Thai Meatball Soup combines meatballs and a citrusy, spicy chicken broth into one comforting and delicious dish. Bursting with delicious Thai-inspired flavors, this satisfying soup made with fresh ginger, garlic, and lime juice is perfect for a cozy day in or for those days when you’re feeling under the weather.
Thai Meatball Soup is a must-try for anyone looking to explore the rich and vibrant world of Thai cuisine. With homemade meatballs in a flavorful broth infused with classic Thai ingredients like red chili, ginger, and lime juice, you’ll never look at vegetable soup the same way again. Finished with a refreshing crunch of sugar snap peas and the unmistakable flavor of fresh cilantro and chopped green onions, this fragrant soup has everything your tastebuds crave on a winter’s day.
Plus, with the option to swap out the chicken stock for water and make your favorite vegan meatballs, this comforting Thai-inspired meatball soup recipe is easily adaptable for vegans and vegetarians. Whichever way you decide to adapt this recipe to your tastes, get ready to fall in love with the comforts of this healthy and flavorful twist on vegetable soup.
How to Make Thai Meatball Soup:
Meatballs: To make the meatballs, preheat the oven to 400 degrees F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. In a large bowl, mix all the meatball ingredients together and shape the mixture into small balls. Place the balls on the baking sheet and bake for 20-25 minutes until they’re cooked through and starting to brown.
Soup: For the soup, heat olive oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add onions and sauté for 1-2 minutes, then add carrots and celery and sauté for an additional 3-4 minutes. Add garlic, red chili, ginger, lime juice, and soy sauce, and sauté for another 1-2 minutes. Pour in chicken stock or water and stir. Bring the soup to a boil and cover, then reduce the heat to low and simmer for about 30 minutes until the vegetables are tender. Add the sugar snap peas and meatballs, then simmer for an additional 5-10 minutes. Season to taste, and serve with chopped green onions, cilantro, and chili if desired.
Leftovers and Storage
Storage: Keep leftovers stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, thoroughly reheating each time.
Freezing: Allow the soup to cool in the refrigerator completely before transferring it to freezer-friendly containers or double-bag in freezer-friendly zip-lock bags. Remove most of the air, leaving just a small amount of space to allow the liquid to expand as it freezes.
Reheating: To reheat from frozen, allow the soup to thaw in the refrigerator overnight, then transfer to a pot and cook over medium-high heat until warmed through.
More Delicious Soup Recipes
- Thai Pumpkin and Sweet Potato Soup
- Thai Chicken Curry Noodle Soup Recipe
- Curried Pumpkin Soup Recipe (Vegan + Gluten-Free)
- Italian Wedding Soup
- Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup
- The Best Beef Barley Soup
If you try making this Thai Meatball Soup Recipe, please leave me a comment and let me know! I always love to hear your thoughts.
Thai Meatball Soup
Ingredients
FOR THE MEATBALLS
- 1.5 pounds ground turkey/chicken/pork - I used a mix of turkey and chicken
- 2 carrots - finely grated
- ½ cup finely chopped green onions
- 2 tablespoon fresh mint - chopped
- 2 tablespoon cilantro - chopped
- 2 tablespoon ginger - minced
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
- 4 cloves garlic - minced
- 2 teaspoon red chili flakes
- 1 teaspoon cayenne powder
- 1 large egg
FOR THE SOUP
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 large yellow onion - chopped
- 3 large carrots - chopped
- 4 stalks celery - chopped
- 6 cloves garlic - minced
- 1 red chili - chopped (plus more for serving)
- 1 tablespoon fresh minced ginger
- 1 lime juiced
- 1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce
- 8 cups low-sodium chicken stock or water
- 10 ounces whole sugar snap peas
- ½ cup green onions - chopped (plus more for serving)
- Fresh chopped cilantro - for serving
Instructions
For the Meatballs:
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl combine all the ingredients for the meatballs, mixing well until fully combined. Use your hands to form mixture into small balls. If the mixture is sticky and you have trouble forming balls, wet your hands with a little water and roll into balls.
- Place each ball on a lined baking sheet and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until fully cooked and just starting to brown on the top
- Remove from heat and set aside until ready to eat.
For the Soup:
- In a large pot or Dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium high heat. Add the chopped onion and sautè for 1-2 minutes, or until fragrant. Add the carrots and celery and mix well with the onion. Sautè for an additional 3-4 minutes, stirring frequently.
- Add the minced garlic, red chili, ginger, lime juice and soy sauce. Sautè for 1-2 minutes, stirring frequently to prevent the garlic and ginger from burning.
- Add the chicken stock or water to the pot and stir. Bring soup to a boil and cover, reducing heat to low. Allow soup to simmer for approximately 30 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Add the sugar snap peas and meatballs to the pot and simmer for an additional 5-10 minutes. Season to taste and remove from heat.
- Top with chopped green onions, cilantro and chili, if desired.
Nutritional Information
(Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and specific brands of ingredients used.)
This soup is amazing, thank you!! My family and I loved it!
My sister is coming to visit in a couple of weeks and she is vegetarian. I would love to make this for her. I am wondering about your thoughts on supplementing tofu for the ground chicken/turkey? What type of tofu (silken? Firm?) would you use? Would you add anything to help it stick together. Thanks in advance for your expertise and advice!
P.S. I tried to rate this as a 5 star recipe, but it didn’t work!
Hi Sam,
I have never tried this recipe with tofu, but if I were to experiant it would be with firm or extra firm tofu chopped into small cubes and add it directly to the soup.
Good luck!
Made this, its amazing! LOVE the meatballs, perfectly spicy. The only thing I added was vermicelli bean noodles under the broth when served. Thanks for the soup inspiration!
I am glad you enjoyed it – thanks for the feedback!
Can I just tell you something? I have a problem, an addiction. It’s soup, I’m soup-cessed. I can eat it if it’s below 0 or above 100 degrees. All. The. Time. I’m so happy I found your blog, my partner even just agreed to soup week starting tomorrow, we will start with this one. I make Italian wedding soup a lot but love thai food and am excited to try a different meatball soup! I’m not big on following recipes especially for soups but you have so many different flavors and combinations I’ve never thought of. Cheers to more soup recipes.
Sincerely,
Fellow soup friend
Thank you soup friend – its good to know I am not alone!