Slow Cooker Chicken Parm Meatball Soup
Your favorite chicken Parmesan dish, reinvented into a loaded slow cooker soup with spicy mini chicken meatballs.
Winter break is finally over, but not before we got slammed with another snow storm. Of course, it ended up being a good thing in a way. I totally thought the kids were on break until today, having a full two weeks off. Only Wednesday night we received a call that there’d be no school Thursday due to the weather. Call me confused. I swear the previous calendar said no school all last week. Oops! So, good thing for the snow or I’d have accidentally kept the kids home and probably received a call wondering where they were. Of course that also means they’ll be getting out of school two days later than planned as of now. There’s still plenty of winter though, so we’ll see how many more snow days occur in the next few months.
I hope you had a nice holiday and hopefully a nice break along with that! The changeover to a new year is always weird. It’ll take me at least six months to stop writing the previous year’s date on things. And of course then there’s the battle over healthy eating vs warm comforting food. So I think everyone will be satisfied with what is coming up in the coming weeks. Lots of comforting soups, that considering they’re loaded with good for you stuff… should be considered fairly healthy. It’s not like it’s a cheesecake in a bowl or anything crazy like that. ;)
So it makes sense to get back into the swing of things with a truly comforting and easy soup recipe. As always, I opted to create this in the slow cooker because who really enjoys standing over the stovetop when you can let a small appliance do the work for you while you’re busy with life. Because this recipe requires a little more work with the meatballs, feel free to make those ahead and then toss them in with the veggies in the start of the cooking process. That way you can cook this while at work or off doing errands on the weekend and come back to a perfect lunch or dinner.
This soup encompasses your favorite flavors from a traditional chicken Parmesan dish, but has been reinvented into soup form and with spicy mini chicken meatballs. If you’re looking for a fun soup to try this season, be sure to add this to your list! Check below for some more of my favorites to try!
Slow Cooker Chicken Parm Meatball Soup
Ingredients
Soup:
- 3/4 C carrots, chopped
- 3/4 C onion, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 30 oz petite diced tomatoes, drained
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp ground black pepper
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 7 1/2 C chicken broth
- 6 oz baby spinach
- 3/4 C pasta
Meatballs:
- 1 lb ground chicken
- 1/2 C Parmesan cheese
- 1/2 C plain breadcrumbs
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
- 1/2 - 1 tsp red pepper flakes, optional
- 1 large egg
- Mozzarella, freshly shredded
Instructions
- To the bowl of a slow cooker, add carrots, onions, garlic, drained tomatoes, salt, pepper, oregano and chicken broth. Cover and cook on high for 4 hours.
- Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, combine meatball ingredients. Using a small cookie scoop, shape mixture into small balls. Place on prepared baking sheet, bake for 10-15 minutes. Add meatballs to slow cooker, replace cover and continue cooking.
- When 4 hours are up, gently stir in pasta and spinach. Cover and cook for an additional 30 minutes.
- Divide soup between oven safe bowls. Sprinkle with mozzarella. Bake until cheese is fully melted. If using broiler safe containers, broiler may be used to brown cheese. Alternately a kitchen torch may be used, if desired.
- Enjoy warm.
Notes
More slow cooker recipes to try:
Slow cooker two bean buffalo chicken chili
Garlic and Dijon slow cooker chicken
Slow cooker sausage and poblano chili
Slow cooker New England clam and corn chowder
Slow cooker loaded potato soup
Slow cooker chicken tortilla soup
Slow cooker white chicken chili
Slow cooker Italian wedding soup
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Here kids were suppose to go back today… but school was cancelled because of snow as well. These winter storms are really hitting us hard this year. The poor kids may go to school to July to make up for it :) This looks amazingly warm and comforting. Perfect for this crazy weather.
Seriously! It’s scary thinking what might be coming since it’s still so early. We’ve got to get through 3 more months of this at least! Stay warm :)
The winter storms are hitting us this quite heavily in 2014 here in Maryland! Low of -15 (with wind chill) tomorrow. Insane for us! My fiancé would love this soup, Rachel. And guess what? I just got a new slow cooker and cannot even wait to start using it for comforting recipes like this to warm us up on chilly days.
