Meatball Soup

Meatball Soup is an easy and hearty weeknight meal with homemade meatballs, elbow macaroni, tomato soup, parmesan cheese, and Italian seasoning. 

This simple Soup Recipe is similar to Italian Meatball Soup, but it’s made with noodles instead of beans, and it includes a recipe to make your own meatballs instead of just using frozen meatballs. The beef meatballs are surprisingly easy to make, and you can really taste the difference between it and the store-bought. 

MEATBALL SOUP

Easy Meatball Soup is the perfect Italian style family dinner. The pasta, meatballs, parmesan, and tomato flavors make it as kid-friendly as classic Spaghetti and Meatballs! Everyone else is sure to love it too because seriously, who doesn’t love meatballs?

Another great thing about this Meatball Soup Recipe is you can make it different ways depending on your schedule for the day. It’s easy to make at the end of the day as a one-pot meal in a dutch oven. However, if you want to try it out in the instant pot or slow cooker, you can make the same delicious soup. You can find all three versions below!

If you want to make this soup even easier, try prepping the meatballs ahead of time and storing them in the freezer. With pre-made meatballs, this soup will come together in no time and be just as delicious. 

MORE SOUP RECIPES

Classic Minestrone Soup

Italian Chicken Soup

Beef Noodle Soup

Ultimate Clam Chowder

HOW TO MAKE EASY HOMEMADE MEATBALLS

• Start by mincing the onion. You can do this easily with a knife, or if you want to make the pieces extra fine do it in a food processor.
• Mix together ground beef, breadcrumbs, milk, onion, egg, salt, pepper, and Worcestershire sauce.
• Once the meatball ingredients are all combined, roll it into 1″ balls and place them on a baking sheet as you go.
• Add oil to the base of a dutch oven or soup pot and set the stovetop to high heat. 
• Put the meatballs in the pot in batches and sear them on all sides. It should take 2-3 minutes on each side. 

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VARIATIONS ON MEATBALL SOUP

• Meat: You can change the ground beef in this easy meatball recipe for ground chicken or ground turkey. If you use different meat, you’ll probably want to use a different broth too, like chicken broth instead of beef broth. You could also just add more meat like shredded chicken into the soup to go along with the meatballs.
• Noodles: You can replace the elbow macaroni in Meatball Soup with other short noodles like orzo, rotini, or ditalini.
• Gluten-free: If you want to make the meatballs and soup into a gluten-free recipe, you’ll have to replace the pasta with gluten-free pasta and the bread crumbs in the meatballs. You can dry out gluten-free bread and break it apart to make it into gluten-free bread crumbs.
• Add-ins: There are so many flavorful add-ins you can mix into this soup. Try putting in some crushed tomatoes, red pepper flakes, green onions, or different kinds of shredded cheese. 

INSTANT POT MEATBALL SOUP

• Set your Instant Pot to sauté mode and add vegetable oil to the base of the pot.
• Combine the meatball ingredients and roll them into balls before adding them into the instant pot.
• Brown the meatballs on all sides, for about 6-8 minutes.
• Add beef broth, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, celery, carrots, garlic, and Italian seasoning to the Instant Pot.
• Close, lock lid and seal vent.
• Cook on high for 10 minutes, then quick release the pressure.
• Add in the elbow macaroni.
• Close, lock lid and seal vent.
• Cook on high for 4 minutes, then quick release the pressure.
• Top with parmesan and serve.

SLOW COOKER MEATBALL SOUP

• Start by prepping the meatballs according to the recipe. Add them to a skillet with oil and sear on all sides before adding them to the crock pot. 
• Add the beef broth, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, celery, carrots, garlic, and Italian seasoning to the slow cooker. 
• Stir all the ingredients together.
• Cover the crock pot and cook on high for 3-4 hours or low for 5-6 hours.
• A half-hour before it will be done cooking, add the elbow macaroni to the slow cooker. 
• Top with parmesan before serving.

WHAT TO SERVE WITH MEATBALL SOUP

Beer Bread

Classic Wedge Salad

Perfectly Easy Dinner Rolls

Easy Pasta Salad

HOW TO STORE MEATBALL SOUP

• Serve: Don’t leave Meatball Soup at room temperature for more than 2 hours. 
• Store: Let the soup cool, then put it in an airtight container to store in the fridge. It will keep well for 3-4 days.
• Freeze: If you’d like to make Meatball Soup ahead of time or just store leftovers longer, you can keep it in the freezer for up to 3 months. 

Print

Meatball Soup

Meatball Soup is an easy and hearty weeknight meal with homemade meatballs, elbow macaroni, tomato soup, parmesan cheese, and Italian seasoning. 

Course Soup

Cuisine Italian

Keyword Meatball Soup

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 35 minutes

Total Time 45 minutes

Servings 8 Servings

Calories 333 kcal

Author Sabrina Snyder

Ingredients

Meatballs

• 1 pound ground beef , (85/15)
• 1/2 cup breadcrumbs
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1/2 yellow onion , minced
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce

Soup

• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
• 1/2 yellow onion , chopped
• 8 ounces tomato sauce
• 4 cups beef broth
• 14.5 ounces diced tomatoes , do not drain
• 2 stalks celery , sliced
• 2 carrots , sliced
• 3 cloves garlic , minced
• 1 tablespoon Italian Seasoning , link to our Italian seasoning
• 8 ounces elbow macaroni , uncooked
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese , grated

Instructions

1. Mix all the meatball ingredients together.
2. Roll into 1" balls and place onto the baking sheet.
3. Add oil to a large pot or dutch oven on high heat.

4. Sear the meatballs on all sides (in batches), about 2-3 minutes on each side.

5. Add in the tomato sauce, beef broth, diced tomatoes, celery, carrots, garlic, and Italian seasoning and stir well.

6. Bring to a boil, reduce to low heat and cook, uncovered, for 20 minutes, then stir in the elbow macaroni and cook for 15 minutes until pasta is cooked through.

Nutrition Facts

Meatball Soup

Amount Per Serving

Calories 333 Calories from Fat 108

% Daily Value*

Fat 12g18%

Saturated Fat 5g31%

Cholesterol 67mg22%

Sodium 1701mg74%

Potassium 641mg18%

Carbohydrates 35g12%

Fiber 3g13%

Sugar 6g7%

Protein 21g42%

Vitamin A 2888IU58%

Vitamin C 9mg11%

Calcium 168mg17%

Iron 3mg17%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.