Ingredients

1 tablespoon Olive Oil

1 Red Onion

chopped coarse

1 Carrot

peeled and chopped coarse

3 cloves Garlic

minced

5 cups Low-sodium Chicken Broth

2 28-ounce Cans Diced Tomato

0.5 pound Ground Chicken

0.33 cup Pesto

plus extra for serving

0.33 cup Plain Bread Crumbs

Salt And Pepper

2 cups Ditalini Pasta

Grated Parmesan Cheese

Spaghetti and Meatball Soup

America's Test Kitchen (America's Test Kitchen)

Serves	Shares
6	4

We wanted to reproduce the family-favorite flavors of spaghetti and meatballs in a single pot, minimizing the number of ingredients and the hassle. For our Spaghetti and Meatball Soup recipe’s tomato base, we used canned chicken broth and canned diced tomatoes flavored with sautéed onion, carrot, and garlic. We preferred using chicken (flavored with pesto) in our meatballs instead of beef. The meat was far less fatty and didn’t make our Spaghetti and Meatball Soup greasy.

soupmain course

Save this recipe to your personal collection, manage your grocery lists and access the step-by-step cooking assistant with the TastyBites app.

Instructions

Note: Use any small, bite-sized pasta in this recipe.

Heat oil in Dutch oven over medium heat until shimmering. Add onion and carrot and cook until onion is soft, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in broth and tomatoes. Bring to boil, reduce heat, cover, and simmer until carrot softens, 15 to 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, mix chicken, pesto, bread crumbs, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon pepper together in large bowl. Use heaping teaspoon to form mixture into forty 3/4-inch meatballs.

Strain soup into large bowl and rinse out pot. Transfer solids in strainer to blender with 1 cup strained liquid and puree until smooth. Return pureed mixture and remaining strained liquid to pot and heat until simmering. Season with salt and pepper.

Add pasta and meatballs and simmer until pasta is al dente and meatballs are cooked through, 12 to 15 minutes. Ladle soup into bowls and serve with dollops of additional pesto and grated Parmesan.