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player ready...There are a lot of ways to up the coziness factor of a bowl of soup, but my favorite is to add mini meatballs. Perhaps it’s because I grew up on cans of Progresso Chickarina soup; for me, there’s nothing more satisfying than digging into a bowl of soup and discovering a little meatball on your spoon.
This homemade meatball soup is pure comfort, with a brothy tomato base that’s filled with al dente pasta, wilted spinach, and bite-sized meatballs. To ensure it’s absolutely weeknight-friendly, though, there’s a little shortcut involved: Instead of making the meatballs with traditional ingredients, sausage jumps in to make things extra-easy — and arguably even more flavorful.
Sausage is the flavor-packed shortcut
Making tiny meatballs for soup can be a bit fussy. You have to mix together ground meat, breadcrumbs, aromatics, and maybe an egg, form them into small balls, and pan-fry or bake them before tossing them into the soup pot. Here, we’re skipping all of that by starting with sausage. You’ll simply roll uncooked Italian sausage — free from its casing — into tiny balls, brown them, then let them finish cooking in the simmering soup.
Since sausage is already filled with aromatics and spices, you hardly need to add much to the soup to get great results. As the sausage meatballs simmer, they’ll flavor the rest of the soup in a short amount of time.
Sausage Meatball Soup
Serves 4 to 6
1 medium yellow onion
4 cloves garlic
1 pound uncooked sweet or hot Italian sausage
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
1 cup dried ditalini or small shell pasta
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
5 ounces baby spinach (about 5 packed cups)
Grated Parmesan cheese, for serving
1. Finely chop 1 medium yellow onion and mince 4 cloves garlic.
2. Remove the casings from 1 pound sweet or hot Italian sausages if needed. Form the sausage into 1-inch-wide meatballs (about 1 heaping teaspoon each), wetting your hands with water as needed to keep the mixture from sticking, and place on a baking sheet. You should have about 38 meatballs.
3. Heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a Dutch oven or large pot over medium heat until shimmering. Add half the meatballs in a single layer and pan-fry until browned on the bottom, about 3 minutes. Use tongs to carefully flip the meatballs and brown a second side, about 3 minutes more.
4. Transfer to a large plate (the meatballs will not be fully cooked). Repeat with the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil and remaining meatballs.
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5. Add the onion to the now-empty pot and saute until softened and translucent, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the garlic and saute until fragrant, about 1 minute more. Pour in 4 cups low-sodium chicken broth and 1 can crushed tomatoes. Stir to combine, then bring to a boil.
6. Reduce the heat to maintain a simmer. Stir in the reserved meatballs and any accumulated juices on the plate, 1 cup dried ditalini or small shell pasta, 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper. Simmer uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the meatballs and pasta are cooked through, about 10 minutes.
6. Stir in 5 ounces baby spinach (about 5 packed cups), a few handfuls at a time, until just wilted, 1 to 2 minutes. Serve garnished with shaved Parmesan cheese.
Recipe notes: Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to three days or frozen for up to three months.
(Sheela Prakash is a senior contributing food editor to TheKitchn.com, a nationally known blog for people who love food and home cooking. Submit any comments or questions to [email protected].)
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