Summer Minestrone with Turkey Meatballs
by Chungah
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The best summer soup! Chockfull of fresh garden vegetables with homemade turkey meatballs (freezer-friendly!). Light, hearty, and so so cozy.
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why you’ll love summer minestrone
- Use up summer produce. This soup is the perfect way to repurpose all the fresh summer produce and garden vegetables into the most comforting seasonal soup with a refreshing, vibrant lemon kick in every single bite.
- Picky-eater and kid-friendly. There are all the sneaked-in leafy greens and nutrition for both grown-ups and picky eaters!
- Flexible recipe. The recipe includes homemade turkey meatballs (that can be made ahead of time or frozen!) with so much flexibility, using ground beef or chicken instead, or even swapping with store-bought meatballs for a quick shortcut.
- Hug-in-a-bowl. Not to mention, this is by far the coziest soup on a warm summer night (or any night, really), particularly when you’re feeling under the weather or fighting off a cold.
- Make-ahead and freezer-friendly. Of course both the soup and meatballs freeze like a dream for all your summertime needs (more on that below).
What is summer minestrone soup?
Summer minestrone is a variation of traditional minestrone soup highlighting summer produce with more of a lighter, vibrant broth. It can be served for both lunch or dinner alongside some crusty bread for sopping.
What vegetables can I use in summer minestrone?
- Aromatics: garlic, onion, carrots, and celery
- Squash: zucchini or yellow squash
- Sweet corn: corn on the cob
- Greens: spinach, kale, or swiss chard
- Herbs: basil, cilantro, or thyme
How to make summer minestrone
- Make the meatballs. Combine the ground turkey, Panko, Parmesan, garlic, basil, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper just until the ingredients are combined, working carefully not to overwork the mixture. Gently roll the mixture to form 3/4-to-1-inch meatballs.
- Cook the meatballs. Working in batches, cook the meatballs in a Dutch oven over medium heat until all sides are browned and seared; set aside. The meatballs do not have to be completely cooked here as they will finish cooking in the soup.
- Sauté the aromatics. Cook the garlic, onion, carrots, and celery, stirring in the thyme until fragrant. Add a splash of white wine here (optional) until reduced by half, about 1-2 minutes.
- Simmer. Add the chicken stock and bay leaves, and bring to a boil. Stir in the uncooked pasta and browned meatballs, letting it simmer until the pasta is al dente and the meatballs are cooked through.
- Add greens. Stir in zucchini and spinach (or any other leafy greens).
- Add the finishing touches. Add the freshly squeezed lemon juice and parsley, seasoning one last time with salt and pepper.
- Serve. Serve warm with a dollop of pesto and a sprinkle of Parmesan!
Make-ahead, storing and freezing meatballs
Make-ahead
The uncooked meatballs can be made 1 day in advance and placed on a baking sheet (covered) in the fridge.
Storing
Leftover cooked meatballs (on their own or in the soup) can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days.
Freezing uncooked meatballs
Place the assembled uncooked meatballs on a baking sheet lined with wax paper or parchment paper, freezing for 1 hour until solid. Transfer the meatballs to an airtight, resealable freezer bag, freezing up to 1 month. Thaw overnight.
what to serve with Summer Minestrone with Turkey Meatballs
Tools For This Recipe
Dutch oven
Summer Minestrone with Turkey Meatballs: Frequently Asked Questions
Not at all! Ground pork, ground beef or ground chicken can be used instead of ground turkey.
Panko is a Japanese-style breadcrumb and can be found in the Asian section of your local grocery store.
Place the uncooked meatballs on a baking sheet lined with wax paper or parchment paper, freezing for 1 hour until solid. Transfer the meatballs to an airtight, resealable freezer bag. Label, date and freeze up to 1 month.
You can use either chicken broth or chicken stock but always season, to taste, as store-bought broth is often saltier than store-bought stock. Broth is made from meat and vegetables while stock is often lower sodium and thicker than broth, and is made from bones and vegetables.
The ditalini pasta is cooked directly in the soup, absorbing all the flavorful broth. But if you are planning for leftovers or freezing, the pasta should be cooked and stored separately.
Yes! You can freeze the leftovers without the pasta (or else they will get mushy) in individual freezer bags, thaw overnight, and reheat on the stovetop, adding freshly cooked ditalini pasta when serving.
Summer Minestrone with Turkey Meatballs
Video
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 sweet onion, diced
- 2 carrots, peeled and diced
- 1 rib celery, diced
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- 8 cups chicken stock
- 2 bay leaves
- ¾ cup ditalini pasta
- 2 medium zucchini, halved and sliced
- 3 cups baby spinach
- 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
For the turkey meatballs
- 1 pound ground turkey breast
- ⅓ cup Panko
- ¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, optional
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine ground turkey, Panko, Parmesan, garlic, basil, 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 30-32 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 pasta and meatballs; reduce heat and simmer until pasta is tender and meatballs are cooked through, about 10-12 minutes.
- Stir in zucchini and spinach until the spinach has wilted, about 2 minutes.
- Stir in lemon juice and parsley; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Serve immediately.
Equipment
Notes
- Use your favorite meat. Ground pork, beef, chicken or turkey will all work very well here for the meatballs.
- Don’t overwork the meatballs. Using your hands (or a wooden spoon, but preferably hands), combine the meatballs just until combined. Overmixing will yield tough turkey meatballs!
