Adorable alphabet pasta in a hearty soup with meatballs.
We love the cuteness of alphabet soup, and it’s perfect in this hearty soup loaded with veggies and homemade mini meatballs. This time of year we crave comfort food, and a big pot of soup simmering on the stove is always comforting and a great way to feed the whole family. This soup is great leftover the next day too.
Make ahead and Freeze Homemade Meatballs
One of my favorite kitchen shortcuts is to have cooked homemade meatballs in the freezer. I also love cooked store bought frozen meatballs, but for this recipe I love the homemade kind, because then you can make them smaller perfect for one spoonful of soup with a mini meatball. I’m a big fan of cooked meat in the freezer like frozen cooked meatballs or cooked shredded rotisserie chicken. Both are time savers for weeknight meats, perfect for adding them into soups, enchiladas…you name it!
Ingredients for Alphabet Soup with Mini Meatballs
- For the Meatballs:
- 1 lb. lean ground beef
- 1/2 cup bread crumbs (or oats)
- 1/2 cup parmesan cheese grated
- 2 tablespoons onion powder
- dash garlic powder
- 2 tablespoons dried parsley
- 2 teaspoons dried basil
- 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper
- 1 egg lightly beaten
- For the Soup:
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 small onion, diced
- 1 stalk celery, diced
- 1 large carrot, diced
- 2 dashes garlic powder
- 1 large can chicken broth
- 1 28oz. can crushed tomatoes
- 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper
- 1/2 7oz. package alphabet pasta
How to make Alphabet Soup with Meatballs:
Make the Meatballs:
- Mix all the ingredients for the the meatballs together.
- With a small metal ice cream scoop, scoop out balls of the meatball mixture and roll into min meatballs and place onto a foil lined sheet pan.
- In a large skillet set to medium high heat, brown the the meatballs on all sides.
Make the Soup:
- In a large soup pot heat the oil and sauté the onion, celery and carrots until the onions are translucent.
- Add the broth, tomatoes and spices.
- Simmer over low heat for 10+ minutes until the vegetables are tender.
- Add the meatballs and the alphabet pasta.
- Season with additional salt and pepper if needed. Garnish with grated parmesan to serve.
Notes:
The alphabet pasta will continue to absorb the liquid overtime. Any leftover soup will still taste delicious, but the pasta will absorb a lot of the liquid.
Where to buy Alphabet Pasta?
It had been a few years since I made this recipe, and I had a hard time finding alphabet pasta. All of the grocery stores where I regularly shop did not have it. I finally found it at the Mexican Market…like Rancho Market here in Utah. It’s a fun pasta to always keep a few bags of it in your pantry, it’s so inexpensive, and it’s fun to add it to chicken noodle soup when kids are sick. My kids love extra noodles.
Alphabet Meatball Soup
Hearty meatball soup with cute alphabet pasta.
Ingredients
For the Meatballs:
- 1 lb. lean ground beef
- 1/2 cup bread crumbs or oats
- 1/2 cup parmesan cheese grated
- 2 tablespoons onion powder
- dash garlic powder
- 2 tablespoons dried parsley
- 2 teaspoons dried basil
- 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper
- 1 egg lightly beaten
For the Soup:
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 small yellow onion diced
- 1 stalk celery diced
- 1 large carrot diced
- 2 dashes garlic powder
- 1 quart chicken broth
- 1 28oz. can crushed tomatoes
- 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper
- 1/2 7oz. package alphabet pasta
Instructions
For the Meatballs:
-
Mix all the ingredients for the the meatballs together.
-
With a metal ice cream scoop, scoop out balls of the meatball mixture onto a foil lined sheet pan.
-
In a large skillet set to medium high heat, brown the the meatballs on all sides.
To Make the Soup:
-
In a large pot heat the oil and sauté the onion, celery and carrots until the onions are translucent.
-
Add the broth, tomatoes and spices.
-
Simmer over low heat for 10+ minutes until the vegetables are tender.
-
Add the meatballs and the alphabet pasta.
-
Season with additional salt and pepper if needed. Garnish with grated parmesan to serve.
Recipe Notes
The alphabet pasta will continue to absorb the liquid overtime. Any leftover soup will still taste delicious, but the pasta will absorb a lot of the liquid.
Making This Recipe? Tag us on Instagram: @NoBiggie using the hashtag #NoBiggieRecipes, so we can see what you are making in the kitchen!
Would your family like this soup? I’d love to hear…what’s your favorite soup to make?
More soup recipes we LOVE:
MORE Meatball recipes we LOVE:
- Cranberry BBQ Meatballs
- Easy Hawaiian Meatballs
- Homemade Swedish Meatballs (you are here)
- Homemade Italian Meatballs with spaghetti
- Homemade Sweet and Sour Meatballs
- Porcupine Meatballs
- Chicken Parmesan Meatballs
