Easy Meatball Soup
This herby, brothy soup is loaded with tender, parmesan-spiked meatballs, soft rice, and aromatic vegetables. Deliciously easy and so much fun to eat.
Meatball soup is the ultimate comfort food!
Meatballs + soup = a warm hug! And these meatballs are perfectly seasoned with parmesan cheese, oregano, and basil. I didn’t add any fillers (like bread crumbs and eggs), so they’re pure protein and flavor. Combine the seared meatballs with flavorful broth and sautéed vegetables and it’s one amazing bowl of flavor.
I used short grain rice (sushi rice) for a reason. Short grain rice is perfect for soup because it doesn’t absorb all the broth! That means this soup makes great leftovers for the next day. It’s still brothy and wonderful after sitting in the refrigerator overnight.
Since we get lots of flavor from the broth, choose a good one. Pick a beef broth that relies on beef (and even vegetables), rather than a variety that’s relies on salt for flavor. You don’t have to spend a lot of money, just choose a quality broth.
This soup is gluten-free! Since I didn’t put any breadcrumbs in the meatballs, there’s no gluten in the soup! And there’s not an overwhelming amount of rice, so this soup is low-carb too.
You can make this soup with ground chicken and ground turkey. If you’d rather make poultry meatballs, go for it!
Add vegetables to this soup if you want. I added onions, bell peppers, and celery, but you could also add carrots, spinach, zucchini, yellow squash, canned tomatoes, and more! Clean out your fridge and freezer!
Meatball Soup
Ingredients
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon dried basil or parsley, or 1/2 teaspoon each
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 cup chopped onion
- 1 bell pepper, any color, seeded and chopped
- 2 stalks celery, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 4 cups beef broth, stock or bone broth
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1/2 cup short grain rice, this is important, or 1/4 cup regular long grain rice
- Chopped green onions or parsley for serving, optional
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine the ground beef, parmesan cheese, oregano, basil/parsley, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper. Mix well and shape the mixture into about 26 meatballs.
- Heat the oil in a large stock pot over medium-high heat. Add the meatballs and cook until browned on all sides. Transfer the meatballs to a plate and set aside, leaving the oil in the pan.
- Add the onion, bell pepper, celery, and garlic to the same pan over medium-high heat. Cook for 3 to 5 minutes, until soft. Add the broth, tomato paste, and Worcestershire sauce and bring to a boil, scraping up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan.
- Add the rice and return to a boil. Add the meatballs with any accumulated juices from the plate. Reduce the heat to medium, partially cover and simmer for 20 minutes, until the rice is tender and the meatballs are cooked through. Season to taste with salt and black pepper.
- Ladle the soup into bowls and top with green onions and/or parsley, if using.