Summer Minestrone with Turkey Meatballs
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A hearty, freezer-friendly soup chockfull of fresh garden vegetables. A classic summertime dinner!
Featured Comment
I know. Soup in the summertime? Have I gone mad? Well, maybe but I find that there’s something even more cozy about soup this time of year.
You know, as you drip sweat in the 98 degree summer heat and humidity. But don’t worry. We’re using up all of our favorite garden vegetables and staples here with homemade turkey meatballs. It’s pure summer comfort in a bowl with the tender simmering veggies and juicy meatballs with the refreshing lemon kick in every single bite.
why i love this recipe
- Great way to use fresh summer produce
- Sneaked in leafy greens for grown ups and picky eaters
- Easy recipe to make ahead of time, particularly the meatballs
- Flexible recipe, using different meat and vegetables you have on hand
- So cozy when feeling under the weather (basically a hug in a bowl)
- Freezer-friendly for all your summer needs
tips and tricks for success
- Use your favorite meat. Ground pork, beef, chicken or turkey will all work very well here for the meatballs.
- Prep the meatballs ahead of time. The meatballs can be assembled up to 1 day in advance and placed in the fridge until ready to use. The uncooked meatballs can also be stored in the freezer for up to 1 month (once flash freezing), thawing overnight in the fridge. For a quicker shortcut, substitute frozen mini meatballs (I personally love Trader Joe’s party size mini meatballs – a huge guilty pleasure of mine!).
- Use good-quality stock. The better quality your stock, the better your soup. Many brands love to pack in the salt so always opt for unsalted or a lower-sodium variety. Homemade stock is even better.
- Add in leafy greens. This is a great recipe to sneak in leafy greens for those picky eaters. Spinach, kale, collard greens, swiss chard, or arugula are all great options.
- Add freshly squeezed lemon juice. Lemon juice will elevate your summer minestrone soup, adding a fresh, bright flavor and balancing out all the saltiness and richness of the soup.
- Freeze as needed. This soup freezes beautifully but if you plan to freeze, cook the veggies slightly firm so they can hold up during freezing and reheating.
what to serve with Summer Minestrone with Turkey Meatballs
Tools For This Recipe
Dutch oven
Summer Minestrone with Turkey Meatballs: Frequently Asked Questions
Not at all! Ground pork, ground beef or ground chicken can be used instead of ground turkey.
Panko is a Japanese-style breadcrumb and can be found in the Asian section of your local grocery store.
Place the uncooked meatballs on a baking sheet lined with wax paper or parchment paper, freezing for 1 hour until solid. Transfer the meatballs to an airtight, resealable freezer bag. Label, date and freeze up to 1 month.
You can use either chicken broth or chicken stock but always season, to taste, as store-bought broth is often saltier than store-bought stock. Broth is made from meat and vegetables while stock is often lower sodium and thicker than broth, and is made from bones and vegetables.
The ditalini pasta is cooked directly in the soup, absorbing all the flavorful broth. But if you are planning for leftovers or freezing, the pasta should be cooked and stored separately.
Yes! You can freeze the leftovers without the pasta (or else they will get mushy) in individual freezer bags, thaw overnight, and reheat on the stovetop, adding freshly cooked ditalini pasta when serving.
Summer Minestrone with Turkey Meatballs
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 sweet onion, diced
- 2 carrots, peeled and diced
- 1 rib celery, diced
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- 8 cups chicken stock
- 2 bay leaves
- ¾ cup ditalini pasta
- 2 medium zucchini, halved and sliced
- 3 cups baby spinach
- 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
For the turkey meatballs
- 1 pound ground turkey breast
- ⅓ cup Panko
- ¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, optional
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Equipment
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine ground turkey, Panko, Parmesan, garlic, basil, and red pepper flakes, if using; season with salt and pepper, to taste. Using a wooden spoon or clean hands, stir until well combined. Roll the mixture into 3/4-to-1-inch meatballs, forming about 30-32 meatballs.
- Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large stockpot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add meatballs, in batches, and cook until all sides are browned, about 2-3 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate; set aside.