Brrr no thanks! Definitely get that slow cooker going and warm up with some soup :)
oh my GOSH. that cheese on the top of this dish. to die for!!! this winter is starting to be brutal – although, you have it way worse than me so i definitely shouldn’t complain ;) i agree 100% that an appliance should do the cooking for you. i’ll be curled up on the couch binge watching one of my fav shows..hehe
lol you’re allowed to complain. But I’m still allowed to tease you a little bit for it ;)
This looks like a delicious meal for a cold winter night! Thanks for sharing.
Thanks so much Ali!
This looks SO good, and just like the right thing to eat when there is a snowstorm raging outside. With some garlic bread, and I’d be in heaven! Pinned.
Yesss, definitely garlic bread! :)
I don’t have a winter storm in Florida, but I still want to make this soup! That cheese….those meat balls…and all in the slow cooker? Girl, your are genius!
Crank up the ac and pretend its frigid along with the rest of us ;)
This is so fabulous! Will definitely be making this one!
I hope you do! Thanks so much Marie :)
We’re getting hit heavily here in VA as Sally says. MD and VA share the same weather patterns. This soup would be great on a day like tomorrow where the temp will be 9. Ouch! Pinning.
Ouch indeed! Better get some soup going to warm up with :)
Kids SHOULD have the full two weeks off! Thank goodness for that nutso storm! This sounds so amazing..chicken parm is one of my hubs’ favorites..he’s going to love this. SO am I…that cheeesee..ooh and I love all things from a slow cooker!
It just seemed weird to be going back for a day or two, you know? Just wait and start a full week from scratch. I guess mother nature agreed with me :)
Wow – talk about inventive. I love the idea behind this! I am so obsessed with soups. Absolutely giving this a try before this long, Boston winter is finished.
I hope you enjoy it! :) Stay warm this winter!
This recipe looks so delicious and cheesy! I love the fact that it’s a slow cooker meal!! Pinned! :)
Thanks so much Layla!
That cheese pull… *SWOON* I envision myself making this many, many times this winter.
Haha! I hope you do and I hope you enjoy it Stephanie! :)
Oh my gosh this is right up my alley. The cheese, the meatballs, the soup!!!! Holy smokes I need it.
Ha! Thanks Meagan :)
It’s definitely soup weather here! Brrr! Ps… those cheese strings are ridiculous!
Agreed! And thank you so much Laurie :)
Yum! I love this!
Thanks Jennifer! :)
This looks fabulous! We’re expecting a snowmagedon here in western PA….they’ve already cancelled school for tomorrow. Too bad hospitals don’t close and I”ll still be needed at work!
Oh boo. A shame you can’t have a day off too. Definitely plan some soup to stay warm with!
i could take a whole pot of this..love love love this idea of soup.
Thanks so much!! :)
Ooh, this looks so comforting. It would be great on a super chilly day like today!
Absolutely!! :)
little meatballs in soup always have a special place in my heart. this soup looks fabulous. perfect for all of this cold weather taking over.
I fully agree! Thank you :)
Holy crap. This looks good… that cheese! Your pics are making me hungry.
Thanks Carrie! :)
Oh my gosh!! That cheese on top looks to die for. What a easy and super cozy soup!
Haha thanks so much Tieghan :)
Happy New Year! Loving this post :)
Thanks Stephanie! :)
I love my slow cooker…and I love this recipe! Can’t wait to try it out! Happy New Year!
Thanks Wendy :)
Excited to make this! Just wondering when to add the meatballs to the slow cooker? About 30-60 minutes after the broth??
Whenever they are done in the oven :) No big rush as the majority of cooking will have been done prior to being added to the slow cooker.
This looks fabulous, can’t wait to try it. One question though – does the pasta go into the slow cooker cooked or uncooked?
It goes in uncooked. I hope you enjoy it! :)