Slow Cooker Turkey Soup with Kale and Sweet Potatoes

This Slow Cooker Turkey Soup with Kale and Sweet Potatoes is a perfect idea for using leftover turkey, but it can also be made with rotisserie chicken if you prefer. This soup is pretty low in net carbs, but see tips in the recipe for making this an even lower-carb soup.

PIN the Slow Cooker Turkey Soup to try it later!

For this day-after Thanksgiving Friday Favorites pick, I’m reminding you about this Slow Cooker Turkey Soup with Kale and Sweet  Potatoes that was inspired by leftover turkey breast that I cooked in the slow cooker. The day I brainstormed this recipe I also had sweet potatoes and kale that I needed to use, two of my favorite soup ingredients.

I loved how this veggie-loaded soup turned out, and sweet potatoes and kale are both healthy foods so this is a soup that’s loaded with nutrition. I was home the day I made this slow cooker turkey soup, so I cooked my soup on high, but you can cook the broth and veggies all day on low, then turn your slow cooker to high and add the turkey and kale when you get home from work.

And did you know that any soup that’s made with leftover turkey can also be made with rotisserie chicken? You can certainly use leftover rotisserie chicken to make this delicious soup if you don’t have any turkey. Either way you make it, if you like these ingredients this will be a tasty soup!

What ingredients do you need for this recipe?

(This is only a list of ingredients; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.)

• onion
• celery
• homemade Turkey Stock or homemade Chicken Stock (or see notes)
• Turkey Soup Base (affiliate link) or chicken base, optional, but recommended especially if you use canned broth)
• Poultry Seasoning (affiliate link)
• Dried Thyme (affiliate link)
• fresh ground black pepper to taste
• sweet potatoes
• chopped cooked turkey
• kale
• Balsamic Vinegar (affiliate link)

What if you don’t have homemade turkey stock?

I’m a huge fan of homemade turkey stock, and I’d always use that in any recipe for turkey soup if I had some in the freezer. But if you don’t have turkey stock, you can still make a tasty soup using canned chicken broth (affiliate link) and adding a little Penzeys Turkey Soup Base (affiliate link) or another type of turkey soup base of your choice.

How can you make this Slow Cooker Turkey Soup lower in carbs?

This recipe as written has 12.1 net carbs, which is pretty low for a soup with sweet potatoes. But if you want to make it even lower in carbs, just replace the sweet potatoes with one cup frozen cauliflower rice which will make a soup with only 7 net carbs in a serving!

Can you use other greens in this slow cooker turkey soup?

There’s no doubt that I love Kale in soup! But if you’re not a fan you could use Swiss Chard, Collards, or Spinach in the slow cooker turkey soup. Spinach is softer and will cook more quickly than the other greens.

Want more tasty slow cooker or Instant Pot Soups with Turkey?

This recipe was featured in 20 Recipes for Slow Cooker or Instant Pot Turkey Soup on my Slow Cooker or Pressure Cooker site!

How to Make Slow Cooker Turkey Soup with Kale and Sweet Potatoes:

(This is only a summary of the steps for the recipe; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.)

1. Chop up a large onion and about a cup of chopped celery and add to the slow cooker.
2. Add the poultry seasoning, dried thyme, 10 cups turkey or chicken stock (or about 6 cans of broth), and fresh ground black pepper. If your stock or broth isn’t that flavorful I’d add a couple of teaspoons of turkey base or chicken base. 
3. Let this start to cook while you cut up the sweet potatoes. I cut up two medium sweet potatoes to make about 3 cups small sweet potato cubes, but a little more or less won’t hurt.
4. Add sweet potatoes to the soup mixture in the slow cooker and cook 4 hours on high (or 8-9 hours on low if you’re not going to be home.)
5. I only had about 2 cups of chopped leftover turkey, but you could use a little more if you have plenty.
6. Cut away the ribs of the kale and chop the leaves into small pieces to make 4 cups (packed) of kale.
7. Add the turkey and kale to the slow cooker, turn to high if you had been cooking on low, and cook 1-2 hours more.
8. Here’s how mine looked after the kale and turkey had cooked in the soup for nearly two hours.
9. Stir in the balsamic vinegar and serve hot. (I’d start with the smaller amount of balsamic vinegar; then taste to see if you want a little more.)

