Description

I’m indebted to Kimi Harris’ Ladled for teaching me that you can cook meatballs right in broth for soup. Might change my life!

Ingredients

Scale

1 Tbs. safe cooking oil
1–2 cloves garlic, crushed, or 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 of a leek, sliced
4 carrots, sliced
2 quarts (8 c.) beef stock
2 1/2 tsp. salt (if using homemade stock only)
1/4 tsp. pepper
4 c. shredded or spiralized zucchini
2–4 c. packed chopped kale or spinach
for meatballs:
1 lb. ground beef (try ButcherBox for grassfed beef, delivered!)
2 tsp. Italian seasoning
1/2 tsp. dried basil
1 tsp. salt
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 c. breadcrumbs*
1 egg or 1 Tbs. ground flax seed in 3 Tbs. warm water (optional, not necessary)

Instructions

*Options for breadcrumbs: You can make homemade bread crumbs following directions HERE, use purchased breadcrumbs (watch the ingredients), go grain-free with almond flour/meal, or try grinding up “buckwheaties.” (Learn how to make gluten-free buckwheaties at the bottom of this chicken nugget post.)
Crush the garlic and let it sit on the cutting board for maximum nutrition.
In a large pot, saute the leeks in the oil over medium heat for a few minutes.
Add the garlic and carrots for one minute.
Pour in the stock, salt, and pepper, bring to a boil, then turn to low and simmer for about 5 minutes to give the carrots a head start on the meatballs, which only take 5 minutes.
Prep the meatballs:
Mix together all the meatball ingredients well (be sure to take off your wedding rings) and then roll into 1-inch balls. One pound of meat makes about 20-25 meatballs.
Lower the meatballs into the stock, add the zucchini, and get it boiling again. After about 5 minutes of cooking time, you can add in the chopped greens (any green is fine) and allow them to wilt for 3-4 minutes before serving hot.

Notes

Serving ideas:

* Add a bit of fresh basil or a dollop of pesto on top.

* Provide mustard for the meatballs. My kids just love mustard, and it’s really pretty decent right in the soup.

* Serve with shredded Parmesan cheese.

Variations:

* Chicken or turkey meatballs and chicken broth is excellent with this soup.

* Zucchini problems? You can omit it entirely, sub it out for a finely diced or shredded potato or 1/2 c. rice, use diced zukes instead, or even double it. Flexible soup!

* Feel free to change out the leek for an onion if you don’t have leeks, but be ready for more zing with a white onion.

* Make a double batch of meatballs while you’re at it. If you don’t want a double batch of soup, you can bake the meatballs using the instructions HERE, freeze them in a bag individually and have a super quick meal on hand for “one of those days.”