Summer Pesto Mini Meatball Soup.
Um how delicious is this summer pesto mini meatball soup?
It’s just the cutest too.
Sure, it’s in the 90s this week and might stay there for the remainder of the month, but nothing can keep me from a comforting bowl of soup.
Am I right?
Summer soup for me usually means chowder (and yes I have another one coming!) but the thought of this pesto-y, brothy bowl sounded amazing right now.
Plus, mini meatballs!
This soup reminds me a little of my homemade spaghettios, and not just because I use the same noodles. While these tiny noodles are the best, I love how simple and flavorful the meal is. I guess it’s sort of like spaghettios, meatballs included, without the tomato sauce?!
Which means I looooove it.
I made a mini chicken meatball soup years ago and it’s still a really popular recipe here on the site. Of course, you can make these meatballs any size you’d like, but making them tiny means they are spoonable and therefore, makes the entire bowl more enjoyable.
It’s a whole meal in a bowl, but soup!
Here’s the deal with the pesto!
I’m including a smaller batch pesto recipe below, but you could totally use a good jarred pesto if you have one that you enjoy. This is also a recipe that you can make when you have leftover pesto, or pesto frozen from earlier in the year. As long as you’re using a pesto that you like, it will work in the soup.
And this goes for any pesto! I’ve done kale pesto, pistachio pesto, arugula pesto and many more. All of them will work here!
The pesto works in magic ways: we’re using it to flavor the meatballs (which is incredible!) and then we’re also stirring it into the soup. Then, you can even finish off the soup with a big dollop of it on top.
It’s the BEST way to enjoy pesto. Loaded with flavor!
The soup comes together pretty quickly too. You can make the pesto and even the meatballs ahead of time if you wish. You can even make a batch of meatballs and freeze them! It’s a great freezer prep meal that just requires a bit of defrosting before cooking.
And it’s ridiculously comforting, without being heavy.
Hello dinner tonight!
Pesto Mini Meatball Soup
Summer Pesto Mini Meatball Soup
Ingredients
small batch pesto
- 1 cup packed fresh basil
- ¼ cup finely grated parmesan cheese
- 2 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted
- 2 garlic cloves
- pinch of crushed red pepper
- salt and pepper
- ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
mini meatballs & soup
- 1 pound lean ground chicken or turkey
- ¼ cup seasoned breadcrumbs, panko or fine crumbs both work
- 3 tablespoons pesto
- 2 tablespoons parmesan cheese
- salt and pepper
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 shallot diced
- 8 cups chicken stock or broth, low sodium is fine - you may want a pinch more salt
- 12 ounces tiny cut pasta, like ditalini or annellini
- fresh basil, for topping
- shaved parmesan, for topping
Instructions
pesto
- Place the basil, parmesan, pine nuts, garlic, red peppers flakes and a pinch of salt and pepper in the bowl of your food processor or blender. Pulse until small pieces remain. Blend while streaming in the olive oil until combined. You can store extras of this in the fridge for about a week.
mini meatballs & soup
- In a bowl, combine the chicken/turkey with the breadcrumbs, parmesan cheese, pesto and a pinch of salt and pepper. Mix until just combined the form the mixture into mini meatballs. (Or large! Whatever you prefer!)
- Heat a large stock pot over medium heat and add 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Add the meatballs in a single later, browning on all sides, about 8 to 10 minutes total. Remove the meatballs from the pan and place them on a plate.
- Keep the pot over medium heat and add the remaining olive oil. Stir in the shallot with a pinch of salt and cook until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the meatballs back to the pot. Add in the broth.
- Bring the mixture to a simmer and stir in the pasta. Cook, uncovered and stirring often, until the pasta is al dente, about 10 minutes. Taste and season with more salt and pepper if needed. Once the pasta is cooked, stir in 1 or 2 tablespoons of the pesto. (Note: the soup is not a pretty color!) Ladle the soup into bowls and the stir in more pesto on a bowl-by-bowl basis, however much you want. Garnish with shaved parmesan and extra fresh basil and serve!
