I stole this recipe for Italian Meatball Soup from Taste of Home Quick Cooking Annual Recipes 2017 who stole it from Noelle Myers from Grand Forks, ND. This is a healthier version of soup using ground chicken and stuffing mix to make the meatballs. Meatballs are baked, instead of fried, before adding them to the soup. Celery, carrots, onions and garlic sauté and then seasonings and chicken stock are added in. Fresh spinach, orzo and the baked meatballs are cooked until the spinach wilts and the orzo is al dente.
“Soup is a lot like a family. Each ingredient enhances the others; each batch has its own characteristics; and it needs time to simmer to reach full flavor.” – Marge Kennedy (see more quotes in the Quotes tab)
Preheat oven to 400 F. In a large bowl, combine 1 lightly beaten egg, ½ cup savory herb stuffing and ¼ tsp salt. Add 1 lb ground chicken, mix lightly but thoroughly.
Shape into 1 ¼ inch balls. Place in a greased 15 x 10 x 1 baking pan.
Bake 14 – 17 minutes or until cooked through. I cut the meatballs in half, halfway through the cooking process, they puffed up due the stuffing. The meatballs were bigger than a spoon, so I cut them so they wouldn’t need to be cut when eating.
Meanwhile in a 6 quart stockpot, heat 1 tbsp olive oil over medium heat. Add 3 chopped celery ribs, 2 chopped carrots and 1 small chopped onion, cook and stir for 5 – 7 minutes or until the carrots are softened. Stir in 2 tsp Italian seasoning and 2 minced cloves of garlic; cook 1 minute longer.
Add 1 box orzo and 9 cups chicken stock; bring to boil. The original recipe called for Cannellini beans but I have a family member that won’t eat beans so I substituted orzo pasta.
Reduce heat to low, add baked meatballs to soup.
Stir in 5 oz fresh baby spinach (about 6 cups).
Cook just until the spinach is wilted.
Ladle into bowls and enjoy!
Italian Meatball Soup
Ingredients
- 1 large egg lightly beaten
- ½ cup savory herb or chicken stuffing mix crushed
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 lb ground chicken
Soup:
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 3 celery ribs chopped
- 2 medium carrots chopped
- 1 small onion chopped
- 2 tsp Italian seasoning
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 3 cans (15 oz each) Cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
- 6 cups reduced sodium chicken broth
- 1 ½ tsp grated lemon peel
- 5 oz fresh baby spinach about 6 cups
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 400 F. In a large bowl, combine egg, stuffing and salt. Add chicken, mix lightly but thoroughly. Shape into 1 ¼ inch balls. Place in a greased 15 x 10 x 1 baking pan. Bake 14 – 17 minutes or until cooked through.
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Meanwhile in a 6 quart stockpot, heat oil over medium heat. Add celery, carrots and onions, cook and stir for 5 – 7 minutes or until the carrots are softened. Stir in Italian seasoning and garlic; cook 1 minute longer.
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Add beans, broth and lemon peel; bring to boil. Reduce heat to low. Stir in spinach and meatballs; cook just until the spinach is wilted. Stir in lemon juice.
Recipe Notes
Using only ½ cup stuffing mix left the chicken mixture very wet, so I added an additional ½ cup. To shape the meatballs I used 1 tbsp measuring spoon which made 28 total meatballs. I cooked the meatballs for 14 minutes, then cut them in half and cooked for 3 minutes longer. After finishing cooking the meatballs, I then cut the meatballs in half again making 112 pieces. The initial meatballs were too big; they puffed up when the stuffing mix cooked. Instead of beans I used orzo pasta, and increased the broth to 9 cups. Lemon peel and lemon juice was omitted.