Minestrone Soup with Meatballs

This Minestrone Soup is a richly flavored Italian vegetable soup with ground turkey meatballs and pasta noodles.  It’s delicious and super easy to make.

This hearty Italian minestrone soup is loaded with carrot, celery, onion, Swiss chard, tomato, ground turkey meatballs and macaroni noodles. Serve this heart Italian soup with grated parmesan cheese and plenty of warm crusty bread.

This probably my favorite minestrone soup recipe. It has delicious ground turkey meatballs, loads of vegetables and macaroni noodles all  simmering in a richly flavored vegetable broth.

MINESTRONE SOUP INGREDIENTS

If you want to make this a vegan minestrone soup,  it’s easy enough to do.  Just omit the meatballs altogether and use vegetable broth instead of chicken broth.

• Onion
• Garlic
• Carrots
• Celery
• Swiss chard
• Wine (optional)
• Chicken broth
• Tomato paste
• Tomato
• Bay leaf
• Canned chickpeas
• Basil and Parsley
• Meatballs
• Pasta noodles

HOW TO MAKE MINESTRONE SOUP

This easy minestrone soup recipe comes together in about 60 minutes start-to-finish.

1. Make meatballs:  Prep ingredients and roll meatballs.
2. Saute vegetables:  Saute onions, carrots, celery and garlic and saute for about 3 to 4 minutes until golden.
3. Add liquids:  Pour in red wine and chicken broth.
4. Stir in ingredients:  Add Swiss chard, tomato, chickpeas, basil, parsley and bay leaf.
5. Add the tomato paste:  Stir in tomato paste until dissolved.
6. Meatballs:  Add meatballs to the soup.
7. Pasta:  Add pasta to soup.

GROUND TURKEY MEATBALLS

This minestrone soup with meatballs is worth the effort in making meatballs.  These come together pretty quickly and they add so much flavor to the soup!

• Ground dark turkey meat
• Bread crumbs
• Garlic
• Seasoning
• Parmesan cheese
• Milk
• Egg

HOW TO MAKE TURKEY MEATBALLS

1. Combine ingredients:  Combine the ground turkey, bread crumbs, garlic, parsley, sage, Parmesan, milk, egg, and pepper in a bowl and mix gently with a fork.
2. Form meatballs:  Make small teaspoon sized meatballs and place onto a plate.
3. Add meatballs to soup:  Drop the meatballs one at a time into a pot of boiling soup to cook.

MORE ITALIAN SOUP RECIPES YOU’LL LOVE

•  Vegetarian Tuscan White Bean Soup
• Easy Minestrone Soup Recipe
• Italian Lentil Soup
• Best Italian Wedding Soup
• Italian Chicken Vegetable Soup

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Yield: 4 -6 servings

Minestrone Soup

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 50 minutes

Additional Time 1 minute

Total Time 1 hour 1 minute

This Minestrone Soup is a richly flavored vegetable soup with ground turkey meatballs and pasta noodles.  It's delicious and filling and super easy to make.

Ingredients

For the Soup

• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 yellow onion, coarsely chopped
• 2 carrots, peeled and sliced
• 2 celery stalks, sliced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 cups Swiss chard leaves (you can use spinach instead)
• 1/4 cup red wine
• 5 cups chicken broth
• 1/2 cup water
• 2-1/2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 large Roma tomato, seeded and chopped
• 1 bay  leaf
• 1-1/4 cups canned chickpeas, drained
• 1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped
• 2 tablespoons flat leaf parsley, minced
• 1/2 cup cooked pasta (macaroni shells)
• ground turkey meatballs
• Freshly ground black pepper to taste

• For the Meatballs
• 1 pound ground dark turkey meat
• 1/4 cup bread crumbs
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• ½ teaspoon fresh sage, minced (or a scant pinch – less than 1/8 teaspoon of ground sage)
• 4 tablespoons freshly chopped parsley
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan (more for serving)
• 2 tablespoons whole milk
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

For the Soup

1. Heat the olive oil in a large pan over mediu-high heat.
2. Add the onions, carrots, celery and garlic and saute for about 3 to 4 minutes until golden.
3. Add the red wine, chicken broth, water, Swiss chard, tomato, chickpeas, basil, parsley and bay leaf.
4. Add the tomato paste and stir until dissolved.
5. Reduce heat and simmer for an hour.
6. Increase heat to medium-high and bring to a gentle boil.
7. Add the meatballs to the soup.
8. Cover the pot and cook about 10 to 12 minutes, or until the meatballs are cooked through.
9. Add the pre-cooked pasta and heat through before serving.

For the Meatballs

1. Combine the ground turkey, bread crumbs, garlic, parsley, sage, Parmesan, milk, egg, and pepper in a bowl and mix gently with a fork.
2. Make small teaspoon sized meatballs and place onto a plate.
3. Drop the meatballs one at a time into a pot of boiling soup.

 

Notes

For the Cottage Cheese, Tomato & Avocado Tartine

1. Toast a slice of bread.
2. Add two tablespoons of cottage cheese to the toasted bread and top with heirloom tomatoes and avocado slices. Sprinkle with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper.
3. The tartines are also good with added slices of cucumber.