Don’t be misled by the ho-hum name; our lemon chicken meatball soup is a flavour superstar! Fresh herbs & zingy lemon are blended & ensconced within a creamy leek sauce which complements the soft meatballs and fine pasta perfectly.
I make this lemon chicken meatball soup regularly. I recommend making a double batch, as it keeps and reheats well…once you’ve tried it, you’ll know how more-ish it is! Some of the ingredients are interchangeable (more on this below), but here’s how I like to make it.
Assemble your ingredients. I harvested a leek, 3 eggs, a lemon, parsley, oregano and shallots from my backyard. The pantry ingredients (rhs pic) are interchangeable: you can use milk instead of cream, any kind of oil you like, breadcrumbs instead of parmesan, etc.
Crack & whisk one egg in a large mixing bowl, then chop the herbs & shallots.
Add the cream and salt & pepper to the bowl, then add the greens and mix well.
Mix the chicken mince in, then chop the leek.
Heat the oil in a deep frying pan, then spoon the mixture into the pan as meatballs. The mixture will be very soft at this stage so doesn’t need to be rolled into balls. Fry the meatballs on a low to medium heat until just cooked through. Keep an eye on them so they don’t stick or burn.
Transfer the meatballs on to a plate and set them aside. Add the leeks to the pan- I like to add a dash more oil at this stage.
While the leeks are cooking until softened and slightly browned, juice the lemon. Depending on how tangy you want the sauce, you may like to do more than one.
Add the chicken stock to the pan and bring it to the boil. Once boiling, add the pasta (in my family we call them birds nests!) and separate it so it cooks through quickly.
When the pasta is separated and mixed through, return the meatballs to the pan. Crack and whisk the remaining 2 eggs in a bowl, then take a cup of liquid from the pan and slowly mix it into the egg.
Return the egg mixture to the pan, stirring it in gently until combined. Stir over low heat for a couple of minutes until the mixture thickens.
Serve with lemon wedges and enjoy!
Lemon Chicken Meatball Soup
Equipment
- 1 large mixing bowl
- 1 large deep frying pan
- 1 citrus juicer
Ingredients
- 3 eggs
- 500 grams chicken mince turkey or pork mince would also work
- 2 tbsp fresh oregano, finely chopped
- 2 tbsp fresh parsley, finely chopped
- 3 shallots, sliced thinly
- 1/2 cup packaged grated parmesan cheese
- 20 ml cream
- 1/4 cup oil
- 1 leek onion can be substituted
- 4 cups chicken stock
- 75 grams angel hair pasta
- 1/2 cup lemon juice
- lemon wedges to serve
- salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
- Whisk one egg in a bowl. Add the cream plus salt & pepper and mix through.
- Chop the parsley & oregano, and slice the shallots thinly. Add them to the egg mixture and stir.
- Add the mince to the bowl and mix well.
- Heat half the oil in a large deep frying pan.
- Spoon the mixture into the frying pan one at a time so as to create meatballs. Cook the meatballs on a low to medium heat for about 5 minutes or until cooked through. Turn occasionally.
- Transfer the cooked meatballs to a plate and set aside.
- Heat the remaining oil in the frying pan then chop the leek. Add the leek and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes or until softened.
- Pour in the chicken stock and bring to the boil.
- Add the spaghetti to the pan and separate it gently as it softens.
- Return the meatballs to the pan, reduce the heat to low, and cook until the spaghetti is al dente.
- Whisk the lemon juice & remaining eggs in a bowl until well combined.
- Whisk 1 cup of the hot soup slowly into the egg mixture.
- Gently stir the egg mixture into the pan of soup until combined.
- Stir over low heat for 2 minutes or until the soup thickens slightly.
- Remove from heat. Divide among serving bowls. Serve with lemon wedges.
