Italian Meatball and Vegetable Soup
Weekdays can get a little crazy with work and activities, so including meals that are quick and hearty is definitely a huge plus. To illustrate, this Italian Meatball and Vegetable Soup recipe is one that I like to go to for an easy prep that ends in a delicious meal for my family.
Making Meal Prep Easy and Budget Friendly
We love Italian flavors with a variety of herbs including:
- oregano
- rosemary
- basil
- marjoram
- thyme
Even now I’m imagining the scent as I walk by and brush one of the rosemary bushes in my yard.
Ahhhh….
This is definitely a great recipe to bring in your favorite flavors. Picking them fresh from your garden is definitely my #1, but there are great store-bought options too.
I also imagine you’re just like me and wanting to work with what you’ve got in the fridge.
This is definitely a great recipe to do just that.
Depending on the season, you can incorporate any number of vegetables to really vary the flavor and nutrients in this hearty meal. The variety of ingredients I choose, whether onions, carrots, celery, baby portabello mushrooms, potatoes, tomatoes, and so many others, can make this delicious meal a different invention every time you serve it up to your family.
Prepping Ahead
I LOVE it when I’ve got nutritious bone broth and frozen meatballs ready to use for meals throughout the week.
Just dump your preferred amount of frozen meatballs into your pot along with your prepped veggies and seasonings and wait a little bit.
Did you catch that it’s also all going into one pot!
I love an easy clean-up!
I’m all in for you being as organized and strategic as you can be, however I just want to remind you that the minute you pick and chop some ingredients, like vegetables, the nutrient value, texture, and flavor can start dropping or changing. For this reason, I usually don’t prepare my vegetables ahead of time.
Meal Planning Options
- Check out my Bone Broth post if you’re interested in making and keeping this tasty and healthy ingredient available
- Also don’t miss my post titled Easy Oven-Baked Beef Meatballs if making these ahead for multiple recipes works for you.
Enjoy this hearty and healthy gluten free recipe using freshly made or frozen ground beef meatballs.
- 1 Tablespoon Coconut oil (Melted, Refined or Expeller-Pressed)
- 2 Pounds Ground beef (Defrosted)
- 1 Tablespoon Garlic powder
- 1/4 Teaspoon Salt
- 1 Teaspoon Oregano (Fresh chopped or dry)
- 1/8 Teaspoon Ground pepper
- 1 Onion (Ends and outer skin removed, diced)
- 4 Carrots (Peeled, ends removed, sliced into rings)
- 1 Carton Mushrooms (Optional: Tips trimmed, mushroom quartered)
- 1 Green Pepper (Stem and inside white flesh removed, diced)
- 3-4 Ounces Tomato Paste
- 1 Tablespoon Garlic Powder
- 4-6 Cups Bone broth
- 1 Sprig Oregano (Stem removed, leaves chopped)
- 1 Sprig Rosemary (Bruised leaves and put in whole or remove stem and chop leaves)
- 1/4 Tablespoon Arrowroot powder (Optional: To thickness preference)
- 1-2 Tomatoes (Optional: Scar removed, diced)
- Salt and Pepper (To taste)
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Spread oil over bottom of pot at low heat.
-
Mix remaining meatball ingredients together, shape into balls slightly smaller than a golf ball and place in pot to brown.
-
Cover with lid, reset heat to medium and cook approximately 5 minutes rotating the meatballs, gently, 1 time.
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Add chopped vegetables (except diced tomatoes) and similar for 1-2 minutes.
-
Add remaining ingredients and stir gently until well blended.
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Bring to a low boil, then drop your heat to low and cook for 15 minutes.
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Turn off heat, drop in diced tomatoes, and serve.
- If preferred, use 1 clove of minced garlic in the meatballs and 2-3 cloves of minced garlic in the soup instead of garlic powder.
- Start adding vegetables to pot after turning meatballs to let them start cooking while prepping and adding remaining ingredients.
- If using frozen meatballs, use fat frozen with the meatballs, in place of coconut oil. Warm them in soup pot and skip to Instruction #4.
No need to stress if you don’t have homemade broth sitting in the fridge, or those beef meatballs you were thinking about making this past weekend didn’t get done.
You can get broth at the grocery or maybe even your local farmer.
And the meatballs only add a few minutes to your process tonight and are included in your recipe above while also giving you what’s in the bottom of the pot after they’re cooked as added flavor to your soup.
What I Use
I’ve included some affiliate links in this post for your convenience. If you decide to make a purchase after clicking on a link, I might earn a small commission without any additional cost to you. Yay!
Just in case you don’t have something that I reference or use in this recipe, here’s a list of what I typically use or suggestions to get you started:
- Simply Organic Garlic Powder is one that I’ve used.
- Redmond Real Salt-Fine is my favorite so I’ve linked to one option here to get access to the healthful trace minerals
- Bionaturae Tomato Paste is one of my favorite choices, particularly because of the glass containers that don’t react and break down with this acidic ingredient (Remember those plastic containers with the permanent red tomato sauce stain?). Also I usually stick with paste because it helps to thicken my soups and sauces and then I usually dice and add fresh tomatoes when I want.
- Simply Organic Rosemary is one of several good options for dried herbs.
- Starwest Arrowroot is what I usually use, if anything additional is needed to slightly thicken my soup, instead of flour.
These links are to one, basic Amazon price for each to keep it simple here.
Different Buying Resources
I usually compare prices as much as possible and get some great best deals on real, nutritious food options. Buying in larger quantities when it’s something I use regularly and the price works out in my favor is also something that supports my budget.
Some resources that I regularly access for price comparisons and availability include:
- my local grocery stores
- local farmers’ market
- Walmart online and local
- Amazon and Amazon Subscribe & Save
- Azure Standard
- Thrive Market
Watch out here though.
Don’t spend so much time price comparing that you end up missing important time in other areas.
Make This Italian Meatball and Vegetable Soup Yourself
There are so many ways to go with this recipe.
Whether you prep ahead, vary your vegetables, vary the seasoning, or make the soup thicker or more liquidy, it’s definitely a recipe that’s easy to fine tune and perfectly fit your family preferences.
Let me remind you to these 3 posts, just in case, for additional information relating to this recipe:
- Easy, Oven-Baked Beef Meatballs (freezable)
- Delicious and Nutritious Homemade Bone Broth
- My Top 6 Favorite Herbs to Grow for the Kitchen
I hope you find it to be an easy addition to your weeknight meals. It’s definitely been a helpful option for our family when it’s been a L.O.N.G. day.
Interested in looking at this later. Save Hearty Italian Meatball and Vegetable Soup on your favorite Pinterest board.
