• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Appetizers & Snacks
Visit my other Site: Pancake Recipes
  • About
  • Contact
  • Appetizers & Snacks
  • Visit my other Site: Pancake Recipes

Rachel Cooks®

Easy Healthy-ish Recipes

  • Recipe Index
  • The Basics
  • Free Meal Plans

Dinner Made Easy:

Slow Cooker

5 Ingredients

Grilling

Make Ahead

Sheet Pan

Tacos

Pizza

Home Recipes by Type Soups and Stews
30 30 Minutes or Less

Ground Turkey Soup with Beans & Spinach (20 minutes!)

4.57
/5
20 minutes mins
116 Comments
Jump to Recipe
By: Rachel GurkPosted: 02/03/2014Updated: 04/06/2023

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.

This healthy soup recipe comes together in 20 minutes or less, but it is packed full of protein, vegetables, and most importantly, flavor! Your whole family will love it. Get the healthy soup recipe on RachelCooks.com!

Healthy ground turkey soup recipe comes together in 20 minutes or less, it is packed full of protein, vegetables, and most importantly, flavor! Your whole family will love it. 

Two bowls of turkey bean soup on green and yellow striped napkins. Text overlay reads "20 minute Healthy Italian Turkey Bean Soup."


 

I love to give you ideas to make weeknight meals a breeze. My two biggest tips are these:

  • Plan ahead (try making Pepperoni Pizza Lasagna Rolls)
  • Have a stocked pantry — this recipe depends on it.

I make this healthy soup recipe using all ingredients I keep regularly stocked in my pantry. 

Here’s what I keep in my stocked pantry/fridge/freezer to make recipes like these:

  • Diced tomatoes
  • Grated Parmesan Cheese
  • Canned beans — this recipe uses great Northern but I typically keep black beans and chickpeas stocked as well.
  • Chicken broth/stock
  • Ground turkey
  • Spinach. I always have spinach. Always. If I don’t, I’m headed to the store.
  • Onions. A must have for so many recipes.
  • Garlic. Duh.
  • Spices — this recipe uses oregano, red pepper flakes and basil.
  • Olive oil. I always have a bottle of it in my pantry.

Other staples in my pantry are a variety of grains, pasta, bacon, carrots, celery, a variety of vinegars, and some fruit and vegetables in the freezer. But you don’t need any of those for this particular healthy soup recipe.

Of course, everyone is different and you might not keep your pantry stocked just like mine. You might not like ground turkey. Ground beef is fine, or try this recipe with Italian sausage, it’s phenomenal!). Maybe you don’t have baby spinach — try a different green in this soup such as kale or chard.

About this Ground Turkey Soup

The really important thing here is that this recipe can be prepared in 20 minutes. I make this soup A LOT on weeks where I slip behind on my meal planning. Or maybe I have something planned and I just don’t have the time and energy to prepare it. Or it might just not sound good on that particular night.

No problem! Out come those pantry staples to save the day. Healthy, easy, and no trips to the grocery store required. I’m pretty sure that’s as good as it gets. Plus it can warm you up on a chilly day. Hot soup is always a good thing.

How to Make this Soup

To make this recipe, heat up your soup pot with some olive oil. To that, add ground turkey, onions, garlic, red pepper flakes, and some black pepper.

Overhead view of raw ground turkey with onions, garlic, salt and pepper in red Dutch oven pan.

Cook until the onions are translucent and the ground turkey is fully cooked.

Overhead of browned ground turkey with wooden spoon, in Dutch oven.

Throw in beans, herbs, tomatoes — stir to combine.

Overhead of Dutch oven containing ingredients for soup, before they are mixed together.
Same pan, containing same ingredients mixed together.

Then PILE on the spinach. You can do this in batches if need be, but if you have a big pan, it will probably fit. Cover for a couple of minutes to let the spinach wilt.

Dutch oven with fresh spinach leaves piled in.

You might have to stir it a couple of times to help it along.

Dutch oven with soup ingredients including wilted spinach.

Add chicken stock and bring the soup up to a boil to make sure it is good and hot. 

Soup with added broth.

Once the soup is hot, remove it from heat and sprinkle in the grated Parmesan cheese. This is what makes it really, really good. If you’re not a cheese-lover, don’t worry, your soup will still taste great! 

