Description
This turkey soup with sweet potato dumplings is giving the coziest of vibes. Delicious, hearty pieces of turkey with aromatics and veggies in rich, savory broth. Made complete with pillowy-soft and flavorful sweet potato dumplings.
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 of 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
- Place the turkey tenderloins into a large bowl or vessel and season them generously with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Cover the bowl with a lid/plastic wrap and set aside for about 25-30 minutes to reach room temperature before proceeding to the step below.
- In a large dutch oven or stock pot, warm up the butter and olive oil over medium-high heat. Once the mixture is sizzling, add in the seasoned turkey tenderloins. Brown the tenderloins for about 2-3 minutes on each side. Note: brown only to achieve a nice, golden sear on both sides- the turkey will cook through completely, later on. Then remove the turkey and set aside onto a cleaned plate.
- Add in the chopped celery, carrots, and onion. Use a wooden utensil to stir the mixture together, scraping up any bits on the bottom of the pot, and sauté until soft and tender, about 4-5 minutes. Add in the garlic and stir together until the garlic is fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Place the fresh thyme sprigs and bay leaves along with the seasonings: oregano, paprika, and allspice into the pot. Stir everything together to fully combine and allow the spices to warm up and lightly toast, stirring continuously, about 1 minute.
- Add the reserved turkey tenderloins back into the same pot. Cover the turkey with the stock and carefully stir everything together to combine, making sure all of the turkey is submerged under the liquid.
- Reduce the heat to the lowest setting and cover the pot with a lid. Allow the mixture to simmer together for 45-50 minutes.
- Then remove the turkey from the pot and place onto a cutting board. Use two forks to shred the turkey into pieces. Once all of the turkey is shredded, add it back into the pot and stir to combine. Leave the pot uncovered while you prepare the dumplings, below.
- To make dumplings: In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, and baking powder. Pour in the melted butter and buttermilk along with the mashed/puréed sweet potato. Stir the mixture together with a spatula until the dough comes together and is just combined- careful not to overwork. Let the dumpling mixture sit for 1-2 minutes to activate the baking powder (you will see the dumpling mixture get super fluffy).
- Back to the soup, add in the frozen peas and stir to combine. Using a spoon or a spring-loaded scooper; drop 2-3 tablespoons of the dumpling dough directly on top of hot soup, all over, covering the top of soup. Spoon some of the broth over the tops of each dumpling.
- Cover the pot and allow the soup to simmer for 10-15 minutes. Afterwards, the dumplings should be cooked through and fluffy.
- Uncover the pot and remove the soup from heat. Ladle the turkey soup with sweet potato dumplings into bowls (remove thyme sprigs/bay leaves) and serve immediately with a few cracks of freshly ground black pepper, if desired. Enjoy!
Notes
- Please read the blog post in its entirety for more tips + tricks.
- Gluten-free flour is a 1:1 replacement for all purpose flour to keep this recipe gluten-free, if needed.
Keywords: turkey soup, sweet potato dumplings, thanksgiving soup, leftover turkey soup