Meatball Soup

Delicious, hearty soup with rich tomato broth, Italian seasonings, homemade meatballs, pasta and so much flavor! This hearty Meatball Soup is a favorite easy soup recipe on a cold winter nice with a crusty piece of bread to dunk in it.

Meatball soup is a classic dish that is perfect for a chilly winter evening. This easy soup is loaded with protein and is incredibly filling! With tender meatballs made from scratch and a flavorful broth, you’re going to want a huge bowl of this comforting soup. Meatball soup is just the best weeknight meal. It’s family friendly and only takes 45 minutes to get on the table.

Italian meatball soup and hamburger soup are two family favorite recipes. I love that they’re crazy easy to make too. Even though there is a little more work involved in this recipe to make the Italian meatballs from scratch, it is still so simple. You’re going to love this flavor-packed, hearty soup that is pure comfort food in a bowl!

Why You’ll Love Meatball Soup

• This is a great base recipe that you can adapt and customize. Want some spice? Add red pepper! Want veggies? Go for it. Easy meatball soup can be whatever you want it to be.
• Soup is perfect for meal prep. However, if you like leftover soup to still be soupy, then check out my storage tips below.
• This meatball soup recipe makes 6 hearty servings. It is a fabulous recipe for families!

Ingredients for Italian Meatball Soup

Meatballs

• Ground beef – Use lean ground beef to keep your soup from becoming greasy.
• Minced garlic – Freshly minced garlic has the best flavor, so we recommend getting garlic cloves and mincing them. You can also grab a jar of minced garlic from the grocery store and use that.
• Dried parsley – A little dried parsely adds a nice herby flavor to the meatballs.
• Egg – Egg acts as a binding agent when making meatballs. Essentially the “glue” for meatballs! We always grab a large egg in our recipes.
• Parmesan cheese – Putting cheese in meatballs is a total game changer. So delicious!
• Italian breadcrumbs – Make your own breadcrumbs or simply buy them from the baking aisle at your local grocery store.
• Salt and pepper – With all of the other flavorful ingredients in these meatballs, you only need a dash or salt and pepper to season them!

Soup

• Olive oil – Use some extra virgin olive oil to sauté the diced onions and minced garlic and make the soup base.
• Diced onion – For the finely chopped onion I like to use yellow onion or white onion in this recipe.
• Minced garlic – You’ll use minced garlic in both the meatballs and the soup base.
• Crushed tomatoes – It is important to get crushed tomatoes and not diced. Canned crushed tomatoes have much more liquid to them.
• Tomato sauce – Both crushed tomatoes and tomato sauce may seem like a ton of tomato for a soup at first. But once you put everything together, you’ll realize it’s perfect!
• Low sodium beef broth – I recommend low sodium so you can control the salt level.
• Dried Italian seasoning – Italian meatball soup needs some Italian seasoning!
• Salt and pepper – Use a little salt and pepper to help season the soup base.
• Short pasta – Any fun, small pasta will work wonderfully in this delicious meatball soup.
• Fresh parsley – Chop up some fresh parsley to garnish each incredible bowl of soup.
• Parmesan cheese – This is optional, but adds a perfect “little something” to each completed bowl of soup.

How to Make Meatball Soup

It isn’t difficult to make this easy meatball soup! Don’t shy away because the tender beef meatballs are made from scratch. It’s super simple, so just follow these steps or grab a pack of frozen meatballs and skip this step!

Make the Meatballs

Preheat the broiler in your oven, then line a sheet pan with aluminum foil or spray it with non stick cooking spray.

In a large bowl, combine the ground beef with all of the other meatball ingredients. Use your hands to thoroughly mix the ingredients together.

Then, shape the meat mixture into small balls. They should be about a 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch in size.

Place the meatballs onto the previously prepared baking sheet. Then broil them in the oven for 8-10 minutes, until slightly browned.

Once done, remove them from the oven.

Make the Soup

1. While the meatballs cook, heat the olive oil over medium heat in a large soup pot or a dutch oven.
2. Add the diced onion and minced garlic to the hot oil and cook for 4-5 minutes.
3. Add crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, beef broth, and seasonings to the pot and stir well. Bring the mixture to a simmer and then add the juicy meatballs and pasta to the soup.
4. Simmer the meatball soup for 10 minutes, until pasta is tender.
5. Top with freshly chopped parsley and serve with parmesan cheese.

How to Store Leftover Meatball Soup

If you know ahead of time that you will have leftovers, then cook the pasta separately. This will help keep the pasta from absorbing all of the liquid in the soup and making your leftovers less soupy. However, you can very easily store the soup with pasta in it too!

If the soup is thick the next day just add a little broth or water to it if desired.

FRIDGE: Place leftovers into an airtight container and store in the fridge for 3-4 days.

FREEZER: I do not recommend freezing soup with the pasta in it as it can turn mushy. However, leftovers without noodles can be frozen for up to 3 months. Make sure you store it in a freezer-safe container. After reheating, add pasta and enjoy!

How to Reheat Leftover Soup

For best results, reheat meatball soup on the stove-top until warm. If you are reheating leftovers that were stored with noodles, you may need to add a bit of extra broth to the soup.

You can also put it in a microwave safe bowl and reheat it in the microwave until it is warm.

What to Serve with Italian Meatball Soup

This heart meatball soup recipe can served with a big ol’ piece of garlic bread. If you need an extra easy way to make garlic bread, check out my recipe for air fryer garlic bread!

We love to make a whole Italian night out of this soup and make some fried ravioli and cheese sticks too.

Or keep it easy with a simple salad to go with your soup!

Soup can also just be a complete meal all on its own! So don’t feel like you have to make a side although these are all great options. Though warm breadsticks are amazing with soup.

Can I use frozen meatballs in meatball soup?

If you’re craving a bowl of Italian meatball soup but need to save some time, you can absolutely use frozen meatballs in this recipe. Warm them up in the broiler and then make sure they are cooked through before serving the soup.

Can I use chicken broth instead of beef broth?

I prefer the flavor of beef broth in the meatball soup recipe, but you can use whatever you want. Chicken broth and even vegetable broth are great! You can also use stock or bone broth if you’d like some more protein.

Let us know how this amazing meatball soup recipe turns out for you!

More Soup Recipes You’ll Love

• Chicken Tortilla Soup is loaded with amazing flavor. Taco night in the winter can be soup instead!
• Want another Italian soup recipe? Then check out my recipe for Sausage Tortellini Soup.
• Instant Pot Potato Soup is great when you need dinner made quickly.
• Make this White Bean Soup when you want something a little lighter but still packed with flavor.