Taking the time to roll these meatballs will give you 3 meals for each family and it can be a fun afternoon socializing with friends.
Enjoy Meatball Quinoa Soup tonight which is my take on an Italian Wedding Soup and then freeze the remaining larger meatballs for a pasta sauce or meatball subs. If time is of short supply and you are cooking with a friend or 2 then just make one recipe of meatballs and 2 or 3 pots of soup. For the soup you will need a burner for each guest.

Meatball Quinoa Soup, Meatballs in your favourite sauce on pasta and Meatball Subs in a marinara sauce are 3 meal ideas. If kids are doing this recipe I would suggest only 1 recipe split between 2 or 3 families so the kids don't get overwhelmed by the rolling involved. Feel free to adjust the mixture of ground meats - all beef, all turkey or a mixture of beef and pork are also delicous.
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Meatball Quinoa Soup, Meatballs in your favourite sauce on pasta and Meatball Subs in a marinara sauce are 3 meal ideas. If kids are doing this recipe I would suggest only 1 recipe split between 2 or 3 families so the kids don't get overwhelmed by the rolling involved. Feel free to adjust the mixture of ground meats - all beef, all turkey or a mixture of beef and pork are also delicous.
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Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 small onion finely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 1 carrot
- 1 lb lean ground beef
- 1 lb lean ground turkey (breast meat is great if you can find it)
- 3/4 cup bread crumbs
- 1/4 cup finely grated parmesan cheese
- 1 egg lightly beaten
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- In a 10 inch frying pan heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onions and saute until soft approximately 10 minutes.
- Stir in minced garlic and cook for another minute then set pan aside to cool.
- In a large bowl grate the carrot.
- To the bowl add ground beef, ground turkey, bread crumbs, parmesan cheese, egg, salt, pepper and reserved onion mixture.
- With your hands mix all ingredients together until it is consistent - you might need to help kids with this step.
- Rolling between your 2 palms form meat mixture into small meatballs approximately 2 cm in size. Use approximately 1/3 of the mixture for these meatballs to be added to your soup.
- At this point you should begin your soup preparation. Once the soup is simmering you can make additional meatballs of a larger size to be used in meatball subs or pasta.
- To cook meatballs you can bake them on a large baking sheet at 400 degrees for approximately 20 minutes stirring after 10 minutes.
- To cook meatballs in a marinara sauce, first bring the sauce to a boil, add meatballs and cover. Simmer this sauce for 45 minutes to one hour. Meatballs can be tested and should register 165 degrees in the centre.
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Ingredients
- 2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 medium onion diced
- 2 carrots diced
- 2 celery stalks diced
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 carton vegetable, beef or chicken broth (946 ml)
- 1 cup passata or strained tomatoes
- 1 14 oz can of navy beans
- 1 small bunch of kale, chard, spinach or beet greens
- 1/2 cup quinoa
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon feshly ground black pepper
- grated parmesan cheese for garnish
Instructions
- Heat your dutch oven on medium heat, add oil and then onions, garlic, carrots and celery. Stir constantly and cook for approximately 7 minutes until vegetables have started to soften but not brown.
- Add bay leaf, broth and strained tomatoes and bring to a boil.
- Add your small meatballs and continue to simmer for 20 minutes until cooked through.
- While soup is simmering prepare your greens by removing tough stems and spines, and finely chopping leaves - the smaller the better for my kids.
- Add beans, greens and quinoa and simmer 15 minutes until greens and quinoa is tender.
- Taste and add salt and pepper as needed.
- This soup is more flavourful made ahead of time. Refrigerate and reheat before dinner.
- Garnish with freshly grated parmesan cheese and serve.
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I love making soup in the winter. This Meatball Quinoa Soup is a great recipe for dinner with some crusty bread. Kids really love.
My twin boys and two friends loved the Kids Cooking Club. They learned to chop, dice, sauté and assemble 4 different family meals. Best of all, they brought home a completed cooked dinner for the family each time!