Turkey Bean Soup
User Reviews
5
Turkey Bean Soup
Description
This Turkey Bean Soup recipe utilizes bacon rendered to crispiness and turkey thighs browned in the same pot to build a rich base. The vegetables—carrots, onions, and celery—are softened before adding minced garlic. Turkey stock and additional water combine with shelled beans, thyme, and bay leaves for slow oven cooking, allowing flavors to meld and meat to become tender.
After cooking, the turkey thighs are deboned and shredded back into the soup, with sliced sausage, cherry or grape tomatoes, and honey added to enrich the flavor profile with sweetness and variety. The soup simmers further to blend the ingredients harmoniously.
This dish suits colder days as a comforting, filling soup with a complex balance of smoky, sweet, and herbaceous notes. The use of various meats and beans provides layered textures and flavors. It can accommodate bean varieties and meat substitutions while emphasizing slow cooking for tenderness and depth.
Adjust cooking times depending on using wild or farmed meat, and substitute canned fire-roasted tomatoes when fresh are not available.
Ingredients
- 6 lices Bacon
- 1 or 2 wild turkey thighs or 2 pounds other meat
- 3 carrot peeled and cut into discs
- 2 onion medium yellow or white, chopped
- 3 celery chopped
- salt
- black pepper
- 6 cloves garlic minced
- 2 quarts turkey stock or chicken or other game stock
- 2 pounds shelly beans or fresh butter beans, or 1 pound dried beans that have been soaked overnight
- 2 bay leaf
- 1 teaspoon thyme dried
- 1 pound sausage cut into coins
- 12 to 20 tomatoes cherry or grape
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1/4 cup parsley chopped, fresh
Instructions
- In a large soup pot like a Dutch oven, cook the bacon over medium heat until crispy. Remove the bacon. Eat a slice, then chop the rest and set aside. Preheat the oven to 325°F.
- Brown the turkey thighs in the hot bacon grease, turning as needed. Remove and set aside. Add the carrots, onions and celery and cook until soft, about 6 to 8 minutes. Add the garlic and cook another minute or two.
- Return the turkey thighs to the pot, add the stock along with another quart of water. Add the beans, thyme and bay leaves and salt to taste. Cover the pot and set in the oven for 2 hours -- 90 minutes if you are using store-bought turkey.
- Check the turkey to see if it's tender. When it is, fish the thighs out and debone, then chop and shred a bit. Remember you will eat all this with a spoon, so that should guide you in terms of size. Return the turkey meat to the pot.
- Add the sausage, tomatoes and honey to the pot and stir well. Add more salt if you need it. Return to the pot and set back in the oven for 15 minutes.
- When you are ready to serve, stir in the parsley and reserved bacon, along with lots of freshly ground black pepper.
Notes
- Cooking times vary; wild game may require longer simmering than farmed turkey.
- For all-turkey versions, include smoked turkey wings and legs at the start, adding diced breast meat near the end of cooking.
- Use shelly beans for a more distinct texture and flavor when in season or substitute dried soaked beans or fresh butter beans.
- When fresh tomatoes are not available, canned fire-roasted diced tomatoes offer a suitable alternative.
Nutrition Information
Show DetailsNutrition Facts
Serving: 8people
Amount Per Serving
Calories 463 kcal
% Daily Value*
| Calories | 463kcal | 23% |
| Carbohydrates | 38g | 13% |
| Protein | 22g | 44% |
| Fat | 25g | 38% |
| Saturated Fat | 8g | 40% |
| Cholesterol | 58mg | 19% |
| Sodium | 1344mg | 56% |
| Potassium | 865mg | 18% |
| Fiber | 7g | 28% |
| Sugar | 11g | 22% |
| Vitamin A | 4179IU | 84% |
| Vitamin C | 13mg | 14% |
| Calcium | 67mg | 7% |
| Iron | 4mg | 22% |
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.
User Reviews
Overall Rating
5
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