Italian Meatball Soup with Homemade Meatballs

Incredible Italian meatball soup takes homemade Italian meatballs and combines them with tender pasta, fresh veggies, and a flavorful tomato broth for a hearty, satisfying soup that’s super easy to make. Great for cooler weather and busy evenings.

What Makes This Recipe So Good

• Italian meatball soup takes all the delicious Italian flavors of a classic spaghetti and meatballs and transforms them into a hearty, satisfying, hot soup that’s perfect for cooler weather. What’s really nice is that there’s enough substance to this soup that it can be a whole meal on its own – just serve it with a little bread and you’re good to go!
• This is a great meal prep option, so feel free to double the recipe so you’ve got enough soup to get through the week! Any leftovers can be refrigerated in an airtight container up to 7 days. Let the soup cool completely before putting it in the fridge, though!
• This recipe is already super easy, but you can make it even easier by using store-bought or frozen meatballs, rather than making your own from scratch. I prefer mine homemade, though – they’ve got a better flavor, IMO, and you can really make them your own.

Key Ingredients

Ground Beef & Italian Sausage – A blend of the two gives you the BEST homemade meatballs, trust me. If you want to give your meatball soup a little kick, use a hot Italian sausage instead of mild. You can also make the meatballs with ground turkey instead of ground beef if you prefer it.

Italian Breadcrumbs – Breadcrumbs help bind the meatball mixture together so they don’t crumble and fall apart in the soup. I like to use Italian breadcrumbs here specifically for even more of that delicious Italian flavor.

Pasta – Any short pasta will work here, so use your favorite! You can go with shells, elbows, rotini, fusilli, farfalle – whatever you like.

Chef’s Tips

• Don’t overcook the meatballs under the broiler! You’ll be adding them to the soup later to finish cooking while the pasta cooks, so if you start with them overcooked, you’ll end up with dry, tough meatballs.
• If you want to make this meatball soup dairy free, all you have to do is swap out the grated parmesan with a dairy-free version! You can omit it altogether if you don’t have a dairy-free parmesan alternative, but the meatballs may not hold together as well, and you’ll lose a little flavor.
• When you’re forming the meatballs, keep them on the small side. That way they’re easier to eat! If you forget, though, you can always cut them into smaller pieces with your spoon. If you make them very small, you’ll want to adjust the time under the broiler to keep them from cooking too much!

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