This Chicken Meatball Soup is so hearty and the perfect cold weather meal. It's one of my favorite soups to make in the Fall and Winter months. This recipe has it all- veggies, meat and pasta. Just like my Chicken Dumpling Soup, get ready for comfort food in a bowl!
This Chicken Meatball Soup is also called Italian Wedding Soup. I used ground chicken for the meatballs instead of the usual ground beef. It's what I had in the fridge and it turned out incredible! Anything Italian is my jam, and this is at the top of my list for soups.
For more Italian recipes, check out my Classic Pasta and Peas and Sausage Gnocchi with Spinach.
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Why You'll Love This Recipe:
- It's full of flavor. YUM!
- The recipe is loaded with veggies, meat and pasta. I love soups like this because you can serve it with a slab of french bread and not worry about being hungry later.
- It is really easy to make!
If you love easy soup recipes, make sure to try out more of my personal favorites, like this Cheesy Bacon Potato Soup, Creamy Tomato Tortellini Soup and Chicken Minestrone.
Ingredients:
Ground Chicken-Used to make the meatballs. Ground chicken is high in protein and low in fat. Because it's low in fat, it creates no greasy mess when baked in the oven. Total Win!
Egg and Breadcrumbs- to bind together the meatballs.
Onion, Fresh Garlic and Fresh Parsley- Fresh ingredients used to flavor the chicken meatballs.
Italian Seasoning, Garlic Powder, Salt and Pepper-For seasoning the meat.
Celery, Onion, Garlic and Carrot- Root vegetables used to flavor the soup.
Butter and Olive Oil- The butter is used for the richness in flavor and the olive oil is added to increase the burning point. These in combination help to soften the vegetables wonderfully.
Chicken Stock- Dark in color and flavor. I always choose stock over broth for the base in my soups.
Parsley, Bay Leaf, and Salt and Pepper- Used to add additional flavor to the stock.
Spinach- For color and nutrition.
Ditalini- The perfect pasta addition into a soup made with meatballs.
Substitutions & Variations:
If you are not a big fan of ground chicken, you can substitute in ground turkey or ground beef. An equal mixture of ground beef and ground pork makes a really nice, juicy meatball, but do know that it will cause more grease on the baking sheet as well as in the soup itself.
For the pasta, you can use any small variety. Ditalini or Orzo work great in this recipe, but feel free to branch out into other smaller pastas. They make so many fun options these days.
How to Make Chicken Meatball Soup (Italian Wedding Soup):
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Here are the Step by Step Instructions for Chicken Meatball Soup.
Step 1: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with foil and place a rack on top. If you don't have a rack, that's ok. It just helps to allow the fat to drip off.
Step 2: Into a large bowl, add in ground chicken, breadcrumbs, egg, 1 tablespoon of minced parsley, 1 clove of minced garlic, ¼ cup of the chopped onion, italian seasoning, garlic powder, 1 teaspoon salt and ⅛ teaspoon black pepper.
Step 3: Use your hands to mix the ingredients together.
Step 4: Roll the chicken mixture into small, bite sized meatballs. You should have around 50 of them from this mixture. Place onto the cookie sheet. Bake for 15 minutes.
Step 5: While the meatballs are baking, place a dutch oven or large soup pot on the stove over medium heat. Add in the butter and olive oil and allow it to melt.
Add in the carrot, celery, remaining onion, ½ teaspoon salt, and ⅛ teaspoon black pepper. Stir and allow them to soften for 4 to 5 minutes. If they start to burn, turn down the heat.
Toss in the remaining clove of minced garlic and bay leaf. Cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.
Step 6: Add in chicken stock and remaining parsley. Turn heat down to Medium low.
Step 7: When the meatballs are finished, add them into the soup. Cover and cook for 20 minutes.
Step 8: Uncover and add spinach and ditalini (or your pasta of choice). Increase heat to medium and cook for an additional 12-15 minutes until pasta is cooked al dente. Do not cover during this time and scrape the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon every 5 minutes to make sure the pasta isn't sticking.
Time to Serve! I like to top mine with parmesan cheese and a sprinkle of red pepper flakes for a little heat.
