Spinach and White Bean Meatball Soup
My favorite cozy weeknight meatball soup recipe! Made so hearty with white beans, spinach, and the most tender chicken meatballs!
Happy post-Christmas day!
I hope you all had the most amazing Christmas yesterday. I ate about 17 donuts, opened all of my presents, and then finished off my night with some warm monkey bread.
Oh, and among my presents were freshly baked chocolate chip cookies from Grandma, which I had right before bed, in bed actually, with a tall glass of milk. And I’m not sorry about it at all!
Now we have a few more days here in Indianapolis but all I can think about is curling up in my own bed at home with a giant bowl of this soup (with a hidden stash of Grandma’s cookies for dessert, of course), sopping up all this goodness with perfectly toasted crostini bites.
I mean, really, there’s just so much treasure in this soup, from the hearty white beans to the baby spinach to the most tender chicken meatballs. Not to mention, the freshly grated Parmesan on top for that finishing touch!
Spinach and White Bean Meatball Soup
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 onion, diced
- 3 carrots, peeled and diced
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- ½ teaspoon dried basil
- 4 cups chicken stock
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 cup uncooked orzo pasta
- 2 cups baby spinach
- 1 15-ounce can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
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 and carrots. Cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 3-4 minutes. Stir in thyme and basil until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Whisk in chicken stock, bay leaves and 1 cup water; bring to a boil. Stir in orzo and meatballs; reduce heat and simmer until orzo is tender and meatballs are cooked through, about 10-12 minutes.
- Stir in spinach and cannellini beans until the spinach has wilted, about 2 minutes. Stir in lemon juice and parsley; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Serve immediately.
Did you make this recipe?
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This is an excellent soup! Hearty, yet good for you, full of vegetables, and great flavors. It’s a new favorite that will stay in my soup recipes! Thank you!
Will this one freeze well? Please let me know if you have tried that. thanks
Will this soup freeze well?
Really good! Used kale instead of spinach and added mushrooms.
Made this for lunch today, deee.licious!
I had some shredded rotisserie chicken that I wanted to use so I added that instead of making meatballs and added the crushed red pepper to the soup to give it some zip.
I used homemade soup stock because that’s what I had.
The orzo did absorb almost all of the broth so I will add more broth and more fresh spinach when I reheat the leftovers tomorrow, but this made for a hearty bowl today.
I’m on a low salt diet so I’m glad it wasn’t salty. My husband just adds salt to his serving as he has low BP. I know, Jack Sprat and his wife. LOL
Added 1 more cup of stock (not broth), 1 tbl. Chicken bouillon, 1/3 cup orzo was the perfect amount. Kosher salt makes the difference in the flavor . Excellent flavor.
Very good! agree with others and used 3/4 c. orzo. after sitting I added another can of chicken broth before I added the spinach to give it some broth. It does need a heavy dose of salt. But very satisfying.
It’s good but not great. I would definitely recommend putting about 1/2 to a 3/4 cup of orzo instead of a full cup unless you want hardly any broth left. I also feel like the broth didn’t have much flavor to what I would have hoped as well as the meatballs. I feel like the meatballs were kind of bland. Overall it’s okay but probably won’t make again.
I made this last Christmas and again today. I added some leftover chopped Roma tomatoes , and fresh spinach , chopped green beans at the end and used Israel Couscous instead of Orso.
Love it
Can’t wait to try! Quick and silly question: the photo shows celery, but there is none listed in recipe. Any reason for this? Thanks!
I just love this soup! I made several changes though, nothing earth shattering. The meatball mixture looked very dry so I added an egg. The meatballs turned out great! So moist and delicious. I also added about a tablespoon of chicken bouillion to the broth because I wanted a bit more flavor. However, after I let the soup cool for awhile, the broth got absorbed by the orzo almost completely! Next time I will cook the orzo separately and add it in, or I’ll use less. Nonetheless, I’ll definitely make this again. It’s very satisfying!
I followed the instructions for the chicken meatballs but it wasn’t tender as I would have hoped for. I was so impressed with the ham bone soup that I had to try another. This one okay.
Looks great! Could you please post nutrition info for this recipe?
You can search for a nutrition calculator online and input the ingredients
This was absolutely delicious! I only added one extra ingredient to the meatball mixture, which was a large egg for extra moistness. I added the crushed red pepper which the recipe called for and I’m glad I did. The red pepper added a little pop of heat and flavor.
The flavor was fantastic!!! Will make this a part of my regular menu items!
Overall pretty good. Just wondering if the cup of orzo should of just been 1/2 cup. Way too thick.
Absolutely delicious!!! Definitely make again
Made this tonight for dinner. It was easy to make and very good. Definitely will make again,
Great and easy to make! Followed the recipe except used pre-made meatballs I had in the freezer. Wouldn’t change a thing!
Does this soup freeze well or is it better to refrigerate and eat within 1-2 days?