Chicken Meatball Noodle Soup
This post may contain affiliate links. Please see our privacy policy for details.
Tastes just like everyone’s favorite chicken noodle soup but it’s made 1000x better with chicken meatballs!
I know I just experienced -1 degree F weather in Indianapolis during the holidays but I will still say this. It’s still cold at 56 degrees F in Los Angeles.
I thought I could brave the cold a bit better here in Southern California after Indy, but boy was I wrong. So, Butters and I are not leaving the house today.
He’s in a fancy cable knit sweater and I’m already on my second bowl of this chicken noodle soup with extra chicken meatballs in my bowl.
Because let’s be honest, the meatballs are legit the best part of this soup.
Tools For This Recipe
Dutch oven
Chicken Meatball Noodle Soup: Frequently Asked Questions
Not at all! Ground beef, ground pork or ground turkey can be used instead of ground chicken.
Absolutely! But because dried herbs are often more potent/concentrated than fresh herbs, you need less when using dry. The correct ratio is 1 tablespoon fresh herbs to 1 teaspoon dried herbs.
Yes! You can freeze the leftovers without the orzo (or else they will get mushy) in individual freezer bags, thaw overnight, and reheat on the stovetop, adding freshly cooked orzo when serving.
Chicken Meatball Noodle Soup
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 onion, diced
- 3 carrots, peeled and diced
- 2 ribs celery, diced
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- 8 cups chicken stock
- 2 bay leaves
- ½ cup orzo pasta
- 1 sprig rosemary
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
For the chicken meatballs
- 1 pound ground chicken
- ⅓ cup Panko
- ¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon dried basil
- ½ teaspoon dried parsley
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, optional
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine ground chicken, Panko, Parmesan, oregano, basil, parsley, garlic powder and red pepper flakes, if using; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Using a wooden spoon or clean hands, stir until well combined. Roll the mixture into 3/4-to-1-inch meatballs, forming about 25-30 meatballs.
- Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large stockpot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add meatballs, in batches, and cook until all sides are browned, about 2-3 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate; set aside.
- Add remaining 1 tablespoon oil to the stockpot. Add garlic, onion, carrots and celery. Cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 3-4 minutes.
- Stir in thyme until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Whisk in chicken stock and bay leaves; bring to a boil. Stir in orzo, rosemary and meatballs; reduce heat and simmer until orzo is tender and meatballs are cooked through, about 10-12 minutes.
- Stir in lemon juice and parsley; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Serve immediately.
Video
Did you make this recipe?
Tag @damn_delicious on Instagram and hashtag it #damndelicious!
Can this be frozen?
Teresa, you can freeze in plastic freezer bags (I like to lay them flat in the freezer to save on space), thaw in the fridge overnight, and reheat over low heat.
This is the BEST noodle soup I’ve ever had. The turkey meatballs are so good I even make them as a main dinner course. Thank you for the recipe!
Thank you, Michelle!
Can leftovers be frozen?
I froze mine and it worked great. I let it thaw overnight in the fridge so it was ready for the next day. However, please use your best judgement when freezing and reheating! Hope that helps.
This the best soup! My family loves it! I use ground turkey, bake the meatballs and use almost double the amount of orzo. Thank you for the recipe!
Sweet! Thanks for sharing! 🙂
Can I ask–what is the reason for using chicken stock instead of chicken broth? Are there large differences? Can they be interchanged?
Great question! Here is an article discussing the differences between the two:
https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/articles/chicken-stock-vs-chicken-broth.
Personally, I interchange them depending on what I have on hand just so I can skip an emergency trip to the grocery store!
So if I need to go to the store anyway, should I buy something labeled stock over something labeled broth?
Yup!:)
Could basmati rice be substituted for orzo?
Yes, absolutely. But please be mindful of the change in cooking time.
What instant pit do you use? I’m looking for one!
I use the Instant Pot DUO60 6 Qt 7-in-1 Multi-Use Programmable Pressure Cooker.
This soup was wonderful. Truly one of my all-time favorite soup recipes!
One of my faves as well. So yummy! Thanks for sharing!
This is in regular rotation in my house. Just made a batch…makes me so happy!
This is one of my favorites as well. Such a keeper. Thank you for sharing!!
I made this soup tonight. It was really good and definitely a keeper!
Delicious…..Delicious…Delicious…! This recipe is awesome, thanks for sharing.
mmmmmnmmmmmm……damn delicious! THANK YOU for a fantastic recipe.
Making this now, but it’s 85 degrees here in Tampa. I’m pretty sure it won’t affect the taste! This girl just wanted soup!
This is sooo good. Since we won’t eat it all right away I put the orzo in a separate container to mix right before serving all week! Otherwise it puffs up on me usually! This is a new favorite, thanks for so many great recipes!
I made this for lunch this week and it is absolutely AMAZING! I ended up with about 30 small meatballs, but I baked mine in the oven on a baking sheet for 30 minutes before adding them to the soup. I am considering making another batch this weekend because I am so obsessed.
Made a double batch of this last night. My 12 year old even commented on how wonderful the flavor was of the broth. Everything was spotspot on!
Hi Chungah!
I just made this recipe last night, and it was bomb <3 Even my "I'm not a soup person" husband ate. it. ALL.
Just a quick question: Where did you get those soup bowls? LOVE them!
CB2 I think! 🙂
just to clarify…..are the meatballs supposed to cooked all the way through at first or is it supposed to be raw in the inside when we add it to the soup?
The meatballs will continue to cook through when added to the soup.
Made this today and we really, really enjoyed it. I made it with dried thyme leaves — but looking at your soup you probably used ground thyme? I doubled the recipe — and used only 1 lemon as it was fairly large — really liked that in the soup. This is my new chicken noodle soup recipe! Thank you!
Mary
This recipe was amazing!! Those chicken meatballs are to die for! I had a question about the serving size though. In the post it says it serves 4 and in a comment you said a serving size is 1- 1 1/2 cups. Wouldn’t that be sound 6-8 servings since you add 8 cups of broth? I’m asking because I’m doing weight watchers and want to make sure I have my points correct 🙂
The recipe can yield 4-6 servings. Hope that helps!