Meatball Soup
A Filling Delicious Meal in a Bowl
This Meatball Soup was created out of a description of a soup my Mister gets at a place by his work. It’s got plump, juicy meatballs swimming in a sea of tangy tomato goodness with a hint of basil to keep things classy.
These meatballs are not your average size. They’re tiny, like “blink and you’ll miss ’em” tiny.
But don’t let the little meatballs fool you, it’s a soup so hearty, your family will be begging for seconds before they can even say “meatball madness!”
So, grab your ladle and get ready to stir up some serious soup-erhero action in the kitchen!
There is a full, printable recipe card at the end of this post. You can print the card or you can hit the print button for the recipe to come up on one screen and from there you can screenshot this to save it to your phone.
I have also added a Pinterest button that you can use to save this recipe to your Pinterest page. If you would like to follow me on Pinterest, you can find me there as The Tipsy Housewife.
Below I have included some information regarding the ingredients and the recipe methods to help those who may need more clarification.
The Meatballs
There are just a few key things you have to keep in mind when making these meatballs as to not mess them up.
The first thing is to make sure to grate your onion. Grating the onion adds moisture to the meatballs so that they taste delicious.
I am also not a scientist so excuse this description, but grating the onions instead of dicing them allows the meatballs less opportunity to separate while simmering in broth. I feel like the absence of the chunks of onion help the meat to stick together better.
See! Science!
I also always use a powdered parmesan cheese for these meatballs because it acts as a binder. I buy the good ole’ Kraft or store brand powdered parmesan off the shelf.
If you are one of those who believes that THIS type of cheese is sawdust (insert mocking laughter here) then feel free to buy the finely crumbled parmesan cheese from the expensive cheese section.
You can also grate it finely yourself and then you can add your own sawdust if you want, LOL.
Either way you want a dry crumble so that it acts as a binder.
Texture Of The Beef
While I know this is not the most appealing picture ever of ground beef before being rolled into meatballs, you can see that the texture is not totally dry but it is definitely not wet.
The meatball mix should be more of a paste in order for these meatballs to hold up in the broth. If you do not see this type of texture, add more sawdust… I mean parmesan cheese!
By the way, the powdered parmesan theory that it is sawdust is the one that makes me laugh the most. Creators on the internet like to spread this as a way to get attention but the first ingredient in this cheese is CHEESE.
The plant cellulose is a naturally occurring plant cellulose that they put in the cheese to stop it from clumping. Its the exact same plant cellulose found in nuts and some fruits.
Anyway, it has me thinking, even if it was sawdust…. isn’t that wood?
Isn’t wood from a tree? Isn’t a tree natural and… you know… a plant?
Like fruits and vegetables? Whatever.
Anyway, use this cheese to get the texture.
Leave It Chunky… Or Not
I personally like this soup with the chunks of tomato in it. I like how it adds to the texture.
If you have little kids or adult kids who do not like chunks, you can certainly use an immersion blender to make this smooth before adding back the meatballs and the beans.
If you do not have an immersion blender, you can use tomato sauce with the Italian seasonings in the same size cans. If you do I would add an extra cup of water to the broth.
Bouillon
I love this product from Better Than Bouillon. I keep many varieties of this product on hand to make soups, stews, gravies, and sauces.
Recently I shared a great recipe for a Chicken In Lobster Sauce that uses the lobster variety of this product. I think that it adds such great depth of flavor without having to have a long cook time.
Be mindful that this does have salt, so you will want to be careful about how much salt you use in the rest of the recipe.
Ways To Reduce Sodium
I personally do not follow a low sodium diet, but if you do and want to reduce the salt in this recipe you can make the following modifications:
- Use reduced sodium vegetable broth instead of the bouillon
- Buy reduced sodium canned tomatoes
- Rinse the beans very well before adding
- Omit the garlic salt from the meatball recipe
Keep The Shells Separate
As you will see in the recipe card, I keep the shells separate from the soup otherwise the shells will soak up all the broth.
It is very easy to add the shells to the bowl and then add the hot soup on top of the shells so they warm up in the soup.
I make soups and then keep the pasta separate and toss it with some olive oil to keep it from sticking. You can also give the cold pasta a good rinse in a strainer when you want to serve it again.
You can add the shells earlier if you like, but they will soak up the broth so it will be more like a delicious stew.
Can I Make This In A Slow Cooker?
I would believe the answer to this would be YES, you can make the recipe in a slow cooker.
I have not done this but if it were me, I would follow all the stove top directions until I get to the part about adding back the meatballs and beans.
I would at this point put it all in a slow cooker on low for 6 hours and let it cook that way. I cannot vouch for this as I have not done it, but I do not see why this would not work.
IF you do this, come back and let me know.
