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    Home » Recipes » Weeknight dinner

    Southwestern Turkey and Black Bean Soup

    Published: Nov 24, 2009 · Modified: Jan 21, 2015 by Mike Vrobel · This post may contain affiliate links · 7 Comments

    I love leftovers from Thanksgiving dinner.  What would I do without them?  I'd be lost...

    "The heavenly aroma still hung in the house.  But it was gone, all gone!  No turkey!  No turkey sandwiches!  No turkey salad!  No turkey gravy!  Turkey hash!  Turkey a la king!  Or gallons of turkey soup!  Gone, ALL GONE!"
    [Ralphie, A Christmas Story]

    But even I'll admit that turkey sandwiches get old after a few days.  If you're looking for something different, with a spicy, southwestern flavor to it, have I got the recipe for you...

    Recipe: Southwestern Turkey and Black Bean Soup

    Ingredients:

    • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
    • 1 medium onion, diced
    • 1 jalapeno, minced (optional)
    • ½ teaspoon kosher salt
    • 1 tablespoon chili powder
    • 1 teaspoon cumin
    • ½ teaspoon oregano (dried mexican oregano, if you can find it)
    • 3 cloves of garlic, minced or pressed
    • 15oz can of diced tomatoes, drained (Muir Glen fire roasted diced tomatoes are preferred)
    • 4 cups cooked black beans (Homemade are best, but you can substitute 2 cans, drained)
    • 1 quart homemade turkey stock
    • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
    • 4 cups cooked turkey, diced (One half of a turkey breast, cut it into rough 1" cubes)
    • Juice of 1 lime
    • 1 tablespoon brown sugar

    Toppings

    • cilantro leaves, minced

    Optional toppings and garnishes

    • Pickled hot peppers
    • Sour Cream
    • Hot Sauce
    • Shredded cheese
    • Diced avocado
    Saute the onion

    Directions:
    1. Saute the aromatics: Heat the vegetable oil in a dutch oven over medium-high heat until shimmering, then add the onion and peppers, and sprinkle with the ½ teaspoon of salt. Saute until softened, about 5 minutes.  Make a hole in the center of the pan and add the garlic, chili powder, cumin and oregano.  Toast for 30 seconds to 1 minute, or until you start to smell garlic. Stir into the rest of the aromatics, and saute for another 1-2 minutes or until they just start to brown.

    Garlic and spices, ready to go

    2. Simmer the broth: Add the tomatoes, beans and turkey stock to the pot. Turn the heat to high and bring to a boil, then boil for 1 minute.  Reduce the heat and simmer, add the turkey, and simmer for 10 minutes to allow the flavors to mingle.
    *I keep my stock in the freezer, so I thaw it in the microwave while I'm doing step 1. If it's still frozen at this point, that's OK.  Just put the big ice cube of stock into the pot, and it will melt on its way to boiling.

    One turkey breast, diced into 1 inch cubes

    3. Season the soup: Add the lime juice and brown sugar, then season to taste with salt, pepper, more lime juice, more sugar, and maybe a little hot sauce.

    4. Serve: Ladle into bowls, and top with a little minced cilantro. Serve, with the garnishes available for adding on at the table.

    Variations:
    *If you like a "soupier" soup, up the turkey stock to 2 quarts.

    *If you like it heartier, add a cup of cooked rice when you add the turkey cubes.

    *For the onion/tomato/pepper/garlic aromatics, substitute 1.5 to 2 cups of leftover tomato salsa. In step 1, Cook the salsa in the oil until it turns dark red in color, then move on to step 2 and the chicken stock.

    *No limes? Add a splash of cider vinegar.

    *You can always substitute chicken stock and leftover chicken for the turkey, if you're reading this recipe after Thanksgiving.

    Notes:
    *I serve this with a salad and tortilla chips on the side.

    *This is a great "refrigerator velcro" meal for me, to use up leftover turkey and frozen black beans.  Oh, and I was out of tomatoes, so I skipped them.  As you can probably tell, this recipe is pretty flexible.

    Questions? Comments? Other ideas? Leave them in the comments section below.

    Related Posts:
    Pressure Cooker Turkey Stock
    Turkey Stock the right way
    Turkey Noodle Soup
    Slow Cooker Black Beans

    Inspired by:
    The Cook's Illustrated Complete Book of Poultry

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    Comments

    1. MikeV @ DadCooksDinner says

      January 14, 2010 at 4:44 pm

      @Anonymous:

      I'm curious - what flavors didn't your husband think would work together?

      Reply
    2. MikeV @ DadCooksDinner says

      January 14, 2010 at 4:43 pm

      @Anonymous:

      I'm glad you liked it! I'm probably going to be making this again for dinner tonight - I still need to use up some of the turkey stock in my freezer.
      *I forgot I had a stash in my second refrigerator in the basement...

      Reply
    3. Anonymous says

      January 14, 2010 at 3:58 pm

      My husband made this for dinner last night. (As written except he left out the jalapenos). It was delicious!

      He did mention the first stage of the cooking (before adding turkey, etc) didn't seem like the flavors would work. But once everything was in it just melded wonderfully.

      Reply
    4. MikeV @ DadCooksDinner says

      December 03, 2009 at 1:14 am

      Dave,

      You're welcome! I'm glad you liked it.

      Reply
    5. dpg says

      December 02, 2009 at 11:27 pm

      I made this tonight with my home made stock. I added some rice as you suggested. Made some cornbread as a side... mmmmmmmm Excellent soup. Thanks for the recipe. The lime really made the flavors pop.

      Dave

      Reply
    6. MikeV @ DadCooksDinner says

      November 25, 2009 at 12:41 am

      @Tino, thanks for the question!

      The tablespoon of sugar is to give it just a hint of sweetness. The combination of the hint of sweet from the sugar and the hint of sour from the lemon gives the soup added depth.

      Usually 1 tablespoon of sugar is enough for me, but sometimes I need to add more in the "seasoning to taste" part, looking for that balance of sweet, salty and acid that makes a soup great.

      I use brown sugar because in my mind, it's more authentic for a southwestern dish - I don't keep piloncillo (mexican unrefined sugar) in my pantry, so this is my Americanized substitute.

      Reply
    7. Tino says

      November 24, 2009 at 10:38 pm

      I'm surprised at the scant tablespoon of brown sugar ... is it supposed to help soften the acidity of the tomatoes? I've seen marinara sauce recipes call for a little bit of sugar, but it's always been plain white sugar. Interesting twist.

      Tom
      Exploring Food My Way

      Reply

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    Welcome to Dad Cooks Dinner!

    I'm Mike Vrobel, a dad who cooks dinner every night. I'm an enthusiastic home cook, and I write about pressure cooking, rotisserie grilling, and other food topics that grab my attention.

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