Asian Meatball Soup with Vegetables

This keto Asian meatball soup low carb recipe combines two things I love: Asian flavors and meatballs–made with scallion+ginger & ground chicken, soy sauce, and a little binder (in this case, coconut flour plus egg), cooked in a lovely broth with garlic and more ginger, and fresh thin sliced veggies (radish, cabbage, mushroom, more scallion, and julienne red bell pepper). I tossed some snipped cilantro on top at serving time.

I had ground chicken to use, and all the makings for a bowl of Asian-inspired soup and I had a craving, so on a whim, I decided to make some.  I scoured my low carb recipe bookmarks and found Mellissa’s Potsticker Meatball Asian Noodle Soup recipe over at I Breathe, I’m Hungry, and was inspired to dig in! I subbed the almond flour for coconut flour just because I felt like it, and I left out the shiritaki noodles because I don’t use them and just added an extra cup of sliced cabbage, and some sliced mushrooms. I used a dash of Worcestershire sauce because I don’t care for fish sauce, and forgot the lime.  So I realize it’s not the same dish at all now, but I was very pleased with the result. I like heat, so I will probably float a couple of jalapeño slices in it next time I make it!

INGREDIENTS

For the meatballs:
1 pound ground chicken (turkey or pork will also work great)
1 large egg
1 teaspoon grated ginger
3 tablespoons coconut flour
3 tablespoons scallions, chopped
1 tablespoon soy sauce, tamari, or coconut aminos

For the soup:
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon grated or minced ginger
1 teaspoon garlic, minced
4 cups chicken broth (I used homemade turkey bone broth)
2 cup water
2 tablespoons soy sauce, tamari, or coconut aminos
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 teaspoon salt (I use pink Himalayan salt)
3 cups green cabbage, sliced thinly
2 medium radishes, julienne cut
1/2 sweet red bell pepper, julienne cut
2 medium baby bella (cremini) mushroooms, sliced thinly
1 whole scallion (green and white parts), chopped
Squeeze of lime and cilantro leaves to taste, for garnish

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 375°F

In a medium mixing bowl, mix the ground meat, egg, coconut flour, soy sauce/aminos, and scallions until just combined. With wet hands or a small scoop, form small meatballs (don’t overwork like I did, or they will be smooth and rubbery). Place them evenly spaced out, on a parchment-lined or greased baking sheet, and bake 10-12 minutes, or until browned at least on one side. don’t worry if they are underdone, but browned…they will finish cooking in the soup.

Meantwile, prepare the vegetables, garlic, and garnishes.

In a medium sized soup pot, heat the oil and sauté the ginger and garlic until fragrant. Add in the broth and water, the salt, soy sauce/aminos, and red pepper flakes, and bring to almost a boil. Add the meatballs and let them finish cooking until tender. Bring the broth back up to the boil just before serving.

In a bowl, place a portion of the meatballs, and add in handfuls each, of the sliced vegetables.  Pour a serving of the broth over the meat and vegetables, top with scallion, cilantro and a squeeze of lime.

Notes:

If you don’t want to heat up the house with the oven, you could probably just fry these meatballs up in the soup pot in a bit of coconut or avocado oil, turn them over and then scoop them out before you sauté the ginger and garlic. I think I’ll do that next time. The point is just to brown them a bit before they soak up a bit of the lovely broth and finish cooking/get tender. Of course, results will vary between chicken, turkey, and pork meatballs.

This is a great dish if you want to serve a bunch of people some soup at once. If you’re like me (single), you may find it much easier to make this when you need to use up leftover small amounts of veggies, and not make the whole recipe all at once. I had to decrease the measurements down by a few servings so as not to have chopped veggies lying around too long in the fridge after making this. I don’t care to eat the same meals every day, and I was quick to make this without realizing it’s a pour-over soup, not a dump-it-all-together-and-cook soup, where I know I could pack up leftovers easily all together. Lesson learned.

If using white chicken or turkey add 1 tablespoon coconut oil or sesame oil when making the meatballs – omit if using dark meat. The light meat tends to be much drier and needs a bit of fat for best results (in my opinion).

Hungry for more real food? There are 20 soup recipes in my ebook, Diabetic to Ketogenic: Reclaim Your Health With Real Food