Hi. I have soup recipe you NEED to try. Even you soup haters out there.
Yes, you!
(PS How ya gonna hate on soup?)
Ben doesn’t normally care for it, which puzzles me to no end, but even he slurped this one down with a vengeance when I made it last night. Then emailed the following picture to me at 9:00 this morning, confessing to already demolishing the bowl he’d brought in for lunch.
Lay off me, I’m starving…
Which was in response to my email confessing that I had already polished mine off by 9:30.
AM.
I’m telling you – there’s something about Spicy Tomato & Turkey Soup with Ditalini!
I mean, it’s ready in under 30 minutes, contains pantry & kitchen staples, and JUST TASTES SO DAMN GOOD. I had two bowls of it for supper last night. Fine. It was two and a half. I couldn’t help myself! 
Start this easy, spicy soup by sauteing 99% lean ground turkey breast with carrots, onion, garlic, and salt & pepper until the turkey is cooked through.
Add in chicken broth, great northern beans, spices like Italian seasoning and crushed red chili pepper flakes, and the star of the soup – marinara sauce.
I used Giada de Laurentiis’ Savory Tomato Sauce from her Target Line. It was sensational!
I’m usually only buy local Gino’s Marinara Sauce for my marinara sauce needs, but for this soup – it was absolutely fantastic.
After the liquid comes to a boil, pour in ditalini pasta, and let the soup cook for 10 minutes or so.
Isn’t this pasta shape just the cutest?
When the pasta’s cooked – it’s time to eat! 
Spicy Tomato & Turkey Soup with Ditalini
Adapted from Giada De Laurentiis
Serves 6
Ingredients:
1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
10 baby carrots (or 2 whole carrots), chopped
1/2 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1lb 99% fat free ground turkey breast
salt & pepper
1 jar marinara sauce (23-28oz will work fine)
3-14oz cans chicken broth
1 can cannellini or Great Northern beans, drained & rinsed
1/2 teaspoon red chili pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1/2 cup ditalini, or other small pasta
Directions:
1. Heat oil over medium heat in a large soup pot. Add in carrots, onion, garlic and turkey breast, and season with salt & pepper. Cook until turkey is no longer pink, breaking it up as it cooks.
2. Pour in marinara sauce, chicken broth, beans, red chili pepper flakes and Italian seasoning. Bring to a boil, then add in pasta. Simmer soup for 10 minutes, or until pasta is tender. Add more salt & pepper if necessary, and ladle into bowls to serve.
The textures in this soup were fantastic, and it was hearty, yet light.
I could really taste the parmesan cheese in Giada’s Savory Pasta Sauce, and it complimented the other flavors so well. The tiny kick of heat from the red pepper chili flakes really did it for me too. SO YUM!
Supplemented with a nice side salad.
I’m telling you – make a double batch of this stuff. I wish I had!
In other news…
I’m still suffering from the unfortunate condition known as “vacation puff”, and am not quite ready to face the crowds at the gym just yet – well, that combined with the fact that I realized I’d had a huge chunk of masking tape on my scarf and a giant patch of dark and scaly-looking powder on the right side of my face the entire time I was running errands this afternoon, and wasn’t about to risk anymore chances of public embarrassment – so I hopped over to my parent’s house to use their treadmill after work, where I pushed through this INTENSE Sprint Interval Treadmill Routine:
Followed by a 4x10x10 At-Home Workout I got from Tina:
10 Push-ups
10 Sit-ups
10 Mountain Climbers (10 each leg, 20 total)
10 Air Squats
Repeat circuit 10 more times, for a total of 100 reps of each exercise.
Mercy!
A few more days of workouts + continuing the non-stop flow of H20 I’ve been guzzling since we got back, and I should be ready to face the crowds in no time. 
‘Til then, I’m off to do some laundry (the type A in me HAD to unpack last night!) then settle in with some freelance work, with a side of Teen Mom.
Have a great night!
~~~~~
What time do you usually eat lunch everyday? Do you eat it all at once, or spread it out throughout the afternoon?
What’s your favorite soup/stew?
[...] my workout today I did the Running Interval workout IGE recently posted plus the WOD that she got from Tina. I’m all about the blog [...]
[...] smart phone (Yep, I am up on the times now) I came across Iowa Girl Eats and she happened to post a must make soup recipe last night. The best part? I had ALL of the ingredients on hand. Whoop [...]
[...] So I was searching the blog today when I came across a soup recipe on Iowa Girl Eats website. Spicy Tomato & Turkey Soup with Ditalini – sorry for the picture. I decided to take a picture after I had inhaled half of the soup. If [...]
