Meatball & Couscous Soup

Soup is a year round dish in our house but I definitely ramp up the frequency in the colder winter months. And this year I am trying to test out all the different flavor profiles that I can. This time around I went for a Mediterranean and Moroccan inspired flavor profile. Lots of mint, cumin, curry, and cardamom to make a delicious broth base with couscous and chicken meatballs. My Meatball & Couscous Soup is going to wow your family’s palates for sure.

Not everyone thinks mint goes with savory dishes but when you combine it with cumin and curry powder is takes on a delightful melody in this broth. You absolutely have to use Israeli style couscous for this soup. If you use the smaller couscous it will essentially disintegrate before the soup is done. You need something that will stand up to the boiling broth. I added in carrots to my soup, but you could add celery, potato, yams, or parsnips. A nice root veggie cut up into smaller pieces is perfect.

Ground chicken makes a lovely meatball for this soup. If you wanted to use something else, you could do ground pork, turkey or beef and it would still be delish. You could also turn this into a vegetarian affair by using ground garbanzo beans and making a sort of a falafel instead and replacing the chicken broth with vegetable broth.

I served this delicious soup up with some warmed Naan that I brushed with melted butter, red pepper flakes and dried mint. I brushed the naan with the melted butter mix and warmed it in the oven for 10 minutes. It was perfect for sopping up the broth of this soup.

Now Let’s Get Cookin’!

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Meatball & Couscous Soup

A Mediterranean inspired chicken meatball and Israeli Couscous soup, packed with flavor.

Course Main Course, Soup

Cuisine American, Mediterranean, Moraccan

Keyword carrots, Chicken, chicken soup, couscous, curry powder, Israeli Couscous, meatballs, onions

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 45 minutes minutes

Servings 6

Ingredients

• 4 tbsp Butter
• 1 Small Yellow onion diced
• 4 Garlic Cloves minced
• ¼ cup Lemon Juice
• 2 tbsp Fresh Ginger grated
• 1 tbsp Fresh Basil chopped
• 2 tbsp Curry Powder
• 1 tbsp Cumin
• 1 tsp Dried Mint
• 1 tsp Cardamom
• 3 Whole Carrots diced
• 3 qts Chicken Broth
• 3 cups Israeli Couscous

For the Meatballs

• 1 lb Ground Chicken
• 1 cup Panko Crumbs
• 1 tsp Cumin
• 1 tsp Dried Mint
• 1 tsp Curry Powder
• 1 tsp Chili Powder
• 1 tsp Cardamom
• 1 tbsp Fresh Basil chopped

Instructions

• Add butter, onion, garlic and ginger to stock pot over medium-high heat. Once melted, add lemon juice, basil, curry powder, cumin, cardamom and carrots. Cook 2 minutes then add chicken broth and bring to boil.
• Preheat oven to 400degF.
• In a bowl, combine meatball ingredients. Form into 1 inch balls and line out on a parchment paper covered baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes.
• Once broth is boiling, add couscous. Let cook another 15 minutes than remove from heat.
• Add 4-6 meatballs to a shallow bowl. Ladle couscous soup over top of meatballs.