Russian Chicken Meatball Soup is so light and fresh, made with aromatic vegetables, potatoes, rice and the most tender chicken meatballs. This is a soup that is a favorite with the whole family.
Russian Chicken Meatball Soup with rice, potatoes and fresh herbs is so easy to make, but is both healthy and filling. The light, "brothy" soup with the tender chicken meatballs is the perfect comforting meal any time of year. It seems every culture loves their meatballs in many ways. A great option is to serve it in soup. My mom made this Russian Meatball Soup, which we called Суп с Фрикадельками, quite often and I make it for my own family now. This soup is light and healthy, but absolutely delicious.
This is definitely a quick dinner option, since there is very little prep work and the cooking time is fairly short. The ingredients are very simple pantry staples, but marry together to create an incredibly tasty soup. I really prefer using chicken for the meatballs, with their clean flavor and such moist, plump and succulent texture. You will feel light and fresh when sipping each pleasing spoonful, not only from it's healthy goodness but also because you'll still have some energy left, instead of spending it all on the cooking.
Watch the Video of How To Make Chicken Meatball Soup
Ingredients:
- butter or oil (for sauteing)
- onion (for the soup and the meatballs)
- carrot(s)
- celery
- celery was not a popular ingredient in the Russian cuisine, so many recipes of this soup do not use celery, but I really love it.
- garlic
- potatoes
- water
- Most of the time when I make soup, I use broth but in this soup I prefer regular water. It will be make the soup really light and fresh, resulting in a delightful broth. The clean flavor of this soup is absolutely amazing because of that and I actually prefer it.
- dry bay leaves, dry herbs and spices
- rice (I use long grain white rice, you can use other rice if you want, adjust the cooking time depending on the rice that you use.)
- fresh herbs (parsley, dill, green onions)
- salt, pepper
Chicken Meatballs
- ground chicken
- Of course, you can use other ground meat, like ground beef, ground pork, ground turkey. My favorite, by far, is ground chicken. It is the secret to the best version of this soup.
- breadcrumbs (panko is m favorite, you can use any that you like)
- milk
- any dairy free milk will work in this recipe as well. Even water can be used, although in my opinion, milk is better.
- onion
- I use half of the onion in the soup and half in the meatballs. Grating it finely on a box grater will ensure that the onion will be cooked through in the meatballs, since they cook really quickly.
- salt, pepper, dry herbs and spices, garlic powder
How to make Chicken Meatball Soup
- Saute the vegetables. Heat the butter or oil and add the onion, carrots, celery and garlic. Season with salt and ground black pepper. Cook over medium heat for 5-7 minutes, until the vegetables are tender.
- Pour in the water, bay leaves and potatoes. Season with salt, pepper and any herbs and spices that you like.
- Cook, at a simmer, until the potatoes are cooked through. Bring the water to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer and cook until everything is cooked and the potatoes are tender, about 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, make the meatballs.
- Pour the milk over the breadcrumbs and set it aside for about 5 minutes, until bread has been absorbed by the milk and is soft.
- Add the rest of the ingredients to the meatball mixture (including the grated onion) and mix until well combined.
- Using moistened hands, form the ground meat mixture into approximately ½ - 1 Tablespoon meatballs and drop into simmering soup. (I like to use a small portion scoop to form the meatballs first.)
- Add the rice to the soup. The rice and the meatballs will take about the same amount of time, about 10 - 15 minutes, depending of the size of the meatballs.
- Garnish with the fresh herbs. Serve:).
Serving the Soup:
Our favorite way to serve the soup is with some bread, like my Simple Homemade Bread or the Crunchy No Knead Bread.
This recipe makes a big batch, so feel free to halve it. It reheats really well, so I like having this big batch to enjoy the soup the next night too and have a night off from cooking. Oftentimes, I will give soup to my boys for lunch the next day or two. It's great to have something healthy and nutritious as an easy lunch option on hand.
Russian Meatball Soup
Russian Meatball Soup with rice, potatoes, fresh herbs is so easy to make, but is both healthy and filling. The light, "brothy" soup with the tender chicken meatballs is the perfect comforting meal any time of year.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 35 minutes
- Total Time: 55 minutes
- Yield: 8 1x
- Category: Soup
Ingredients
- 1 Tablespoon butter or oil
- ½ of a large onion (finely diced)
- 1-2 carrots (shredded on large holes of box grater)
- 2-4 celery stalks, finely minced
- 2-3 garlic cloves (minced)
- 1-2 bay leaves
- 10 cups water
- 3 medium potatoes (chopped)
- salt (pepper)
- ⅓ cup long grain rice
- ½ Tablespoon dry herb mixture (optional)
- fresh chives (parsley, dill, minced, for garnishing)
Meatballs
- 1 lb ground chicken (or ground turkey, pork or beef)
- ½ cup panko breadcrumbs
- ¼ -⅓ cup milk
- ¾ - 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ½ of an onion (grated on the finest setting on the box grater, to form a pulp)
- ½ teaspoon dry herb mixture (optional)
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
Instructions
- Heat the butter or oil and add the onion, carrots, celery and garlic. Season with salt and ground black pepper. Cook over medium heat for 5-7 minutes, until the vegetables are tender.
