Lemony Chicken-Feta Meatball Soup With Spinach
- Total Time
- 30 minutes
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
Yield:4 servings
- 1pound ground chicken or turkey, preferably dark meat
- ½cup crumbled feta
- ¾cup old-fashioned rolled oats
- 1small red onion, halved (½ diced, and ½ grated, then squeezed with a paper towel to remove excess liquid)
- ⅓packed cup fresh dill leaves and fine stems, finely chopped
- 1tablespoon ground cumin
- ½teaspoon plus 1 tablespoon ground turmeric
- Kosher salt and black pepper
- 3tablespoons olive oil
- ½teaspoon red-pepper flakes, plus more for serving
- 4cups low-sodium chicken broth or water
- 4packed cups baby spinach (about 5 ounces)
- 2lemons (1 juiced and 1 cut into wedges for serving)
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)
426 calories; 23 grams fat; 7 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 12 grams monounsaturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 24 grams carbohydrates; 5 grams dietary fiber; 3 grams sugars; 36 grams protein; 1160 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Powered byPreparation
- Step 1
In a medium bowl, add the chicken, feta, ¼ cup oats, the grated onion, most of the dill (reserve about 2 tablespoons for garnish), the cumin, ½ teaspoon turmeric and 1 teaspoon salt. Gently combine without squeezing too hard or overworking the meat. Lightly wet your palms and shape the meat into small balls, a little smaller than the size of a golf ball, about 1½ inches. (You will have approximately 25 balls.)
- Step 2
Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven or wide pot over medium until shimmering. Add the diced onion, season with salt, and cook until it begins to soften, about 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon turmeric and the red-pepper flakes, and stir until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Push the onions to the sides as best you can, then add the meatballs. (They will be close together, and that’s OK.) Cook until browned on two sides, 5 to 7 minutes total.
- Step 3
Pour in the broth and remaining ½ cup oats, then gently tilt the pot to the right and left to distribute the oats and broth without disturbing the meatballs. Bring to a gentle boil, then immediately reduce the heat to maintain an active simmer. Season with salt. Cook, gently stirring occasionally to make sure nothing is sticking to the bottom, until the oats have softened and the meatballs are cooked through, about 4 minutes more.
- Step 4
Stir in the spinach and lemon juice until the spinach is wilted, about 2 minutes more. Adjust the seasoning to taste. Spoon into bowls, top with pepper and the remaining dill. Serve with lemon wedges.
Private Notes
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Cooking Notes
Pirwoods
Long time lurkers, first time commenters - be gentle. We love this recipe so much, and wanted to share modifications for other gluttons out there. Use the 1/4 c oats in the meatballs Don't use the oats in the soup, instead substitute with 1 c orzo Increase stock to 6 cups Add thinly sliced celery for extra crunch (cook with the onions!) We tend to up the red pepper and don't add salt at step 3 Enjoy, as the perfect acidity is balanced by the silken coated orzo sliding down your gullet.
Ted
I would substitute a different herb, as my wife and I are not dill fans. However, the rest sounds great. And I want to mention how much I love and appreciate the NYTimes cooking community. I love reading your comments and I appreciate all of you out there cooking.
Kathy T
This was really tasty and easy to make. I didn’t do the part where you move the onion over for meatballs, though. Instead I did meatballs for 15 mins in 400 oven on parchment paper then popped them in the broth to finish. Easier I think and worked great (meatballs brown/cook evenly in the oven without breaking up)
Jamie
I never would have pegged this recipe as such from looking at it, but this was a huge hit with my entire family, from my extremely picky 11 year old to my adventuresome dad, and everyone in between. It is a rare occasion when we can all eat the same dinner and like it, so this recipe is a keeper for sure! I made it as written. Don't skip the lemon-- it really makes the soup special! I served it with some homemade sourdough rye and a salad. Yum!
M in Upstate NY
Really good. My observations: I found a bit salty, perhaps due to feta and veg broth, next time I will reduce what is added to chicken. Watch heat when sautéing onions (mine burned a bit). My partner added plain cooked egg noodles to his bowl and loved the soup even more with the addition. First time grating a red onion; not an easy task (for me), so I ended up mincing and that was fine. Recipe is a keeper. Thank you NYT Cooking and commenters for helping me learn to cook (I’m over 50)!
Noelle P
I substituted 1/2 cup orzo for the oats in the broth for a more brothy finish, and it’s awesome!!
Linda
Delicious recipe,my spouse and I really enjoyed the soup. We added a spoonful of whole milk Greek yogurt to our bowls which smoothed it out perfectly. We enjoyed the meatball recipe so much that we are going copy it and make grilled chicken patties( we thought that a tzatziki sauce would be a great accompaniment).
Scott R
This is fantastic. Change nothing, and enjoy!
Aubry
Could be good for all I know, but the amount of turmeric in this recipe is excessive. I almost want to make it without any turmeric next time so that I'm able to taste... anything else. I also subbed the oats out for orzo and the spinach out for kale, which I'd do again.
