Turkey Meatball Soup
Turkey Meatball Soup
Turkey meatball soup for the Instant Pot or Slow Cooker
A note about soup after weight loss surgery
If you are thinking to yourself “I thought I wasn’t supposed to have soup after bariatric surgery?” I would say that you aren’t wrong.
You might also be thinking, I wasn’t told that!
Every bariatric program differs tremendously! Here are my thoughts on soup.
Avoid liquids when you eat as a post-op.
When you have liquid with your food, it move food through your stomach pouch faster which means larger portions and/or more hunger later. This is more of a hunger control issue than anything.
I have seen many patients struggle with snacking and hunger because they got away from avoid fluids while eating and 45-60 minutes after the meal.
So why am I posting a Turkey Meatball Soup recipe?
You can still make a soup that is really hearty, but use a slotted spoon and eat the meat and vegetables, leaving the broth behind.
Cooking meat in broth can also make the meat soft, moist and tender which is a post-op patients dream!
Note, if all meat seems dry and uncomfortable to you it might be more related to your bite size. Keep bites to the size of a black bean, especially when it’s dense meat.
I also like this recipe because it’s fast in the Instant Pot® and has amazing flavor. Especially the broth…
Didn’t you just tell me not to have the broth?
Here is what I would tell my members (or my patients). You can have the broth up until your first bite of the meat. Once you have the meat, focus on the food only.
In my practice, you can have liquid up until your first bite. Liquid moves through the pouch quicker but you can start with some broth unless you are early out of surgery and it makes you feel uncomfortable to have broth before your food.
Otherwise, broth first then eat the meat with a fork next. Focus on the meatballs and enjoy some veggies along the way.
You could even but the soup through a strainer and save the broth to sip on another time!
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Turkey Meatball Soup
Equipment
- Pressure Cooker
- Slow Cooker
Ingredients
Meatballs
- 1/4 cup onion grated over cheese grater
- 1 lb ground turkey 93% lean or greater
- 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese reduced fat
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
- 1/4 tsp minced garlic dried
- 1/4 tsp onion powder
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 1/4 tsp salt
Soup
- 1/2 cup onion diced
- 2 stalks celery diced
- 1 cup carrot diced
- 1 medium zucchini diced
- 15 oz diced tomatoes canned
- 28 oz chicken broth low sodium
- 2 cups baby spinach
- .5 lemon
Instructions
- Start with prepping meatballs. Using a cheese grater over a large mixing bowl, grate an onion until it yields 1/4 cup. Add ground turkey, parmesan cheese, Italian seasoning, minced garlic, onion powder, salt and pepper. Mix well until formed.
- Using a cookie scoop or a large spoon, form into meatballs about 1.5 inches in size. Refrigerate until other ingredients are ready.
- Chop remaining onion, carrots, celery and zucchini.
For pressure cooker
- Start with saute mode and a spray of olive oil. Saute chopped onion for 2 minutes then tun off. Add other chopped veggies plus diced tomato and chicken broth. Add meatballs, pressing into the liquid.
- Close lid and move valve to sealed position. Select manual pressure for 10 minutes. Quick release when finished.
- Remove lid and add lemon juice and spinach. Stir spinach in to allow wilting. Serve.
For Slow Cooker
- Add diced onion, carrot, celery, zucchini, diced tomatoes, broth and meatballs to a slow cooker. Cook on low for 6 hours.
- Remove lid and add spinach. Replace lid for 5 minutes. Add lemon juice and serve.
Is manual pressure high? I am using ninja foodi and only have hi/low
I believe that it is but I would Google that if you can find out more!