More Tasty Turkey Soup Recipes:

• Turkey Soup with Kale, Mushrooms, and Butternut squash
• Turkey, Sweet Potato, and Black Bean Soup
• Low-Carb Turkey Soup with Zucchini Noodles 
• Ground Turkey Soup with Mushrooms and Spinach
• Slow Cooker Turkey Soup with Spinach and Lemon
• Turkey Mushroom Soup with Zucchini Noodles
• Slow Cooker Turkey Soup with Spinach and Lemon

Want More Slow Cooker and Pressure Cooker Soups?

If you love making soup in the slow cooker or the Instant Pot, check out the index page for Soup or Stew on my Slow Cooker or Pressure Cooker site for more tasty ideas!

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Yield: 8 servings

Slow Cooker Turkey Soup with Kale and Sweet Potatoes

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 6 hours

Total Time 6 hours 20 minutes

This Slow Cooker Turkey Soup with Kale and Sweet Potatoes is a perfect idea for using leftover turkey, but it can also be made with rotisserie chicken.

Ingredients

• 1 large onion, chopped fairly small
• 1 cup chopped celery
• 10 cups homemade turkey stock (see notes)
• 1 T teaspoons turkey soup base or chicken base (optional, but recommended especially if you use canned broth)
• 1 tsp. poultry seasoning
• 1 tsp. dried thyme
• fresh ground black pepper to taste
• 2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 3/4 inch cubes (see notes)
• 2 cups chopped cooked turkey (see notes)
• 4 cups finely chopped kale (packed into measuring cup)
• 2-3 T balsamic vinegar

Instructions

1. Peel and chop the onion and chop enough celery to make one cup chopped celery; add onion and celery to the slow cooker.  Add the poultry seasoning, dried thyme, 10 cups turkey or chicken stock (or broth), and fresh ground black pepper, turn on the slow cooker and let it start to cook while you chop the sweet potatoes.
2. Peel sweet potatoes and cut into 3/4 inch cubes. Add to the slow cooker with the chicken (affiliate link) or turkey (affiliate link) soup base (if using) and cook for 4 hours on high or 8 hours on low.
3. Chop up enough turkey or chicken to make 2-3 cups bite-sized pieces.
4. Cut away the ribs from the kale leaves and finely chop enough kale to make 4 cups packed kale.
5. Add the turkey and kale to the slow cooker, and turn to high if you’ve been cooking on low.
6. Cook for 1-2 hours more on high, or until the kale is done to your liking.
7. Add balsamic vinegar and stir into the soup.  (I would start with 2 tablespoons and taste to see if you want to add more.)
8. Serve hot. This would probably freeze okay, but the sweet potatoes will be starting to fall apart after this long cooking time and freezing will make them even softer.

Notes

If you don't have homemade turkey stock or chicken stock you can use about 6 cans chicken broth, preferably with a little Penzeys Turkey Soup Base (or other turkey base.)

I used about 3 cups sweet potato cubes, although a little more or less won’t hurt. You can use more than 2 cups of chopped turkey if you have plenty. Use chopped rotisserie chicken if you don't have turkey.

I used my Crock-Pot 5-Quart Programmable Smart-Pot Slow Cooker (affiliate link) for this recipe. (A slightly smaller model would also work.)  If you’re cooking all day, this type of slow cooker is a good choice because you can set it to cook 8 hours on low and then it switches to “warm” after 8 hours.

Recipe created by Kalyn.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

8

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 263Saturated Fat: .9gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 1.9gCholesterol: 43mgSodium: 1240mgCarbohydrates: 15gFiber: 2.9gSugar: 5.8gProtein: 14g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated by the Recipe Plug-In I am using. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee 100% accuracy, since many variables affect those calculations.

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Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions:
This Slow Cooker Turkey Soup with Kale and Sweet Potatoes is relatively low in net carbs, but replace the sweet potatoes with about a cup of frozen cauliflower rice for a soup that’s even lower in carbs. Using sweet potatoes would make this soup limited to phase 2 or 3 for the original South Beach Diet.

Find More Recipes Like This One:
Use Soup Recipes for more tasty ideas for soup! Use the Diet Type Index to find recipes suitable for a specific eating plan. You might also like to follow Danica's Kitchen on Pinterest, on Facebook, on Instagram, on TikTok, or on YouTube to see all the good recipes I’m sharing there.

Historical Notes for this Recipe:
This soup to make in the slow cooker with leftover turkey was first posted in 2014. It was last updated with more information in 2023.

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