Slow Cooker Meatball Soup is a delicious, comforting, and wholesome one pot meal. What I love most about this Italian meatball soup recipe is how easy it is to make! With simple ingredients and pre-cooked frozen meatballs, you won't need to spend hours in the kitchen to make a yummy comfort food meal.
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This hearty Slow Cooker Italian Meatball Soup is made with meatballs, onion, garlic, Italian seasoning, and a creamy, tomato-flavored broth topped with spinach and parmesan cheese. Watch as everyone comes running for a bowl as the house starts to smell incredible!
If you're a fan of Crock Pot Lasagna Soup, Crock Pot Poor Man's Stew, and Zuppa Toscana Soup, you're going to love this Italian meatball soup!
Why You'll Love Crock Pot Meatball Soup
- Simple and Easy to Make: This is one of my favorite Italian Crock Pot recipes. It's straightforward, hands-off, and so tasty!
- Budget-Friendly Staple Ingredients: You likely already have a lot of the standard ingredients you need in your pantry. This soup is a great way to use up pasta, broth, diced tomatoes, and tomato paste you have around.
- Customizable: Make this soup your own by adding spices like basil or bay leaf, added veggies like mushrooms and kale, or other add-ins like cannellini beans or orzo.
Ingredients
- Frozen Italian-Style Meatballs: Look for Italian-style meatballs as they will have Italian spices already added in. You could also use plain or home-style pre-cooked frozen meatballs.
- Yellow Onion and Minced Garlic: These two classic aromatics give freshness and flavor to the soup.
- Low-Sodium Chicken Broth: I like to use low-sodium broth and then salt the soup to taste. You could also use beef or vegetable broth, but I think chicken brings the best depth of flavor.
- Diced Tomatoes and Tomato Paste: The acidity from the tomato ingredients adds a rich flavor in the soup base.
- Spices: The spice blend for this recipe includes Italian seasoning, paprika, and dried thyme. Italian seasoning usually includes oregano, basil, marjoram, thyme, and rosemary.
- Cornstarch and Heavy Cream: These are whisked together to create a creamy thickness added to the soup towards the end of the cooking time.
- Ditalini Pasta: I like ditalinifor this recipe but you could also use any other short, sturdy pasta like rigatoni, farfalle, penne, fusilli, or macaroni.
- Shredded Parmesan Cheese: I like to grab a bit of fresh parmesan and grate it over top. So good!
- Baby Spinach: The spinach gets wilted in the soup at the end.
See the recipe card below for exact ingredient amounts, nutritional information, and detailed instructions.
Variations
- Add More Veggies: Chopped onion, celery, and carrots go well in this soup, if you're in the mood to chop up some extra veggies you have some on hand that you need to use up.
- Rice Instead of Pasta: If you want a gluten-free version of this soup, or just want a different starch, use rice or brown rice instead of pasta. Cook the rice separately and add it at the end of the soup's cooking time.
- Make the Meatballs from Scratch: Sear or partially bake them first so the texture stays firm while they are in the slow cooker.
How to Make Meatball Soup in the Slow Cooker
The crockpot takes care of all of the heavy lifting on this one!
Step 1: Load Up the Crock Pot. Stir together the meatballs with the onion, garlic, chicken broth, diced tomatoes, tomato paste, black pepper, Italian seasoning, paprika, and thyme in the crockpot.
Step 2: Cover and Cook. Add the lid and cook on low for 3-4 hours or on high for 6-8 hours.
Step 3: Add the Creamy Sauce. Whisk together the cornstarch and heavy cream until there are no lumps and add it to the crockpot.
Step 4: Finish the Soup. When there is 30 minutes left, throw in the uncooked pasta, grated parmesan cheese, and spinach leaves. Let them cook for 15-30 more minutes or until the pasta reaches your desired firmness and the spinach is wilted.
Hint: Cooking the Pasta!
Don't add the pasta too early or it can turn mushy. The first time you make this recipe, keep an eye on the pasta to see how long it takes for it to be perfectly cooked.
Expert Tips
- Time-Saving Tip: Use a food processor or small food chopper to chop the onions.
- Adjusting the Soup Thickness: If the soup seems too thick after the pasta gets added, you can add more broth in at the end.
- Storing and Reheating: Store leftovers in the fridge for up to 3 days. I don't recommend freezing this soup as the pasta becomes mushy. Reheat on the stovetop or in short intervals in the microwave.
Serving Suggestions
Make this soup for dinner on a busy weeknight or a lazy weekend afternoon lunch.
- Serve it with freshly grated parmesan and fresh parsley or diced green onions. If you like a little spicy kick, you could add some crushed red pepper flakes on top, too.
- Serve with a crisp garden salad and slow cooker focaccia, fresh breadsticks or garlic bread. The bread is tasty dipped in the broth!
- For a fun, kid-friendly menu, make an appetizer of bacon wrapped little smokies, have the meatball soup for your main course, and then have lava cake or blueberry cobbler for dessert.
More Delicious Crock Pot Soup Recipes
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Slow Cooker Meatball Soup
Ingredients
- 20 ounces frozen Italian style meatballs
- 1 medium yellow onion diced
- 3 teaspoons garlic minced
- 6 cups low-sodium chicken broth
- 28 ounces cans diced tomatoes
- 6 ounce can tomato paste
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- 2 Tablespoons corn starch
- 1 ½ cups heavy cream
- 16 ounces dry ditalini pasta
- 1 cup Parmesan cheese finely shredded
- 4 cups fresh baby spinach
Instructions
- Add meatballs, onion, garlic, chicken broth, diced tomatoes, tomato paste, black pepper, Italian seasoning, paprika, and thyme. Stir together.
- Cover and cook on high for 3-4 hours or low for 6-8 hours.
- Whisk cornstarch and heavy cream together until there are no lumps. Then, pour into the soup.
- Add pasta, parmesan cheese, and baby spinach. Continue to cook for 15-30 minutes or until pasta reaches your desired firmness.
- Stir before serving and enjoy!
Notes
- Time-Saving Tip: Use a food processor or small food chopper to chop the onions.
- Adjusting the Soup Thickness: If the soup seems too thick after the pasta gets added, you can add more broth in at the end.
- Storing and Reheating: Store leftovers in the fridge for up to 3 days. I don't recommend freezing this soup as the pasta becomes mushy. Reheat on the stovetop or in short intervals in the microwave.
Nutrition
*Nutrition information is an estimate. It may vary based on ingredients, brands, and changes in cooking methods listed in the recipe. If you need exact ingredient numbers, I recommend calculating them with your preferred nutrition calculator.
Ryan Allen says
This may be my new favorite soup. It is so hearty and delicious.
Charity says
This was delicious. I doubled the meatballs because I'm married to one. I used fire roasted diced tomatoes, 3x the garlic, double spice (prolly cuz I used beef meatballs), and the same everything else. Delish. It made so much, we had 3x lunch (I took some to my boss and he loved it too.), 2x dinner, and tomorrow, I'm going to take the other 2 servings diced the meatballs and stir fry in with eggs for breakfast. Yum! I'm writing this one down, thank you!
Ryan Allen says
Love this! Doubling the meatballs, extra garlic, and fire roasted tomatoes sound incredible. So glad it fed you for days and even made a tasty breakfast. Thanks for making it a keeper!