Description
A comforting and flavorful turkey soup featuring tender shredded turkey and fluffy sweet potato dumplings, enhanced with fresh herbs and warm spices. Perfect for a hearty dinner that combines rich broth with satisfying textures.
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 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 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 30 minutes.
- Brown Turkey: Heat butter and olive oil in a large dutch oven or stock pot over medium-high heat until sizzling. Add the seasoned turkey and brown for 3 minutes on each side to achieve a golden sear. Remove turkey and set aside on a clean plate.
- Sauté Vegetables: Add chopped celery, carrots, and onion to the pot. Stir and sauté until softened, about 5 minutes. Add 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. Continuously stir for 1 minute to toast the spices.
- Combine Stock and Turkey: Return the browned turkey to the pot. Pour in turkey or chicken stock to cover the turkey. Stir gently to combine.
- Simmer Soup: Reduce heat to low, cover the pot, and simmer for 50 minutes to cook the turkey through and meld flavors.
- Shred Turkey: Remove turkey from the pot and shred using two forks. Return shredded turkey to the soup and stir. Keep the pot uncovered for the next step.
- 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 and let the dough rest for 2 minutes to activate the baking powder and become fluffy.
- Add Peas and Drop Dumplings: Stir frozen peas into the soup. Using a spoon or scooper, drop 2-3 tablespoons of dumpling dough evenly over the surface of the hot soup. Spoon some broth over each dumpling.
- Cook Dumplings: Cover the pot and simmer for 15 minutes until dumplings are cooked through and fluffy.
- Serve: Remove thyme sprigs and bay leaves. Ladle soup into bowls and season with freshly ground black pepper if desired. Serve immediately.
Notes
- Read the full blog post for additional tips and tricks to enhance the recipe.
- For a gluten-free version, substitute the all-purpose flour with a 1:1 gluten-free flour blend.
- Do not overwork the dumpling dough to ensure fluffy dumplings.
- Adjust seasoning as needed before serving.
- Use fresh herbs if available for best flavor.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 bowl
- Calories: 350 kcal
- Sugar: 5 g
- Sodium: 600 mg
- Fat: 15 g
- Saturated Fat: 8 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 6 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 30 g
- Fiber: 4 g
- Protein: 30 g
- Cholesterol: 80 mg
