Quick Meatball Soup

Meatball Soup is a simple recipe idea that tastes fantastic and comes together in less than fifteen minutes.  It’s the perfect weeknight dinner solution!

Meatball Soup is my go-to dinner solution on busy school nights.  It checks all the boxes in one bowl and my kids and husband love it. Serve this Meatball soup recipe on it’s own or add a loaf of our French Bread Recipe (for dipping in the delicious broth) and some Carrot Cake Cookies to end on a sweet note!

Meatball Soup

Meatball Soup Ingredients

• Beef broth – A lot of the deep rich flavor in this soup comes from the use of beef broth as the base rather than water.
• Olive oil – I like a full bodied fragrant olive oil for this recipe, but any type of vegetable oil or rendered fat will work in a pinch.
• Garlic – Fresh is great if you have it, but don’t hesitate to use the jarred kind in the fridge if you don’t. This is an easy weeknight meal!
• Onion – My preference is sweet yellow onion, or white onion.
• Ground pepper – If you keep a pepper grinder on hand, use fresh, otherwise just regular pepper is fine!
• Salt – I am partial to kosher salt or pink Himalayan salt.  It’s probably just a phase.
• Tomatoes – You could use fresh tomatoes, but I find a can of petite diced tomatoes works perfectly in this recipe.  And no need to drain it!
• Mixed vegetables – I keep a bag of frozen mixed vegetables (corn, carrots, peas, green beans) in the freezer all the time just for occasions like this.  You could also use canned or fresh.
• Meatballs – I typically use a bag of frozen meatballs in our meatball soup, but sometimes I make healthy turkey meatballs.

How do you make meatball soup? (Step-by-step)

⭐ First, saute garlic, onion, pepper, and salt in olive oil until onion is translucent and garlic is fragrant.

⭐ Next, add tomatoes and simmer.

⭐ Then, add beef broth and bring back to a simmer.

⭐ Finally, add meatballs and vegetables, cover and continue to cook until heated through.

Scroll down to the printable recipe card toward the bottom of this article for ingredient measurements and detailed cooking instructions. 

Meatball Soup Variations

🟢 Add a cup or two of instant rice for a rice and meatball soup.

🟢 Saute your onions and garlic with a teaspoon of Italian seasoning and add sweet peppers or chopped spinach for an Italian meatball soup.

🟢 Toss in a packet of taco seasoning and a can of black beans for a Mexican meatball soup.

🟢 Add some noodles for pasta meatball soup.

🟢 Swap the beef broth for chicken broth and chicken or turkey meatballs for a lightened up version.

Preparation

Can you use frozen meatballs?

You can use frozen meatballs in Meatball Soup! In fact, it’s my preferred way of making this soup because it’s so easy. This recipe comes together in about 15 minutes and will comfortably feed a family of four for dinner.

It’s the perfect quick weeknight meal.

Can you use frozen veggies?

You can use frozen vegetables in Meatball Soup – again, this is also my preferred way to make the soup. We always keep a huge bag of mixed vegetables (carrots, corn, peas, green beans) in the freezer for recipes like this.

Can you use canned veggies?

You can use canned vegetables in meatball soup – they will not be as vibrant in color or firm in texture as fresh vegetables or frozen vegetables, but they will still taste great.

Can you make it ahead of time?

You can make Meatball Soup ahead of time.  It will last in the refrigerator for about three days, so it’s a perfect recipe for make ahead lunches or quick dinners.

Nutrition

Is meatball soup healthy?

Meatball soup provides good nutrition and is chock full of vegetables, vitamins, minerals, and fiber, as well as protein from the meatballs. If you want a lower calorie version of the soup, try our recipe for turkey meatballs!

It is also dairy free and, depending on the recipe you use, it can be gluten free, paleo, and keto compliant.

Leftovers and storage

Can you freeze meatball soup?

You can freeze it if you have leftovers that won’t get eaten right away, or if you want to prepare it more than three days in advance. Allow the soup to cool for about 15 minutes, then store it in an airtight freezer safe container.

Meatball soup will stay good in an upright freezer for about 6 months, or in a deep freezer for as long as a year.

How do you reheat meatball soup?

You can reheat on the stove top over medium heat, or using a microwave. A serving of refrigerated meatball soup will take about 1 – 3 minutes to heat up in the microwave, and frozen will take 3 – 5 minutes

Finish your meal with our serving suggestions

It can easily be a meal in itself, but I usually like to serve it with bread or potatoes, and of course something sweet to finish.  Here are a few of my favorites.

• Quick Yeast Dinner Rolls
• Beer Bread Recipe
• Oven Baked Potatoes
• Nutella Cookie Recipe
• Three Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies

More soup recipes to love!

• Easy Tomato Soup
• Seafood Chowder Recipe
• Zuppa Toscana Copycat
• Healthy Chicken Zoodle Soup
• Cheesy Broccoli Soup
• Best Vegetable Beef Soup
• See all our best soup recipes!

More delicious meatball recipes

How to Make Meatball Soup

 

Meatball Soup

Meatball Soup is a simple recipe idea that tastes fantastic and comes together in less than fifteen minutes.  It's the perfect weeknight dinner solution!

5 from 4 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Soup

Cuisine: American

Keyword: meatball soup

Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes minutes

Servings: 4

Calories: 277kcal

Author: April Woods

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• ½ cup diced sweet onion
• ¼ teaspoon ground pepper
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 can petite diced tomatoes 15 ounces (not drained)
• 4 cups beef broth
• 3 cups mixed vegetables or 3/4ths cup each: carrots, peas, green beans, corn
• 1 package meatballs about 25 bite size

Cook ModeToggle to green to prevent your screen from going dark while you cook!

Instructions

STOVE TOP DIRECTIONS

• Saute garlic, onion, pepper, and salt in olive oil until onion is translucent and garlic is fragrant.
• Add tomatoes and simmer 2 - 3 minutes.
• Add beef broth and bring back to a simmer.
• Add meatballs and vegetables, cover and continue to cook until heated through.

INSTANT POT DIRECTIONS

• Using saute mode, cook garlic, onion, pepper, and salt in olive oil until onion is translucent and garlic is fragrant.
• Add tomatoes, beef broth, meatballs, and vegetables. Cover and set to "sealing". Cook on manual (high pressure) for 3 minutes.
• When time has finished, hit cancel and do a very careful quick pressure release. If there is sputtering, set back to sealing and continue to release pressure in short careful bursts.
• Alternatively, allow to natural pressure release for 10 - 12 minutes or until pot has depressurized on its own.

Video

Notes

Calories are automatically generated. For best results calculate based on your exact ingredients.

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Nutrition

Calories: 277kcal

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Quick Meatball Soup

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Still want more?  Try this easy Italian sausage soup next! Or check out our huge collection of instapot recipe ideas!

This post was originally sponsored by Swanson®. All thoughts and opinions are my own.