Turkey Lentil Soup – leftover or ground turkey – delicious, hearty protein-packed soup loaded with vegetables and lentils in a rich tomato broth.
This easy, delicious Turkey Lentil Soup whips up in about 30 minutes using ground turkey or leftover turkey and is one of my favorite recipes all winter long.
If you’re using leftovers, consider it an upgrade to that cold turkey sandwich you may be considering the next day after the holiday.
Why I love this recipe:
- Leftover Thanksgiving turkey or ground turkey so you can make this soup anytime!
- Great source of protein!
- Layers of delicious flavor – an easy soup recipe – ready in about 30 minutes!
- V8 juice – for real! Adds tons of flavor and nutrition you can’t get from just tomato sauce.
- Great way to use up leftover turkey and this time of year a hearty soup is always good!
What kind of lentils are best for Turkey and Lentil Soup?
Dried lentils work best in this soup. From there, the choice is yours, red lentils, green lentils and brown lentils — all work well.
What’s in Turkey Lentil Soup?
- olive oil
- leftover turkey meat OR lean ground turkey
- 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 (uncooked)
- fresh parsley
- wedge of parmesan cheese (optional)
- parmesan cheese (for serving)
How to make Turkey Lentil Soup:
GROUND TURKEY:
Add the olive oil to a large pot over medium-high heat. Drop in 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 add diced onion, carrots and celery. Season with salt and pepper. Cook 6-8 minutes over medium heat or until the carrots begin to soften.
Stir in tomato paste and cook 1-2 minutes then add diced tomatoes, lentils and bay leaf.
Pour in V8 juice and chicken stock and if your Parmesan cheese has a rind (optional), add it into the pot as well.
Cover, bring to a boil, then reduce heat. Simmer 15 minutes over low heat or until the lentils are starting to soften but still have a little bite to them.
Stir in the uncooked pasta then cover and simmer 8-10 minutes. Cook time may vary – you want both the pasta and lentils to be al dente or tender.
Add chopped parsley and blend then taste and adjust for salt and pepper.
Serve hot with as much grated parmesan cheese sprinkled over the top as you like along with some good crusty bread.
How to make this soup 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.
How to safely store Turkey Lentil Soup:
Cool completely then store leftover soup in the refrigerator in airtight container up to 3 days.
Freeze in freezer-safe containers and keep up to 3 months.
Subs and variations to this recipe:
- 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.
- Fresh spinach – wilt a couple of large handfuls into the soup.
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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.
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.
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.
Making this tonight… curious as to what constitutes a “serving” in the nutrition info… 1 cup?
Hi Christine – one serving is about 1 to 1 1/2 cups of soup. Thanks for stopping by – I hope you enjoy the soup 🙂
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:}
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
Made this soup last weekend and it was a huge success! Delicious recipe, thank you.
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
Wow. So good. It reinvents Thanksgiving leftovers: I put the leftover gravy, mashed potatoes, and stuffing in this recipe. Wow.
Hi Lindsay – thanks so much! What a great way to use up the rest of the leftovers! Glad you enjoyed the soup! — Bernie