Low Carb Turkey Albondigas Soup

Delicious low carb Turkey Albondigas Soup.

Packed with protein and a beautifully rich broth, you’ll definitely want to make this tonight!

Maybe you’re a bit bored with your dinner rotation? Or you want something new and exciting?  This soup has so much flavor and it’s crazy simple to make. Follow the recipe below or add some of your favorite veggies like zucchini  or squash. 

Turkey Albondigas Soup is the way to go!

Simple ingredients, a little bit of time, and a lot of love- the epitome of comfort food. This low carb albondigas soup is one of our favorites and I’m hoping it will become yours as well. Zero flavor is lost in this low carb ground turkey albondigas soup. It’s rich, hearty, and has a tiny bit of heat. For some next level flavor, add a bit more cilantro and a nice squirt of lime to your soup.  If you’re craving more heat add some hot sauce or maybe more jalapenos.

Prepping Veg For Our Soup

The very first thing that you’re want to do is prep all of your vegetables. What I mean by that is wash them, cut them up and set them to the side so we can dump them into our pot. Here we go!

The vegetables we’re using in this soup are:

• Onion
• Bell Peppers- Red, Yellow and Orange (you may use green as well)
• Carrots (I used matchstick and shredded)
• Cilantro
• Celery
• Jalapeño- canned or fresh
• Riced Cauliflower
• Garlic Cloves

In a large bowl add the vegetables that will need to be washed. To thoroughly wash all your vegetables, fill bowl with cold water and a splash of vinegar. I usually let them soak for a about 5 minutes. 

 I always use my OXO Salad Spinner for washing all my vegetables and fruit. 

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After our veggies are washed we need to dice them. You will want to dice all vegetables about the same size for uniform cooking. Make sure you chop ALL the cilantro. Cilantro is one of the few herbs that has an edible stalk and it really brings fantastic flavor to any soup stock.

Turkey Albondigas

To a large mixing bowl add the ground turkey, seasonings and binder.

First add dried parsley, oregano, coriander and garlic powder.

We’ll then add the “breading”. We really love using the pork panko brand, but you can use regular pork rinds and crush them in a zip top bag or pulse in a food processor.  This will act as our binder.

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Alright, add pork panko, cilantro, cumin, onion powder, chili powder, salt and pepper.

Once all our seasonings, herbs and “breading” have been added to our large mixing bowl it’s time to add our egg. Mix all the ingredients with your hands or a spoon really well. I think it’s best to use your hands- just wear gloves. I personally like to wear gloves because I do not like the way raw poultry feels on my hands. Next just starting rolling up the meatballs. You’ll end up with 25 total.

Grab a large stock pot and turn heat to medium. Add some cooking oil to the pan. For this recipe I chose avocado oil but you can choose any of the following:

• Olive Oil
• Ghee
• Tallow
• Lard
• Duck Fat
• Bacon Drippings

Add the turkey albondigas. We only want to brown the outside so depending on how large your pot is you may end up having to do this part in batches.

Once done, remove from pot and follow the steps listed below below.

Creating A Soup Base

This is the part where we start building even more flavor and this is not a step that you should skip if you want a really rich tasting broth. Grab the sauce pot, Dutch oven or stock pot you browned your albondigas in. Now turn heat to medium and start adding the vegetables. You can add all at once or one at a time, stirring in between. Totally up to you and doesn’t really make a difference. I chose to add almost all at the same time. You will want to scrape up any bits that were left behind from browning the albondigas. THIS is where are the flavor is.

Start with the following:

Celery, Onion, Bell Peppers, Carrots and canned or fresh Jalapeño. Next add some black pepper and salt. Sauté until tender and onions are opaque. Once veggies are all tender add the riced cauliflower.

Next we’ll add our seasoning, garlic cloves, diced tomatoes and tomato paste.

Mix all the spices with the vegetables and allow to cook together for 3-5 minutes. Once the 3 minutes are up make a well in the middle of the pan and add tomato paste and stir. Then garlic cloves and diced tomatoes. 

Mix this all together and turn the heat on the lowest setting and cover pot with lid. Make sure you’re checking on it every couple of minutes and stir.

Now is the time to add the browned albondigas to our pot and add our chicken, turkey or beef broth. You can substitute with water if you do not have any stock or broth, just make sure you add a bit more salt.

You really shouldn’t taste your broth at this time because the turkey albondigas are not fully cooked.  Make sure to taste later on and make any seasoning adjustments. Partially cover pot with lid and simmer for 45 minutes to an hour. 

Serve with your favorite toppings and a low carb tortilla on the side. 

Let me know if you added different vegetables or maybe a bit more spice. I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Ground Turkey Albondigas Soup

Yield: 5

Prep Time: 25 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour

Total Time: 1 hour 25 minutes

This Low Carb Turkey Albondigas Soup is the perfect cold weather food. With a delicious bold broth and hearty turkey meatballs this soup is a protein powerhouse!

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Ingredients

Turkey Meatballs

• 2 lbs ground turkey
• 1/3 cup fresh cilantro
• 2 oz pork panko or ground pork rinds
• 1 extra large egg
• 1 tbsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1 tbsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp chili powder
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/4 tsp dried coriander
• 1/2 tsp dried parsley
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• 2 tbsp avocado or olive oil

Broth

• 7.5 oz celery
• 1.5 oz red bell pepper
• 1.5 oz yellow bell pepper
• 1.5 oz orange bell pepper
• 2.5 oz onion
• 1 oz jalapeno fresh or canned
• 12 oz riced cauliflower
• 1 oz tomato paste
• 6 oz carrots 
• 1 tbsp dried parsley
• 2 tbsp dried oregano
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1 tbsp cumin
• 1 tbsp garlic powder
• 1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes 
• 8 cups beef or chicken bone broth

Toppings

• Cilantro
• Lime
• Hot sauce

Instructions

1. In a big bowl add all your meatball ingredients. With hands, lightly toss the meatball mixture. and roll into small/medium sized balls. This mixture will make 25 meatballs.
2. Pre-heat stock pot on med-high. In batches (do not overcrowd) add meatballs to stock pot. You only want to sear each side, do not fully cook.
3. Remove all meatballs and set aside.
4. Add celery, bell peppers, jalapeno, carrots, onion and salt and pepper to pan. Sauté until soft. Remember to scrape all the brown bits leftover from the albondigas.
5. Add cauliflower rice and remaining spices and stir. Cook for 3-5 minutes.
6. Create a well in the middle of the pot and add tomato paste. Stir well and add garlic. Cook until fragrant but do not burn. Now add diced tomatoes.
7. Finally add the turkey albondigas and all the drippings back to the stock pot and add bone broth, stock or water.
8. Partially cover and set temp to low. Add more salt and pepper to taste.
9. Simmer for 45 minutes or more until meatballs are fully cooked.
10. Add favorite toppings.

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 5
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 541Total Fat: 20.1gSaturated Fat: 4.4gCholesterol: 208mgSodium: 961mgCarbohydrates: 15gNet Carbohydrates: 10gFiber: 5gSugar: 8.7gProtein: 72.5g