Italian Wedding Soup
with turkey meatballs
Meatballs aren't just for spaghetti. This clean soup is a great way to enjoy these lean, Italian-style meatballs that you can make in the slow cooker too.
Smarts: Double your batch of meatballs and freeze them for easy subs, pasta, or soup again in the future.
Ingredients
- Parsley - 1/4 bunch, chopped
- Lean ground turkey - 1 lb
- Milk - 1/4 cup
- Italian seasonings - 1/2 Tbsp
- Red chili flakes - 1/4 tsp
- Salt - 1/2 tsp
- Panko breadcrumbs - 1/4 cup
- Parmesan cheese (opt) - 2 Tbsp, grated
- Garlic - 3 cloves, minced
- Onions (small) - 1, diced
- Carrots - 2, diced ((shortcut: sub 2 cups frozen diced carrots))
- Cooking oil - 1 Tbsp
- Chicken stock - 5 cups
- Leftover couscous (made Tue) - ~2 cups
- Baby spinach - 4 oz
- Salt and pepper - to taste
Nutrition Facts
Prep
- Make meatballs - Heat oven to 375F (191C) degrees. Chop parsley. Mix parsley with ground turkey, milk, Italian seasonings, chili flakes, salt, panko, and cheese (if using). Brush or spray a sheet pan with some oil. Roll meatball mixture into small 1” (2.5 cm) wide meatballs and place onto sheet pan. Bake for 8 minutes. Meatballs won’t be completely cooked through but will finish cooking in soup. (Can be done up to 3 days ahead)
- Garlic / Onions / Carrots - Prep as directed. (Can be done up to 3 days ahead)
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Make
- Heat a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add cooking oil and then garlic and onions to heated oil with a pinch of salt. Saute until softened, ~3 minutes. (If you want to do it in a slow-cooker, combine all soup ingredients - meatballs included - except for leftover couscous and spinach, and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours. Just fold those in at the end.)
- Add carrots and stock, cover with a lid, and bring to a boil. Simmer (with the lid on) for 8 to 10 minutes, until carrots are mostly cooked through.
- Add in meatballs and bring back to a boil.
- Turn off heat and add in leftover couscous and baby spinach. Season soup to taste with salt and pepper, or get creative with the help of our flavor study. You can try items like tomato paste, soy sauce, or even some anchovy paste to add some depth. And of course, use any Mediterranean spices too!
Nutrition Facts
Reviews
Ratings
54 reviews
Made beef meatballs, those turned out really tasty. Found the soup lacked some body, may play around with anchovy paste next time.
0 HelpfulSooooo good. I made extra expecting leftovers, but my husband finished it tonight! I followed the recipe exactly, and it was fantastic.
0 HelpfulGreat soup -both hubby and my picky four year old liked it. Easy and fast, especially if you make the meatballs ahead.
0 HelpfulI liked this one...the soup itself was relatively bland, but it gave the opportunity to each individual to flavor it how they saw fit. I found that I liked it with ghost pepper salt to give it a solid kick. Also, I made some heart-shaped meatballs to make my lady feel special...it went over well!
0 Helpful