Turkey Lentil Soup – using leftover holiday turkey or ground turkey. Hearty, comforting – loaded with vegetables and lentils in a rich tomato broth.
Soup is my go-to recipe this time of year. It’s cozy, comforting, the aroma is amazing and it’s pretty much all I need on a chilly. day.
This simple recipe whips up in a little over 30 minutes, tastes likes it’s been simmering for hours and may become your new favorite soup.
WHY I LOVE THIS RECIPE:
- Hearty Turkey Lentil Soup is a great recipe for leftover turkey that’s NOT another sandwich!
- You can make this delicious soup anytime using ground turkey too
- It’s a healthy soup packed with protein and layers of flavor.
- It can be easily customized with other vegetables.
- It’s the ideal stove top recipe on a chilly winter day.
- The V-8 juice adds another level of flavor plus seven kinds of vegetables and nutritional value you can’t get from just tomato sauce.
WHAT TYPE OF LENTIL IS BEST FOR TURKEY AND LENTIL SOUP?
Dried lentils work best in this soup. You can use most types/colors – brown lentils, red lentils, green lentils or yellow.
IS TURKEY LENTIL SOUP GOOD FOR YOU?
Yes! This soup is a great source of protein, loaded with nutrition and high in fiber.
What’s in Turkey and Lentil Soup?
- olive oil
- lean ground turkey (or leftover turkey diced in bite size pieces)
- salt and black pepper
- onion
- carrots
- celery
- garlic powder
- tomato paste
- diced tomatoes
- lentils
- bay leaf
- V8 juice
- chicken stock
- small shells, ditalini or other mini pasta
- parsley
- wedge of parmesan cheese
How to make Turkey Lentil Soup:
To use ground turkey, add the olive oil to a large pot over medium-high heat.
Add the ground turkey, season with salt, pepper and garlic powder and leave it alone for 2-3 minutes so you get a nice sear.
Break up the turkey with a wooden spoon or spatula then drop in the chopped onion, carrots and celery and season lightly with salt and pepper.
Cook 6-8 minutes over medium heat until the carrots begin to soften.
Stir in tomato paste and cook 2 minutes then add the can of diced tomatoes, lentils and bay leaf.
Pour in the V8 juice and chicken stock and if your Parmesan cheese has a rind, add it into the pot as well.
Cover, bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer 15 minutes over low heat until the lentils are starting to soften but still have bite to them.
Stir in the pasta then cover and simmer 8-10 minutes. Cooking time may vary – cook until both the pasta and lentils are tender.
Add the chopped parsley and blend then taste and adjust for salt and pepper.
Serve hot with grated parmesan cheese and a good crusty bread.
How do I make this recipe using leftover turkey?
To use leftover turkey from the holiday season, leave out the step adding ground turkey then stir in small pieces of leftover turkey after you add the V8 and chicken stock.
Can I freeze this soup?
Leftover soup refrigerates well in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
You can also freeze this soup. I store mine in small individual serving containers – perfect for lunchtime.
SUBS AND VARIATIONS:
- Turkey stock, chicken broth or vegetable broth can be used instead of chicken stock.
- Other vegetables would work well in this recipe such as frozen peas or baby spinach.
- Can use 2 garlic cloves grated instead of garlic powder.
- Try adding a light squeeze of lemon juice.
Looking for more ground turkey recipes?
Mexican Stuffed Peppers
favorite recipes from readers:
Enjoy!
Let’s cook together!
If you make this Lentil Turkey Soup or any other recipe on the blog, don’t forget to leave a comment and ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ star rating!
Turkey Lentil Soup
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 pound ground turkey OR 2 cups leftover turkey cut bite size
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 medium onion diced
- 2 medium carrots peeled and diced
- 2 stalks celery diced
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 14 ounces diced tomatoes including the juices
- 1 cup lentils
- 5 cups V8 juice
- 2 1/2 cups turkey stock
- 1/4 cup small pasta (ditalini, small shells, etc) uncooked
- 1/4 cup fresh parsley finely chopped
- Freshly grated parmesan cheese for serving + rind if it has one
Instructions
GROUND TURKEY:
- Add the olive oil to a large pot over medium-high heat then add ground turkey, season with salt, pepper and garlic powder and leave it alone for 2-3 minutes so you get a nice sear.
- Break up the turkey with a wooden spoon or spatula then drop in the chopped onion, carrots and celery and season lightly with salt and pepper.
- Cook 6-8 minutes over medium heat until the carrots begin to soften.Stir in tomato paste and cook 2 minutes then add the can of diced tomatoes (including their juices, the lentils and bay leaf.Pour in the V8 juice and chicken stock and if your Parmesan cheese has a rind, add it into the pot as well.
- Cover, bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer 15 minutes over low heat until the lentils are starting to soften but still have bite to them.Stir in the pasta then cover and simmer 8-10 minutes (stir occasionally so pasta doesn't stick to the bottom of the pot). Cooking time may vary – cook until both the pasta and lentils are tender.
- Add the chopped parsley and blend then taste and adjust for salt and pepper
- Serve hot with grated parmesan cheese and a good crusty bread.
LEFTOVER TURKEY:
- To use leftover turkey leave out the step adding ground turkey then stir in small pieces of leftover turkey after you add the V8 and stock.
Maritza Rodriguez says
The soup was awesome instead of using the V8 I had leftover juice from a piece of meat I had cooked in the Crock-Pot.Tthe juice gave it a wonderful flavor. I didn’t have two tomatoes so I use two roma tomatoes. I used three types of shredded cheese instead of just the one type of cheese.The rest I kept it as the soup requested. I served with garlic bread.
Bernie says
Hi Maritza – So glad you liked it! Soup is one of my favorite things to make. I love that you customized it to what you had on hand. That’s one of the things that’s best about making soup – all in! Garlic bread is an idea side too 🙂 Enjoy the day.
Christine says
Making this tonight… curious as to what constitutes a “serving” in the nutrition info… 1 cup?
Bernie says
Hi Christine – one serving is about 1 to 1 1/2 cups of soup. Thanks for stopping by – I hope you enjoy the soup 🙂
Denise says
Love love this recipe!!! I make 2 batches and share with my friends and right around this time of year the requests start, Sometimes I add a dash of red wine:}
Bernie says
Hi Denise – this makes my day! So glad you love this recipe so much — what a friend you are sharing it too — and I love the addition of red wine – bet it adds even more flavor. Thanks so much for the kind words and taking the time to comment — Bernie
Wonderful cook says
Made this soup last weekend and it was a huge success! Delicious recipe, thank you.
Bernie says
Hi — thank YOU for making this recipe and your kind words. It’s one of my favorites from fall to spring. So glad you enjoyed it too – Bernie