Slow Cooker Italian Meatball Soup Recipe
This Italian meatball soup recipe is warm and comforting, and beyond easy to make. It’s made in a slow cooker,so it’s a hands off dinner recipe, and it uses frozen cocktail sized meatballs and a few simple ingredients. It’s a must make soup recipe!
Pull up a chair, everyone! No, seriously, pull up a chair, because I want to show you how to make a great slow cooker recipe and introduce you to my December assignment for The Secret Recipe Club. Her name is Heather, and she’s from the blog, Join Us, Pull Up a Chair (see what I did there?) This slow cooker Italian meatball soup recipe came from her website!
Heather started blogging as a way to publish all of the recipes she had clipped out of magazines. She says that piles of them are slowly overtaking her office. I really understand how that can happen. SO many recipes, so little time!
Heather’s recipe index, has some breakfast recipes that perk my interest. But I made blender waffles for last month’s SRC post. So, I decided to go the route of a warm bowl of soup this time around. The Italian meatball soup recipe is what caught my eye, and my taste buds.
It’s winter here in Wisconsin. That means easy soup recipes are a staple around my house. Truth be told, I love the comfort food factor of soup recipes so much, I’ve been known to eat them, even in the heat of summer.
I made habanero chicken black bean soup this past summer. Despite the soup’s heat level (temperature and flavor-wise) and an outside temp of 92 degrees, Brian and I scarfed down the batch in two days. The excessive heat is also what prompted me to create a recipe for chilled cucumber soup.
You can use prepared frozen meatballs in this soup, or go big in flavor, by using homemade bourbon meatballs!
Get ready to enjoy this easy, yummi Italian meatball soup recipe!
Slow Cooker Italian Meatball Soup
Ingredients
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- 2 medium carrots diced small
- 2 stalks celery diced small
- 1 small onion diced small
- 2 Tablespoons tomato paste
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1 Tablespoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- 28 ounces canned crushed tomatoes
- 2 cups beef bone broth or organic beef stock
- 1.5 cups water
- 1 pound cooked cocktail size Italian meatballs
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt more or less, to taste
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper more or less, to taste
Instructions
SLOW COOKER INSTRUCTIONS
- Add all ingredients except oil into a 6-quart slow cooker. Stir well to combine. Cover and heat on low for 4-5 hours or high for 3-4 hours.
STOVE TOP INSTRUCTIONS
- Add oil to a medium, heavy bottomed soup pot over medium-high heat. When oil is shimmering, add carrots, onion and celery. Cook over medium heat 4 to 5 minutes or until vegetables begin to soften, stirring occasionally. Push the vegetables aside to one side of the pan. Add tomato paste; cook and stir 1 to 2 minutes or until tomato paste begins to caramelize.
- Add garlic and seasonings. Mix well. Stir in tomatoes and stock, and bring to a simmer. Cut meatballs in half and add to soup. Simmer an additional 10 to 12 minutes; season to taste with salt and pepper.
What a hearty soup! Will have to add this to the list. Thank you for a great post.
Thanks, Kate! I’m lovin’ your cute cookies, too. 🙂
There you go again posting delicious slow cooker recipes, Becca! This meatball soup would be an absolute winner in our house…so I might need to figure out how to make it magically appear. Thanks for sharing! 🙂
I know… I’m beginning to think that I love my slow cooker as much as you love working with yeast, Dave! 😉
Oh, I LOVE soups all year round – and this looks like a definite winner. So hearty and thick. I agree with your decision to leave out the water. 🙂
Perfect winter recipe. Visiting from SRC B! Happy Holidays!!!
Warm soups sound perfect for this weather! And a slow cooker one too! 🙂
I agree, CJ. I more or less become a soup glutton between October and April! 😉 I hope you enjoy this recipe!
Gorgeous meatball soup, Becca! I love a thick soup as the whole meal!
How yummy! I’ve never made meatball soup. Thanks so much for sharing this on Merry Monday.
This meatball soup is SO comforting and it’s so easy to make, you can almost put it together in your sleep, Erlene! Thanks for stopping by!
Hi Becca! This soup looks simple & delicious! I love using my slow cooker in the Winter for dinners and I cannot wait to try this one:) Thanks so much for sharing this at the Project Parade! Hope to see you there again tonight!
Thank you so much, Shannon! I love my slow cooker, too… regardless of the season! I think I should rename my site “The Lazy Chef” 😀
Hello- This looks delicious! This may be a crazy question but do you complete the stove top directions first and then add all of those ingredients to the slow cooker? Thank you!
Lindsay
Hi Lindsay! No, the stove top directions are just there for anyone who doesn’t want to use a slow cooker. The reason I love this recipe is because you don’t have ANY steps to take before you put everything in the slow cooker. So many recipes I’ve seen call for browning meat on the stove, etc. before starting the slow cooking… but not this recipe! 🙂 I hope you enjoy it!
Ok great! That’s what I was hoping for ?