Chicken Meatball Soup with Rice Noodles and fresh Kale. Delicious, quick soup recipe (approx. 30 minutes on the stove or in multicooker) that is ideal for any season/occasion. With step by step instructions. Perfect for Instant pot/crock pot too.
Meatball soups are a firm favorite in our household — the kids love them, we love them, and they’re surprisingly easy to make.
With kale coming into season around August in most parts of Europe, I like to take full advantage. When it’s fresh and abundant, I always make sure to prep some for the months ahead: wash it, remove the stems, chop it up, and freeze it in freezer bags. That way, I can enjoy the bright, earthy flavor of kale long after it disappears from the markets.
Also Check out this AUTHENTIC GREEK MEATBALLS RECIPE or my favorite TURKEY MEATBALLS RECIPE (AIR FRYER/OVEN).
Ingredients & Substitutions
- Fresh kale – fresh kale, finely chopped (or frozen works too)
- Onion – finely chopped (red or white works too)
- Spring onion – chopped, or shallots work well too
- Potato – old potatoes or red potatoes are best
- Olive oil – extra virgin if possible
- Chicken ground meat – or a mix of turkey and chicken works too
- Rice – for making meatballs – binds them well together
- Mint leaves – optional for the meatballs, but tasty
- Water/broth – for the soup
- Rice noodles – thin work best. Substitute with orzo pasta – tastes good too.
- Spices – all spice, turmeric, paprika, salt
How to make chicken meatball soup in Instant pot
This recipe can be made in instant pot (multicooker).
- To make it in Instant pot turn your machine on high to sauté all vegetables in olive oil (for approx. 5 minutes).
- Then, turn off and add all remaining ingredients without noodles (include formed meatballs).
- Seal with pressure cooker lid and pressure cook for approx. 20 minutes.
- Next, release pressure and add rice noodles. Cook on sauté for another 10 minutes or until rice noodles are cooked. Serve warm.
Notes:
- If you use frozen meatballs add them later and pressure cook for 5 minutes only.
- You may need to adjust quantities to fit all ingredients depending on the capacity of your multicooker.
Chicken Meatball Soup with Kale and Rice Noodles
Equipment
- 1 soup pan with lid (instant pot)
Ingredients
Soup
- 150 g fresh kale, chopped
- 1 medium carrot, chopped
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 50 g spring onion, minced
- 1 large potato, cut in cubes
- 1 tbsp. smoked paprika
- 1 tbsp. all spice
- 1 tbsp. turmeric
- 4 tbsp. olive oil
- 50 g rice noodles, or other type of thin noodles
- 700 ml water (poultry broth) for soup, or more
Meatballs
- 400 g turkey ground meat
- 2 tbsp. rice, white or whole wheat
- 1 tbsp. mint leaves, optional
- pinch of sea salt & cayenne pepper
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl add turkey mince meat, rice, pinch of salt & pepper and mint leaves (optional). Mix well, then with wet hands make small meatballs and set aside (in the fridge).
- Next, clean and chop kale, onions, spring onions, carrot and potato in cubes. Sauté in olive oil for 5-7 minutes on low heat (until softish).
- Then, add water (broth) and bring to a boil. Also add premade turkey meatballs and rice noodles (in boiling water). Reduce heat and let simmer until cooked completely.
- Season with paprika, all spice and turmeric 5 minutes before removing from stove top. Garnish with some black pepper and serve warm.
Notes
- Use orzo pasta instead of rice noodles.Â
- Use frozen kale if fresh isn’t available.Â
- Add black pepper to the soup to activate the turmeric properties better.Â
- Add more or less broth to control density of soup.Â
Nutrition
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Good and nutrient dense. I halved recipe (with the exception of bringing the turkey down to 5.5 oz because I used a fresh spinach feta turkey burger from my grocers meat case to make the meatballs) and it was great for a single serving dinner.