- Pour in the water, and add the potatoes and bay leaves. Bring the water to a boil. Season with salt, pepper and dry herbs and spices to taste. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for about 10 minutes, until the potatoes are cooked through.
- Meanwhile, make the meatballs. Pour the milk over the breadcrumbs and set it aside for about 5 minutes, until bread has been absorbed by the milk and is soft. Add the rest of the ingredients to the meatball mixture and mix until well combined.
- Using moistened hands, form the ground meat mixture into approximately ½ - 1 Tablespoon meatballs and drop into simmering soup. I use a small portion scoop to form the meatballs first.
- Add the rice to the soup. Allow to cook until the rice and meatballs have completely cooked through, 10-15 minutes. Garnish with the fresh herbs.
- Serve the soup hot/warm.
This soup came out rocking and rolling! Seriously, I didnt expect it to be so good. It's better than my moms shhhhh dont tell her ;). Great flavor in the frikadelki (meatballs) and the instructions and pictures are great and easy to follow. Will make it on the regular now. My kids love it too!
Awwww... Thank you so much, Luba! You made my day:). Thank you so much for taking the time to write. I'm happy to hear you enjoyed the soup so much.
I made this for my family last night it was a H
it! I'm going to make more tonight for my Mother! It was easy to prepare to! Thank you!
That's wonderful, Arlene! I'm so happy you and your family enjoyed the soup. Thank you for taking the time to write.
The most delicious meatball soup! Thank you for such a great recipe. Whole family enjoyed it very much.
Thank you, Anna! I'm so glad you enjoyed it.
I love this soup! Everytime I make the soup I also make the Cheese Biscuits and they both go very well together! I also add some homemade pickled cucumbers to the soup. I love how they add a special flavour to the soup! Love all of your recipes Olga! 😀💕
Where do you get the spaghetta herbs?
They were a gift from my sister when she went to Italy:).
Can this be converted to an Instant Pot recipe? 🙂 you know what that would look like in the IP? Thank you! 👍🏻😉
I think this soup cooks so fast, there's no reason to make it in the Instant Pot. However, if you do use the Instant Pot, take care not to overcook the rice, because it will explode and disintegrate in the soup.
I know this recipe has been posted for many years but I made this for dinner last night, sort of in tribute to my son who is taking Russian in college right now, and it was super delicious!!!! I made it exactly as the recipe described (which is somewhat of a miracle for me not to modify a recipe). I was skeptical that it would not be very flavorful but it was perfect, especially for a chilly evening. Everyone loved it, even the picky eater. Thank you so much for this recipe!
Tammy
I'm so happy to hear that, Tammy! What a thoughtful thing to do for your son. Thank you for taking the time to write.
Hello olga, I am planning on making this soup today, for the breadcrumbs, after I soak them in the milk do I add the soaked breadcrumbs with the milk to the meat mixture, or should I strain the crumbs?
Easily the best soup I've ever made or tasted. It's so easy to make, too! I can't believe how good the broth is--even though the recipe just calls for water, the broth develops into a beautiful pale yellow. The meatballs cook so soft.... Mmm. My husband requested I use pasta instead of rice, so I used small bits of angel hair. I am literally about to make it for the second night in a row at his request! Thank you so much for this wonderful recipe. I will use it forever and teach my daughter how to make it someday, too.
I made this last week and am making it again tomorrow. So simple but so full of flavor. Amazing. My kids wolfed it down in no time.
I can't wait to make this. What do you like to pair with it? I'm having a night of Russian foods. Thanks so much!!
This soup is such a staple in our house, Lindsey, you can pair it with just about anything. Sometimes we have it simply with some Homemade Bread, and other times serve an entree too. Check out my other Russian Recipes. Just about anything will go well with this soup.
So delicious!! I made this yesterday and we just loved it! Usually when I make soup, there is so much left over that my husband and I end up not being able to eat it all within a few days and throw away the rest. But this recipe, it's the perfect amount for two people to last for about 2 days. It is so flavorful and light, and very easy to make. The meatballs are so juicy and delicious! I will definitely be keeping this recipe for those chilly winter months ahead. (By the way, I am anxiously waiting on more updates on your baby. Hopefully you are making another post soon. God bless 🙂 )
That's great, Anna! We love this soup with my husband. I actually just made it this week:).
I made this soup 2 days ago. It is so good. I can say it's best soup with meatballs i ever tried. 🙂 Thank you! Only one thing i did different after i read comments of meatlovers here no breadcrumbs and milk in meatballs 🙂
Thank you, Helen! I'm so happy to hear that you enjoyed the soup.
can I freeze this soup? or not b/c it has potatoes...??
I wouldn't recommend it, Olga. Like you said, because of the potatoes.
This is one of those soups that cooks up in no time at all. I save it for the days when I want to cook something really quickly, so I usually don't freeze dinners that take less than 45-30 minutes to make in the first place.
Hey olga.. made this soup a few times already... Love it. The broth is delicious. one of my fave comfort soups. Thanks a bunch for sharing... even took it to work. Cant get enough of the broth :))))
Thanks for taking the time to write, Olga. I love the broth too; it's so light and flavorful too.
Made this soup twice already! so simple, yet so yummy!