This Keto Meatball Soup is easy to prepare, hearty, and loaded with fresh veggies and flavor. Best of all, the meatballs can be made ahead of time and it freezes nicely.
Even if you don't think you're a fan of soup, I promise you, this Keto Meatball Soup will change your mind!
It's easy to prepare, hearty, and loaded with fresh veggies and flavor. And if you're short on time, the keto meatballs can be made ahead of time or even frozen.
The meatballs
For the meatballs, I've added some sneaky veggies. I add an onion, 2 handfuls of spinach, and 3 cloves of garlic to a food processor and process until everything is in very small pieces.
Then I add the spinach/onion mixture to a large bowl along with 2 lbs. beef, sea salt, pepper, Italian seasonings, and parsley and mix everything together.
After that, I roll the mixture into meatballs and bake at 350 degrees for 35-45 minutes.
And remember, you don't have to use the meatballs just for this soup recipe! They're also great on their own, as a snack, in lunchboxes, or incorporated into lots of different recipes!
The soup
While the meatballs are cooking, make the soup.
For the soup, saute carrots, onion, celery, and garlic in a heavy-bottomed pot. Then add basil, oregano, thyme, tomato paste, a bay leaf, chopped zucchini, diced tomatoes, and chicken broth.
Allow to simmer about 20 minutes to infuse all that yummy flavor.
After it's done simmering, add some balsamic vinegar for a nice depth of flavor, salt, pepper, and the meatballs. Then it's ready to eat!!!
Any leftovers can be stored in the fridge for up to a week or frozen for up to 3 months.
Top tips for perfect keto meatball soup
- If you would like to reduce the carb count, omit the carrot, zucchini, and reduce the onion to ½. This will make each serving have 7 net carbs.
- Don't skip the balsamic vinegar! The balsamic vinegar is my secret ingredient. It adds a depth of flavor and tart sweetness you don't want to miss!
- You can make this soup ahead of time and freeze in individual containers to eat later.
- The meatballs can be pre-made and stored covered in the fridge for 5 to 7 days or frozen up to 3 months.
- Leftovers can be stored in the fridge for one week or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Looking for more Whole30 & Keto Dinner Recipes? Check out my Chicken Pot Pie Soup, Lasagna Soup, and Healthful Pursuit's Chicken Enchilada Zucchini Boats
If you’ve tried this Keto Meatball Soup or any other recipe on the blog please let me know in the comments below!
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📖 Recipe
Keto Meatball Soup {Paleo & Whole30}
Ingredients
Meatballs:
- 2 Lb. Ground Beef
- 2 Handfuls Fresh Spinach
- 1 Small Onion
- 3 Cloves Garlic
- ¾ tsp. Sea Salt
- ¼ tsp. Ground Pepper
- 2 tsp. Italian Seasonings
- 2 Tbsp. Parsley
- 2 Tbsp Coconut Cream or Heavy Cream
Soup:
- 1 Tbsp. Coconut Oil - or oil of choice
- 1 Small Onion - diced
- 2 Cloves Garlic - minced
- 1 Medium Carrot - Peeled and Diced
- 1 Stalk of Celery - Chopped
- 2 tsp. Dried Basil
- 1 tsp. Oregano
- ¾ tsp. Thyme
- 1 32 oz. Can of Diced Tomatoes
- 3 Tbsp. Tomato Paste
- 1 Bay Leaf
- 32- oz. Low Sodium Beef or Chicken Broth
- 1 Medium Zucchini - Chopped into Halves or Quarters
- 1 tsp. Balsamic Vinegar
- Salt - to taste (at least ½ tsp.)
- Pepper - to taste (at least ¼ tsp.)
Instructions
For the meatballs:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a 9x11 inch baking dish with parchment paper.
- In the bowl of a food processor, add the spinach, garlic, and onion. Then process until everything is in very small pieces. Add the spinach/onion mixture to a large mixing bowl along with the ground beef, sea salt, pepper, Italian seasonings, parsley, and coconut cream or heavy cream. Mix well.
- Roll into meatballs and place into prepared baking dish.
- Bake for 35-45 minutes, or until cooked through.
For the soup:
- Add the oil to a large, heavy-bottomed pot or dutch oven and heat over medium heat.
- Add the onion, garlic, carrot, and celery. Saute until veggies are slightly soft, around 4 minutes.
- Add the basil, oregano, and thyme. Cook for 1 minute.
- Add the diced tomatoes, tomato paste, bay leaf, chicken or beef broth, and zucchini.
- Bring to boil, then reduce heat and simmer 20-25 minutes.
