Slow Cooker Russian Meatball Soup

Slow Cooker Russian Meatball Soup is full of vegetable goodness, hearty chicken, and lots of delicious dill flavor!

 

On top of spaghetti,

All covered with cheese,

I lost my poor meatball,

When somebody sneezed.

 

This Wednesday was National Meatball day.  Did y’all celebrate?  We missed the actual DAY, but did have meatballs twice this week.  Technically, three times if you count the deconstructed ones we had on Monday.

 

 

And, we had repeat meals this week; which is unprecedented for us.  Usually it’s a one and done type thing, but not this time.  This time, I made the meals, didn’t photograph them, and had to make them again.  That’s how good these meatball meals are I whipped up this week.  Actually, I have to make the beef ones again.  I forgot to take a prop bowl to work.

 

Come on.  Like you have NEVER photographed your food at work.  Seriously?  Just me?

 

Moving on…

 

I was looking for an Italian meatball soup on Pinterest.  Then thought I might make an ablondigas soup.  Then I stumbled on a few pictures of this Russian soup and I was hooked!!  The soup had such different and interesting flavors; typical of Eastern European foods.  I couldn’t wait to try my hand at this recipe.

 

 

I did some digging and saw that it was a pretty simple soup.  And it had ingredients that I totally LOVE in winter like potatoes, parsnips, carrots; ya know?  Those root vegetables that we talked about last weekend?

 

Then I thought about one of my favorite chicken dishes; Chicken Kiev.  It has tender chicken, delicious dill, and plenty of garlic.  I knew that’s exactly how I wanted these meatballs to taste.  Yes.  I know that’s not really a link to chicken kiev.  It’s on my list of things to do, but the stir-fry is pretty darned good!  And it doesn’t care if you can’t keep the dill butter inside the chicken breasts.  It lets it all hang out!!

 

Anyway.

 

 

Then I borrowed a tip from some of my fave spaghetti and meatball recipes where you add some milk to the meat with the bread crumbs.  The proteins in dairy are amazing little creatures.  They truly do break down proteins and makes them nice and tender.  I am almost to the point of marinating all my meats in a dairy based mixtures.  Putting them with oil and vinegar just adds flavor, but truly doesn’t do much to tenderize the meat.  Dairy.  Now that’s the best marinade.  Yogurt, milk, sour cream; they will all make your proteins nice and tender.  So, I definitely wanted to add some to these meatballs.

 

So, I have my meatballs, my flavors, and the ingredients to go in the soup.  Now it’s time to put it all together in the pot and get cooking.  While this recipe is made in the slow cooker, you could easily put this in a pot on the stove.  It’s that versatile.  But I didn’t have time and really wanted to throw this all in the slow cooker in the morning for dinner when we got home Friday.  Hence the “refrigerate the meatballs” part in the instructions.

 

 

I also suggest refrigerating the meatballs to give the flavors time to meld.  And, well, sometimes ground chicken can be unruly.  It’s more loose than ground beef and sometimes it just doesn’t hold it shape as well as beef, pork, or lamb.  So, I highly recommend refrigerating them to allow the flavors to meld the meat to firm up a little before dropping into the slow cooker (or stock pot) to cook.

 

Now, you’re ready to sit down to an amazingly delicious yet simple soup.  The meatballs cooking in the broth add fabulous flavor to the vegetables.  The vegetables add delicious flavor to the meatballs.  It’s a melded bowl of veggie chicken goodness that’s wrapped in layer of dilly goodness.  Trust me when I say this will be a new family favorite soup.  Serve it with some garlic toast and you’re all set!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Meatball Appetizers:

• Bacon Wrapped Cheesy Meatballs with Maple Balsamic Sauce from The Crumby Cupcake
• Cheesy Stuffed Pepperoni Pizza Meatballs from The Weekend Gourmet
• Crab Cake Mini Meatballs with Tartar Sauce from The Texan New Yorker
• Garlicky Shrimp Meatballs from Cindy’s Recipes and Writings
• Grilled Korean Meatballs from Palatable Pastime
• Saucy Thai Meatballs from Brunch-n-Bites
• Slow Cooker Turkey Appetizer Jelly Meatballs from Noshing With The Nolands
• Stuffed Meatballs from The Freshman Cook
• Tofu Nuggets from NinjaBaker
• Turkey Meatballs in Orange Sauce from Pine Needles In My Salad
• Turkey Meatballs with Spinach and Goat Cheese from Our Good Life

Meatball Soups:

• Russian Meatball Soup from A Kitchen Hoor’s Adventures

Main Dish Meatballs:

• All-Purpose Meatballs from Cosmopolitan Cornbread
• Baked Meatballs with Swiss Chard from And She Cooks
• Bourbon Baked Bean Meatballs from Sew You Think You Can Cook
• Cheesy Italian Meatball Sandwich from La Bella Vita Cucina
• Chicken Parmesan Meatball Casserole from Fantastical Sharing of Recipes
• Deep Dish Skillet Meatball Pizza from From Gate to Plate
• Fightin’ Irish Balls from Monica’s Table
• General Tso’s Chicken Meatballs from Cupcakes & Kale Chips
• Grandma’s Italian Meatball Subs from Family Around The Table
• Hamballs from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Kefta Mkaouara (Moroccan Meatballs Tagine) from Curious Cuisiniere
• Keftedakia (Greek-style Meatballs) from Tramplingrose
• Kofte-Style Lamb Meatballs in a Tomato-Pepper Sauce from Caroline’s Cooking
• Meatball Subs from That Skinny Chick Can Bake
• Moroccan Lamb Meatballs in Tomato Sauce from MyGourmetConnection
• Orecchiette and Meatball Skillet Dinner from Momma’s Meals
• Persian Lamb Meatballs from Food Lust People Love
• Portuguese Meatballs in Garlicky Wine Sauce from Family Foodie
• Roasted Vegetable Meatballs from Jane’s Adventures in Dinner
• Slow Cooker Meatball Ranch Stroganoff from Seduction in the Kitchen
• Slow Cooker Spanish Meatballs from The Chef Next Door
• Sriracha Sesame Turkey Meatballs from Grumpy’s Honeybunch
• Sun Dried Tomato & Bulgarian Feta Chicken Meatballs over Lemon-Spinach Orzo From Simply Healthy Family
• Swedish Meatballs (Frikadeller) from Feeding Big
• Swedish Meatballs with Zucchini Ribbons from Angels Home Sweet Homestead
• Sweet & Sour Freezer to Slow-Cooker Meatballs from Wholistic Woman
• Tajine-el-Khoukh (Algerian Stuffed Peaches) from Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Thai Meatball Lettuce Wraps from Hezzi-D’s Books and Cooks
• Thai Spaghetti and Meatballs from Kitchen Gidget
• Thai Red Curry Meatballs with Coconut Curry Sauce from kimchi MOM
• Ultimate Pasta & Meatballs from MealDiva

Meatball Desserts:

• Brownie Meatballs with Frosting Spaghetti from Pies and Plots

Plus Buffalo Chicken Meatballs and More Amazing Meatball Recipes  from Sunday Supper Movement

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