Closeup of Dutch oven containing soup, with parmesan cheese added on top.
Parmesan cheese partially stirred in.
Parmesan cheese fully incorporated into soup.

There ya have it! A healthy soup recipe ready in 20 minutes that’s good for you, is ready in less than 30 minutes, and doesn’t come from a can.

Front view of white bowl containing soup.

Soup’s on!

Looking for more hearty soup recipes? Try:

  • Homemade vegetable soup, packed with lots and lots of garden veggies
  • Easy Hamburger Soup Recipe
  • Lentil Soup Recipe with Pasta
  • Red Lentil Soup Recipe — one of my most popular recipes!
  • Instant Pot Minestrone Soup Recipe
  • Crockpot Pumpkin Soup (5 Ingredients!)
  • Vegetarian Lasagna Soup (VIDEO)
  • Creamy Chicken Enchilada Soup with Noodles
  • Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup — Instant Pot and stovetop directions.

Interested in a weekly meal plan (it’s free!) that includes this ground turkey soup? Take a look at my Meal Plan #9. You’ll find a wholesome recipe for each weekday plus a categorized grocery list. Let me do the planning for you this week!

We’ll be adding a new meal plan weekly. If you’re interested, browse all of our meal plans.

Did you make this? Be sure to leave a review below and tag me @rachelcooksblog on Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest!

Overhead of red Dutch oven containing turkey bean soup.
Recipe

Get the Recipe: Ground Turkey Soup with Beans & Spinach (20 minutes!)

4.57 from 148 votes
Prep Time: 5 minutes mins
Cook Time: 15 minutes mins
Total Time: 20 minutes mins
6 servings
Print Rate Recipe
Prevent your screen from going dark
Healthy ground turkey soup recipe comes together in 20 minutes or less, it is packed full of protein, vegetables, and most importantly, flavor! Your whole family will love it. 

Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 pound extra lean ground turkey
  • 1 medium yellow onion, diced
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1 pinch red pepper flakes
  • ¼ teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • ½ teaspoon dried basil
  • 1 can (14.5 ounce) diced tomatoes, undrained
  • 1 can (15.8 ounce) great northern beans, rinsed and drained
  • 8 ounces baby spinach
  • 3 cups low-sodium chicken broth
  • ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus extra for garnish

Instructions

  • Heat the oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Brown the turkey with the onions, garlic, red pepper flakes, and black pepper until the turkey is cooked through and the onions are translucent (about 7 minutes).
  • Add oregano, basil, tomatoes (with liquid), and beans. Stir to combine.
  • Reduce heat to medium-low, add spinach and cover for about 2 minutes or until spinach is wilted. Stir to combine.
  • Add broth, stir, and increase heat to medium. Continue to cook until heated through, about 5 minutes.
  • Remove from heat, stir in Parmesan and serve.

Notes

  • Ground beef, sausage, or ground chicken can be substituted for the ground turkey.
  • Any tender green can be substituted for the spinach, such as baby kale or escarole.

Nutrition Information

Serving: 1.5cups, Calories: 303kcal, Carbohydrates: 24g, Protein: 26g, Fat: 12g, Saturated Fat: 4g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g, Monounsaturated Fat: 5g, Trans Fat: 0.1g, Cholesterol: 63mg, Sodium: 366mg, Potassium: 916mg, Fiber: 6g, Sugar: 3g, Vitamin A: 3764IU, Vitamin C: 19mg, Calcium: 205mg, Iron: 4mg

This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.

© Author: Rachel Gurk
Did You Make This?Be sure to upload a photo & tag me at @RachelCooksBlog. I love seeing what you made!
Share A Photo! Tag on Insta Rate It
Free email series

5 Time & Stress Saving Cooking Secrets

Free email series of my best tips!

FREE BONUS!

You May Also Like...

  • Lasagna soup in bowl with a cheese topping.
    Lasagna Soup Recipe
  • A serving of turkey soup in white bowl with chopped parsley.
    Creamy Turkey Soup with Quinoa
  • Carrot soup in a white bowl topped with chives and a swirl of cream.
    Creamy Carrot Soup
  • Red lentil soup in a white bowl.
    Red Lentil Soup Recipe
Stack of four red velvet cookies.
Previous Post
Easy Red Velvet Cookies
Three apple bran muffins with red liners on a green plastic plate.
Next Post
Healthy Apple Bran Muffins

Reader Interactions

Leave a Review Cancel reply

Recipe Rating




The maximum upload file size: 1 MB. You can upload: image. Drop files here

  1. Christina T says

    January 29, 2023 at 1:41 pm

    Is there a conversion for Instant Pot?

