Turkey Kale Soup with Mushrooms and Butternut Squash
Turkey Kale Soup with Mushrooms and Butternut Squash is a tasty fall soup that’s easy to make. I’ve updated this recipe to use cauliflower rice, add more mushrooms, and add more kale to make it lower in carbs. See tips for making the Turkey Kale Soup with leftover turkey.
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This Turkey Kale Soup is getting a makeover that came after I worked hard to develop a long-term relationship with ground turkey. I think that’s an ingredient that has the potential to be a bit boring. But this soup with turkey, kale, mushrooms, and butternut squash is loaded with flavor!
The original soup had rice and it was higher in carbs than I wanted. So Kara and I updated this recipe for Turkey Kale Soup into a version that’s lower in carbs, but equally delicious. (If anyone was a fan of the original recipe, you can still find the printer-friendly version back in the archives.)
If there’s a secret to ground turkey recipes, it’s to use a lot of other flavorful ingredients with the turkey! So in addition to mushrooms, butternut squash, and kale, this soup has plenty of dried herbs and a generous amount of balsamic vinegar stirred in at the end. And this is a soup to simmer on the stove and make your house smell great!
We loved the Turkey Kale Soup when we worked on the recipe; hope everyone else who’s a fan of these ingredients will enjoy it too.
What ingredients do you need for this recipe?
(This is only a list of ingredients; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe with ingredient amounts.)
- onion
- celery
- Olive Oil (affiliate link)
- Ground Thyme (affiliate link)
- Poultry Seasoning (affiliate link)
- Spike Seasoning (affiliate link), or use any all-purpose seasoning mix
- Minced Garlic (affiliate link)
- homemade chicken stock or canned chicken broth (affiliate link)
- vegetable soup base, I used Better than Bouillon Organic Vegetable Base (affiliate link); Use Gluten-Free Vegetable soup base if you need the recipe to be gluten-free
- Cremini mushrooms
- ground turkey (or leftover diced turkey)
- butternut squash cubes
- baby kale leaves or chopped kale
- frozen cauliflower rice
- white balsamic vinegar (affiliate link)
- salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
- freshly grated Parmesan cheese, for serving (optional)
Can you use pre-cut butternut squash cubes in this Turkey Kale Soup?
If you’re a follower of this site you know I’m not a fan of those pre-cut butternut squash cubes and even have a post on How to Peel and Cut Up a Butternut Squash. But for using in soup, the pre-cut squash cubes are perfect! I hope you can find them in your store; in Utah I get them at Costco or Kroger.
Making this soup with leftover turkey:
If you want to make this Turkey Kale Soup with leftover turkey, use about 3 cups of diced turkey and don’t add it until the very end, when you add the kale!
How low in carbs is the updated Turkey Kale Soup?
With the changes I made to the recipe, this delicious soup has only 11 net carbs per serving with 26 grams of protein. I think that’s pretty great for a soup with butternut squash!
Can this recipe be gluten-free?
I’m tagging this recipe as Gluten-Free, but Better than Bouillon Organic Vegetable Base I used is not guaranteed to be gluten-free, so if you need the Turkey Kale Soup recipe to be gluten-free be sure to use a gluten-free soup base.
Making Turkey Kale Soup with Mushrooms and Butternut Squash:
(This is only a summary of the steps for the recipe; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.)
- Finely chop some onion and celery and cook it with a little olive oil in the soup pot until the onions barely start to brown. Then add dried thyme, poultry seasoning, Spike Seasoning, and minced garlic and cook about a minute more.
- Add 10 cups chicken stock or broth and 3 generous tablespoons of Better than Bouillon Organic Vegetable Base (affiliate link) and start to simmer.
- Heat a little olive oil in another pan and cook the turkey until it’s nicely browned
- While the turkey browns, wash the mushrooms and cut into bite-sized pieces
- Add the browned turkey and the mushrooms to the soup pot and simmer 20 minutes. (If you’re using leftover turkey, don’t add it yet!
- I used pre-cut butternut squash cubes (something I rarely buy, but they’re great for soup.) I cut a few into smaller pieces to get small cubes for the soup. Add squash to the soup with the one cup frozen cauliflower rice and simmer 20 minutes more
- Baby kale doesn’t need to be washed but I like to chop it a bit. (I break off the bigger stems, but it’s totally optional.
