This post was originally published on November 24, 2016.

On a cold winter day, keep the family happy by preparing a delicious, warm soup. Whether you’re snowed in or are enjoying the holidays at home, you can make this soup recipe as long as you have vegetables (any will work), ground turkey, and broth. Inspired by the Thanksgiving turkey that we are enjoying in my household, today on Theresa’s Reviews I am sharing a simple Turkey Meatball Vegetable Soup made with turkey meatballs, gnocchi, mushrooms, and any other vegetables you have on hand.

Turkey Meatball Vegetable Soup

This simple recipe uses things you already have in your pantry. With only a few ingredients and minimal prep time, this meal is not only easy to make, but is also a family favorite.

A Quick Soup For Cold Winter Days

One chilly weekend afternoon, I made this turkey meatball vegetable soup. As luck would have it, I had ground turkey in the refrigerator and broth in the pantry. Everything fell into place as I added ingredients I had on hand. My family had been getting over a bad cold. The soup offered the warmth and nutrition we all needed on a cold day.

Turkey Meatball Vegetable Soup Recipe

Ingredients For The Turkey Meatballs:

2 lbs ground turkey

1 cup bread crumbs

2 eggs

dash of milk

salt/pepper

Italian seasoning

Ingredients For The Soup:

2 cartons of chicken broth

Sliced onions (or diced)

Mushrooms

1 container of Gnocchi

2 handfuls of rinsed Spinach

Directions: Preheat oven to 375 F. Mix all the ingredients together with your hands, making sure to add a little more milk if it looks dry or a little more breadcrumbs if it looks too wet. Scoop out small meatballs and line them out on two cookie trays. Bake for 25 minutes.

When the meatballs are cooking, sauté the onions until they are a golden color. Then add the mushrooms and cook until done. Add the spinach. Cook for a few minutes.

Add in the broth. Then add the meatballs. Let simmer for 20 minutes or longer, adjusting the flavor as needed with salt and pepper. Add in the gnocchi for the last 10 minutes. When the gnocchi rises to the top, it is done and ready to be served.

Some Helpful Tips

First, one thing that made the soup especially delicious was the new line of Swanson Organic Broth made with 99% fat-free broth and free-range chicken. The taste is rich and flavorful. With organic and all natural ingredients, the broth was healthy for the family too. During the winter, every pantry should have a good amount of broth. If you get snowed in for a few days (or a week, as we did last year), you can make a big pot of soup to keep everyone well fed.

Tasty Meatballs: The Secret To A Delicious Soup

Next, the meatballs are a major highlight of the recipe. The trick to making meatballs for soup is to make them extra small. Each meatball should fit in the palm of your hand. When you bake the meatballs, they don’t have to get too brown or crunchy because they will cook as you let the soup simmer.

For the next step, I added whatever vegetables I had. We always keep onions and frozen vegetables in our home. I started with the onions and added carrots. When I saw gnocchi in the freezer, I realized that the mushrooms would be a delicious addition because they go so well with gnocchi.

Finally, let everything cook together for a while. Double check that you give the meatballs plenty of time to cook in the broth. Then, the soup will have a rich, meatier taste.

This dish is inspired by my favorite food, Italian cuisine. It’s simple to make any time because it uses ingredients I already have. If your family loves meatballs, this turkey meatball vegetable soup can add variety to your winter cooking.

Although spaghetti, meatballs, and marinara sauce are a weekly classic in my second-generation Italian American household, this was a much lighter meal made with healthier ingredients. Cooking with 97% fat-free turkey, organic broth, and extra vegetables was not only healthy, but also delicious. We love coming in from a cold day in the snow to enjoy this soup together.

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Disclosure

Swanson sent me free broth after I made this recipe, but the recipe idea and decision to cook with Swanson broth were all my own.