This Easy Creamy Turkey & Kale Soup is a wonderful, quick, one-pot meal that is simple, delicious and comforting. It’s AIP, paleo and Whole30 compliant.
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Soups are my favorite quick weeknight meal because they’re hard to mess up and involve very few dishes! In this Turkey & Kale Soup, ground turkey is paired with acorn squash, curly kale, carrots, celery and creamy coconut milk for a warming and delicious soup that is AIP, paleo, and Whole30 compliant.
Here are the main ingredients in this easy Turkey & Kale Soup
- olive oil
- carrots, onions, garlic and celery – the base of the soup
- ground turkey
- green onions, fresh thyme, dried basil and dried oregano
- acorn squash – you can sub with another variety like honey-nut or butternut squash or sugar pie pumpkin
- curly kale – can substitute another leafy green like spinach, collard greens or swiss chard
- chicken bone broth or stock (ensure ingredients are AIP compliant)
- full fat, additive free coconut milk
To make this soup, heat a large pot over medium heat and add olive oil. Sauté carrots, onions, garlic and celery until onions are translucent. Add ground turkey, green onions, thyme, basil, oregano and sea salt and allow the turkey to brown. Next, add acorn squash, chicken bone broth, coconut milk and some water and bring to a boil. Once boiling, lower heat and cover soup. Allow to simmer 20 – 30 minutes until squash is tender. Add kale and stir to wilt, another 3-4 minutes. Serve warm.
Turkey & Kale Soup FAQs
Can I make this soup coconut-free?
Coconut milk adds a delicious creaminess to this soup, especially as it mixes with the softened acorn squash. If you can’t tolerate coconut you could try subbing with more chicken bone broth or another AIP milk that you can tolerate (e.g. tigernut milk).
Can I substitute the acorn squash?
Yes, other forms of squash that would work well here are honeynut squash, delicata squash and sugar pumpkin. Butternut squash can work but won’t be as creamy.
Is there a substitute for the ground turkey?
You can use ground chicken here as a sub for the ground turkey or any other ground meat of your choice. Shredded turkey would also taste delicious in this soup!
Can I make this soup in the crockpot or Instant Pot?
Yes, you’ll just want to ensure you use the sauté function first to combine the turkey with the carrots, onions, garlic, celery, herbs and salt before adding the remaining ingredients.
If you try this Turkey & Kale Soup I would love if you gave it a star rating and short review. Be sure to snap a picture of the finished product and share it with me on Instagram by tagging @healmedelicious
Here are some other AIP Soups you might like:
- AIP Trinidadian Callaloo
- Gingery Roasted Winter Squash Soup
- Caribbean Beef Soup
- AIP Ginger-Garlic Pork Noodle Soup
Turkey & Kale Soup (AIP, paleo, Whole30)
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
Description
This Creamy Turkey & Kale Soup is a wonderful, quick, one-pot meal that is simple, delicious and so comforting. It’s AIP, paleo and Whole30 compliant.
Ingredients
- 1 large yellow onion, diced
- 1 cup celery, diced
- 1 cup carrots, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, sliced
- 1 lb ground turkey
- 1.5 tsp sea salt
- 3 tsp fresh thyme
- 1/4 cup green onions, sliced
- 1 tsp dried basil
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 2 cups acorn squash, peel and chopped into cubes
- 3 cups chicken bone broth
- 1 cup additive free, full fat coconut milk
- 1 cup water
- 4 cups chopped curly kale
Instructions
- In a large stock pot, heat olive oil on medium heat.
- Add onions, celery, carrots and garlic and sauté for 5 minutes stirring frequently (until onions are translucent)
- Add ground turkey and sea salt, thyme, green onions, basil and oregano. Sauté for 3 -5 minutes allowing the meat to brown and mix with the seasoning.
- Add acorn squash, broth, coconut milk and water. Taste for salt and adjust accordingly. Bring to a boil.
- Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 20 – 30 minutes to allow squash to soften.
- Add kale and stir to wilt, another 3-4 minutes.
- Serve warm.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 35 minutes
- Category: Soups
Keywords: aip, paleo, whole30, turkey soup, kale, fall recipes, quick meals, one-pot meals
This soup is really good and comforting. I didn’t have a squash so I used sweet potato. It was delicious. I also added a little heat with Cajun spices and crushed red pepper. Will make again!
★★★★★
New staple in my house right here! This recipe is so delicious, heartwarming and very flavourful. I made this for myself initially and my family ended up loving it so I made more. My kids loved this and asked me a few times to pack it in there thermos for school.
★★★★★
So delicious! Not to hard to put together, I prepped everything first. This will be easy to eat a few days in a row. Don’t know how well it would freeze, but I might not get the chance to do that. Highly recommend, good filing meal even if not on W30.
