Vegetable Meatball Soup

Loaded with vegetables and homemade meatballs, this light, yet hearty soup comes together in less than 45 minutes. Great weeknight and weekend dinner!

Remember back in November (?), I made a whole bunch of meatballs to freeze? Well, let me tell ya, it was so worth it! Even though I had my mom here helping with my newborn and cooking for us, we had those days we didn’t have much time to cook dinner. And these meatballs were there ready to be cooked. Such a life-saver, ok maybe just a dinner-saver!

Besides making this hearty meatballs in mushroom gravy, we also enjoyed this delicious light and nutritious vegetable meatball soup. I say it’s nutritious, because 1. the soup is made from scratch, 2. it’s loaded with variety of vegetables. And instead of noodles, I made zoodles! Have you jumped on this new vegetable spiralizing bandwagon yet? Is it still relatively new, or am I just too late to the party?

Anyway, making noodles out of zucchini is the way to go here. The only thing to keep in mind is that you want to add your zoodles right before serving, so it doesn’t get overcooked.

For this recipe, I used frozen meatballs, but fresh ones will work too. If using frozen meatballs, no need to thaw them. Yay, that’s another bonus!

Don’t be tempted to skip the browning meatballs. It might seem like an extra step, especially because we’re not cooking them through, but it’s an important step in adding flavors. All that brown bits in the pan left after browning are gold, and you want that in your soup!

Speaking of meatballs, you can, of course, use store-bought frozen meatballs. But I like to make a big batch from scratch and freeze them. You can find my meatball recipe here. My husband loved the soup, but he wished the meatballs in the soup were smaller. And I totally agree mini meatballs would be fabulous! Next time I make a big batch of meatballs, I’ll make sure to make various sizes!

Well, to make the soup it really doesn’t take much time. From start to finish, it took me about 45 minutes, or less, including chopping the veggies. Here’re the step-by-step photo for you, not that you need it.

You can still devour a delicious bowl of soup on chilly spring day, yes? Hope you enjoy!

Vegetable Meatball Soup

Loaded with vegetables and homemade meatballs, this light, yet hearty soup comes together in less than 45 minutes. Great weeknight and weekend dinner!

serves: 6 servings

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Ingredients

• 2 medium carrots2 medium carrots
• 2 celery sticks2 celery sticks
• 1 medium potato1 medium potato
• 2 tablespoons olive oil divided2 tablespoons olive oil divided
• 1 lb beef meatballs fresh or frozen (If frozen, no need to thaw)1 lb beef meatballs fresh or frozen (If frozen, no need to thaw)
• 2-3 garlic cloves pressed2-3 garlic cloves pressed
• 32 oz 1L low sodium beef broth32 oz 1L low sodium beef broth
• 2 cups 480ml water2 cups 480ml water
• 1 dried bay leaf1 dried bay leaf
• A few sprigs of thymeA few sprigs of thyme
• 1 teaspoon salt1 teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon black pepper½ teaspoon black pepper
• 2 small zucchinis2 small zucchinis
• 1 tablespoon chopped parsley optional1 tablespoon chopped parsley optional

Helpful Equipment:

• • Vegetable Spiralizer I use this Paderno Spiral Vegetable Slicer• Vegetable Spiralizer I use this Paderno Spiral Vegetable Slicer

Note: I test all my recipes with both measurements for the most precise and accurate result!

Instructions

• Dice the carrots, celery and potato.
• In a Dutch oven, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium high heat. Add the meatballs and brown on all sides. (It doesn’t have to be completely cooked at this point.) Remove into a plate.
• In the same Dutch oven, heat the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Add garlic, carrots and celery and sauté for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally .
• Add beef broth, water, bay leaf, thyme, salt and pepper. Bring it to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer for 10-15 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender.
• Meanwhile, spiralize the zucchini into noodles.
• Add meatballs and continue to cook until they are cooked through. Then add and zucchini and cook until zucchini is softened, no longer than 5 minute. Remove bay leaf and thyme sprigs. If desired, throw in some chopped parsley. Serve immediately.

* Disclaimer: All nutrition information are estimates only. Read full disclosure here.

Author: Shinee

Did you make this?Show me your creation! Tag me @shineshka and hashtag it #sweetandsavorybyshinee!

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