Quick Italian Meatball Soup
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This quick and easy Italian meatball soup recipe includes tender meatballs and veggies slow-cooked in a flavorful broth and served with bowtie pasta.
Good day, everyone! Today I’m so excited to be sharing my Italian meatball soup recipe with y’all. When I say it’s quick and easy, you know I mean it. You’ll be enjoying a big bowl of deliciously hearty soup in under 30 minutes. This is the perfect comfort food dish to dig into on a cold winter day. It’ll warm you up from the inside out and keep you feeling full all afternoon or night long. I typically make it as a quick lunch when I’m feeling fancy and want more than a sandwich.
The secret to this recipe’s quickness is the fact we use pantry and freezer essentials. We’re talking frozen meatballs, frozen mixed vegetables, chicken broth, Italian seasoning, diced tomatoes, and bowtie pasta. Do you have most of these ingredients at home already?
All we’re going to do is place all of the ingredients in a pot (minus the pasta) and bring them to a boil. Then we reduce the heat, add the pasta, and let those flavors mingle and cook until the pasta is al dente. This will probably take less than 15 minutes. Then it’s time to serve! Grab a big bowl of Italian meatball soup and save the leftovers for later on in the week. Meal prep at its finest.
This is one of my favorite soup recipes. It’s quick, it’s easy, it’s simple, but it’s also bursting with flavor. I just know y’all with love it too. Serve this soup with cornbread, buttermilk biscuits, garlic bread, or dinner rolls.
What You’ll Need to Make Quick Italian Meatball Soup:
Recipe Ingredients
- Chicken broth
- Diced tomatoes
- Bowtie pasta
- Frozen fully cooked meatballs (either turkey or beef meatballs).
- Frozen mixed vegetables
- Italian seasoning
- Farfalle or bowtie pasta
Helpful Kitchen Tools
How to Make My Easy Italian Meatball Soup:
Combine broth, tomatoes, meatballs, vegetables, and Italian seasoning in a large pot or dutch oven.
Bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
Turn the heat down to medium and add pasta.
Continue to cook for 12 minutes or until the pasta is al dente and the meatballs are heated through.
And there you have it! The quickest and easiest Italian meatball soup you’ve ever made! And it’s oh-so-delicious, too!
Storage for Quick Italian Meatball Soup:
- Store leftover soup in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. You can simply reheat it in the microwave or on the stovetop on low heat until heated through.
- Freeze leftover soup for up to 3 months. Thaw it overnight in the fridge before reheating it as above.
Recipe Variations
Here are some suggestions and swaps to make this recipe work for you:
- Add 2 cups of baby spinach leaves or kale to the soup during the last few minutes of cooking time.
- Garnish with shredded parmesan cheese and chopped fresh parsley or basil leaves.
- Use crushed tomatoes or fire-roasted tomatoes instead of diced tomatoes.
- Use the veggies of your choice. They can be frozen or fresh vegetables. Some other great soup veggies include diced celery, carrots, red bell pepper, fresh minced garlic cloves, mushrooms, potatoes, green beans, or onion.
- Add a can of cannellini beans.
- Use the short pasta variety of your choice, like pasta shells, ditalini, orzo pasta, orecchiette, or elbow macaroni noodles.
- Add 1/2 teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes for some heat.
- Swap the chicken broth for beef broth or vegetable broth.
- Use any type of frozen meatballs, including beef, turkey, plant-based, or Italian meatballs. Or you might like to use homemade meatballs (made with ground beef, eggs, oats, and tomato sauce).
Recipe FAQs
What do you serve with Italian meatball soup?
This is the perfect main dish as is. But if you like, you can serve the soup with a bread-based side dish to soak up the broth. Some homemade suggestions include cornbread, buttermilk biscuits, garlic bread, or dinner rolls.
Can you make Italian meatball soup in the slow cooker?
Yes, you can! Add the ingredients to the crock pot and cook them on low for 3 to 4 hours.
Can you make vegan Italian meatball soup?
