Hearty Meatball Soup

Hearty Meatball Soup is a soup that tastes like a big bowl of homemade pasta and meatballs, but more comforting and warming! Loaded with fresh vegetables and prepared with frozen, store-bought meatballs, this soup is good for you and easy too!

HEARTY MEATBALL SOUP

We absolutely love this soup! In fact, we love just about every soup! As the name suggests, this is a very hearty soup, which means it’s filling and is the kind of soup you want to eat on a cold day. It’s a soup that makes you feel all warm and cozy inside.

The soup is packed with good-for-you ingredients too, which in my opinion, makes eating meatballs and pasta feel just a little bit healthier! There are onions, garlic, celery, carrots, and lots of canned tomatoes!

Speaking of good-for-you soup, don’t forget to check out my Cold Weather Lentil Soup or this Chunky Vegetable and Spinach Soup. Instead of me just listing all of my favourite soups, just click here to see all of them!

So, let’s get down to business and discuss the ins and outs of this soup. Because, when it comes to making homemade soup, there really are no rules. As long as there’s enough broth in the pot, and as long as none of the ingredients are overcooked or underdone, there are no rules.

INGREDIENTS NEEDED TO PREPARE THIS RECIPE

The following is a list of the ingredients needed to prepare this recipe. For exact amounts and measurements, refer to the printable recipe card located near the bottom of this post.

• Meatballs – You can make your own meatballs, or you can use store-bought frozen meatballs. If you want, you can use vegetarian meatballs too!
• Olive Oil
• Onions – You can use yellow or white onions.
• Celery – I love celery in soup, but it can overpower the flavour, so use it sparingly.
• Carrots – I save my thinner carrots for crudités because the tend to be sweeter. If you buy carrots by the bag, use the larger carrots for soups and stews. Plus, with larger carrots, you can get a more even dice.
• Garlic – Fresh garlic will result in the best flavour every single time. 
• Canned Diced Tomatoes – You will need canned diced tomatoes including the juice. Store-bought is fine, but I used my homemade canned tomatoes.
• Tomato Sauce – Sometimes referred to as tomato passata.
• Vegetable Stock – If you are using store-bought, use low sodium. Some of them can be overly salty!
• Dried Basil and Oregano
• Salt and Ground Black Pepper
• Pasta – You can use ditalini, orecchiette, orzo, or another small pasta.
• Parsley – For freshness, colour, and garnish.
• Parmesan Cheese

WHAT TYPE OF MEATBALLS CAN I USE?

As I mentioned in the recipe card, you can use meatballs that you prepare on your own, or you can use frozen store-bought meatballs. I know that sometimes the thought of having to prepare one recipe just to make another recipe can be quite daunting, so this recipe has been tested with frozen meatballs and it works perfectly!

If you really want to go all out and make meatballs from scratch, please do so. Most of us have a meatball recipe at home that we use over and over again, so you can use that one. If you don’t have such a recipe, I would recommend this one: Easy Homemade Meatballs.

Good news for vegetarians!!! Frozen vegetarian meatballs will work perfectly, making this dish a vegetarian meal that’s hearty, wholesome, and one the whole family can eat.

CAN I MAKE THIS AHEAD OF TIME?

Yes, you can make it ahead, but you should consider two things. If you prepare the soup a day or two ahead and refrigerate it, don’t add the pasta. Once you reheat the soup, add the pasta and meatballs (frozen or fresh) and simmer until the pasta is cooked. Otherwise, the pasta will be an overcooked mess.

If you prefer, you can make this soup way ahead of time! Stop cooking the soup once you have completed step 4 in the recipe card below. Cool the soup completely and package it into freezer-proof containers until you’re hungry for Hearty Meatball Soup.

To prepare from frozen, remove from freezer and thaw at room temperature for at least 2 hours. Place the soup in a pot with a splash of water. Simmer over low heat until the soup is hot. Add the pasta and meatballs and continue from step 5.

HOW TO MAKE HEARTY MEATBALL SOUP

If using homemade meatballs, prepare the meatballs and bake or pan fry (depending on your recipe) until cooked all way through. Remove from heat and set aside. If using store-bought/pre-made meatballs, prepare them according to package instructions. Set aside.

In a large, heavy-bottomed pot, over medium heat, add the olive oil, onion, celery, and carrots. Saute for 5-7 minutes. Add the garlic and saute for another 2-3 minutes. Next, add the tomatoes, tomato sauce, vegetable broth, basil, oregano, salt, and ground black pepper. Stir to combine. Cover with a tight-fitting lid and simmer over medium-low heat for 20-25 minutes, or until carrots are cooked.

Add the pasta to the pot and stir to combine. Place the meatballs into the soup. Place the lid back on the pot and simmer for 5 minutes. Check to see if the pasta is cooked. (Cook for a minute or two more if needed.) Remove from heat. Add half of the chopped parsley and stir into the soup. Ladle soup into bowls. Garnish with more parsley and a tablespoon or two of the freshly grated parmesan cheese. Serve immediately.

THE HOLY TRINITY OF A GOOD SOUP

Have you ever heard of a mirepoix? Sometimes, it’s referred to as the Holy Trinity of cooking. It is a flavour base made from diced vegetables cooked in some type of fat, usually, butter or oil. The veggies are sometimes cooked for a long period of time on very low heat. The goal is to not brown the veggies. Other times, they are cooked on a higher heat to bring out the natural sweetness. This is usually the case in soups.

A mirepoix is most often found combined with tomatoes or tomato paste. This creates a darker, brown mixture called a pincage. It is a long-standing cooking technique in French cuisine. Mirepoix is widely used to flavour a variety of Western dishes, such as stocks, soups, stews and sauces.

In Italian cuisine, the onions, carrots and celery are chopped to form a battuto. It is slowly cooked in butter or olive oil, becoming soffritto. It is used as the base for most pasta sauces, such as ragu, but occasionally it can be used as the base of other dishes, such as sautéed vegetables. Most of the time, the Italian version will also include garlic, shallots, or even leeks.

CONCLUSION:

Hearty Meatball Soup is one of those soups that almost eats like a stew. It’s thick and filling. I love that the meatballs remain whole in the soup and that the soup provides that comforting feeling you get when eating a bowl of spaghetti and meatballs.

Along with the pasta and meatballs, you get a complete serving of vegetables, which is heart-healthy, along with some really great flavour that you managed to develop in only an hour of cooking time. And, lastly, you get to put parmesan cheese on soup, and no one gets to think you’re weird!