Meatball Soup
Meatball Soup, created out of a description of soup my Mister gets at a place by his work. Plump, juicy meatballs swimming in a sea of tangy tomato goodness, with a hint of basil to keep things classy. These meatballs are not your average size. They're tiny, like, "blink and you'll miss 'em" tiny. It's a soup so hearty, your family will be begging for seconds before they can even say "meatball madness!" So, grab your ladle and get ready to stir up some serious soup-erhero action in the kitchen!
Ingredients
- 1.5 lbs of lean ground beef
- 2 14.5 ounce cans of Italian Style Diced Tomatoes
- 1 15.5 ounce can of Cannellini Beans
- 1 16 ounce box of Medium Sized Pasta Shells
- 1.5 to 2 cups of finely crumbled Parmesan cheese
- 1 egg
- 1 large yellow onion, grated on a cheese grater
- 1 large carrot peeled and finely diced
- 1 celery stem finely diced
- 2 tablespoons of olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon of garlic salt
- 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper
- 1.5 teaspoons of garlic powder
- 1.5 teaspoons of onion powder
- 1 tablespoon of dried parslet
- 1 teaspoon of dried oregano
- *spices can be adjust to your preference
- 1.5 tablespoons of vegetable bouillon (I use Better Than Bouillon)
- 4 Cans of Water (meaning I use the empty can from the tomatoes and fill each one up twice with water)
- Handful of fresh basil
- *the post above this recipe card has extra information, photos and links for anyone that may need clarification on this recipe or more visuals
Instructions
- Add your ground beef to a large bowl, season with the garlic salt, black pepper, parsley, onion and garlic powders, pepper, and oregano. The seasonings are a suggested amount so you can use more or less to your liking.
- Grate your onion on a cheese grater, do not let your hand get too close to the grater. You will use the pieces of onion that you can't grate. Then add the grated onions and all the juices to the bowl with the ground beef. I usually have some large pieces of onion left that are too small for me to grate, I finely dice these to sauté with the carrots and celery.
- Add 1 cup of the parmesan to the meat and whisk your one egg and add that well. Then mix this all with the meat until it is well combined. IF your mixture is too wet and not paste like, add more of the parmesan a 1/2 cup at a time until it is a better texture. (Pictures of this in the post)
- Roll the meat into small, bite sized meatballs. Mine are usually about 1 to 1 1/2 inches around. They should be able to fit on a soup spoon. I keep a baking sheet nearby and roll them and place them on the pan. I get about 35 mini meatballs out of this recipe. The amounts will vary depending on how big or small you roll your meatballs. When you are done rolling your meatballs, set them aside on the counter to rest.
- Add your olive oil to a soup pot, I use my VERY large deep sided skillet. When the olive oil is hot but not smoking, add onions to the skillet. Let these sauté low and slow. If you like you can add a little more of the seasonings to this, omitting the salt. This is not a necessary step, I just like to season when I can. A sprinkle of each over the onions will do.
- When the meatballs have rested for about 10 minutes or so, add them to the pan with the onions. You are going to brown them on all sides. My meatballs held together enough to toss them around in the pan by giving the pan a shake. You want to get all sides of the meatballs browned enough to be firm. If your meatballs are less firm, carefully turn each one until they are browned. All of the meatballs were able to fit in my pot at once, you may have to do this step in batches if using a smaller pan. Once they are browned on all sides, remove them temporarily from the pan.
- If you used a lean beef you should not have too much oil in the pan. If you do, you can drain some of it out. Then add your carrots and celery. Sauté these until golden brown.
- Next add your bouillon. Sauté this in the pan with the vegetables. Then add your canned tomatoes, do not drain them. I fill each can twice with water and add this to the pan. This gets out the rest of the tomatoes and helps you measure the water. Stir this and bring it up to a low boil.
- Drain your beans and give them a good rinse in the meantime.
- **If you do not want a chunky soup you can use an immersion blender to blend up the veggies as puréed as you want them. I do not do this, I like the veggies whole. If you want to do this, do this step now, and you may need to add another cup of water after.
- Make sure the soup is simmering nicely and add back your meatballs and then add the beans to the soup. Have this at a low simmer. Cover and stir occasionally. Let this simmer for about 30 minutes.
- Boil your box of pasta shells while the soup simmers.
- At the end, tear up your fresh basil or dice it, however you want. Taste your broth and add seasoning if needed. Add your basil and remove the soup from heat. Let sit off the heat ten minutes before serving.
- **You can also add a soalsh of heavy cream if you want this creamy.
- I keep the shells separate from the soup so that the shells don't suck up all the broth. Serve the soup with a cup or so of shells in the bowl and pour the soup over.
- To store the pasta, toss them with a little bit of olive oil and then refrigerate.
- Sprinkle the whole bowl with parmesan and serve.
For another hearty soup recipe, try my Cheeseburger Soup.