This AMAZING Slow Cooker Vegetable and Meatball Soup comes together in a snap and is a healthy and hearty meal!
There’s nothing quite as cozy and comforting as a hearty, flavorful bowl of soup. With this slow cooker vegetable and meatball soup we’re not talking about some thin broth with a few paltry slivers of veggies floating around. No, this is a textured, rich, ladle full of goodness. It fills you up and warms you up in all the coziest ways.
I thought you guys would love this soup for the new year. It’s made in the slow cooker using bite sized frozen meatballs, but you could totally make your own, you add that to some seasoned canned diced tomatoes, a ton of veggies, and some orzo, and you have a seriously amazing soup on your hands. It’s about 377 calories a bowl (obviously it depends on what type of meatballs you throw in), and it’s totally filling! So perfect if you are trying to keep things on the lighter side after the holidays.
BEST VEGGIES TO USE IN THIS MEATBALL SOUP
One of the great things about this recipe is the fact that it is so versatile. Have someone in your family who loves zucchini? Feel free to throw some in. Not a big fan of carrots, you could leave them out.
Certainly our recipe offers a wonderful blend of complementary vegetables to go along with the flavorful meatballs, but you can tweak it to make the people in your life as happy about this meal as we are.
Here are a list of a few vegetables that work well:
- Onion
- Carrots
- Celery
- Zucchini
- Mushrooms
- Spinach
- Kale
- Garlic
- Tomatoes
- Summer Squash
- Peas
- Asparagus
Let me know in the comments some of your favorite veggies to use.
CAN I MAKE MY OWN MEATBALLS?
If you have a meatball recipe you love, by all means, you can add homemade meatballs to this delicious meatball soup. In fact, you can try our Baked Turkey Meatballs or this recipe for Grandma’s Meatballs instead. But if you’re pressed for time, the frozen pre-cooked meatballs work great too!
MORE DELICIOUS SOUPS TO TRY
Now that we have you in the mood for soup, here are a few more recipes you will want to try.
- Slow Cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup is a quick, delicious, low calorie option for a healthy, tasty dinner. It takes only 5 minutes to prep and you can enjoy it for 300 calories a bowl.
- Crockpot Potato Soup Recipe shows that once again the crockpot saves the day! Serve your family a meal they will love without slaving in the kitchen all day.
- Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup is the definition of comfort food! Rich, delicious, earthy flavors mingle together to make this the perfect filling and fabulous meal at your table.
- Steak Fajita Soup Recipe is going to be one of your favorite new comfort foods. It takes everything you love about fajitas and puts it in a soup bowl.
If you try any of these amazing soup recipes, definitely leave a comment below and let me know!
Slow Cooker Vegetable and Meatball Soup
Ingredients
- 1 medium zucchini diced
- 8 oz sliced mushrooms
- 1 cup carrots sliced 2 small handfuls of baby carrots
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 6 cups chicken stock
- 15 oz diced tomatoes with basil and oregano undrained
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 T basil
- 1/2 T dried parsley
- 1 pound frozen bite sized fully cooked meatballs (see a note in the post with links to meatball recipes)
- 2 cups chopped fresh spinach
- 1 cup small noodles alphabet or orzo
- shredded parmesan optional
Instructions
- In the bottom of a slow cooker, combine the meatballs, zucchini, mushrooms, carrots, garlic, chicken stock, diced tomatoes, and spices.
- Cook on low for 6 to 8 hours or high for 3 to 4 hours.
- Turn the slow cooker to high and stir in the orzo and chopped spinach and cook for another half hour.
- Serve with shredded parmesan.
Karen Howard says
Lisa, your Vegetable Meatball Soup looks hardy & delicious! Greatb for this time of year.
Thanks Karen!
Lou says
When do you add the meatballs? Right at the beginning
Shoot! I missed that in the steps! Thanks Lou, all fixed now. Throw them in at the beginning.
Teri Giese says
Was very sad for Lindsay and Bjork as well.I literally had one of those cries where you are gasping.Odd for me,as it takes a lot for me to cry at all.Things just happen.Is all I can say.Have always felt that God is with us and for us,if we choose to listen?Or can really hear Him?Been thru a ton of losses,and often,can be that darn free will He gives us.Other times,I think,that’s not fair.The baby deserved a life.?But,I guess we will have to ask The Big Guy one day!!One day at a time,with baby steps when needed.Heal,and you can bet that what you survive,and how you came through,will help another one day,with someone going through the same loss or trauma.Use our pain to comfort another and have some good come from it all.????peace.
Thank you Teri!
Rachel K says
My heart goes out to you, Lisa. I can’t imagine the level of grief you’ve gone through, and I admire you for your strength! I definitely believe that there is purpose in our suffering; God loves us too much for it to be otherwise! Of course, in the midst of our heartache, it is hard to see that purpose. Thank you for your beautiful blog and your honesty.
All so true, Rachel. Thank you!
Ashley@blondegirlcravings says
Hugs to you mama! So sorry you have gone through this, keep up the honest and touching posts :)
That means more to me than you could know, Ashley.
Rachel says
Ugh, so sorry to hear of this sad news–you know my thoughts and prayers are with them (as well as you Lisa). Life indeed is not easy and it’s very hard to feel any sort of gratitude when facing such sadness.
But this meatball soup…yeah, I’m grateful for this recipe! Will add it to next weeks menu planning! Hugs and love you!
Love you too Rachel!
Marie says
Really good! We loved it. I’ve never seen bite sized meatballs though, can you buy them anywhere? We just used full sized turkey meatballs that we cut up in our bowls.
I’m so happy you liked it Marie! It’s one I’m going to make again and again! I got the meatballs just in the frozen section. I don’t even remember what brand I used. The full size meatballs is a great option too though!
Tisha Hancock says
I was looking for a meatball soup recipe and in addition to that, I was blessed by your beautiful words. Thank you for sharing. You and your friends will be in my prayers. Jesus Christ is still on the throne. Always and forever. He is good. He never leaves us. He loves us deeply and sees a much bigger picture for all of our lives than what we will ever see this side of Heaven. Some days all we are supposed to do is be still.
Thank you for your kind words, Tisha!
Consulenza di immagine Milano Torino says
I really love soups and the one here presented sounds so tasty and delicious! In these snowing days I bet it could be a really good idea for a warm dinner. I’m going to try to cook it asap.
Thanks a lot for the inspiration.
I hope you like it!
Minh says
This looks delicious. How many servings does this make? I cook for a big family of 6… Would this feed my family for dinner or should I add some water? Thanks Lisa
I feel like you would need a salad or some bread for a complete meal for six. I definitely wouldn’t add water to make it stretch, you are going to thin it out and dilute the flavor. No good. I would double it and enjoy the left overs!