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!
Why you’ll love this soup:
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!
How to make this recipe:
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
Ingredients
- 2 medium carrots
- 2 celery sticks
- 1 medium potato
- 2 tablespoons olive oil divided
- 1 lb beef meatballs fresh or frozen (If frozen, no need to thaw)
- 2-3 garlic cloves pressed
- 32 oz 1L low sodium beef broth
- 2 cups 480ml water
- 1 dried bay leaf
- A few sprigs of thyme
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 2 small zucchinis
- 1 tablespoon chopped parsley optional
Helpful Equipment:
- • Vegetable Spiralizer I use this Paderno Spiral Vegetable Slicer
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 potato, 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.
Tips & Notes:
Nutrition Facts:
Michelle says
Making this currently. When do you add the potatoes? Perhaps I overlooked this step. Everything smells delicious. Good for a chilly December day.
Shinee says
It goes in step 4 with beef broth. Sorry for confusion, Michelle. I’ll update the recipe accordingly.
Debra @ Bowl Me Overe says
Stopped by from #FoodieFriDIY to do some sharing and let you know your beautiful soup was featured on the round-up today! Â Looks just delicious!! Â Thanks for linking up & have a great week!! Â Come join us again!
Shinee says
Yay, that’s awesome! Thank you so much, Debra, for stopping by and sharing!!
Mary says
Hi Shinee,
Stopping by to thank  you so much for sharing your delicious Vegetable Meatball Soup at Weekend Potluck last week!  We hope to see again this weekend – the party has already started!.  To be featured, be sure to link back.  I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
Shinee says
Thanks, Mary, for stopping by!
Marie, The Interior Frugalista says
This looks and sounds delicious! Â I’ve pinned your recipe to share and refer back to because this is being served in our kitchen soon. Â I just bought a spiralizer and haven’t used it yet so this will be the dish I make with it first.
Shinee says
Thank you, Marie! You’ll love your spiralizer.
Malia @ Small Town Girl Blog says
This looks phenomenal! Saving and sharing!Â
Shinee says
Thank you, Malia!
Easy Peasy Life Matters says
This sounds so divine!!! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Shinee says
Thank you!
Kristen Chidsey says
Only 45 minutes to comfort and a healthy dinner?! Sign me up! Pinning
Shinee says
🙂 Thanks, Kristen!