- Add kale and simmer for a final 20-30 minutes. This when you add the leftover turkey if you are using that
- It’s done when the kale and butternut squash are both quite soft
- Serve Turkey Kale Soup hot, with freshly grated Parmesan cheese to add at the table if desired.
Make it a Low-Carb Meal:
You could serve the Turkey Kale Soup with something like Olive Bread, Savory Almond Flour Bread, or Low-Carb High Fiber Savory Muffins if you wanted to make it a more substantial meal without adding many carbs.
Weekend Food Prep:
This recipe for Turkey Kale Soup has been added to a category called Weekend Food Prep to help you find recipes you can prep or cook on the weekend and eat during the week!
Turkey Kale Soup with Mushrooms and Butternut Squash
Turkey Kale Soup with Mushrooms and Butternut Squash is delicious and it cooks in a few hours on the stove. And we switched out the rice in this recipe for cauliflower rice to make a soup that's quite low in carbs.
Ingredients
- 1/2 large onion, chopped small
- 4 stalks celery, chopped small
- 2 tsp. + 2 tsp. olive oil
- 1 tsp. ground thyme
- 1/2 tsp. Poultry Seasoning
- 1 T Spike Seasoning
- 1 tsp. finely minced fresh garlic (or more)
- 10 cups chicken broth (see notes)
- 3 T vegetable soup base
- 12 oz. brown Cremini mushrooms, washed and cut into bite-sized pieces
- 1 1/2 lbs. ground turkey (or 3 cups leftover diced turkey)
- 1 lb. small cubes butternut squash (see notes)
- 5 oz. baby kale leaves
- 1 cup frozen cauliflower rice
- 2 T balsamic vinegar
- salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
- freshly grated Parmesan cheese, for serving (optional)
Instructions
- Chop the onion and celery into small pieces.
- Heat 2 tsp. olive oil in the bottom of the soup pot, add chopped vegetables, and saute until they’re starting to brown, about 4 minutes.
- Add the dried thyme, Poultry Seasoning, Spike Seasoning, and minced garlic and cook 1 minute.
- Add the chicken stock or broth and vegetable soup base and start to simmer the soup.
- While soup simmers heat 2 tsp. olive oil in another large non-stick frying pan and cook the turkey over medium-high heat, breaking apart with the turner as it cooks. Let the turkey get nicely browned, about 8-10 minutes.
- While the turkey browns, wash the mushrooms and cut into bite-sized pieces.
- Add turkey and mushrooms to the soup and simmer 20 minutes. (If you're using leftover turkey don't add it yet!)
- If you don't have pre-cut squash cubes, cut butternut squash into small cubes, about 1/2 to 3/4 inch square. (It’s preferable if they’re not all the same size, because the smaller ones will dissolve into the soup more and the larger ones will create texture.)
- Add the chopped butternut squash and the cauliflower rice to the soup and simmer 20 minutes before adding the kale.
- Baby kale probably doesn't need to be washed, but I like to removing bigger stems and chopping it a bit.
- When the soup has simmered 20 minutes with the butternut squash, add the chopped kale or baby kale and continue to simmer 20-30 minutes more. (This is when to add the leftover turkey if you're using that!)
- Taste soup and add salt and freshly ground pepper to taste.
- Stir in the balsamic vinegar (I would start with 2 tablespoons and then see if you want more.)
- Serve Turkey Kale Soup hot, with freshly grated Parmesan cheese to add at the table as desired.
Notes
If you don't have homemade chicken stock use chicken broth from a can or a carton.
I use Better than Bouillon Organic Vegetable Base (affiliate link) to add flavor to the soup. This is not gluten-free so be sure to use a gluten-free soup base if needed. You can use any brand of vegetable base you prefer.
I used half of a 2 lb. package of pre-cut squash cubes and cut them smaller.
Turkey Kale Soup will keep in the fridge for at least a week. This soup will probably freeze pretty well, although the squash, cauliflower rice, and kale will all break apart some from being frozen.
Recipe created by Kalyn.
Nutrition Information
Yield
8Serving Size
1Amount Per Serving Calories 306Total Fat 17gSaturated Fat 4gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 10gCholesterol 97mgSodium 1926mgCarbohydrates 14gFiber 3gSugar 5gProtein 26g
Nutrition information is automatically calculated by the Recipe Plug-In I am using. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee 100% accuracy, since many variables affect those calculations.
Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions:
The recipe for Turkey Kale Soup with Mushrooms and Butternut Squash for an update to make it lower in carbs, and the new version should work for low-carb diets (but probably not Keto.) This would also make a delicious meal for Phase 2 or 3 of the original South Beach Diet. (Butternut squash is a limited food, so use portion control if you’re actively trying to lose weight.)
Find More Recipes Like This One:
Use Soup Recipes for more recipes like this one! Use the Diet Type Index to find recipes suitable for a specific eating plan. You might also like to follow Kalyn’s Kitchen on Pinterest, on Facebook, on Instagram, on TikTok, or on YouTube to see all the good recipes I’m sharing there.
Historical Notes for this Recipe:
This soup with turkey and kale was posted in 2013. It was updated in 2022 to a new version using cauliflower rice, more mushrooms, and more kale, and the recipe was last updated with more information in 2025.
15 Comments on “Turkey Kale Soup with Mushrooms and Butternut Squash”
Barbara, so glad you like it; this is one of my personal favorites too.
WOW! I heard about this soup from a client on Sunday. I bought the ingredients that I didn't have, and searched for the receipe yesterday. OH YUMMMM!! Was the best!
Had to come back and rave about this soup. It's fabulous! I didn't add any rice,but followed everything else pretty close. It was my first time using butternut squash,so also need to thank you for introducing me to it…Thank you Kalyn, this soup is a winner.
Susan, thanks for reporting back, and huge congrats on the 40 pounds!
Squid, glad you liked it. I think I'll try this without rice myself!
Kalyn, I made this tonight & just had to come back to tell you how fabulous it is! I followed mostly,I didn't add rice(maybe next time but imo didn't need it) I also didn't add balsamic although I have it,I thought I'd test it out w/o first. I almost added a can of white beans to it,but made it pure as you have given us. I used all chick.broth,I have the vegg.broth but didn't use it this time. If I were there I would give you a big hug. I'm a soup person,and this is a winner,and healthy! I hope others if they read this rave,will make it as well..thanks again for all you do. hug.;o)
Kalyn – I ended up putting all ingredients in the crockpot except for the rice. I put the kale in last and didn't stir it in. I left it on top. I stirred it in the last hour or so. I also added the rice (I had to cook some) right before serving. The soup was sooooo good! Definitely another keeper recipe from your wonderful site. I'm down 40 pounds in 6 months and I've done it with the help of your delicious recipes.
Susan, honestly I'm not sure, mainly because there are so many ingredients with different cooking times. If you're home to add the ingredients in order it might work, but I would reduce the amount of liquid for sure.
Do you think it would work well in a crock-pot? I have an older model that cooks low and slow!
Lydia how fun! And I'm not surprised to hear we like the same ingredients in soup.
Great minds think alike: I just made an almost identical soup, before I read this post! I love using ground turkey in soups, and although mine was more of a "fridge dump", the combination of ingredients is the same and it works really well.
Yes, it's true that the ground turkey needs some help in the flavor department. Sorry to hear you can't find the kale or pre-cut butternut. Those things do help speed it up.
I had to laugh a bit when I read your post about ground turkey flavor,or lack of it..so true. I like it best when mixed w/other things,it's great as the filling for stuffed peppers. I will try this soup,it looks/sounds wonderful. I wish I could find 'baby'kale here,as well as pre chopped squash. Thanks for all you do Kalyn.;o)
Catherine, that sounds good! I'm gearing up here for a night of handing out goodies to the kids.
Jeanette, great ideas. I need to experiment more with turkey for Asian flavors!
Kalyn, I use ground turkey all the time in place of ground beef and pork. It's less expensive and leaner, and I find if I use it with stronger, deeper flavors, like soy sauce or tomato sauce, no one really can tell the difference. Mushrooms also add some beefy flavor so I use that with ground turkey in sauces a lot. Your soup sounds like a nice hearty lunch, all in one with protein and veggies.
This looks fantastic, but as it's hard to get ethically raised turkey in the UK except at Christmastime, I would make it with fresh sausage meat from my local butcher. He sells it flavored with herbs, and I have been using it for various soups in the past couple of weeks. Happy Halloween!