Creamy Turkey Meatball Mushroom Soup Recipe

Mushroom soup is often used as a quick casserole starter and features as an ingredient in dishes such as creamy scalloped potatoes, chicken pot pie, and that green bean casserole that's become a Thanksgiving staple, but it doesn't always get a chance to shine on its own. Perhaps all it needs is just a little love and a few extra ingredients. Here, developer Kara Barrett is jazzing up her homemade cream of mushroom soup with the addition of some turkey meatballs. Not only do the meatballs add both flavor and texture, but they provide the protein that can transform a bowl of soup into a delicious meal.

If you want to get a head start on making this soup, Barrett advises that you can cut down on prep time by making the meatballs ahead of time. You can also pre-toast the orzo and refrigerate both ingredients until you're ready to cook the soup. Leftovers, too, should be refrigerated (freezing is not advisable as the cream might separate), but Barrett cautions that you'll need to add more liquid when you reheat the soup. As she explains, "The orzo will continue to plump and soak up liquid," which will make the soup considerably less soupy.

For the meatballs, you'll need sourdough bread, heavy cream, ground turkey, eggs, parsley, salt, and Parmesan cheese. To make the soup itself, you will also need orzo, butter, mushrooms, fresh thyme, garlic, and stock.

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

Soak the breadcrumbs in ¼ cup heavy whipping cream for 2 minutes.

In a mixing bowl, combine the turkey, egg, egg yolk, 1 cup chopped parsley, the soaked bread, 1 teaspoon salt, and Parmesan.

Use a cookie scoop to portion the meatballs onto a parchment-lined sheet pan about 2 inches apart.

Use the palms of your hands to gently roll the balls into shape.

Bake for 20 minutes. Set aside.

On medium-high heat, toast the orzo in 1 tablespoon butter until the grains darken to a deep golden brown; set aside.

On medium-high heat, melt the remaining 7 tablespoons butter.

Saute the mushrooms with thyme, grated garlic, and 1 teaspoon salt. Reduce until most of the liquid is gone, approximately 20 minutes. Work in batches, if needed.

Reduce the heat to medium, then add stock, orzo, the remaining 1 teaspoon salt, 1 cup cream, and 1 sprig thyme.

Reduce the heat to a gentle simmer and cook, uncovered and stirring often, for about 30 minutes.

Add the meatballs, cover, and simmer until warmed through, about 10 minutes. Taste for salt and add more as needed.

Serve warm, garnished with additional Parmesan and chopped parsley or other greens, if desired.

While the list of ingredients calls for using vegetable or mushroom stock, Barrett says that just about any stock could work. She likes using mushroom stock as she feels this " bring[s] in more of the mushroom flavor," but says she also likes using a savory chicken stock and thinks that beef stock could also be very tasty. Stock made from leftover turkey would also be a great fit since it would accentuate the turkey flavor from the meatballs.

While homemade stock is, of course, nice to have on hand and would be great to use in this recipe if you have it, Barrett finds store-bought bouillon to be handy when she doesn't have any stock on hand or the time to make it. "Don't let it stop you from making this dish," she urges, since stock or broth from a can or carton or even a reconstituted bouillon cube can all be used in a pinch.

As with the stock, the choice of mushrooms is entirely up to you. Barrett says, "Personally, I love the flavor of shiitake and oyster mushrooms," but these aren't your only choices. Cremini, portobello, and even the humble white button mushroom are all known as being some of the most umami-rich mushroom varieties. Pretty much any kind of mushrooms you find in the supermarket will taste great in this soup.

If at all possible, though, Barrett recommends using several different kinds of mushrooms in the soup: " I think the mix of different kinds of mushrooms and textures ... adds a nice complexity," she says. Regardless of whether you pick up whole or pre-sliced mushrooms, you don't need to do much chopping — Barrett recommends that you leave some of the smaller mushrooms whole, noting that they will shrink quite a bit as they cook.