It's not very often that something I do on this blog surprises me, but this Turkey Taco Soup did. Months ago, when I was planning my blog posts for this year, I randomly wrote down Turkey Taco Soup. I had no idea what I was going to make, how I would make it, or how it would turn out. A few months later, the next post on the roster is, of course, Turkey Taco Soup.
So, I sat down, thought it through, and decided on a plan of action. While cooking the soup, I constantly questioned myself but stuck to the plan. When the soup was finished, it tasted okay. Good, but not as good as I'd hoped. I decided that I would have to make it again to perfect it, but I wouldn't let the soup I'd made go to waste.
So, I filled up a bowl, garnished it with some classic taco toppings, and dug in. Wow! Those garnishes brought the soup to life. What was good became great. I couldn't believe how much the soup tasted exactly like a taco. Even better is that I didn't need to go back and make it again. To say that I'm excited to share this recipe with you is an understatement. So, without further delay, let's get to it!
How To Make Turkey Taco Soup
Turkey Taco Soup Ingredients
The ingredients for my Turkey Taco Soup are turkey, onion, garlic, tomato, sweet potato, spices, pickled jalapeno, orange and lime zest and juice, chicken or vegetable stock, black beans, and corn. Then for garnish: pepper jack cheese, sour cream, raw onion, cilantro, Mexican hot sauce, and tortilla chips.
The jalapenos don't add much spice, but they do add a bit of acidity and flavour. So please don't leave them out because you think they will make the soup too spicy. If you decide not to use them, add a teaspoon or two of cider vinegar or wine vinegar to balance the acidity.
I chose turkey for this recipe because it is lean and a traditional Mexican protein. Turkey was first domesticated in Mexico over 2000 years ago. Using ground turkey also keeps the soup lighter than beef would, which means you can enjoy a bigger bowl without feeling weighed down. If you love turkey in Mexican-inspired dishes, be sure to check out my chipotle lime turkey tacos too.
Making The Soup
Brown the Turkey
Browning the turkey is step one to making this soup. Heat a large pot over medium-high heat. Add a tablespoon or two of olive oil, add the turkey and cook until it's browned. It's best to put the turkey in the pot, then leave it alone for a few minutes. Then, stir it, and leave it alone for another few minutes. The turkey will never actually brown if you stand there and mix it constantly.
Tomatoes and Onions
Once the turkey is cooked, add the tomatoes and onions. Continue to cook for another three to four minutes or until the onions soften, and the tomatoes start to break down. You can tell the onions are softening because they will begin to turn from opaque to translucent.
Next, add the oregano, cumin, salt, paprika, and pickled jalapenos. Cook for another minute or two or until you start to smell the spices. This step is called blooming the spices, and it makes a significant difference in the final flavour. When dry spices hit the heat, their essential oils are released, intensifying their aroma and taste.
Citrus
In goes the citrus zest and juice. The citrus does three things: first, it adds flavour, then acidity, and finally sweetness. It is essential. Once you add the citrus, cook it until it has mostly all been cooked away. The easiest way to tell when it's time to move on to the next step is to drag your spoon along the bottom of the pot. If a line forms and stays for at least one second, the citrus has cooked down enough, and you can move on.
Make It a Soup
The final few steps in the cooking process are to add the sweet potato, corn, black beans, and stock. Then, bring the soup to a boil, turn the heat down to medium-low and simmer for twenty minutes or until the sweet potato is tender. After twenty minutes, or once the sweet potato is ready, taste the soup and season as needed with salt and pepper.
The sweet potato is a key ingredient here. It adds a subtle sweetness and body to the broth that you wouldn't get from regular potatoes. As it cooks, it breaks down slightly and thickens the soup just enough to give it a lovely, hearty consistency. If you prefer a thinner soup, you can cut back on the sweet potato or leave it out entirely and use diced regular potato instead.
Finishing and Serving The Turkey Taco Soup
The soup is ready, and it's good, but as I said initially, what makes this soup are the finishing touches. So, put the soup in bowls, and garnish each bowl with pepper jack cheese (cheddar or mozza will work too), sour cream, minced raw onion, chopped cilantro, a few drops of hot sauce, and tortilla chips on the side.
When eating the soup, I like to crush the chips up as you would with soda crackers in a chicken noodle or tomato soup bowl. But, the chips are also great to just dip in the soup. I'll leave that part up to you. If you enjoy hearty soups, you might also love my sausage and black bean chili-it has a similar warmth and comfort factor.
Storage and Reheating Tips
One of the best things about this turkey taco soup is that it gets even better the next day. As the soup sits in the fridge, the flavours meld together and become even more pronounced. It stores beautifully in an airtight container in the fridge for up to five days.
To reheat, simply warm it on the stove over medium heat until it's hot throughout. You may need to add a splash of stock or water, as the sweet potato will absorb some liquid overnight. This soup also freezes well for up to three months-just leave out the garnishes and add those fresh when you serve it.
This turkey taco soup is one of those rare recipes that came together almost by accident and turned out to be something truly special. The combination of spiced turkey, sweet potato, citrus, and those all-important taco toppings creates something that's genuinely more than the sum of its parts. It's become a regular in my kitchen rotation, and I have a strong feeling it will find its way into yours too.
Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 lb ground turkey
- 1 cup diced onion
- 1 cup diced tomatoes
- 2 tablespoon sliced garlic
- 1 tablespoon oregano
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 2 tablespoon chopped pickled jalapenos
- 341 ml can corn niblets
- 398 ml can black beans
- 1 cup diced sweet potato
- 1 ½ L chicken or vegetable stock
- 1 naval orange, juice and zest
- 1 lime, juice and zest
Garnish Per Bowl
- 1 tablespoon sour cream
- 1 teaspoon raw onion
- 1 teaspoon chopped cilantro
- 1 tablespoon grated pepper jack cheese
- ½ tsp Mexican Hot Sauce or your favourite hot sauce
- 1 small bowl tortilla chips
Instructions
- Heat a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the olive oil and turkey. Cook until the turkey is browned.
- Add the onion, tomato, and garlic to the turkey and cook for 4 minutes, stirring now and then.
- Mix in the oregano, cumin, salt, and jalapenos. Cook for 2 more minutes.
- Stir in the citrus juice and zest and cook until a spoon scraped on the bottom of the pot leaves a clear line for at least 1 second.
- Stir in the corn, black beans, and sweet potato, then pour in the stock and bring to a boil.
- Turn the heat to low, simmer for 20 minutes.
- Serve the soup garnished with 1 tablespoon sour cream, 1 teaspoon minced onion, 1 teaspoon chopped cilantro, 1 tablespoon pepper jack cheese, a few drops of hot sauce and tortilla chips.
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