This 5-Ingredient Meatball Soup Is Faster, Healthier and Yeah, Even Easier Than Takeout.
You know that we love a good short cut. Keyword “good”—we love food, and so recipe shortcuts are fine as long as the resulting meal is still delectable. We’d never sacrifice tasty food in favor of speed. But when you can have both a yummy meal AND extra down time thanks to a speedy, simple recipe? Well, who’d say no to that? This simple, healthy chicken meatball soup recipe has a bit of an Italian wedding soup vibe, with a little pesto stirred in for a powerful bunch of herby, savory richness. Using pesto in this way is not an idea we can claim to have originated, though. Credit for this particular stroke of genius goes to someone who will likely remain unnamed forever, but we like to imagine some French or Italian women, who was trying to liven up a simple soup and happened to have a little pesto left in the mortar and pestle and voila—soupe au pistou (as soup with pesto stirred into it is known in Provence). The soup was magically more delicious, the pesto was used up and dinner was done, and she felt like kind of a genius. You, too, can feel like a bit of a genius when you whip up this easy meatball soup. And for more of our best meatball recipe ideas, check out our favorite meatball recipes.
The 5 Ingredients You’ll Need To Make This Easy, Healthy Meatball Soup
With so few ingredients, you might be worried that this soup will be boring. But rather, its simplicity is soothing, and provides a healthy, warming palette for garnishes of your choice. It’s a great one for families with little kids, too—tiny kids might prefer it as-is, while mom and dad can add a generous handful of chili flakes or stir in a generous spoonful of chiles (we love this chili paste in particular). Parmesan is wonderful on this soup, too. Dress it up at will! Here are the five ingredients that you’ll need to make the easiest soup ever:
Chicken stock
Frozen chicken meatballs
Small pasta, like ditalini, Orechiette or macaroni
Basil pesto! Homemade Basil Pesto is always great if you’ve got it, but a good-quality store-bought pesto can be terrific, too.
Kale. We used good old cavolo nero (aka Tuscan kale) but it’s OK to use any kale you have—red Russian or even curly kale. You could even swap in chard, if that’s what you have.
How To Make This Easy Meatball Soup Recipe
This meatball soup recipe is so gosh darn quick and easy, you should probably grab a magazine article you’ve been meaning to read so you’ve got something to do with yourself when dinner is done so much faster than you expected. Here’s how easy it is to make:
Bring the broth to a boil.
Add the meatballs and pasta and cook as long as the packages tell you to! This time will vary a bit depending on what frozen meatballs you’ve used and what size pasta you’ve chosen. We love this recipe with ditalini or anellini but you can use most any small pasta shape you love.
Kale goes in right at the end, and simmer for just a couple more minutes, until it’s tender and wilted.
Kill the heat and stir in the pesto! Season to taste with salt and pepper, and serve!
Tools You’ll Need:
More 5-Ingredient Soup Recipes to Try
Can I Freeze It?
Yes! This recipe freezes wonderfully. If you’re wanting to stock your own freezer or a friend’s freezer, but finding yourself short on time, this meatball soup recipe is your new BFF. Make a big batch, let it cool, and then freeze for up to three months.
Proof That Making a Great Meal Doesn’t Have To Be Hard.
There’s no rule that the level of satisfaction you get from a meal must be correlated with extreme effort. In fact, easy meals might be even easier to enjoy, too, because you’re not completely spent when you finally sit down to eat! Let us know how you like this simple soup recipe, OK? Share a photo and tag us on Instagram using @themodernproper and #themodernproper so that we can see your stuff! Happy eating!
