Lemony White Bean Soup With Turkey and Greens

By Melissa Clark

Updated March 2, 2026

  • An overhead image of a bowl of tomatoey soup with ground turkey, white beans and kale on a plate, with a spoon. There is another bowl of soup in the top left corner.
    Con Poulos for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Jerrie-Joy Redman-Lloyd.
Media 1 of 2
Total Time
45 minutes
Rating
5(21,699)
Comments
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Bright with lemon and herbs, and packed with hearty greens, this highly adaptable soup can be either light and brothy or thick and stewlike, depending on your preference. Smashing some of the beans to release their starch will give you a thicker soup that’s almost worthy of a fork. To keep it on the brothy side, add a little more liquid and leave the beans intact. Either way, it’s a warming, piquant, one-pot meal that’s perfect for winter.

Featured in: This Spicy White Bean Soup Is a Poem in a Pot

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Ingredients

Yield:4 servings

  • 3 tablespoons olive oil

  • 1 large onion, diced

  • 1 large carrot, diced

  • 1 bunch sturdy greens, such as kale, broccoli rabe, mustard greens or collard greens

  • 1 tablespoon tomato paste

  • ¾ teaspoon ground cumin, plus more to taste

  • ⅛ teaspoon red-pepper flakes, plus more to taste

  • ½ pound ground turkey

  • 3 garlic cloves, minced

  • 1 tablespoon finely grated fresh ginger

  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste

  • 1 quart chicken stock

  • 2 (15-ounce) cans white beans, drained and rinsed

  • 1 cup chopped fresh, soft herbs, such as parsley, mint, dill, basil, tarragon, chives or a combination

  • Fresh lemon juice, to taste

Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)

65 grams carbs; 46 milligrams cholesterol; 559 calories; 10 grams monosaturated fat; 4 grams polyunsaturated fat; 4 grams saturated fat; 19 grams fat; 14 grams fiber; 1546 milligrams sodium; 36 grams protein; 9 grams sugar

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Heat a large pot over medium-high for a minute or so to warm it up. Add the oil and heat until it thins out, about 30 seconds. Add onion and carrot, and sauté until very soft and brown at the edges, 7 to 10 minutes.

  2. Step 2

    Meanwhile, rinse the greens and pull the leaves off the stems. Tear or chop into bite-size pieces and set aside.

  3. Step 3

    When the onion is golden, add tomato paste, ¾ teaspoon cumin and ⅛ teaspoon red-pepper flakes to the pot, and sauté until paste darkens, about 1 minute. Add turkey, garlic, ginger and 1 teaspoon salt, and sauté, breaking up the meat with your spoon, until turkey is browned in spots, 4 to 7 minutes.

  4. Step 4

    Add stock and beans, and bring to a simmer. Let simmer until the soup is thick and flavorful, adding more salt if needed, 15 to 25 minutes. If you like a thicker broth, you can smash some of the beans with the back of the spoon to release their starch. Or leave the beans whole for a brothier soup.

  5. Step 5

    Add the greens to the pot and simmer until they are very soft. This will take 5 to 10 minutes for most greens, but tough collard greens might take 15 minutes. (Add a little water if the broth gets too reduced.)

  6. Step 6

    Stir herbs and lemon juice into the pot, taste and add more salt, cumin and lemon until the broth is lively and bright-tasting. Serve topped with a drizzle of olive oil and more red-pepper flakes, if desired.

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Ratings

5 out of 5
21,699 user ratings
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Comments

Joan

You never need to be without that pesky "1 Tbsp. of tomato paste." Open a can at both ends and remove the lid from one end. Using the other lid, push out approximately a tablespoonful of paste, slice it off and lay it on a sheet of waxed paper on a small cutting board or flat tray; repeat until you've used it all. Place the rounds of paste in the freezer and, when frozen solid, store in a zipper bag with the air sucked out. Voila, small portions of tomato paste on demand.

michaelinsf

I don’t throw away the tasty stalks of the greens, whether those be kale, collard or what ever I might have on hand. Instead, after stripping the leaves, I dice the stalks into 1/4” bits and sauté them with the onion. The extra cooking time renders them soft and they add to the overall flavor of the dish.

Susan

I'm always confused by "bunch of greens." One store near me sells a bundle of kale that will feed 2 or 3 people when cooked, while another store sells bunches large enough to feed 5 or 6. It would be clearer if recipes used a different measuring system, like how many leaves or cups of chopped greens.

Elizabeth

Love this recipe. But I'd bake dry white beans from scratch, after soaking overnight, in the stock with the turkey, all the spices, and the tomato paste and add the greens 15 minutes from bake finish.

Katie

I adore this soup. I always have some in the freezer. I am a wimp so I skip the red pepper flakes but otherwise, make the recipe as is. I use curly kale (which I prefer over the dino), navy beans and parsley, or a combination of parsley and dill. This is my favorite soup, hands down!

Schmoopy

Now on my list of Recipes to Repeat! It’s such a flexible recipe. I used Calabrian pork and Savoy cabbage. Otherwise, everything else was as written. I thought adding ginger was a little odd, but added it anyway. All the flavors came together like a symphony! The squeeze of lemon is brilliant! 💛

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