Summer Minestrone with Turkey Meatballs
by Chungah
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The best summer soup! Chockfull of fresh garden vegetables with homemade turkey meatballs (freezer-friendly!). Light, hearty, and so so cozy.
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why you’ll love summer minestrone
- Use up summer produce. This soup is the perfect way to repurpose all the fresh summer produce and garden vegetables into the most comforting seasonal soup with a refreshing, vibrant lemon kick in every single bite.
- Picky-eater and kid-friendly. There are all the sneaked-in leafy greens and nutrition for both grown-ups and picky eaters!
- Flexible recipe. The recipe includes homemade turkey meatballs (that can be made ahead of time or frozen!) with so much flexibility, using ground beef or chicken instead, or even swapping with store-bought meatballs for a quick shortcut.
- Hug-in-a-bowl. Not to mention, this is by far the coziest soup on a warm summer night (or any night, really), particularly when you’re feeling under the weather or fighting off a cold.
- Make-ahead and freezer-friendly. Of course both the soup and meatballs freeze like a dream for all your summertime needs (more on that below).
What is summer minestrone soup?
Summer minestrone is a variation of traditional minestrone soup highlighting summer produce with more of a lighter, vibrant broth. It can be served for both lunch or dinner alongside some crusty bread for sopping.
What vegetables can I use in summer minestrone?
- Aromatics: garlic, onion, carrots, and celery
- Squash: zucchini or yellow squash
- Sweet corn: corn on the cob
- Greens: spinach, kale, or swiss chard
- Herbs: basil, cilantro, or thyme
How to make summer minestrone
- Make the meatballs. Combine the ground turkey, Panko, Parmesan, garlic, basil, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper just until the ingredients are combined, working carefully not to overwork the mixture. Gently roll the mixture to form 3/4-to-1-inch meatballs.
- Cook the meatballs. Working in batches, cook the meatballs in a Dutch oven over medium heat until all sides are browned and seared; set aside. The meatballs do not have to be completely cooked here as they will finish cooking in the soup.
- Sauté the aromatics. Cook the garlic, onion, carrots, and celery, stirring in the thyme until fragrant. Add a splash of white wine here (optional) until reduced by half, about 1-2 minutes.
- Simmer. Add the chicken stock and bay leaves, and bring to a boil. Stir in the uncooked pasta and browned meatballs, letting it simmer until the pasta is al dente and the meatballs are cooked through.
- Add greens. Stir in zucchini and spinach (or any other leafy greens).
- Add the finishing touches. Add the freshly squeezed lemon juice and parsley, seasoning one last time with salt and pepper.
- Serve. Serve warm with a dollop of pesto and a sprinkle of Parmesan!
Make-ahead, storing and freezing meatballs
Make-ahead
The uncooked meatballs can be made 1 day in advance and placed on a baking sheet (covered) in the fridge.
Storing
Leftover cooked meatballs (on their own or in the soup) can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days.
Freezing uncooked meatballs
Place the assembled 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, freezing up to 1 month. Thaw overnight.
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
Video
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
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.
Equipment
Notes
- Use your favorite meat. Ground pork, beef, chicken or turkey will all work very well here for the meatballs.
- Don’t overwork the meatballs. Using your hands (or a wooden spoon, but preferably hands), combine the meatballs just until combined. Overmixing will yield tough turkey meatballs!
- Prep the meatballs ahead of time. The meatballs can be assembled up to 1 day in advance or stored in the freezer for long term storage. For a quicker shortcut, substitute frozen mini meatballs (I personally love Trader Joe’s party size mini meatballs – a huge guilty pleasure of mine!).
- Add a splash of wine. Add a splash of white wine when sautéing the aromatics to create a quick restaurant-quality soup! It is a great way to deglaze the pan from the meatballs and to add bright, rich flavors. Opt for pinot grigio or sauvignon blanc (never using cooking wine), letting it reduce by half (about 1-2 minutes).
- 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.
- 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.
Did you make this recipe?
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I make a lot of soup, and this was possibly our favorite yet! The lemon gives it such a fresh flavor. I had most of the vegetables on hand from our weekly farm box delivery.
I love that you have a weekly farm box delivery service!
I made this and the entire family loved it. Almost too much… They kept going back for more. We’re a family of 4 and the leftovers were a bit skimpy on the meatballs. 😉
More meatballs next time haha!
I definitely don’t think you are crazy for soup in summertime because this soup looks so good! I’m already brainstorming other summery vegetables I could throw in with it when I go to make it. Thanks!
Summer soups are great! Let us know how you like this one.
Can you please tell me what PANKO is and where can I find it? Also, is this soup LOW-CARB FRIENDLY?
Thanks in advance,
Jacqueline
Panko is a Japanese version of breadcrumbs. You should be able to find it in the Asian section of your local grocery store. The recipe is pretty low carb, except for the pasta, but you could omit or substitute to your needs of course!
I always have shredded parmesan cheese in the frig, not fresh parmesan. What is the difference, if any and why use fresh versus pre shredded? Thank You
I find that freshly grated is best, but pre-shredded should also work! 🙂
I just finished making this. It’s pretty delicious. I used freshly grated parmesan because I wanted to follow the recipe exactly. The only problem I had was the turkey meatballs falling apart while browning them. I wonder if they needed an egg to bind them???? Was the egg left out of the recipe accidently? I’ve made turkey meatballs before and never had this problem. I think next time I’ll just bake them. Thank you for the recipe.
I’m so glad you tried this recipe, Joanne! The egg was not left out accidentally, but you can certainly add a beaten egg if you prefer. 🙂
Thank you for responding. I just froze 1/2 of the soup. We really enjoyed this recipe. It’s perfect especially with the zucchini. I might add corn next time. I think it’ll be just as yummy. Thumbs up on this recipe.
That makes me so happy! The addition of corn also sounds amazing.
What are your thoughts on baking the meatballs instead of frying? I love soup, too – in any season
Yes, you can absolutely bake the meatballs if you prefer!
Do you have any nutritional values for this recipe?
Nutritional information is provided only for select and some new recipes at this time. However, if it is not available for a specific recipe, we recommend using free online resources at your discretion (you can Google “nutritional calculator”) to obtain such information. Hope that helps!