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The meatballs are the real stars of this turkey meatball soup; you will savor each one. Make a big pot for your family and enjoy it all week (if it lasts that long).
My sister Tanya is a great home cook. She is always discovering something new and delicious and sharing it with us. Tanya showed us how to make this soup. It’s very tasty and healthy too! It’s one of those soups you don’t get tired of.
Ingredients for Turkey Meatball Soup:
10 cups chicken broth or stock
6 cups filtered water
1 cup barley, rinsed and drained
5 medium potatoes, chopped into ½-inch cubes
1-2 medium carrots, grated
1 medium onion, finely diced
½ pound (about 7) mushrooms, sliced
1 can white beans
1 Tbsp Mrs Dash (original or garlic flavored)
2 Tbsp dill
1 tsp salt + more to taste
Olive oil to saute mushrooms
Ingredients for Meatballs:
1 to 1 ½ pounds ground turkey
1 large egg
1 tsp Mrs. Dash
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/4 medium onion, finely diced
How to Make meatballs:
1. Combine all of the ingredients for meatballs in a large bowl and mix well.
2. Roll the meat into ¾ -inch balls (gumball size) and place on a large cutting board.
Note: We usually buy a 3 lb pack of ground turkey and make double the meatballs to freeze half for next time. But make sure to thaw completely before putting frozen meatballs in the soup.
How to Make Turkey Meatball Soup:
1. In a large pot, combine broth with water and bring it to boil. Add barley and boil for 12 minutes before adding potatoes.
2. While barley is cooking, prep all your vegetables.
3. After 12 minutes passed, add diced potatoes and cook for around 20 more minutes.
4. In a large skillet, heat 1 to 2 Tbsp olive oil and sauté onion 4 to 5 minutes until light brown. Next add some carrots, saute for 3 minutes until soft. Add mixture in the soup.
5. In the same skillet, add more olive oil and sauté mushrooms 5 to 6 minutes until soft, than add them in the soup.
6. Add can of beans with juice (don’t drain), 1 Tbsp of Mrs. Dash, following by meatballs and boil for 5 minutes. Meatballs will float to the top.
7. When meatball flow to the top, finish the soup with 2 Tbsp of dill and 1 tsp of salt.
Enjoy 😀
Turkey Meatball Soup

Ingredients
Ingredients for Soup:
- 10 cups chicken broth , or stock
- 6 cups filtered water
- 1 cup barley, rinsed and drained
- 5 medium potatoes, chopped into ½-inch cubes
- 1-2 medium carrots, grated
- 1 medium onion, finely diced
- ½ lb mushrooms, (about 7 mushrooms)
- 1 can white beans
- 1 Tbsp Mrs Dash Seasoning, original or garlic flavored
- 2 Tbsp dill
- 1 tsp salt , plus more to taste
- 1 Tbsp olive oil, to saute mushrooms
Ingredients for Meatballs:
- 1 lb ground turkey, (can use up to 1 1/2 lbs)
- 1 large egg
- 1 tsp Mrs. Dash
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1/4 medium onion, finely diced
Instructions
How to Make meatballs:
- Combine all of the ingredients for meatballs in a large bowl and mix well.
- Roll the meat into ¾ -inch balls (gumball size) and place on a large cutting board.
How to Make the Soup:
- In a large pot, combine broth with water and bring it to boil. Add barley and boil for 12 minutes before adding potatoes. While barley is cooking, prep all your vegetables.
- After 12 minutes passed, add diced potatoes and cook for around 20 more minutes.
- In a large skillet, heat 1 to 2 Tbsp o olive oil and sauté onion 4 to 5 minutes until light brown. Next add some carrots, saute for 3 minutes until soft. Add mixture in the soup.
- In the same skillet, add more olive oil and sauté mushrooms 5 to 6 minutes until soft, than add them in the soup.
- Add can of beans with juice (don't drain), 1 Tbsp of Mrs. Dash, following by meatballs and boil for 5 minutes. Meatballs will float to the top.
- Finish the soup with 2 Tbsp of dill and 1 tsp of salt.
Hi Natasha! Your blog is really cool – such a great idea. I’m not Russian (or Slavic at all) – actually am African American, but I love good food just as much as anybody! I found your blog when I was looking for a cake with strawberry filling (I’ve already got a cake recipe and needed a filling for my bf’s bday cake), then I started looking around. The weather is starting to warm up, so I’m not sure when I will make this soup, but I will definitely try it. I’m not a huge fan of dill – which I ate a lot of when I was traveling in Hungary – so I’ll probably substitute that for rosemary or thyme. Still, I’m really excited to try some of your recipes – even if I do end up modifying some of the spices sometimes. Thanks again for posting! You and your blog seem really awesome!! God bless you and your family 🙂
thank you Mia!! Welcome to the blog and I’m so glad you enjoy it 🙂 Thank you for your sweet words and God bless you as well!
