8 cups (2 quarts) turkey or chicken stock/broth
- 1 cup frozen peas
Sweet Potato Dumplings
- 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup fine yellow cornmeal
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 4 tablespoons salted butter, melted
- 3/4 cup whole buttermilk
- 1/4 cup mashed sweet potato or sweet potato puree
Instructions
- Season Turkey: Place the turkey tenderloins into a large bowl and season generously with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Cover and set aside for about 30 minutes to reach room temperature.
- Brown Turkey: In a large dutch oven or stock pot, warm butter and olive oil over medium-high heat. Once sizzling, add the turkey tenderloins and brown for 2-3 minutes on each side to achieve a golden sear. Remove and set aside.
- Sauté Vegetables: Add chopped celery, carrots, and onion to the pot. Stir and scrape up any browned bits, sautéing until soft and tender, about 5 minutes. Add minced garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Add Herbs and Spices: Stir in fresh thyme sprigs, bay leaves, oregano, smoked paprika, and allspice. Toast the spices while stirring continuously for 1 minute.
- Simmer Soup: Return turkey to the pot and cover with stock, ensuring turkey is fully submerged. Reduce heat to low, cover with lid, and simmer for 50 minutes.
- Shred Turkey: Remove turkey and shred into pieces using forks. Return shredded turkey to the pot and stir to combine. Leave the pot uncovered.
- Prepare Dumpling Dough: In a large bowl, whisk together flour, cornmeal, and baking powder. Add melted butter, buttermilk, and mashed sweet potato. Stir gently until just combined. Let rest for 2 minutes to activate baking powder.
- Add Peas and Drop Dumplings: Stir frozen peas into the soup. Using a spoon or scooper, drop 2-3 tablespoons of dumpling dough onto the surface of the hot soup evenly. Spoon broth over dumplings.
- Cook Dumplings: Cover pot and simmer for 15 minutes until dumplings are fluffy and cooked through.
- Serve: Remove thyme sprigs and bay leaves. Ladle soup with dumplings into bowls, season with freshly ground black pepper if desired, and serve immediately.
Notes
- Read the full blog post for additional tips and variations.
- For a gluten-free version, substitute all-purpose flour with an equal amount of gluten-free flour.
- Do not overwork the dumpling dough to keep dumplings light and fluffy.
- Resting dumpling batter before adding to soup helps activate the baking powder for better texture.
- Searing the turkey adds flavor but does not fully cook it; it will finish cooking in the soup.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 bowl
- Calories: 320 kcal
- Sugar: 4 g
- Sodium: 600 mg
- Fat: 15 g
- Saturated Fat: 7 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 6 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 25 g
- Fiber: 3 g
- Protein: 25 g
- Cholesterol: 70 mg
