This meatball soup recipe is one of my best winter soups. Putting spinach in the soup adds color, flavor and nutrients. It’s like easy burger soup and Italian wedding soup combined – it’s good!
Preparation:
To cook:
Level: Easy
Serves: 4
Ingredients
- 1 Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored and finely chopped
- 2 Finely chopped shallots
- ¼ cups Plain Greek yogurt
- ¼ cups Plain dry breadcrumbs
- 1 tbsp Coconut aminos
- 1 tbsp chili powder
- ½ tablespoon Ground harissa
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- ½ teaspoon hot horseradish
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- ¼ teaspoons Black pepper
- 20 ounces, weight Ground sirloin
- 4-½ cups Beef broth
- 2 tablespoons Vegetable oil
- ½ cups Uncooked Orzo Pasta
- ½ cups Fresh spinach leaves
Preparation
In a medium bowl, add the chopped apple, green onions, yogurt, breadcrumbs, coconut aminos, chili powder, harissa, vinegar, horseradish, salt and pepper. Mix well. Add the ground sirloin and toss with your hands until just combined. Do not overmix. Form meatballs the size of golf balls and place on a clean plate. You should have about 28-30 meatballs.
Heat the beef broth in a saucepan over medium-high heat. While the broth is heating, heat the vegetable oil in a large skillet. Place the meatballs in the skillet in a single layer and brown them. Do not overcrowd them – if necessary, brown the meatballs in 2 batches. (To get even browning on all sides, I use a small spatula and roll the meatballs about every 30 seconds. Once the meatballs are firm, take the pan and shake it so that meatballs roll inside (nice and round while browning on all sides.) This should take a total of 3-4 minutes.
Pour the hot beef broth over the meatballs in the skillet and bring to a boil. Add orzo pasta, reduce heat to medium and simmer for 10 minutes or until pasta is al dente. Add spinach to soup and stir gently, then cook for another 2 minutes or until spinach is wilted but still bright green.
Serve in bowls and garnish with additional salt and pepper if desired.
