In need of a hearty chicken soup to cure what ails you? This isn’t your traditional chicken soup but it has all those ingredients that make us feel good when we are ill and in need of comfort. It is inspired by matzo ball soup that I tasted in Cincinnati during the Saveur Blog Awards. I didn’t come back with an award but I did return with a wealth of food knowledge and inspiration that I plan to expand on within the next few weeks. What an amazing experience to have met so many incredible bloggers and foodies from all around the world, thank you to everyone who nominated me. Back to this chicken soup:

What makes it different? Meatballs! Honesly I’m noticing (within myself) a slight obsession with turning everything into meatballs these days. They are easy to prepare, comforting and I think people just relate to them. They aren’t pretentious and can be customized to your liking, so I hope you give these a try. If you do, please tag me @thedaleyplate #thedaleyplate on social media so that I can share your experience with my audience.

A few tips:

I prepare my own chicken broth recipe in the Instant Pot but you can absolutely use a good store-bought one. There have been a few interesting articles online where certain websites have compared brands and selected their favorites. I would try to find the best possible one.

I used a poultry seasoning blend picked up from Colonel De in Cincy, you can easily order online from them and they offer free shipping for orders over $30. That is completely optional because your favorite poultry seasoning would work just as well. You could also combine equal parts of dried parsley, rosemary, celery seed, sage, savory, marjoram, black pepper, and onion granules to achieve the same result. If you would like to use fresh herbs that’s even better, but use half the amount.

Recipe

Chicken stock:
1tbsp olive oil
1 large yellow onion, finely diced
1/2 cup chopped celery
2lbs chicken backs, wings, or legs cut up into 2 -inch pieces (use a cleaver, or ask your butcher to do it for you)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 large bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
fresh thyme sprigs
3-4 saffron threads
2 quarts boiling water

Meatballs:
1 lb ground chicken (lean)
1/2 cup superfine almond flour
2 large cloves garlic, very finely minced
1 tablespoon chopped chives
1 tablespoon poultry seasoning (Easy recipe above but if using store-bought, leave out the salt)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

To finish: 1 large carrot, peeled and sliced into discs, fresh thyme, chives, olive oil.

Special Equipment: Instant Pot, Sieve

Method:

With your Instant Pot on the sauté setting, add olive oil and cook onions and celery for 5 minutes or until onions are translucent. Add chicken pieces, salt, peppercorns, bay leaf, thyme sprigs and saffron threads. Cook for 10 minutes until chicken is browned, stirring and occasionally scraping the bottom of the Instant Pot to ensure that nothing is sticking. Pour boiling water over and place lid on. Cook on high pressure for one hour. Allow Instant Pot to release pressure naturally and strain stock into jars using a sieve. It can be stored for up to one week refrigerated and 2 months frozen, which is a great idea for Thanksgiving. The golden color is so appealing!

Gently combine meatball ingredients and use your hands to roll 1.5 -ounce ping-pong sized balls. Heat 1/2 tablespoons olive oil in a deep skillet over medium heat and cook meatballs for 10-12 minutes, turning until browned all over. The meatballs will create some sticky bits at the bottom of the pan, treasure this for it will give your soup more flavor!

Once the meatballs are cooked remove them from the skillet and set aside. Pour 4 cups of broth into the same skillet, add carrots, simmer until tender and pour into individual bowls. This is the point where you can add leafy greens like spinach or kale for more nutrition. Divide meatballs between bowls, top with cracked black pepper, freshly chopped chives, a drizzle of olive oil and fresh thyme.