Description
A hearty and comforting turkey soup with tender shredded turkey breast and fluffy sweet potato dumplings, infused with fragrant herbs and spices for a satisfying meal.
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 sit for 25-30 minutes to reach room temperature.
- 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 turkey and brown 2-3 minutes per side until golden. Remove turkey and set aside on a clean plate.
- Sauté Vegetables: Add chopped celery, carrots, and onion to the pot. Stir and cook until soft and tender, about 4-5 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 Jamaican allspice. Toast the spices for about 1 minute, stirring continuously.
- Combine Turkey and Stock: Return turkey tenderloins to the pot and cover with the turkey or chicken stock. Stir to combine, ensuring turkey is submerged.
- Simmer Soup: Reduce heat to low, cover, and let simmer gently for 45-50 minutes to cook turkey through and develop flavors.
- Shred Turkey: Remove turkey from pot and shred using two forks. Return shredded turkey to the soup and stir. Leave pot uncovered while preparing dumplings.
- Prepare Dumpling Dough: In a large bowl, whisk together flour, cornmeal, and baking powder. Add melted butter, buttermilk, and mashed sweet potato. Stir until just combined; do not overmix. Let sit 1-2 minutes to activate baking powder.
- Add Peas and Dollop Dumplings: Stir frozen peas into the soup. Using a spoon or scooper, drop 2-3 tablespoons of dumpling dough onto the hot soup surface making several dumplings. Spoon broth over tops of dumplings.
- Cook Dumplings: Cover pot and simmer for 10-15 minutes until dumplings are cooked through and fluffy.
- Serve: Remove thyme sprigs and bay leaves from soup. Ladle soup with dumplings into bowls and serve immediately with freshly ground black pepper if desired. Enjoy!
Notes
- Read the full blog post for additional tips and tricks.
- For a gluten-free version, substitute all-purpose flour with a 1:1 gluten-free flour blend.
- Do not overwork the dumpling dough to keep dumplings light and fluffy.
- Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper before serving as needed.
- Use fresh herbs if possible for best flavor, but dried can substitute in a pinch.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 bowl (about 1.5 cups)
- Calories: 350 kcal
- Sugar: 5 g
- Sodium: 600 mg
- Fat: 15 g
- Saturated Fat: 7 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 7 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 30 g
- Fiber: 4 g
- Protein: 30 g
- Cholesterol: 85 mg
