We LOVE Turkey Quinoa Meatball Soup!
This brothy turkey quinoa meatball soup is packed with high protein turkey quinoa meatballs – the quinoa is in the meatballs as a binder – and pieces of what we think is an underappreciated but wonderful green vegetable – collard greens.
Our Turkey Quinoa Meatball Soup with Collard Greens is perfect for a hardy lunch or dinner if you add a nice hunk of cheese and bread alongside. If you have homemade Turkey Stock, by all means, use it, otherwise a homemade or purchased low-FODMAP chicken stock, such as FODY Low FODMAP Chicken Soup Base which works quite well.
FODMAP IT!™
This recipe was adapted from Cooking Light and is part of our FODMAP IT!™ column. The original recipe used several garlic cloves, commercial stock that contained two kinds of onions, a very different proportion of broth and greens and theirs featured kale as the green vegetable.
We like ours even better and you won’t miss the garlic due to our use of Garlic-Infused Oil. And while we are talking about FODMAPing recipes, we are going to try this recipe with cooked rice as a binder next time. If you try it this way, let us know how it worked out!
And remember, if you have a recipe that you would like FODMAPed, go to our FODMAP IT!™ page and drop us a line. We would love to hear from you!
For a simple collard recipe, check out our Low FODMAP Simmered Collard Greens.
Turkey Quinoa Meatball Soup with Collard Greens
This soup features protein packed meatballs made with ground turkey and quinoa as well as underappreciated collard greens. It works with purchased stock just fine.
Ingredients:
- 1 pound (455 g) ground turkey
- 1/2 cup (93 g) cooked quinoa (we used red quinoa)
- 2 ounces (55 g) Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, grated and divided (about ½ cup total)
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
- 2 teaspoons dried basil
- 1 large egg
- Kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon Garlic-Infused Oil, made with olive oil, or purchased version, divided
- 1 cup (72 g) finely chopped leeks, green parts only
- 1/2 (19 g) celery stalk, chopped
- 10 cups (2.4 L) Turkey Stock or homemade or purchased low-FODMAP chicken stock
- 5 cups (180 g) trimmed chopped collard greens
- ¼ to 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
Preparation:
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Combine turkey, quinoa, ¼ cup cheese, parsley, basil, and egg in a large mixing bowl and season well with salt and pepper. Use hands to thoroughly but gently mix together. Form into about 24 meatballs, each about 1 inch across; damp palms will help as the mixture is sticky.
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Place a large (about 5 quart; 4.7 L) Dutch oven over medium heat. Add 2 teaspoons oil to pan swirling to coat and heat oil until it is shimmering. Add half of the meatballs, shake pot to coat meatballs with oil and cook for a few minutes or until the bottoms are golden brown. Flip meatballs over and continue to cook until light golden brown all over, about 6 to 8 minutes total. Remove from pan, add 2 more teaspoons of oil and repeat with remaining meatballs. Remove second batch when done as well.
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Add remaining 1 tablespoon of oil to pot, add chopped leek greens and celery and stir to coat. Sauté over low-medium heat for 1 minute or until leeks begin to soften. Add stock, chopped collard greens and red pepper flakes. Season with salt and pepper, add meatballs back to pot and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Simmer gently until collard greens soften and meatballs are cooked through, about 6 to 8 minutes. Soup is ready to serve. Adjust seasoning if needed. Ladle into bowls and serve remaining Parmigiano separately to sprinkle on top. Alternatively, cool soup then refrigerate in airtight container for up to 3 days.
Notes:
Tips
- You can sub in ground chicken for turkey
- Romano cheese can be used in lieu of Parmigiano; it will provide a sharper, more intense and salty flavor.
- Chopped kale can be used instead of collard greens.
- If you like things spicy, stir in some hot sauce such as Texas Pete’s
If You Can Tolerate
Fructans:
- If you have passed the garlic fructan Challenge: Add 1 finely chopped garlic clove to the meatball mixture.
- If you have passed the onion fructan Challenge: You may substitute ¾ cup (107 g) chopped white or yellow onion for the leek greens and/or use prepared chicken stock made with onions.
Nutrition
All nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered estimates. Actual nutritional content will vary with brands used, measuring methods, portion sizes and more. For a more detailed explanation, please read our article Understanding The Nutrition Panel Within Our Recipes.
What kind of pan to use as the balls stick to the bottom immediately as well as throughout cooking 🙃
I usually use my Le Creuset enamel cast-iron Dutch oven.
Hello Dede! I really want to try this soup; it sounds so hearty without being heavy – if that makes sense. 🙂 I have a few questions before I go grocery shopping.
(1) Do you think this recipe will come out okay it I cut the ingredients in half for 4 servings instead of 8? I know not all recipes can simply be halved but I don’t know how to tell. It’s just me at home and I don’t want 8 servings… unless you think it will freeze well.
(2) I see collards (yum) on the ingredient list but then down in the Tips section it states that one may substitute kale for mustard greens. So, am I purchasing collards or mustard greens?
(3) Are collards really going to get soft enough in 6-8 minutes? I’ve cooked collards a number times but stuck to two recipes I like and both recipes call for a much longer cook time.
Thanks in advance for your advice!!
LOL another typo:) I had tried it with mustard greens, for myself, and loved it, so it was in my mind – but they have not been tested yet for FODMAPs! If you do well with them I highly suggest trying. Yes, it can halve. And yes, if you chop the collards and avoid heavy stems, they will be fine. My order of greens preference is actually mustard greens (IF you know you can tolerate), kale, then collards.
This was very tasty. The leeks at my store had the greens cut off so I just used the greens of green onions. I wish I used more salt.
Thank you for writing! This is such a great soup – the combo of protein, broth and greens.