★★★★★
Fantastic! We grew acorn squash where I was raised and despite how often I have enjoyed it throughout my life I have never once peeled it! What a pleasure to find a new way to prepare something familiar! I used this recipe as a way to use some turkey breasts gifted to us from the farm where we source our animal proteins and I am so glad I did. This will land in our regular rotation, I am sure of it! Thank you, Nicole!
★★★★★
Most large broth cartons are 32oz. Is there a reason why 3 cups of broth and 1 cup of water is used? Vs. 4 cups (32 oz) of chicken broth? Making it now and it smells lovely.
★★★★★
Hi Thao, you can feel free to sub the water for the broth if you’d like.
Best soup I’ve ever had. Tastes to me like chicken and dumplings. This soup gives me hope that I can survive what I’m facing. That May sound dramatic but it’s true.
I love this soup!! I didn’t have ground turkey so used cooked chicken as well due to very bad RA in hands used sweet potatoes as it’s easier to peel & cut up. Thanks!!! You mentioned using instant pot but also could do in slow cooker, but didn’t say how long or what needed different. Pls let me know. Slow cooker my go to as standing doing prep plus actually cooking is extremely hard for me. Thanks again. This is my go to soup definitely!!!
★★★★★
Hi Liz, we’re so glad you like it, thank you so much for leaving your review! We haven’t tried this in a slow cooker but would recommend sautéing the aromatics and ground turkey/your meat of choice first before putting them in the slow cooker. Do let us know the outcome and what you try!
I searched Pinterest for a ground Turkey soup recipe and came across this one. I just happened to have all the ingredients and pulled it together for a quick weeknight meal. It was super simple and everyone loved it, including my kids! It was surprising very filling and the coconut milk have it such a good flavor! Will definitely be making it again!
★★★★★
I cannot get over how good and satisfying this soup is. So silky and flavorful! Only substitution was the meat – I used Uli’s rosemary chicken sausage (all natural whole30 compliant brand local to Seattle). This will definitely be a winter go-to. Thank you for this delicious recipe!
★★★★★
We’re so glad you liked it! Thank you for leaving a review.
So good!!
★★★★★
Delicious! Such a yummy soup.
★★★★★
I love tHis recipe! It tasted delicious! Definitely one my top 5! Trying the patties next! Great job Nicole keep up the good work!
★★★★★
So glad to hear that Lorenna, thank you for leaving a review
This was incredible! I also took the advice of Sarah and threw it in my Ninja Foodi for 15 min. It was divine! I subbed sweet potato and used dried thyme. Came out like a dream!
★★★★★
Thanks for sharing! Does it keep long?
This looks so good! What a great way to use up leftover turkey from Thanksgiving!
I made this recipe as instructed. It was amazing. I was concerned about the coconut milk but didn’t notice it at all. Is there a place that shows the nutritional facts? I’d like to see them.
Thanks Janice, so glad you enjoyed. I don’t provide that info on this site as I’m not a nutritionist but you can plug it into one of the free nutrition calculators online.
This soup is delicious! My husband, who is not AIP, said it was “restaurant worthy”, meaning he would expect this flavor and quality of soup from a restaurant. Definitely making this again!
PS: I used spinach instead of kale.
★★★★★
Very delicious soup!!!
This was such a delicious soup. The only thing I struggled with was cutting and peeling the acorn squash, but it paid off in the end.
★★★★★
I made this with leftover turkey from Thanksgiving and it was comforting and wonderful – would fix whatever ails you. I’m making another batch for a new mom this week. Thanks, Nicole!
Aww that’s lovely Amanda thanks so much for taking the time to write a review
I made this for dinner tonight and it was absolutely delicious!
This was really excellent and quick for a chilly night. The coconut milk makes it creamy, but not overwhelmingly coconut-y. Hearty and satisfying.
★★★★★
Made this tonight. Did two substitutions (spinach for the kale, and butternut squash for the acorn squash), so next time will try it with her original recipe. But it was so quick and delicious. Threw it in my Instant Pot for 15 minutes on high after sautéing the onions and meat, and it worked great.
★★★★★
Thanks for this, i was just wondering if i could make in my IP so will try it out tonight! 🙂
Yes! Check out the faq section of this post ☺️
Sarah, I also substituted with spinach and butternut squash using my Instant Pot after reading your review. It turned out delicious! My husband loved the soup which was thick and savory. For us, it only had 3 servings, so next time, I’ll double it. Great recipe @healmedelicious! Thank you.
★★★★★
I made this recipe for tonight’s dinner with butternut squash. It is delicious and easy to make.
Thank you for another great recipe!
★★★★★
Does it taste like coconut?
Not in my opinion but if you don’t like coconut, omit it! I detail sub options in the post