Description
This Ground Chicken Mini 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
Scale
- 16 ounce package Ground Chicken
- 1/2 cup Plain breadcrumbs (or Italian)
- 1 egg
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, minced
- 1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning (or use a mixture of thyme, oregano, and basil)
- 1/2 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
- 3/4 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, 1/4 cup of the chopped onion, italian seasoning, garlic powder, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/8 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, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 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