Meatball and Potato Soup

This Meatball and Potato Soup is a delicious recipe for a last minute dinner. It uses frozen meatballs and is packed with lots of vegetables.

Our Family Favorite Meatball and Potato Soup

Using fully cooked frozen meatballs makes this dinner recipe fast and easy. This stew combines meatballs, potatoes, and vegetables for a hearty one-pot soup dinner.

The kids always ask for seconds, or thirds. And we have perfected this recipe over the many times we have made it. We're ready to share it!

Meatball and Potato Soup Ingredients

• Fully cooked frozen meatballs
• Sweet onion
• Carrots
• Celery
• Waxy potato
• Can of diced tomatoes
• Water or stock
• Bay leaf
• Oregano
• Sugar
• Salt
• Black pepper

The full list of ingredients and quantities are in the recipe card below.

Helpful Ingredient Tips

Before you get the ingredients together, I'll try to answer some common questions.

What Potato Holds Up Best in Soup?

Waxy potatoes will hold up best in soup and stews. Waxy potatoes are low in starch so won't fall apart when cooked in a soup.

I use Honey Gold potatoes, which have a velvety texture the kids love. You can see in the photos that they hold up well without falling apart.

Other potatoes that would work well in this meatball soup include:

• Yukon Gold
• Red potatoes
• White potatoes
• New potatoes (baby potatoes)
• Potato fingerlings

Should I Peel Potatoes for Soup?

There's no need to peel potatoes for soup. Waxy potatoes typically have a thin skin. The skin also gives the soup a more hearty texture. So even though we are starting with store bought fully cooked frozen meatballs, it gives this stew a homemade quality.

Meatball Soup without Stock

To keep ingredients simple, you can make this meatball soup without stock. The carrots, celery and onion will make a simple stock as they simmer. Plus, the meatballs will give the soup lots of flavor.

So if you are looking for a soup without stock, this is a perfect recipe. Water is totally fine. For me, it's also preferable because I avoid unnecessary sodium in our diets.

How Do You Make Meatball and Potato Soup

The full recipe and directions are below. However, here's a quick summary:

1. Sauté the onion, carrots and celery until softened.
2. Add in everything else, cover, and simmer for about 20 minutes.

Easy peasy, right? Making Meatball and Potato Soup is a very easy one pot dinner for the family. It's a complete meal that requires little effort.

How Do You Keep Potatoes From Getting Soggy In Soup?

The best way to prevent soggy potatoes in soup is to start with the right kind of potato. For soup and stews, it's best to use waxy potatoes. For the most part, use white potatoes, red potatoes or yellow potatoes.

Keep an eye on the cooking time too. Potatoes are generally pretty forgiving, so you don't need to watch it too closely. But they can get soggy if they are way overcooked.

How Do You Keep Meatballs from Falling Apart in Soup?

I have never had problems with store bought frozen meatballs falling apart in soup. I simply add them directly into the soup from frozen.

If you are using homemade meatballs that you think might be prone to falling apart, here are a few tips.

• Pre-cook the meatballs before adding it to the stew
• Add the meatballs towards the end of the cooking time
• When stirring the stew, do so carefully around the meatballs

Make This Meatball Potato Stew Fast(er)

Even though this is already a quick meatball and potato soup recipe, there are always ways to make it even faster. I totally get it. Sometimes dinner needs to be on the table now.

Here's some ways to take shortcuts:

Use a pre-made or frozen mirepoix blend. Mirepoix is simply a blend of ready to use diced celery, onion and carrots. You can find frozen bags at grocery stores. Also, some shops, like Trader Joe's, sell mirepox in the refrigerated section. For meal-preppers, it's easy to make your own mirepoix and freeze for future use.

Use frozen spinach. We usually have a bag of baby spinach at all times, so that's what I usually throw into this meatball and potato soup. Frozen spinach would work just as well though. You can use either chopped or whole leaf, depending on your preference.

Use frozen mini meatballs. Frozen mini meatballs, like Earth's Best Kids Meatballs, can also save you a bit of time. Mini meatballs will fully defrost and cook in the soup faster than large meatballs.

Chop the potatoes smaller. In the same vein, chop the potatoes smaller so they cook faster. Potatoes can be chopped as small as about 1-cm cubes, and still keep their texture when cooked.

Personalize this Meatball Potato Soup Recipe

I've tested and made and remade this Meatball and Potato Soup so many times that the recipe below is the best version for my family. It's exactly how we all love it.

For me, this recipe stands out because it's a quick, low-effort, healthy enough weekday meal, and has minimal dishes and cleaning afterwards too. The kids love how it tastes and how it's simple to eat with one bowl and one spoon.

Here are a few ways to switch it up to find what suits your family best:

• Use stock if you want a richer bolder taste. We like it with water, but stock is also great. Especially if you use nice quality bone broth
• No fresh basil? No problem. Use dried basil, or a dried Italian seasoning mix.
• Want more fiber? Add some beans.
• Swap out the spinach for kale or another leafy green, like chard.
• Most importantly, chose a brand of meatballs that you like.
• We like it chunky, but you can add more water, stock or broth to make it more of a soup.

More Quick Last Minute Family Meals

Love this recipe? Here are a few other quick last minute family meals that our kids love.

• Hot Dog Fried Rice
• Kids Tuna Pasta
• Pasta with Peas and Bacon
• Italian Sausage Fried Rice
• Rotisserie Chicken Fried Rice

Love to know what you think below! Also, do you have different add-in and substitutions that you made? I'm always interested in hearing new ideas.

Print

5 from 3 votes

Meatball and Potato Soup

This Meatball and Potato Soup is a delicious recipe for a last minute dinner. It uses frozen meatballs and is packed with lots of vegetables.

Prep Time5 minutes mins

Active Time25 minutes mins

Course: Main Course

Prep Time: 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes minutes

Yield: 4 people

Equipment

• 1 medium dutch oven or other heavy pot

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 large carrots - diced
• 4 stalks celery - diced
• 1 medium sweet onion - diced
• 16-20 oz fully cooked frozen meatballs
• 1 lbs waxy potato - I use about 8 honey gold baby potatoes
• 1 14-oz can diced tomatoes
• 2 cups water, stock or broth (I use water)
• ½ teaspoon sea salt
• ½ teaspoon granulated sugar
• ⅛ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 whole bay leaf - optional
• 1 handful fresh basil - chopped, optional
• 2 cups baby spinach (or other leafy green)
• oyster crackers - for topping, optional
• shredded parmesan cheese - for topping, optional

Instructions

• Heat olive oil in a medium dutch oven or other heavy pot over medium-high heat. Cook onions, stirring occasionally, until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
• Add carrots and celery and season with some salt. Cook, stirring frequently, until the carrots and celery have softened a bit, and are starting to brown, about 5 minutes. Deglaze the pan by adding in a bit of water and scraping the bottom of the pan to remove and dissolve all the browned food bits from the pan. This will provide a rich flavor to the soup.
• Add in and stir together all the remaining ingredients, except the spinach. Bring to a boil, then turn the heat to low, cover, and simmer for about 20 minutes, until the meatballs are heated through and potatoes are soft enough. Check and stir as needed.
• Remove the bay leaf and stir in the spinach. Cook for about 1 minute, until the spinach is wilted.
• Serve and enjoy. Top with oyster crackers or parmesan cheese, as desired.