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I kept meaning to get Mom’s recipe for this wonderful and easy meatball soup. She’s been making it for years. Because I love the meatballs so much, we put lots of them in this soup (2 lbs!!). You could use 1 lb and adjust the seasoning accordingly, but why? WHY?!!
My Mama and I made this together in her kitchen. I love cooking with Mom. I always learn so much. Everyone loved this soup and there was less than half left after a few hours. I downed two bowls myself and my son loved it too. It’s a winner for sure!
Ingredients for Mom’s Meatball Soup:
7 cups water
8 cups low sodium chicken stock
2 tsp salt, plus more to taste
6-8 medium potatoes, cubed
3 medium carrots, thinly sliced
1/2 cup pasta (optional)
1/2 onion, finely diced
2 large sticks of celery, finely diced
3 Tbsp canola oil
1 large egg, lightly beaten (optional)
2 Tbsp Dill, fresh or frozen
Mrs. Dash
Freshly ground black pepper
Ingredients for the Meat Mix:
2 lbs ground pork
1 tsp Mrs. Dash original or Mrs. Dash garlic seasoning
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 tsp salt
1 large egg
1/2 onion, finely diced
How to Make the Best Meatball Soup:
1. Add water and broth to a large soup pot over high heat. Add 2 tsp salt and all of your chopped potatoes to the soup pot.
2. Bring to a boil and cook 10 minutes. In the mean time, slice your carrots and toss them into the soup pot.
3. Add 1/2 cup of 1/2″ pieces of thin spaghetti to the soup pot or whatever pasta you wish. Pasta is optional, but I’ve always liked it when Mom added it to soups.
4. Chop your onion (1/2 goes into the meat mix and 1/2 goes into the soup in step 7).
5. Place ground pork into a large bowl (Store-bought ground pork works. I ground my own pork on the large grinder holes). Add 1/2 chopped onion, 1 tsp Mrs. Dash, 1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper, 2 tsp salt, and 1 egg. Mix well.
6. Make meatballs by rolling them in your hands. They don’t have to be perfect, just round-ish. Toss them in your pot as you make them. Recruit a helper for meatballs to liven (and speed) things up. Cook for at least 10 minutes or until meatballs are cooked through and floating at the top.
7. Meanwhile, heat a non-stick skillet over medium/high heat. Add 3 Tbsp canola oil, finely diced celery and onion. I normally don’t like celery in soups, but sautéing enhances the soup’s flavor without being over-the-top celery flavored. Saute until soft and golden. Add it to the pot.
8. Add 1 beaten egg to the soup pot while stirring constantly so you don’t get clumps of egg. If you don’t like egg, you can omit it (the soup won’t miss it).
9. Add 2 Tbsp dill. Then add more Mrs. Dash, Salt and Pepper to taste (Mom added about 1/2 tsp dash, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1/4 tsp pepper at the end).
Mom's Meatball Soup Recipe
Ingredients
Soup Ingredients:
- 7 cups water
- 8 cups low-sodium chicken stock
- 2 tsp fine sea salt, plus more to taste
- 6-8 medium potatoes, cubed
- 3 medium carrots, thinly sliced
- 1/2 cup pasta, optional
- 1/2 onion, finely diced
- 2 large sticks of celery, finely diced
- 3 Tbsp canola oil
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten (optional)
- 2 Tbsp Dill, fresh or frozen
- Mrs. Dash
- Ground black pepper
Meat Mix Ingredients:
- 2 lbs ground pork
- 1 tsp Mrs. Dash
- 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
- 2 tsp fine sea salt
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 onion, finely diced
Instructions
- Add water and chicken stock to a large soup pot over high heat. Add 2 tsp salt and all of your chopped potatoes to the soup pot. Bring to a boil and cook 10 minutes.
- In the mean time, slice your carrots and toss them into the soup pot.
- Add 1/2 cup of 1/2" pieces of thin spaghetti to the soup pot or whatever pasta you wish.
- Place ground pork into a large bowl. Add 1/2 chopped onion, 1 tsp Mrs. Dash, 1/2 tsp ground black pepper, 2 tsp salt, and 1 egg. Mix well.
