Description
A comforting and flavorful turkey soup featuring tender shredded turkey, hearty vegetables, and fluffy sweet potato dumplings. Perfect for cozy meals and using leftover turkey with a rich homemade broth and aromatic spices.
Ingredients
Scale
For the 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
For the 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 the turkey: Place the turkey tenderloins into a large bowl and season generously with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. Cover and let rest at room temperature for about 30 minutes to allow flavors to develop.
- Brown the turkey: In a large dutch oven or stock pot, heat the butter and olive oil over medium-high heat until sizzling. Add the seasoned turkey tenderloins and brown for 3 minutes on each side to create a golden sear. Remove turkey and set aside on a clean plate.
- Sauté the vegetables: Add chopped celery, carrots, and onion to the same pot. Stir and scrape up any browned bits, cooking until vegetables are soft and tender, about 5 minutes. Add the minced garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Add herbs and spices: Stir in fresh thyme sprigs, bay leaves, dried oregano, smoked paprika, and Jamaican allspice. Toast the spices by stirring continuously for about 1 minute until aromatic.
- Simmer the soup: Return browned turkey to the pot. Pour in the turkey or chicken stock, ensuring the turkey is submerged. Reduce heat to low, cover, and let simmer gently for 50 minutes to allow flavors to meld and turkey to cook through.
- Shred the turkey: Remove turkey from the pot and place on a cutting board. Use two forks to shred the meat finely. Return shredded turkey to the soup and stir. Keep the pot uncovered while preparing dumplings.
- Prepare dumpling dough: In a large bowl, whisk together all-purpose flour, yellow cornmeal, and baking powder. Add melted salted butter, whole buttermilk, and mashed sweet potato. Gently stir with a spatula until just combined. Let dough rest for 2 minutes to activate the baking powder and become fluffy.
- Add peas and dumplings: Stir frozen peas into the soup. Using a spoon or spring-loaded scooper, drop 2-3 tablespoon-sized dumplings on top of the hot soup, spacing evenly. Spoon some broth over each dumpling to keep them moist.
- Cook dumplings: Cover the pot and simmer the soup for 15 minutes until dumplings are cooked through and fluffy.
- Serve: Remove the pot from heat and discard thyme sprigs and bay leaves. Ladle soup with sweet potato dumplings into bowls. Optionally add freshly ground black pepper to taste and serve immediately.
Notes
- For a gluten-free version, substitute all-purpose flour with a 1:1 gluten-free flour blend.
- Be careful not to overwork the dumpling dough to ensure light, fluffy dumplings.
- Resting the turkey at room temperature before browning helps it cook evenly.
- Use fresh herbs if possible for more vibrant flavor.
- If turkey stock is unavailable, high-quality chicken stock works well as a substitute.
- Make sure the broth covers the turkey completely to allow even simmering.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 bowl (about 1.5 cups)
- Calories: 320 kcal
- Sugar: 4 g
- Sodium: 580 mg
- Fat: 12 g
- Saturated Fat: 5 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 6 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 30 g
- Fiber: 4 g
- Protein: 25 g
- Cholesterol: 70 mg
