Akşam yemeğinde balkabağı çorbası yapacağız, sonra da yanına patates püresi koyacağız.

Akşam yemeğinde uses the locative ending -de/-da, which often means at, during, or for in context.

• akşam yemeği = dinner / evening meal
• akşam yemeğinde = at dinner / for dinner / during dinner

In this sentence, it means something like for dinner or at dinner time.

So:

• Akşam yemeğinde ... yapacağız = We’ll make ... for dinner

This is a very common Turkish noun compound.

• akşam = evening
• yemek = food / meal / to eat
• akşam yemeği = evening meal, dinner

In Turkish noun compounds, the second noun often takes the 3rd person possessive ending:

• yemek → yemeği

This does not literally mean his/her meal here. In compounds, this ending is just part of the structure.

Other examples:

• elma suyu = apple juice
• otobüs durağı = bus stop
• yatak odası = bedroom

So akşam yemeği is just the standard way to say dinner.

This is another Turkish noun compound.

• balkabağı = pumpkin
• çorba = soup
• çorbası = its soup / soup of ... → used in compounds

So:

• balkabağı çorbası = pumpkin soup

Just like in akşam yemeği, the second noun takes the compound ending:

• çorba → çorbası

This is the normal Turkish pattern for things like:

• domates çorbası = tomato soup
• mercimek çorbası = lentil soup
• tavuk çorbası = chicken soup

Balkabağı means pumpkin.

It is a fixed word:

• bal = honey
• kabak = squash/gourd/zucchini-like vegetable
• balkabağı = pumpkin

You do not need to interpret it literally when learning the sentence; just treat balkabağı as the standard word for pumpkin.

Also notice the form kabağı rather than kabak. This happens because of Turkish sound changes in compound structures:

• kabak → kabağı

That final k often softens to ğ when a vowel-initial ending is added.

Yapacağız means we will make or we are going to make.

Breakdown:

• yap- = do / make
• -acak / -ecek = future tense
• -ız / -iz / -uz / -üz = we

So:

• yapacağız = we will make

This is a very common future form in Turkish.

Examples:

• gideceğiz = we will go
• yiyeceğiz = we will eat
• hazırlayacağız = we will prepare

Yes, koymak literally means to put, to place, or to set. But in food contexts, it can also mean something like:

• to serve
• to put on the plate/table
• to add as a side

So in this sentence:

• yanına patates püresi koyacağız

means something like:

• we’ll serve mashed potatoes with it
• we’ll put mashed potatoes on the side

This is very natural in Turkish. English often uses serve, while Turkish may use koymak.

Sonra means then / afterwards / later.

The extra da here adds a sense like:

• then also
• and then
• after that, too

So:

• sonra = then
• sonra da = and then / then also

This da is a very common connective particle in Turkish. It often adds flow and continuation.

Compare:

• Çorba yapacağız. Sonra patates püresi koyacağız.
  = We’ll make soup. Then we’ll serve mashed potatoes.

• Çorba yapacağız, sonra da patates püresi koyacağız.
  = We’ll make soup, and then we’ll also serve mashed potatoes.

The second one sounds a bit smoother and more connected.

Yanına means to its side, next to it, or more naturally here, with it / on the side.

Breakdown:

• yan = side
• yanı = its side
• yanına = to its side

This structure contains:

1. the noun yan
2. a possessive-like form yanı
3. the dative ending -a / -e → yanına

The extra n appears as a buffer consonant before the case ending.

In food contexts, yanına often means:

• as a side dish
• to go with it

So:

• yanına patates püresi koyacağız = we’ll serve mashed potatoes with it / on the side

It refers to the main dish just mentioned, in this case balkabağı çorbası.

So the idea is:

• We’ll make pumpkin soup,
• and then we’ll serve mashed potatoes alongside it.

Turkish often leaves this kind of reference inside words like yanına, without needing a separate word for it.

Because Turkish verbs already show the subject.

• yapacağız = we will make
• koyacağız = we will put/serve

Since the -ğiz/-ğız ending already tells you the subject is we, Turkish usually does not need a separate pronoun like biz.

If you said Biz yapacağız, it would add emphasis, like:

• We will make it

But normally, just yapacağız is enough.

Turkish often puts the verb at the end of the clause.

So the structure is roughly:

• Akşam yemeğinde = for dinner
• balkabağı çorbası = pumpkin soup
• yapacağız = we’ll make

Then:

• sonra da = and then
• yanına = on the side / with it
• patates püresi = mashed potatoes
• koyacağız = we’ll serve / put

This is normal Turkish word order. English usually puts the verb earlier, but Turkish commonly saves it for the end.

Turkish usually expresses this as a noun compound:

• patates = potato
• püre = purée / mash
• patates püresi = mashed potatoes / potato purée

Again, the second noun takes the compound ending:

• püre → püresi

So patates püresi is the standard Turkish expression.

Even though English says mashed potatoes, Turkish uses the singular compound patates püresi.

That is completely normal.

Many foods in Turkish are named in a singular-looking form even when English uses a plural expression. So:

• patates püresi = mashed potatoes

You should learn it as a fixed food name rather than trying to match English number exactly.

Because they are being used as indefinite direct objects.

In Turkish, a direct object often takes the accusative ending only when it is definite/specific.

Here:

• balkabağı çorbası yapacağız = we’ll make pumpkin soup
• patates püresi koyacağız = we’ll serve mashed potatoes

These are more like some pumpkin soup and some mashed potatoes, not a specific previously identified item.

If the object were definite, you might see accusative:

• Çorbayı yapacağız. = We’ll make the soup.
• Püreyi koyacağız. = We’ll serve the mashed potatoes.

So the lack of accusative here is normal.

It is a straightforward future plan.

Both verbs are in the future tense:

• yapacağız = we will make
• koyacağız = we will serve/put

Depending on context, Turkish future tense can sound like:

• a plan
• an intention
• a decision
• a prediction

In this sentence, it most naturally sounds like a plan for dinner.

A Turkish speaker might also say things like:

• Akşam yemeğinde balkabağı çorbası yapacağız, sonra da yanında patates püresi servis edeceğiz.
• Akşam yemeğinde balkabağı çorbası yapacağız, sonra da yanına patates püresi vereceğiz.

But the original koyacağız is already natural and everyday Turkish, especially in a home-cooking context. It sounds practical and idiomatic rather than strange.