I saw this recipe on Pinterest and thought it looked amazing. I looked it up on AllRecipes and they didn’t have it anywhere, but I was determined to find it… so I googled the key words and finally found your blog. I am so happy I have the recipe now! It looks amazing. There is an organic turkey chili (also made with ground turkey and a lot of these same ingredients) that I make during the cooler months, but this looks like something lighter and different that I can try. Thanks again! I’m following
Hi! What do you think about adding spinach to this recipe? I love the combo of tomatoes and spinach in a soup. Sounds so yummy!
I think it’d be just fine!
Hello!! I have a question on your recipe! I printed it off and made it last night (instant gratification) but was confused by the measurement of the meat and also the Italian seasoning. Is the recipe for 1 Two-Pound package of meat or a 1.2 pound package of meat? I used 1 pound of chicken minced fine (shops were out of turkey) and that seemed to be an appropriate amount looking at your photos. Also, what do you mean by Italian seasoning? Is that just a mix of basil and oregano?
I feel like I am being a bit thick about this, I’m sorry! ::Laughing:: The recipe was as fantastic as you say even when I winged it on the meat and seasoning. Even my vegetable hating husband ate it, though he whined about the spice. He *IS* a complete wuss.
Italian seasoning is a pre-made seasoning blend: http://www.amazon.com/Tones-Italian-Seasoning-Classic-Blend/dp/B000F0QPMW
Also, it’s one, 1.2lb package of ground turkey (or chicken, or beef) so you made it right!
Thanks a ton! >^-^<
I might make this for my hubby tonight. He is feeling under the weather and this might make him feel better!
[...] didn’t snap a picture of it, but this girl [...]
[...] Favorite truth. Even 10am would be great. [...]
Made this soup the other night….this was delicious!! I will say that I had to use lean ground beef for my soup because my HyVee was out of ground turkey?? But the soup still turned out wonderful!
[...] breakfast today, I had an Orgain shake and for lunch a cup of Chobani yogurt. I made this soup. It was quick, easy, and completely full of flavor. I’m now craving something [...]
[...] week I modified my recipe for Spicy Tomato & Turkey Soup with Ditalini, and made Spaghetti & Meatball [...]
[...] made this Spicy Tomato & Turkey Soup. I had a few bites, and I liked it—didn’t love it, but it was flavorful (with a bit of [...]
Hey Kristin – I’m a turkey farmer from slightly north of you, and I’m rounding up some ground turkey recipes to post on my blog next Tuesday. Would you mind if I featured yours? It looks amazing (and easy!! Love it!)
Katie
Hi Kristin! I made this tonight for dinner and it was AWESOME. Totally hit the spot! Thanks for sharing!
PS – I’m a transplanted Iowan who lives outside of Chicago and I LOVE your blog!
Yum! I made this tonight for the family, except I just threw in a bag a shredded carrots instead of chopping up baby carrots . . . not sure if that makes me lazy or efficient
Ummm super efficient. Great idea!
This soup was delicious! I’m the soup lover in our family and my husband always complains this isn’t a “meal.” He is requesting this soup again and it’s less than a week later! (Used Spicy Italian Chicken Sausage and some quinoa and pasta we had leftover).
Made your soup last night and it was wonderful. Hubby raved about it and requested that we have it again tonight. I sprinkled a little shredded parmesan over the top just before serving and it was so good. I’m already salivating, just thinking about dinner tonight! Just saw the video clip of you on KCCI This Morning. You are so cute and the salad looks yummy!
Found you on a receipe link from “On The Banks of Squaw Creek”. Can’t wait to try this one! And I signed up for email alerts!
I made the Spicy Tomato & Turkey Soup the other night and my husband and I thought it was delicious. I think the calories are 330 but I didn’t know the portion size. Also do you know the fat content, carb, fiber and protein amounts per serving? Thank you.
I’ve made this soup twice now. I use tomato sauce instead of marinara, and it’s great. It is literally one of my favorite things to eat now. And it’s so easy to make! Thanks so much for this delicious recipe.
I too am wondering about calories, fat, carbs, protein and fiber per serving. Can’t wait to make this!
Made this for lunch today…actually eating right now. Good stuff!
[...] 13 degrees in Mpls right now. Brr-frickety-rrr. When it’s that cold, my body craves SOUP. This recipe for Spicy Tomato soup was created by the blogess, Miss Iowa Girl Eats! Love this blog. So many [...]
I made this soup tonight but instead of using the ditalini, I used mini dried tortellini filled with cheese (trader joes brand). I used 3 servings of the dried mini tortellinis (about 800 cals worth total) and also had to add a little more broth probably because the tortellinis soaked more up(?). Otherwise, I followed the recipe exactly. I put it into myfitnesspal and calculated these nutrition stats for 6 servings (which was for me about 6 LARGE soup bowls worth).
Cals – 360; Fat – 6; carbs – 47; protein – 32; Fiber – 8;