Lemony Chicken-Feta Meatball Soup With Spinach Recipe (2024)

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 meatballsDon't use the oats in the soup, instead substitute with 1 c orzoIncrease stock to 6 cupsAdd thinly sliced celery for extra crunch (cook with the onions!)We tend to up the red pepper and don't add salt at step 3Enjoy, as the perfect acidity is balanced by the silken coated orzo sliding down your gullet.

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.

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)

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!

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)!

I substituted 1/2 cup orzo for the oats in the broth for a more brothy finish, and it’s awesome!!

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).

This is fantastic. Change nothing, and enjoy!

One of my absolute favorite recipes!! Add some white wine and crusty bread.

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.

The silky oats taste wasn’t for me at all... felt slimy.

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.

The oats somehow thickened the broth. I liked it, my daughter and husband loved it. Very flavorful!

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!

Oh boy! Sorry folks. It was ME who didn’t read the recipe.

This was delicious! I used 1/2 tsp. less salt than what was called for in the recipe, and I opted for the orzo, as some others have. The broth was wonderful. I’ll definitely be making this again.

So glad I read notes from other cooks! Most helpful: bake meatballs at 400 for 15 minutes on parchment lined cookie sheet; sauté equal parts celery with the onion. Use oatmeal in the meatballs but orzo in the soup. Absolutely delicious with crusty bread.

Perfect delicious recipe. I added one egg to the meat to avoid for the meatballs falling apart.

This has been a longtime favorite for my partner and I! We recently subbed the oats for farro, in both the meatballs and broth, and it did not disappoint. The broth comes out thinner in the end, which we prefer, while adding a nice texture change for some additional crunch. Simmered the broth ~5 min longer than it called for to make sure the farro cooked, and everything was perfect.

Great tasting soup! The meatballs really stuck to the bottom of the pot and got browner than they were supposed to. I’ll roast them in the oven next time.

here because the WBC lead me here. Miles should apologize to Will. it looks pretty good!

Even my picky kids loved this!

This somehow tastes exactly like the dolmathes my Yiayia used to make. It’s so delicious. I was skeptical about the oats but they cook down and thicken the soup beautifully. I didn’t use cumin and used about half the turmeric.

Made it tonight. My husband gave it 5/5 stars! 5s are hard to get!

Fantastic recipe, will be making this again. I upped the stock to 6 cups as others suggested and was glad I did. I also went heavy on the spinach, which worked out well. I liked the oats addition to the stock, but may also sub for orzo, rice or Israeli couscous on the next go.

Excellent! I added cannellini beans and cut back on the oats a bit. I also made the meatballs in the oven as I knew they’d never fit in one go in my Dutch oven. This recipe is going into my regular rotation.

Didn’t put pats in broth

Perfect for a cold snowy evening! Made as written with one exception: added 1/2 c of whole wheat orzo since I like soups more stewy than brothy. Delicious. Would make again.

I love this recipe. I think its fabulous. Not sure why people are weirded out by the oats. They just melt away and add some body to the broth. You can use chard or other hearty green instead of spinach. Last time I added mushrooms with the onion. This time I used mustard greens. Very yummy. And if you can believe it, the store was out of feta! So I used goat cheese in the meatballs. They are delicious.

Less tumeric