Hi Natahsa,
Thank you so much for great recipes. I do have a question about meatballs, I once tried making Firkadeliki from ground beef. They came out so tough and hard. Do you have any suggestion what I could add to make them taste better and not be so though?
Thank you so much.I just recently found your site and I am very happy:) May God bless your family.
You are welcome Alina :). Regarding meatballs with ground beef – what ingredients did you mix in the meat?
Hi Natasha,
I just added salt and paper to ground beef. I also added little water to make it more softer and lighter. But they were still little though.
Beef is a tougher meat; maybe try to cook it for a little less time next time.
Alina your meatballs were tough because you used store bought ground meat. If you have a meat grider try to grind your own meat always and everything will always be soft and juicy. Store ground meat is made dryer on purpose to preseve plus you dont know what meat chunk or scrap was used. doing it yourself you get to choose what piece to use. (grind with onion for extra softness not need for added water)
hi. my meat mix is to jitkiy. i did onion thru meat grinder, can i add flour?
Do you think your onions got too juicy that way? Add some dry bread crumbs.
Natasha, I made this soup today. When you stated barley in your recipe, I used pearl barely. My barely cooked close to 30 minutes before becoming tender. I do not know if you used something else but I just wanted to check with you. Otherwise, what a great recipe! I cannot wait to try it now. Be blessed!
I use pearl barley for this recipe. Because total cooking time is around 30 min, including cooking of the barley for 10-12 min before placing potatoes, works out just fine :).
Could I substitute rice for barley?? or just add rice to the meatballs?
Natasha, hello!
I enjoy your website greatly, thank you for your time and your hard work. I just tried few of your recipes (salads mostly) and they turned out to be a hit. I cannot cook as much as I want to just yet as I have two little ones that won’t let me do anything 😉 On this soup recipe I just have one question. Have you tried to use dried white beans instead of canned ones and how much seasoning do you need to adjust for that? I did some reading on canned food (anything in the metal can, really) and researches found that the metal cans do contain high levels of BPA (bisphenol-A), a chemical that is not desirable for human consumption as it is known for causing all kinds of health problems. Thank you in advance for your time.
It should be pretty similar with seasoning. Maybe add a little extra bouillon and salt to taste.
Thanks a lot, Natasha!
Your are welcome 🙂
Natasha, you have the best recipes ever!! Everything that I have tried so far turned out delicious! I make a soup similar to this one, and instead of barley I put some rice in my meatballs and boil them for about 40 min. You should try to make my version too!
I will give it a try Dina, we always love to try something new :D. Thank you so much for such a nice compliment 😀
Natasha, the last time I made soup with meatballs I had a problem of “penka” – the unpleasant foam that comes from the meat. Your soups are so pretty and clear! Is there any tip you could share to avoid “penka”??? Thank you!
To avoid penka :), wash potatoes after cutting them instead of just throwing them in the pot. Starch tends to make penka. This won’t get rid of it completely but does make a difference. Sometimes I just use a large spoon and remove penka. Hope this helps. 🙂
Great recipe and very easy to follow and make. I was craving my grandmother’s meatball soup so came across this recipe via google. It turned out so well and really brought the feeling of home back for me. Had to omit mushrooms (I cooked this for my friends and one of them really didn’t like it), but still delicious. Had to modify the recipe quite a bit since didn’t have a pot large enough to fit the portion requirements. This took me 40 mins to make (had a friend helping with the chopping and peeling). Thanks for posting!!
You are welcome Julia 🙂
Hi Natasha,
I want to make this soup but I was wondering what do you mean by cream of rice and natures seasonings? are these spices?
Hi 🙂 the cream of rice is next to the cream of wheat at the store. I’ve been making an easier version of this soup without that: https://natashaskitchen.com/2012/06/14/moms-meatball-soup-recipe/ it’s just as tasty but easier. The other ingredient is a seasoning which can be replaced with mrs dash or whatever you prefer.
can you tell me the brand you use for “cream of rice” i checked couple of stores and they didn’t have it.
The brand is “Cream of Rice” it has the same African American chef on the front as the cream of wheat, but the box is a little smaller and it’s orange.
🙂 Thank you. I am excited to try this receipe tonight 🙂
What’s nature seasoning?
You may use mrs dash instead 🙂 or your favorite seasoning
hmm yummy this is one of my favorite soups ever… 🙂
The turkey balls are just made and boiled for 5 mins? Is that enough time for them to cook thoroughly?
Yes, once they float to the top, they are done and by the time you finish seasoning the soup, it ends up a little longer than 5 minutes. But, you can check to see if they are done if you are concerned about them being cooked thoroughly 🙂
What do you mean by the ingredient “cream of rice”? is it soup or a seasoning?
It should be next to the cream of wheat. It’s dry like cream of wheat just made with rice.
Can you use grechka (buckwheat) in this soup instead of barley?
I don’t see why not, just make sure to rinse it thoroughly. I think buckwheat cooks faster so don’t overcook it or it will turn to mush.
Very delicious!!!!
I just made this today too! 🙂 And super healthy too!