Did you make this recipe?
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I appreciate you so much!
Garlic bread on the side please!
25 Comments on “Summer Pesto Mini Meatball Soup.”
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Well, as I live and breathe. I was just sitting here making the grocery list and the menu for the next week, thinking, “What on earth am I gonna do with that 2 lbs of turkey I thawed out today? I’m so BORED of our recipe rotation! Lemme go see if HowSweetEats has anything….” Jessica to the rescue, yet again!
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I love that you included a soup recipe! I’m such a soup girl, and I’ve been missing them this summer. This sounds delish!
My family and I have been enjoying your recipes over the last few years and this one is no exception!! I rarely go back to leave reviews (sorry!), but this one was just so great that I had to come say thank you. I made it for my son’s birthday dinner, just totally trusting you because we always love your recipes, and it was a huge hit! We were fighting over the leftovers today for lunch. I was cursing you as I was attempting to roll those darn tiny meatballs, but holy cow it was totally worth the effort!
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This was great and was a huge hit with my kids!
Great recipe! Flavorful meatballs, especially with turkey… I’ll make the meatballs stand alone for another meal. Thanks, Jessica,
I stumbled on your blog site after I found your Chili bar recipe (excellent, and thank you!). Trying to make things “Fun” for my family and switch things up. So I started perusing your site and BAM! I’m hooked! found this little gem of turkey meatball & pesto soup and I’m OBSESSED now with your recipes! wow! thank you!
What a delicious summer soup! And great way to use my summer basil! If anyone needs a shortcut, you could buy pesto, and just julienne fresh basil on top – i happened to have homemade pesto in my freezer.
I can’t believe I had those “0” pasta in my pantry, but now I don’t think I could make this soup without it! It was so perfect!
I had some difficulty with my meatballs falling apart – not as perfect as yours, but it was still delicious! I rolled them around in my Le Crueset pot. If anyone has any suggestions to keep them whole better, would love to hear. I thought about baking them in the oven, with olive oil brushed over them first (Ina Garten trick) but then I would have to deglaze the pan to get all those nice “brown bits” into the soup!
Fabulous!!!!
This is a great meal!! There pasta and meatballs make it super satisfying, and it’s delicious. Our 2YO ate 2 but helping.
I think I’ll make a big batch of meatballs and freeze them so it’s an easier weeknight meal. Thanks!
“Add the meatballs in a single later, browning on all sides” – in a single later? What does that mean?
New favorite soup!!! So easy and so delicious!
This recipe is delicious. The only change I made was to add mushrooms, which I will definitely do again the next time I make this. I sauteed them with the shallots.
So delicious
So easy
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The soup was yummy – and perfect for a rainy spring/almost summer meal. My broth had almost no sodium so added a “Not-beef” bouillon cube. I was also bummed not to find the little circle pasta at my grocery store, my grandson would love them!
(Used mini seashell shape instead)
Wow, this soup is AMAZING. So much flavor in every bite. Used fresh basil from the garden. Love your comment about the color of the soup.
This recipe is such a winner! My daughter had 2 friends over and everyone, kids and adults, had seconds. My husband, who does not like brothy soup, also loved it! Easily adjusted to make it gluten free with gf breadcrumbs and gf pasta.
This was so yummy! I had to make some subs because I didnt have some stuff but it still turned out delicious.
Delicious soup. Thank you.
Jessica, what a flavor bomb! I made this the other night and loved it. My three yr old grandson said it was “so tasty Mimi!” and devoured a big bowl. I’m making another batch tonight , thank you so much……all your recipes are so delicious!
This was super tasty and easy. I added too much pasta so had to add additional stock but no big deal. Kid approved! I didn’t have shallots on hand so I added one small yellow onion and 2 cloves of garlic. The pesto really made the Turkey meatballs sing.