Yes, it’s actually super easy to make vegan Italian meatball soup. First, swap the meatballs for the plant-based or “meatless” frozen meatballs of your choice. Then use vegetable broth and ensure the pasta is vegan-friendly and doesn’t contain eggs. That’s it, you have a vegan meatball soup now!
Can we tempt you with these recipes too?
Olive Garden Chicken Gnocchi Soup (Copycat Recipe)
Salisbury Steak Meatballs in the Crockpot
Ingredients
- 2 32-ounce cartons chicken broth
- 1 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 2 cups uncooked bowtie pasta
- 16 ounces small beef or turkey frozen meatballs
- 1 16-ounce bag frozen mixed vegetables
Instructions
- Combine chicken broth, tomatoes, vegetables, Italian seasoning, and meatballs in a large pot. Bring just to a boil over medium-high heat.2 32-ounce cartons chicken broth, 1 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes, 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning, 16 ounces small beef or turkey frozen meatballs, 1 16-ounce bag frozen mixed vegetables
- Turn the heat down to medium and add pasta. Continue cooking for approximately 12 minutes or until the pasta is al dente and the meatballs are heated through.2 cups uncooked bowtie pasta
Nutrition
The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.
~Chinese Proverb
Welcome aboard Mama 🙂 thank you Christy for sharing the spot light with your mother, you could not have picked a better person….and I know you will agree with me here…..
Thanks for this recipe Mama, it looks and sounds wonderful and I will have to make this…..love Christy and her recipes and now will love you and your recipes also 🙂 glad to have you, and this way we will always have great recipes no matter who they belong to……
Welcome!! I like the idea that good from scratch (sort of) does not have to involve cooking the whole day or even for several days before you put the whole dish together. Funny I have a kitchen full of gadgets and my Grand Mother and Mother had some nice cast iron a stove, and some sharp knives and they cooked circles around anything I do.
Looking forward to trying and enjoying some of your recipes, Janice. The meatball soup looks great and I love simple recipes with what I call “normal” ingredients. Welcome.
Hi Janice! I’m so glad you are going to be sharing some of your recipes! I love the recipes that Christy shares and have printed MANY and tried some! I haven’t been disappointed in any of them. I’m looking forward to the recipes from Mama Reed. Some of the old recipes are the best!
Welcome! I try new recipes weekly and love quick easy dinner ideas or things I can prep on the weekend or a day or two ahead such as a sauce for wings or pasta, etc. I try to do ahead so the long work days aren’t as hard when I get home.
Welcome! It has been fun to get to know you with previous features and now I look forward to seeing your recipes on a regular basis. (Sweet potato dumplings sound extra delicious!)
I make a similar soup, and wanted to suggest that it works well in the crock pot too! So nice to come home to warm soup and serve it with crusty bread on a cool Fall or cold Winter day. I recommend using fewer noodles or adding more broth for the crock pot, since the noodles will absorb lots of liquid during a longer cooking time. Or, I sometimes substitute cubed raw potato for the noodles.
Good reminder to all this back into my Fall recipe “rotation!”
Dear Mama Janice,
It is great that you have agreed to conquer your fears and jump right in to the blogging world. Your recipe sounds great and I am looking forward to more. From someone who grew up cooking with my maternal grandma and my mom who were both amazing cooks, I treasure the old recipes. It always amazes me when I bring one of my families recipes to a potluck and people ask for the recipe because they “have never had anything like it before.” More often then not, the recipe was one that was regularly in our families rotation. My grandmother used to make fried red cabbage that has apples, a little bit of onion, some sugar and something else. The problem is that none of my family can remember what the something else is! If you have any suggestions, I would love to hear them. God Bless You and Your Daughter!
Could it be caraway seed? I know that is what goes into the stuff in a good german restaurant. It’s an aquired taste so be careful how much you use.
To tell you the truth I’ve never used caraway seed. If you like the taste of it, then I’d say go for it and let us know how it turns out!
Hi Carla, Did you see the comment that suggested the other ingredient is probably cider vinegar. Seems right to me. Try it and let us know.