Expert Tips:
Dice the vegetables very small because this soup cooks quickly and you don't want crunchy carrots when it's done.
Check the ditalini when it gets close to being done. You want it only cooked al dente, firm when bitten into, because it will continue to cook as it sits in the hot liquid, even with the heat off.
Recipe FAQs:
Eggs and breadcrumbs help to hold together meatballs. You want to use the right amount for the mixture though or you will create other issues. Depending on the recipe, you usually only want to use about 1 egg per pound of meat.
I always choose stock over broth for soup. Stock is darker in color and richer in flavor because it is cooked with bones. It's known to be higher in nutrients. When you have a choice, pick the stock. My pantry is full of it.
Storage:
The leftovers from this soup are so yummy. Store in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 3 days. To reheat, cook in the microwave in 1 minutes increments or place in a pot on the stovetop over medium heat until warm.
More Soup Recipes You Will Love:
If you tried this Chicken Meatball Recipe or any other recipe on my website, please please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it goes in the 📝 comments below. I love hearing from you!
PrintRecipe
Chicken Meatball Soup
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 8 soup bowls 1x
Description
This Chicken Meatball Soup is so hearty and the perfect cold weather meal. It's one of my favorite soups to make in the Fall and Winter months. This recipe has it all-veggies, meat, and pasta. Get ready for comfort food in a bowl!
Ingredients
- 16 ounce package Ground Chicken
- ½ cup Plain breadcrumbs (or Italian)
- 1 egg
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, minced
- 1 ½ teaspoons sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon Italian seasoning (or use a mixture of thyme, oregano, and basil)
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 tablespoons salted butter
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 cup yellow onion, diced fine
- 1 carrot, diced small
- 1 celery stalk, diced small
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 (32 ounce containers) chicken stock
- ¾ cup ditalini or orzo (or any really small pasta)
- 3 ounces baby spinach, (stems removed)
Optional Toppings (& Highly Recommended): A heavy sprinkle of grated parmigiano reggiano cheese and a tiny dash of red pepper flakes for serving.
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with foil and place a rack on top. If you don't have a rack, that's ok. It just helps to allow the fat to drip off.
- Into a large bowl, add in ground chicken, breadcrumbs, egg, 1 tablespoon of minced parsley, 1 clove of minced garlic, ¼ cup of the chopped onion, italian seasoning, garlic powder, 1 teaspoon salt and ⅛ teaspoon black pepper.
- Use your hands to mix the ingredients together.
- Roll into small, bite sized meatballs. You should have around 50 of them from this mixture. Place onto the cookie sheet.
- Bake for 15 minutes.
- While the meatballs are baking, place a dutch oven or large soup pot on the stove over medium heat. Add in the butter and olive oil and allow it to melt.
- Add in the carrot, celery, onion, ½ teaspoon salt, and ⅛ teaspoon black pepper. Stir and allow them to soften for 4 to 5 minutes. If they start to burn, turn down the heat.
- Toss in the other clove of minced garlic and bay leaf. Cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Add in chicken stock and remaining parsley. Turn heat down to Medium low.
- When the meatballs are finished, add them into the soup.
- Cover and cook for 20 minutes.
- Uncover and add spinach and ditalini (or your pasta of choice). Increase heat to medium and cook for an additional 12-15 minutes until the ditalini pasta are al dente. Do not cover during this time and scrape the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon every 5 minutes to make sure pasta isn't sticking.
- Time to Serve! Sprinkle with parmesan cheese and if you like extra heat, a sprinkle of red pepper flakes.
Notes
Dice the vegetables very small because this soup cooks quickly and you don't want crunchy carrots when it's done.
Check the ditalini when it gets close to being done. You want it only cooked al dente, firm when bitten into, because it will continue to cook as it sits in the hot liquid, even with the heat off.
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 35 minutes
- Category: Soup
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
Keywords: chicken meatball soup, italian wedding soup, easy meatball soup
Marcie
I love that this recipe uses chicken meatballs! Amazing! Thanks!
Tara Smithson
You're welcome Marcie and I love chicken meatballs too!
George
My new favorite soup! So good!
★★★★★
Tara Smithson
Yay! It's one of mine too!