Minestrone soup with meatballs is a rich and hearty twist on classic minestrone, filled with tender beef

meatballs, veggies, white beans, and fresh herbs!

Category: Soup

Cuisine: Italian

Yield: Serves 6

Nutrition Info: 574 calories

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook time: 35 minutes

Total time: 1 hour, 5 minutes

Soup Ingredients:

• Olive oil

• 1 onion, finely chopped

• 3 carrots, peeled and diced

• 2 ribs celery, diced

• 1 large zucchini, diced

• 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning

• 1 teaspoon dry oregano

• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

• Pinch salt

• Pinch red pepper flakes

• 3 large cloves garlic, pressed through garlic press

• 1 (3 ounce) can tomato paste

• 5 cups beef broth or stock, warm

• 1 (15 ounce) can navy beans (or other small white beans), drained and rinsed

• Parmesan rind chunk (optional)

• 2 cups fresh baby spinach leaves

• 1 tablespoon chopped flat-leaf parsley

• 1 tablespoon chopped basil

• 1 1/2 cups cooked ditalini pasta (or small elbow pasta)

• Grated parmesan, for garnish

Meatball Ingredients:

• 1 pound ground beef (85/15 ratio)

• 1 1/2 cups fresh breadcrumbs (about a 2 ounce French roll, processed in food processor)

• 2 small garlic cloves (or 1 large), pressed through garlic press

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

• Pinch red pepper flakes

• 1 egg

• 2 tablespoons milk

Preparation:

– Begin by preparing your meatballs: add the ground beef to a large bowl, along with the remainder of
the meatball ingredients, and using your hands, mix the mixture until well combined.
– Portion out about 1/2 ounce meatballs, and roll; chill meatballs for about 15 minutes.

– Once the meatballs have chilled, place a large soup pot over medium-high heat, and drizzle in about 3-
4 tablespoons of olive oil; once the oil is hot, add in about half of the meatballs, and brown them on all
sides for about 3-4 minutes.

– Using a slotted spoon, remove the browned meatballs and then repeat with the remaining meatballs;
set all of the browned meatballs aside for a moment.

– Into that same pot drizzle in a bit more oil if needed, and add in the onion, carrots, and celery, and
saute those for about 3-4 minutes, or until they start to become slightly tender.

– Add in the zucchini, along with the Italian seasoning, dry oregano, black pepper, pinch of salt, red
pepper flakes, and garlic, and stir to combine.

– Once the garlic becomes aromatic, add in the tomato paste, and cook that for about 30 seconds, just
to cook out the raw flavor.

– Next, add back into the pot the browned meatballs, along with the white beans and the beef
broth/stock, and gently stir to combine; add in the parmesan rind chunk (if using), and cover the soup
partially with a lid; bring the soup up to a rolling simmer, then reduce the heat to low and gently simmer
the soup for 25 minutes, stirring occasionally.

– After 25 minutes, turn off the heat and remove the parmesan rind, if using; add in the spinach leaves,
parsley, and basil, and stir; check the seasoning to see if any additional salt/pepper if needed.

– To serve, add some of the cooked pasta to a bowl, and ladle the soup over top; garnish with grated
parmesan, if desired.
Tips & Tidbits for my Minestrone Soup with Meatballs:

Lean ground beef: Whenever I make homemade meatballs, I like to use organic, lean ground beef. The
ratio of lean to fat I typically purchase is 85/15, which is ideal for this soup recipe. You can go leaner, but
know that the meatballs may be a bit dryer and not quite as tender.

Chill the meatballs before searing: Once you prep the meatball mixture and shape the meatballs, take
about 15 minutes to chill the meatballs to help them firm up and keep shape when you sear/simmer
them. Giving them a little rest after searing is always good too!

Save your parmesan cheese rinds: Once you have enjoyed your wedge of parmesan cheese and have
only the rind left, don’t toss it out! It’s a total flavor boost, not only for this minestrone soup with
meatballs, but for marinara/red sauces as well. It is removed at the end of the cooking process, but
lends great flavor while the soup (or a tomato sauce) simmers!

Ditalini, the other tiny pasta: I love ditalini in place of elbow macaroni, just for a fun twist. I appreciate
that it’s a bit more delicate, but feel free to use small elbow macaroni if you’d like.

Vegetarian option: If you’d like to make this minestrone soup vegetarian, simply skip the meatballs
preparation and substitute the beef broth with vegetable broth. It’ll still be incredibly flavorful!