Crock Pot Turkey Soup with Acorn Squash – PaleoPot

Colder days are clearly approaching, and for this means more soups. For me, nothing hits the spot on a cold day than a hot mug of soup to sip on. For this soup I chose a white acorn squash, which when cooked in the soup tastes very much like a yellow potato. These squashes are often cheap, and well worth the effort to peel them!

White acorn quash. It still has a slightly yellow tint, yet for the most part appears white. The inner flesh has a yellow color, as you’ll soon see. The easiest way to peel them is to cut them into slices along the grooves. I use a cut resistant glove when peeling the slices. This ensures a safe grip as well as protecting my knuckles from any peeler mishaps. This added safety and security speeds up my prep time.

The only manual labor in this recipe is the browning of your ground turkey or chicken. I then added the squash to the meat for flavor intensive purposes.

Tools you need:

• Deep rimmed enameled pan, a stock pot, or a slow cooker. 6 quart versions of each are ideal.

Ingredients:

• 1 pound of ground turkey or chicken.
• 1 tbsp of coconut oil, grass-fed butter, or ghee.
• 1 white acorn squash, peeled and diced into large or medium cubes.
• 4 cups of chicken stock.
• 4 to 6 cups of water.
• 1 medium red onion, diced.
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced.
• 2 tsp of dried parsley.
• salt and black pepper to taste.

How you make it (Stovetop):

1. Add your cooking fat of choice to your pot/pan and set heat to medium.
2. Add your ground meat, garlic, parsley, salt, and pepper and stir.
3. Cook meat until browned yet not fully cooked, then add your squash.
4. Add 1 cup of your chicken stock to deglaze the pot/pat and stir well.
5. Add the rest of your chicken stock, water, and red onion.
6. Bring your soup to a slight boil then reduce heat to medium low.
7. Cover with a cracked lid and cook for up to an hour.
8. Your soup is ready when your squash cubes are fork tender.
9. Tip: If you like leafy greens, add them in to the pot during the last 20 minutes of cooking.

How you make it (Slow Cooker):

1. Add your cooking fat of choice to your pot/pan and set heat to medium.
2. Add your ground meat, garlic, parsley, salt, and pepper and stir.
3. Cook meat until browned yet not fully cooked, then add your squash.
4. Add 1 cup of your chicken stock to deglaze the pot/pat and stir well.
5. Transfer the contents of your pot/pan to your slow cooker.
6. Add the rest of your chicken stock and water to your slow cooker.
7. Cook on low for 4 to 6 hours.