- Prep the meatballs ahead of time. The meatballs can be assembled up to 1 day in advance or stored in the freezer for long term storage. For a quicker shortcut, substitute frozen mini meatballs (I personally love Trader Joe’s party size mini meatballs – a huge guilty pleasure of mine!).
- Add a splash of wine. Add a splash of white wine when sautéing the aromatics to create a quick restaurant-quality soup! It is a great way to deglaze the pan from the meatballs and to add bright, rich flavors. Opt for pinot grigio or sauvignon blanc (never using cooking wine), letting it reduce by half (about 1-2 minutes).
- Use good-quality stock. The better quality your stock, the better your soup. Many brands love to pack in the salt so always opt for unsalted or a lower-sodium variety. Homemade stock is even better.
- Add in leafy greens. This is a great recipe to sneak in leafy greens for those picky eaters. Spinach, kale, collard greens, swiss chard, or arugula are all great options.
- Freeze as needed. This soup freezes beautifully but if you plan to freeze, cook the veggies slightly firm so they can hold up during freezing and reheating.
Did you make this recipe?
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This was delicious! Meatballs were the best tasting turkey meatballs I’ve had.
Just made this soup and it is delicious. I did add two chucks of parmesan cheese to it with the pasta. I will definitely make again. Thank you so much for the recipe!
Question—can I sub kale for the spinach?
Yes, I always sub kale for spinach in any soup reciepe, as I cannot have spinach as it is high potassium. And it is a excellent exchange
Of course you can
Followed the recipe exactly and it was amazing!! We will be making this all summer long!
Love this recipe! It’s great for warm summer days! I double the recipe and assemble it for the freezer:
1. Cook meatballs through in a skillet and set aside.
2. Make main soup base to the beginning of step 4 (stop after adding stock and bay leaves).
3. Divide chopped spinach, sliced zucchini, chopped parsley, and meatballs among freezer zipper bags.
4. Label bags with date, title, and instructions to add cooked ditalini and lemon juice when reheating soup.
5. Divide mostly cooled soup base among freezer bags. Lay flat to freeze!
Thanks for a damn delicious recipe!
I made this for my family last night and everyone loved it! I was anticipating a large amount of leftovers, as there are only 3 people in my family, but we ate all of it. I can’t wait to make this again. It is definitely a new family favorite. Thank you!
Love this recipe, however, I used a non stick pot and while frying the meatballs they stuck to the bottom but they were salvageable. I would definitely increase the pasta to at least 1 cup dry. I used chicken broth instead of stock because that’s what I had on hand. I added Parmesan when serving the soup. I will definitely make this again.
Yum! I just added about a teaspoon of red wine vinegar to balance the acidity a bit and it gave it that extra tang it needed. Also used premade Italian Turkey meatballs and quartered them. Yummy all around!
Might have been 1/2 tsp red wine vinegar actually. I just eyeballed a small dash.
Great idea to use premade meatballs!
An absolutely delicious summer soup recipe!
Oh my gosh this was sooooo good, I never made a minestrone before and this is like perfect and new favorite, my husband ate like 3 bowls. It’s flavorful and the meatballs have a bit of a kick with the red pepper flakes. This going to be a staple dish in our house! Please try it!!
It’s February now but soup always works in winter, so with zucchini I needed to use and a craving for something nourishing I made this soup. We liked it and I can see eating it in the summer…I probably just wouldn’t make it in the hottest weather. I didn’t enjoy making the meatballs first, but it’s not like I didn’t know I was going to have to do that, it just takes a little more time. Next time I make it, I think I’ll make meatballs the day before or possibly even make them and freeze them to use whenever! Thanks for another nice recipe 🙂
I love all your recipes and this is no exception. My husband and anyone I feed it too go crazy for this soup. I can never get my ratios to look as pretty as yours but I am going to keep trying. This is a reliable recipe FULL of veggies. Love it.
This soup was awesome!
I’ve made this before and it was great but the ingredients seem to be messed up on here for me – rotisserie chicken, Half and half No zucchini etc
So sorry about that! We had a temporary system glitch but it should be fixed now. 🙂
This isn’t the recipe I originally saw just earlier today. It appears changes have been made to the recipe. It doesn’t provide the ingredients and measurements for the meatballs. Ingredients for the soup seem different now too. Peas instead of spinach. .?????
So sorry about that! We had a temporary system glitch but it should be fixed now. 🙂
I don’t often post reviews but this soup was a hit! Even my picky hubby and daughter ate it. I used a gf panko for the meatballs and threw in some leftover corn. Delish!!!!!
Thank you for your amazing collection of recipes. They are always a hit and I have shared so many with friends and family.
Very tasty summer soup recipe. Loved the little turkey meatballs.
Excellent, easy, simple, tasty and healthy recipe. I had slight issues with the meatballs sticking to the pan, but when I deglazed the pan with the chicken stock, the brown goodness added wonderful flavor to the soup. I can’t wait to try more of your recipes.
This soup is the best I’ve ever made. It’s packed with flavor, satisfying and everyone is my family loved it. My husband and nephew had seconds and thirds
Amazing my husband only liked traditional minestrone! This changed his mind! Used frozen cocktail meatballs which shortened the cooking time! A definite do again!