Mini Chicken Meatballs ‘n Vegetable Soup
With autumn and winter schedules ramping up, leaving precious available time for meal prep, you will appreciate the simplicity of this tummy-warming one-pot meal. And everyone loves meatballs, right? Just add these easy to make mini morsels to a pot of simmering broth. Toss in a bunch of nutrient-packed veggies plus brown rice for added “staying power” and you’ve created a satisfying meal your family will ask for again and again.
Yield: about 4 servings
Yield: about 4 servings
Ingredients
Meatballs
- 4 teaspoons olive oil divided
- 1 medium onion finely chopped
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 large carrot peeled and finely chopped
- 1 pound ground chicken or ground turkey or lean ground beef
- 1 large egg beaten
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley or 1 teaspoon dried
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon dried
- 1/2 teaspoon salt or as desired
- 1/8 teaspoon pepper or as desired
- 1/2 cup whole wheat or gluten-free breadcrumbs or ground oats may need more if mixture is loose
Soup
- 8 cups all-natural reduced-sodium chicken broth like Saffron Road or Imagine or homemade chicken stock
- ½ teaspoon salt or to taste
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper or to taste
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 2 large carrots peeled and sliced
- 1 cup snow peas trimmed and sliced into thirds
- 2 cups broccoli florets
- 2 cups baby bok choy or regular size, trimmed and coarsely chopped
- 2 cups sliced asparagus
- ¼ cup sliced green onions
- 1 cup cooked brown rice or brown rice couscous, whole wheat orzo or quinoa
Instructions
Meatballs
- In a medium pan, heat 2 teaspoons olive oil over medium-high setting until hot. Sauté chopped onions, garlic and carrots for about 5 minutes or until softened and just beginning to brown. Set aside to cool.
- In a large bowl, mix together remaining meatball ingredients plus reserved sautéed vegetables. (Mixture may need some additional breadcrumbs or ground oats to form meatballs.)
- Form mixture into 1-inch sized meatballs. (will make 24-36)
- In a large frying pan, heat remaining 2 teaspoons of olive oil over medium-high heat. Brown meatballs on all sides, about 3 minutes.
- Remove from heat; drain on paper towels (Meatballs will finish cooking in soup.)
Soup
- In a medium stockpot (about 6 quarts), bring chicken broth (or stock), salt, pepper and Italian seasoning to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low; add meatballs.
- Simmer, uncovered for about 10 minutes or until meatballs are cooked through, with no pink color remaining.
- Reduce heat to low. Stir in carrots, snow peas, broccoli, bok choy, asparagus, green onions and rice. Cover; simmer for about 3 minutes or until vegetables are crisp-tender. Taste; adjust seasonings as desired.
- As this soup is a hearty one-pot meal, simply serve with salad, crackers or bread sticks with fruit for dessert and dinner is done!
Notes
Make Ahead and Storage Tips: soup may be prepared up to 3 days ahead. Cover and refrigerate. Reheat over medium-low setting for 5 minutes or until hot. Soup may be frozen for up to 3 months.
Can’t find ground chicken? These meatballs will be equally delicious made with lean ground beef or turkey.
Mix up your veggies! Feel free to add different veggies according to taste preferences and availability. Zucchini, yellow squash, sugar snap peas, parsnips… they’re all good!
Loaded with tummy-filling meatballs and veggies, this soup is truly a “one-pot” meal. Simply serve it with a salad and fruit and your dinner is complete. Other “meal-in-a-pot” soups you may enjoy are Crockpot Chicken Fajita Soup and Turkey-Vegetable-Barley Soup.
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