- Add salt, pepper, and balsamic vinegar. Taste soup, if it tastes flat, it needs more salt.
- Add the meatballs to the soup and serve!
Video
Notes
- Watch the full-length YouTube video here: YouTube Meatball Soup Video!
- Each serving is about 2 ladles of soup - approximately 1 heaping cup.
- If you would like to reduce the carb count, omit the carrot, zucchini, and reduce the onion to ½. This will make each serving have 7 net carbs.
- Don't skip the balsamic vinegar! The balsamic vinegar is my secret ingredient. It adds a depth of flavor and tart sweetness you don't want to miss!
- The soup can be made ahead of time and frozen in individual containers to eat later.
- The meatballs can be pre-made and stored covered in the fridge for 5 to 7 days or frozen up to 3 months.
- Leftovers can be stored in the fridge for up to one week or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
- The coconut cream or heavy cream is an added ingredient to ensure the meatballs turn out juicy!
- For coconut cream, place full-fat canned coconut milk in the fridge for 24 hours. Then, scoop out the coagulated cream. I recommend Sprouts, Thai Kitchen, or Native Forest brands. Other brands may not separate as well or leave an aftertaste.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is approximate and may vary.
Looking for more information on the keto diet? Check out these resources:
This soup is a staple now at my house, it's excellent, so much flavor!! THANK YOU!!
I prefer crushed tomatoes instead of diced tomatoes, (it's the only change I made.)
My Husband and I really enjoyed the soup. It has such a nice flavor. Love all the meatballs. I will make it again. Wonderful recipe.
Thank you Penny, I'm so excited you and your husband liked it 🙂
Husband and I both think it would be better with just ground beef rather than meatballs. They came out dry. Ended up breaking them up on second day and reheating and that was excellent. The balsamic is key!
Great soup. Made the meatballs with beef and pork. They were very tender and were so good in the soup.
Thanks Mary, I'm so happy you liked it!!!
-Cassidy
Simple, delicious, and made me feel super cheffy!! Meal prep done!
I used ground turkey since my family does not eat red meat anymore. I should have lessened the cooking time in oven as they turned out a little dry. But when I added them to soup, I let them slowly simmer for about 10 minutes and they soaked up the soup and tasted delicious. My only change would be to either use only 1lb ground turkey for recipe. I had a lot of meatballs for the amount of soup. Or better yet, double the soup recipe ingredients and it would be perfect.
P.S. since my husband is type 1 diabetic, he needs carbs with his meals. I made some rice on the side. I added a little to my soup bowl. So good!
is nutrition per serving?
Yes, the nutrition info is for one serving 🙂
-Cassidy
Love the concept of this soup but the meatballs have the worst texture in my opinion. I even cooked less time so that they wouldn’t be overcooked. They’re not tender the way a meatball should be, the veggie combo and the balsamic at the end is really good though
I'm sorry Lisa!
I've never noticed the meatballs being dry, but I made this recipe recently and tried adding a small amount of coconut cream and I thought they were nice and juicy! I added a note to the recipe card that coconut cream can be added for extra juicy meatballs. Thanks for your input!
-Cassidy
This was fabulous soup! I overcooked my meatballs but they were okay once they were in the soup. The flavor was simply out of this world!
This recipe looks so good! I have recently discovered I have a gluten intolerance and am looking for healthy paleo recipes. Very excited to explore your page. Going to be making this delicious looking soup tomorrow after I prepare my own homemade bone broth. Thank you!
Family loved it! I made it a couple times with some ready made meatballs (not frozen) which made the recipe even easier! But I like making my own meatballs loaded with veggies! Great with a fresh loaf of bread , if you are not keto!
Great recipe! Thank you!
So good! We made this sans carrots & celery. It was awesome. My newly 3 and almost 5 year olds cleaned their bowls too! 🙂 This is a family winner!
Just wondering why the potassium content is so high?
Actually, I'm not sure!! I have a program that automatically calculates the nutrition info and I tried to look at the breakdown of each ingredient but potassium wasn't listed 🙁 If I had to guess though, it's the brand of the tomatoes used in the calculation. I'd imagine you could just find some that are low in potassium 🙂 But again, I'm just guessing. Sorry!
Actually on Keto we need more potassium so it’s really not a deal killer?
The ground beef and tomatoes each add a few thousand mg, the zuchinni another thousand or so, and then decent amounts from the spinach, carrot, garlic, etc. The estimate could be a bit high but overall makes sense. Potassium's super important and it can be difficult to get enough through food or even to supplement, so this recipe is awesome!
Easy to make. My son enjoyed making the meatballs!