Clear Out the Cupboards Turkey Rice and Chickpea Soup
This Turkey Rice and Chickpea soup is absolutely packed with protein. And you can throw pretty much any veg you want to use up into it. It’s a good make-ahead soup too.
This is another recipe I was using while trying to follow a high protein, low calorie diet earlier this year.
It tastes fine. It’s not yummy but it’s fine. I sometimes make a version of Vegetable Broth with Parmesan with chicken and chicken stock. This soup is like a much more dense version of that.
I got the idea for this soup from this recipe for Chicken, Chickpea and Rice Soup. That has a very simple taste to it. But to be honest it’s the Parmesan rind, bayleaf and fresh thyme that make the real difference here. So if you just add them to that recipe – so if you’re not looking to empty the vegetable drawer in your fridge – you’ll have much the same thing.
I haven’t made this in months but I think I might make some at the weekend. The weather is highly changeable at the moment so a good hearty bowl of soup would be a good thing to have ready for the week ahead.
You’ll need a large pot for this one – a 5 litre one.
Ingredients
- 2 tins chickpeas, rinsed and drained
- 4 boneless, skinless turkey breasts, sliced to bite-size
- 1 chicken stock cube
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 2 - 3 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1 inch slice of turnip/swede/rutabaga, peeled and diced
- 2 carrots, sliced
- 2 ribs celery, sliced
- 2 parsnip, sliced
- 100g brown rice
- leftover Parmesan rind (and some cheese for topping if you have it)
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tsp dried basil
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- leaves from a few sprigs of thyme - or 1 tsp dried otherwise
- a little oil or butter
Instructions
- Add a little oil or butter to a large pot. On a medium heat fry the meat until the meat has no trace of pink on it. Remove from the pot and leave aside on a plate.
- You may need to add a little more oil or butter at this stage if the pan is very dry. If bits of turkey are stuck to the bottom, add a tablespoon or two of water into and scrape of the bits with a wooden spoon first. Add in the veg and sprinkle over the herbs. Stir around well. Reduce heat and cover. Leave for 20 minutes for the veg to sweat and soften.
- Stir back in the turkey. Sprinkle the rice in and stir around well. Crumble in the stock cube. Add 2.5 litres of water. Brink to the boil. Stir around well. Add in the bay leaf and Parmesan rind. Reduce heat to low-medium. Cover and leave for 10 minutes.
- Add in the chickpeas. Stir around well. Leave for a further 30 minutes - or until the turnip and all the veg is fully cooked.
- Taste and season. If the soup is too thick you can add more water or milk if you have it. I roughly blitz it with a hand blender to make it a bit more solid.
- Top with some grated Parmesan and freshly chopped parsley if you have it. Hope you like it!