    Reply
    • Rachel Gurk says

      January 31, 2023 at 12:26 pm

      There is not, but you’d just want to saute the ground turkey and onions until turkey is cooked and onions are translucent. Add the garlic and cook for another minute or so. After that it really just needs to warm up – I’d add the other ingredients (except spinach and parmesan) and maybe do high pressure for 5 minutes? Stir in the spinach at the end until it wilts. Then, add the parmesan. Let me know if you give it a try!

      Reply
  2. Seara says

    October 20, 2022 at 5:54 pm

    Just made this, I’m impressed how tasty this dish is, and love how little time this took to make! definitely helping me soothe my cold on this chilly fall day!

    Reply
    • Rachel Gurk says

      October 26, 2022 at 10:49 am

      So glad you enjoyed it! It’s always one of my go-tos.

      Reply
  3. Randolph W Mccumber says

    March 28, 2022 at 11:25 am

    5 stars
    Great

    Reply
    • Rachel Gurk says

      March 30, 2022 at 10:45 am

      So glad you liked it!

      Reply
  4. Patti says

    March 7, 2022 at 12:54 pm

    I haven’t made it yet, will in a couple hours. I just wanted to share a tip I found with another ground Turkey soup with barley and mushrooms, that has spinach in it. I now add the spinach in the bowls when I am serving it, otherwise it gets so cooked down and a little bit unappealing. I don’t freeze it with the spinach either, just do the same thing when I warm it up, put the spinach in the bottom of the bowl, then pour the hot soup over it. This way people can decide how much spinach they want, for me, it’s half a bowl, lol!

    Reply
    • Rachel Gurk says

      March 8, 2022 at 8:05 am

      That’s a great idea!

      Reply
  5. Nat says

    February 27, 2022 at 9:39 pm

    5 stars
    Yesss, this turned out so good, and as everyone has been saying, it’s so versatile! I only had 5 oz of spinach, but had some carrots and zucchini that were dangerously close to being sacrificed to the composter. So I threw those extra veggies in, used a whole box of broth (4 cups), and just let it simmer a little longer (until veggies were soft). This is my new go-to for the end-of-week fridge purge.

    Reply
    • Rachel Gurk says

      February 28, 2022 at 8:11 am

      I’m so glad you liked it! It is a great way to clean out the fridge. Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment!

      Reply
Older Comments

Primary Sidebar

Welcome!

Hi, I'm Rachel! Life can be complicated, cooking shouldn't be! I believe that you can put a delicious meal on the table without stressing. It's possible, and I'm here to help. Have a seat at my table...let's chat, eat, and have fun! Read more...

Air Fryer Instant Pot 30 Minutes One Pan Gluten-Free Dairy-Free Slow Cooker Vegetarian 5 Ingredients

Trending

Cooked salmon fillet on a grey-toned plate with cooked asparagus spears. The salmon is being flaked with a fork.

Air Fryer Salmon Recipe

Pizza pasta being scooped from a pan with a wooden spoon.

Pizza Pasta – 1 pan, 20 minutes

Image of a giant bowl of spaghetti with turkey meatballs.

Baked Turkey Meatballs

Asparagus Panzanella Salad

Seasonal

Front view of several spritz cookies on rectangular white plate.

Cream Cheese Spritz Cookies for Christmas

Crockpot ham sliced and on a platter.

Crockpot Ham with Maple Dijon Sauce

Red wine spritzer surrounded by ingredients.

Red Wine Spritzer

Two pieces of fried goat cheese stacked.

Fried Goat Cheese

Opens in a new window Opens an external site Opens an external site in a new window
Free Bonus!

5 Cooking Secrets to Save Time & Stress

Free email series of my best tips and recipes!

Featured On:

Back to Top
  • About
  • Contact
  • Press
  • Work with Me
  • Privacy
  • Accessibility
© 2023 Rachel Cooks®
Site Credits Designed by Melissa Rose Design Developed by Once Coupled