Kiley
One of my absolute favorite recipes!! Add some white wine and crusty bread.
Sanet
The silky oats taste wasn’t for me at all... felt slimy.
Carlee
Delicious! Don’t be too deterred by the oats. It sounds weird but worked well. I added a little melted cheese on top but definitely is great without. Maybe some parsley on top at the end but 5 stars in my book!
Julie
The oats somehow thickened the broth. I liked it, my daughter and husband loved it. Very flavorful!
Zoe
Five stars for this one! I had dark meat turkey to use and followed the directions exactly. It’s very flavorful and filling. The two dozen meatballs did not fit in my soup pot so I had to sauté half of them separately and add them back in. I’ll be buying a pot with a bigger surface area since this recipe is going into regular rotation.
Sandy
Oh boy! Sorry folks. It was ME who didn’t read the recipe.
Helen
So good. I did as some others said and cooked the meatballs in a cast iron in the oven at 400 for 15 mins before putting them in the broth. I also added a cap full (just a splash) of white vinegar as I like lemony broths to be brighter and I thought the strong turmeric needed more to break it. Used cabbage instead of spinach / oats. Loved it! Will make again.
S. Lederer
Made this last night and LOVED it! - So, I came back to rate it, and mark it as "cooked." Upon re-reading it, I realized that I used TURMERIC instead of CUMIN! So - I'm going to make it again, soon, seeing that I have another lb of ground turkey in the freezer. But - just wanted to put it out there that it's also great with turmeric, if, say, you're out of cumin. Or, if, say, you pull out the wrong spice because you weren't paying attention!
Clint
Super amazing flavors! But my meatballs fell apart in the pan. Next time I might use a binder for them (like an egg) and do their first browning either by themselves in a cast-iron, or by themselves in the oven at 400 F.
AnnieG
I love this recipe, but despite draining and chilling the meat, my meatballs did not maintain their shape, so mine ended up being a ground chicken soup. Still delicious! I am a very accomplished cook, so there must be a trick.
cate
I have some ground lamb in the freezer and am thinking of using it for the meatballs instead of chicken. Will this work ? I’m worried it might be too heavy tasting.
KarenS
I skipped the salt in the last step and it was still salty. So will definitely use less next time. Also, I really could have used more soup. Next time I will do 7 cups soup and 1 cup water. Otherwise it’s delicious.
Maggie
I love this soup! Delicious. I would add extra broth as the oats soak up quite a bit. I second others’ suggestions to sub kale for spinach; I found the spinach a bit slimy. I also added a whole milk Greek yogurt to finish. This soup ages well, it’s even tastier in subsequent days.
a smidge of salt
It’s a great recipe to play with. We used a lot more homemade stock than was called for, 1/2 tsp of turmeric in the meatballs and another 1/2 tsp in the soup. Subbed breadcrumbs for oats in the balls, used maybe 1 tbs of fresh dill plus equal parts of fresh lemon thyme and marjoram in them. Tried frying the balls but they stuck, so we baked them for 15 minutes at 425 in the convection oven. If I make this again, I will back off on the cumin and add minced parsley and lemon zest to the meatballs.
Miranda
Didn’t love it. Next time, I Will greatly reduce turmeric and add orzo. Maybe add a dollop of Greek yogurt too.
notes
Absolutely loved this! I swapped basil for the dill because that’s what I had on hand, but otherwise, I followed the recipe exactly. Wow, was it good! Have a feeling I’m gonna freestyle with this and it will be in rotation. Also note that I froze it and reheated just as well.
Cynthia
Very good! It was difficult to turn the meatballs in the dutch oven, but doable. I removed the onions before adding the meatballs, then added them back after browning one side. I took others' advice and used orzo in the broth. I normally follow a recipe exactly first, it sounded too good to pass on. I'll give the oats a try next time. I might also go easier on the cumin. As someone else said, didn't skip the lemon. While it's not required, it is a perfect addition.
JA
Too much prep. Too sour with the lemon.
Laura Di Battista, Toronto
I will definitely make this delicious soup again. I guess I cheated since I started with a beautiful savoury broth I made with the carcass of our Easter turkey. I used pork for the meatballs, because that's what I had. I omitted all of the oats, taking advice from fellow readers. I used a bit of panko for the meatballs, then orzo instead of the oats in the soup itself. (?) I took a pass on the cumin and turmeric, instead using white pepper. The soup reminded me of Italian Wedding Soup.
MM
Really delicious! When grating the onion, use the large holes on a box grater. The small holes kind of pureed it into nothing. Also, squeeze out the liquid from the onion using a clean dishcloth, instead of a paper towel, which disintegrated. I baked the meatballs, which worked great and was much easier than sauteeing them.
Donna
This soup was stupendous! I made it with my own turkey broth and also used orzo instead of oats in the soup part but otherwise made as written. Deep delicious flavour.
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