White Bean Soup with Fennel Chicken Meatballs and Escarole

Italian-inspired one-pot dinner

There’s something about Sunday that just makes me want to cook. Maybe it’s the fact that it’s a day that tends to be more spacious and my creativity can just flow.

Today was no exception. With grey skies, cool weather, and rain on the horizon, a cozy meal was called for. I scanned my fridge and was able to whip up this version of a soup I tend to make quite often.

It’s quick, easy to swap ingredients for the season, and makes for good leftovers. It’s sort of a playoff of an Italian wedding soup. The creamy white beans add a really nice texture and adding lots of fresh and dried herbs always makes meals more flavorful.

I tend to make a bigger batch of meatballs, so I can have them for other meals during the week. If you’re vegetarian, simply skip the meatballs and enjoy the soup with extra beans or small pasta.

Adding fresh herbs to the meatballs is key. So, whatever you can find from parsley, dill, cilantro, basil, or thyme will be great. My go-to in terms of vegetables in a soup like this is onion, celery, fennel, and carrots.

However, if you don’t have them all on hand, just use what you have. I didn’t have carrots this time, but it still turned out great.

The same goes for the escarole. It’s one of my favorite mild bitter greens that you can enjoy fresh or cooked, but if you can’t find it or don’t have it in the fridge, swap it out for kale, spinach, or radicchio.

Now, ideally, you’d have some broth stocked in the fridge or freezer to lend even more flavor, but if you don’t you can use water. The key here is to season it well with salt, herbs, and a little lemon.

I hope you enjoy this humble soup as much as I do!