- Add remaining 1 tablespoon oil to the stockpot. Add garlic, onion, carrots and celery. Cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 3-4 minutes. Stir in thyme until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Whisk in chicken stock and bay leaves; bring to a boil. Stir in pasta and meatballs; reduce heat and simmer until pasta is tender and meatballs are cooked through, about 10-12 minutes.
- Stir in zucchini and spinach until the spinach has wilted, about 2 minutes.
- Stir in lemon juice and parsley; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Serve immediately.
Video
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Very good. Worth the effort. Toddler son loved it as well. I used one zucchini because that’s all I had but it was plenty for us.
OMG, this was AMAZING !!!!!! The fresh lemon juice sent it over the top !
When making the meatballs how do you season raw turkey “to taste”? You can’t taste it until it’s cooked.
I would combine all the meatball ingredients except the ground turkey and taste that keeping in mind you’ll want a bit salty so there’s enough salt and pepper to season a pound I of meat.
You could also brown a very small amount of the meatball mixture, taste that and adjust for the remainder of the mixture. Seasoning, especially salt and pepper, is a very personal taste sort of thing.
I would love to make this recipe but because I keep kosher, I can’t put the Parmesan cheese in the turkey meatballs. Do you suggest some substitution that isn’t dairy? Or just leave it out?
I left the parm out too but added nutritional yeast. I eyeballed it but used about two tablespoons. It turned out great!
Tried this tonight with some very minor substitutions and the entire family enjoyed it very much! This includes 3 teenagers! Very tasty summer soup and will definitely be included in our rotation from now on. Thank you very much.
Made this for dinner tonight! Very delicious! I did not change anything and would make again! I pre measured everything the morning before and put into containers based on steps. Will make again and have extra for the freezer!
Great soup. Left out the lemon and added a little more broth. Can you provide the nutritional information for this soup? Would make it again for sure!
This turned out perfect!! So delicious!!
Super delicious! A little time consuming since we doubled the recipe. Next time I’ll put in only 2tbsp of lemon juice. It was a little too lemony for us. Definitely making this again!!
AN ABSOLUTELY AMAZING RECIPE FROM BEGINNING TO END!! I LOVE ALL KINDS OF SOUPS, 365 DAYS A YEAR, IF I COULD!! AS LONG AS SOUP IS HOMEMADE, I LOVE IT!!
This was delicious! I made the meatballs a day ahead of time, so less work to do the night of.
I’m allergic to spinach, what would be good to substitute?
Thanks.
Kale or any greens.
This was delicious! Meatballs were the best tasting turkey meatballs I’ve had.
Just made this soup and it is delicious. I did add two chucks of parmesan cheese to it with the pasta. I will definitely make again. Thank you so much for the recipe!
Question—can I sub kale for the spinach?
Yes, I always sub kale for spinach in any soup reciepe, as I cannot have spinach as it is high potassium. And it is a excellent exchange
Of course you can
Followed the recipe exactly and it was amazing!! We will be making this all summer long!
Love this recipe! It’s great for warm summer days! I double the recipe and assemble it for the freezer:
1. Cook meatballs through in a skillet and set aside.
2. Make main soup base to the beginning of step 4 (stop after adding stock and bay leaves).
3. Divide chopped spinach, sliced zucchini, chopped parsley, and meatballs among freezer zipper bags.
4. Label bags with date, title, and instructions to add cooked ditalini and lemon juice when reheating soup.
5. Divide mostly cooled soup base among freezer bags. Lay flat to freeze!
Thanks for a damn delicious recipe!
I made this for my family last night and everyone loved it! I was anticipating a large amount of leftovers, as there are only 3 people in my family, but we ate all of it. I can’t wait to make this again. It is definitely a new family favorite. Thank you!
Love this recipe, however, I used a non stick pot and while frying the meatballs they stuck to the bottom but they were salvageable. I would definitely increase the pasta to at least 1 cup dry. I used chicken broth instead of stock because that’s what I had on hand. I added Parmesan when serving the soup. I will definitely make this again.
Yum! I just added about a teaspoon of red wine vinegar to balance the acidity a bit and it gave it that extra tang it needed. Also used premade Italian Turkey meatballs and quartered them. Yummy all around!
Might have been 1/2 tsp red wine vinegar actually. I just eyeballed a small dash.
Great idea to use premade meatballs!
An absolutely delicious summer soup recipe!