This cozy winter meatball soup is loaded with nutrient-dense ingredients and super tasty. Suitable for many traditional healing diets such as Paleo and Whole 30.
I craved for a comforting bowl of my favourite Italian wedding soup, but I wanted to make a Paleo version with a twist on the ingredients, thus this winter squash and kale meatball soup was born. Layered with seasonal vegetables, nourishing bone broth and homemade meatballs with a mineral-rich secret ingredient, the soup is a warm hug on the inside to heal your mind, body and spirit on cold winter days.
Grain-Free Breadcrumb Substitute
I love my meatballs tender and moist, and there are ways to achieve the desired outcome without using the traditional breadcrumbs. To keep this winter meatball soup grain-free, I used tapioca starch mixed in water to soften the meatball mixture. The results are tender and juicy meatballs in a cozy soup that is gluten-free, Paleo and whole 30 compliant.
Depending on the flavour profile of a specific recipe, in addition to breadcrumbs and tapioca starch, you have many more options to tenderize the ground meat mixture. Here are some tried-and-true ingredients for the purpose: coconut flour, butternut squash, tofu, almond flour, etc., to name a few.
Seasonal Vegetables in Winter Meatball Soup
When we eat according to season, we are more likely to eat local, eat fresh produce, and eat produce harvested at their peak nutritional value. We often place too much focus on macronutrients by following dietary plans and counting calories, while I think micronutrients and nutrition density of our foods are just as important if not more.
Winter squash and kale are the staple in cold weather season, highly nutritious and a fun replacement for carrots and spinach in Italian wedding soup, which initially inspired this cozy winter meatball soup recipe.
Traditional wisdom also tells us, seasonal produce provides our body the right kind of nourishment and brings our physical body into alignment with the natural environment surrounding us.
In Eastern medicine, this is more poetically described in terms of dampness, dryness, cold, heat, and wind, and the balancing of all within our internal system according to external changes. Different food items have different functional effects. In addition to consuming seasonal vegetables, consuming nourishing and warming soups is very healing in the winter.
Mineral-Rich Secret Ingredient
A secret ingredient I often add into meatball mixture is desiccated beef liver powder. The beef liver powder is a whole food dietary supplement, and completely optional to you in this recipe. I like to sneak some liver powder into my cooking for my kids who aren’t fans of organ meats cooked straight-up. Desiccated beef liver powder blends well into any beef-based meatballs, like these winter meatballs in soup, and baked meatballs too.
I use Perfect desiccated liver from healthy free range cows that feed exclusively on rapidly growing green grass in rich Argentinian soil. These cows are raised entirely free of hormones and are untouched by antibiotics, chemical fertilizers or pesticides. Perfect desiccated liver is an undefatted natural source of high quality protein, amino acids, vitamin A, B vitamins, and iron.
My reader exclusive discount code “YANG10” will give you 10% off your entire purchase when shopping at Perfect Supplements. Besides their Perfect desiccated liver, I also use and love many other products, such as chicken bone broth powder, MCT oil, and hydrolyzed collagen.
Nourishing Bone Broth Base for Meatball Soup
Bone broth is an essential part of many healing diets. Whether you are on one of these diets, or simply enjoying the nourishing and comforting nature of bone broth, it’s more fun to incorporate plain bone broth into a variety of delicious soups. I much prefer using bone broth as soup base than consuming them straight to appreciate the culinary creations through all the wonderful whole food ingredients and flavours.
I used beef bone broth in this meatball soup. You can also use chicken bone broth or turkey bone broth. The nourishing bone broth base made this soup even more special, there is nothing but goodness in a cozy bowl of winter meatball soup.
Related: Nourishing Soup and Broth Recipes You Will Love
- Ginseng Chicken Soup: The Ultimate Nourishing Soup for Energy, Brain Function and Immune Support
- Loaded Vegan Curry Lentil Soup /w Winter Vegetables
- Immune-Boosting Chicken Broth Seaweed Egg Drop Soup
- Natural PMS Remedy: PMS Relief Herbal Chicken Soup (四物汤)
- Turkey Quinoa Pumpkin Soup (with a Bone Broth Base)
- Adrenal Support Chinese Herbs And Pig Stomach Soup (四神汤)
- Chinese Herbal Healing Oxtail Soup
- Instant Pot Beef Bone Broth
- Instant Pot Shiitake Ginger Chicken Bone Broth (All Purpose Asian Stock)
- Leftover Turkey Carcass Broth


Cozy Winter Meatball Soup
Ingredients
Meatball Ingredients
- 1/2 cup filtered water
- 1 tablespoon tapioca starch
- 1 pound ground beef
- 2 eggs
- 3/4 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 2 1/2 teaspoons sea salt or Himalayan pink salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2 scoops dessicated liver powder optional; use discount code "YANG10" for 10% off; 1 scoop = 1 1/4 teaspoons
Other Soup Ingredients
- 4 cups beef bone broth
- 4 cups filtered water
- 2 cups peeled and cubed butternut squash or any winter squash
- 4 cups chopped kale leaves
- salt to taste
- ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Put diced squash, bone broth and water in a large soup pot. Bring to a boil and simmer for 15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, dissolve tapioca starch in half a cup of water. Add the rest of the meatball ingredients in a separate mixing bowl. Slowly pour the tapioca water into the mixing bowl, while massaging all ingredients together until evenly combined.
- While the soup continues to simmer, make little meatballs and drop them into the broth. This process will take approximately 10 minutes.
- Add chopped kale into the soup pot, season with salt and pepper to taste. Simmer for another 10 minutes.
- Check to make sure the squash is tender. If not, boil a little longer, then turn off the heat.
Nutrition


Love all the flavors and textures and that this is so easy to make. Thanks!
I bet the broth is very tasty with all those ingredients — I’m going to make a batch for freezer to be prepared for anymore winter storms that might come our way.
I think for GAPS you could just leave the tapioca flour out. Looks nourishing and comforting!
Yum! Perfect soup for chilly days – I love it!
A soulful soup. It is just so delicious and wholesome.
This really does sound cozy! I love how few ingredients there are. I need to give it a try!
So comforting and delicious! I love the idea of adding liver powder for extra nutrients. This is so perfect on a chilly night!