Slow Cooker Cheesy Meatball Soup

Slow Cooker Cheesy Meatball Soup–a cozy soup made with Italian meatballs, ditalini pasta, tomatoes, spinach, Parmesan and a creamy tomato broth.

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Slow Cooker Cheesy Meatball Soup

This is such an easy dump-and-go soup! Using frozen meatballs means there is no browning step at all. I love ditalini in soups because the little circular pasta pieces are the perfect size, but orzo works great too. Top each bowl with extra Parmesan and maybe even a little mozzarella if you want to make it extra cheesy. Serve it with warm breadsticks or crusty bread for dipping…yum!

Ingredients/Substitution Ideas

• Chicken broth–or water and Better than Bouillon chicken base
• Crushed tomatoes
• Onion powder
• Garlic powder–or use 1 Tbsp minced fresh garlic.
• Black pepper
• Paprika
• Dried thyme
• Dried basil
• Tomato paste
• Frozen Italian-style meatballs–I like the Costco Italian style meatballs
• Ditalini pasta–or orzo
• Heavy cream or evaporated milk–half and half can also work
• Kosher salt
• Chopped spinach–fresh or frozen
• Shredded Parmesan cheese

Steps

Add broth, crushed tomatoes, onion powder, garlic powder, pepper, paprika, thyme, basil, tomato paste and meatballs to slow cooker and stir.

Cover and cook on high for 1 ½-2 hours.

Stir in the ditalini and cook for 15 more minutes, until pasta is cooked.

Stir a cup of hot broth into the cream to temper it and stir it into the slow cooker.

Stir in the salt, spinach and parmesan cheese.

Ladle into bowls and serve.

Notes/Tips

• Serve with garlic bread, french bread or bread sticks.
• Start checking the ditalini after about 15 minutes, but depending on your slow cooker it may take closer to 20–30 minutes to become tender. Each slow cooker cooks differently, some hotter than others.
• For a thicker soup use 3 ounces of ditalini instead of 2 ounces.
• Store leftovers in an airtight container* in the refrigerator for 4 days. The soup can be frozen, but pasta and cream don’t have quite the same texture after thawing.
• Other recipes you can make with crushed tomatoes are Oma’s German Spaghetti and Creamy Boursin Chicken Casserole.
• Tools:
  • I used a 6 quart slow cooker*
  • Magnetic measuring cups*
  • Magnetic measuring spoons*
  • Glass measuring cup*
  • Ladle*
  • Digital scale*–I used this to measure my pasta

Did you know you can filter the recipes on my website to search by meat type, IP or Crockpot, low carb, gluten free, etc.? Use the filter to find exactly what you are looking for. 

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*Karen Petersen is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.