- Make meatballs by rolling them in your hands. Toss them in your pot as you make them. Cook for at least 10 minutes or until meatballs are cooked through and floating at the top.
- Meanwhile, heat a non-stick skillet over medium/high heat. Add 3 Tbsp canola oil, finely diced celery and 1/2 onion. Saute until soft and golden. Add it to the pot.
- Add 1 beaten egg to the soup pot while stirring constantly so you don't get clumps of egg. (Optional).
- Add 2 Tbsp dill. Then add more Mrs. Dash, salt and pepper to taste. We added about 1/2 tsp dash, 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper at the end).
Excellent recipe, the soup is delicious!
Thank you.
I have made this several times it is delicious! I have made it with Swedish meatballs as well which is our favorite. Today gonna try in exchange for the meatballs chicken tortellini. Love love love this soup recipe!!!
That’s just awesome! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review, Laur!
I love this recipe. Instead of pasta we add white rice as that is how my husband’s family makes it. We also added a bit of rice to the meatballs.
Hey!!! I absolutely loved this soup and so did my family! Wanted to ask if I can supplement canola oil with avocado oil?
Hi Nataliya, I imagine that may work. If you experiment, let me know how you liked the recipe.
Sorry but no taste , 15 cups of water maybe should be replaced with some kind of broth
HI Laura, you are correct – I don’t know how that was missed in updating this recipe. I have adjusted it to 7 cups water and 8 cups reduced sodium chicken stock. I also adjusted the salt quantity since the stock has some salt in it already.
Amazing soup! I have come back to this recipe multiple times and (although I do add in some of my personal touches) it’s us always so good with simple instructions for a beginner like me
No worries, what’s important is that you love it!
I make this soup all the time! But i fry the meatballs to add color to them beforehand. My kids love this soup!
Sounds delicious, Nadia!
Made for my sick fussy eater, loved it. Thank you will make again.. was super quick and easy!
So glad to hear that he/she loved it! Thank you for sharing.
Hello Natasha. I was wondering. How long will this soup keep in the fridge?
Hi Yul! You can refrigerate it and consume it within 3-4days.
My 2 year-old sat there saying YUM! after every bite, both at dinner the first night and lunch the next day. 😛
Thank you!
That’s wonderful to hear! It’s always great when kids love the food we make!
This was so good! Made it with ground chicken, no potatoes but added broken spaghetti. Did I say how good it was?😊
We lived in Ukraine for several years and a friend made this for us several times. We enjoy it!
Hi Karen, that’s nice to know! Thanks a lot for sharing your experience trying this recipe. We’re glad you enjoyed it!
Have been making this recipe for years now. This soup is easy and quick to make and my kids request it every several weeks.
That’s wonderful, Yelena!
Yum! I used bouillon instead of salt when cooking the potatoes, and added some rough chopped garlic when sautéing the celery and onion. Also served with a dollop of crema mexicana. Family loved it!
Sounds amazing! I’m so glad the family loved the recipe.
Would it be possible to use ground beef instead? And could I skip the celery, since I dislike the taste of it?
Hi Janet, that will work. Here’s what one of my readers wrote: “I made it with beef and didn’t had celery , but it taste amazing. For my 6 persons family was exactly 1,2 kg ground beef. Everyone liked it! One of the best fall soups” I hope that helps.
I tried this recipe today and it turned out great. I included the optional ingredients. I will be making this regularly. Thank you for sharing!
You’re very welcome, Amy! I’m glad you loved the recipe.
Comfort food! 💫💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕✨
Agreed!
I made this soup today. It’s delicious and very easy to make. I will definitely make it again.
I’m so happy you enjoyed that. Thank you for sharing that with us, Vicky!
Wonderful – I’ve made this several times, either ground beef or ground turkey meatballs, and olive oil instead of canola. Never with pasta. Try it with Yukon Gold or Yellow potatoes – they disintegrate and thicken the soup delightfully! The recipe also works as potato soup without the meatballs. Perhaps my ancestors from Berditchev, Ukraine prepared a soup like this?
Perhaps they did! I’m glad you enjoyed this recipe, Rob.