Crock Pot or Instant Pot Cheesy Meatball Soup [+Video]

Warm up with this delicious and easy-to-make Cheesy Meatball Soup made in the Crock Pot or Instant Pot. Loaded with flavor and perfect for a chilly day, this recipe includes a helpful video tutorial.

When you think of meatball soup, most people picture meatballs simmering a rich tomato broth like our parmesan cheese meatball soup. This creamy soup is unexpected and made with just a few pantry staple ingredients like carrots, potatoes, garlic, and corn, then we loaded it up with allllllll cheese!

This year we are making sure we are on top of slow cooker and instant pot meals in case you’re freezing and not feeling like spending hours in the kitchen. I’m going to include instructions for cooking this meatball soup recipe on the stove top as well.

Ingredients for Creamy Meatball Soup

I love a good hearty soup full of veggies, meatballs and cheese! This easy soup recipe checks all the boxes. Here is what you will need…

• Meatballs: We just buy a package at the store to keep it easy, but you can make meatballs at home if you want.
  • NOTE: If you make meatballs from scratch, you will need: garlic, basil, salt, pepper, breadcrumbs, milk, an egg, and lean ground beef.
• Butter: used to sauté the veggies
• Vegetables: garlic, carrots, celery, potatoes and corn
  • PRO TIP: Feel free to change up the veggies if you want…spinach, kale, green beans, or peas would all be delicious too.
• Soup Base: beef broth, whole milk, Worcestershire sauce, and Tabasco
• Salt and Black Pepper: adds flavor
• Cornstarch: thickens the soup
• Cheeses: sharp cheddar and Monterey Jack

The measurements for all the ingredients can be found in the recipe card at the end of this post. You can also save and print the recipe there.

How to Make Cheesy Meatball Soup – Slow Cooker

While you can totally just dump this all in a crock pot and wait 8 hours to build the right texture and flavor it’s not the way I do it.

I know, you don’t want to dirty another pan, but it’s quick and easy and the flavor will be worth it.

1. Heat a dutch oven or large skillet over medium high heat and add the butter. Once it’s melted add the onions and cook, stirring occasionally until tender, about 5 minutes.
2. Add the carrots, celery and garlic and cook for another 3 minutes.
3. Throw in your frozen meatballs (unless you really want to go through the work of cooking homemade) just to get all of that flavor browning on them.
4. Dump everything but the cornstarch and cheese into a slow cooker and put it on low for 6 hours or high for 3.
5. Right before serving, combine the cheese and cornstarch in a separate bowl and then mix to combine.
6. Add the cheese mixture to the soup and stir until the cheese is melted and the soup has thickened.
7. Serve with a sprinkle of fresh parsley for garnish and a good hearty bread!

Watch How This Cheesy Meatball Soup is Made…

How to Make Cheesy Meatball Soup – Instant Pot

1. Turn the instant pot to sauté and follow the beginning directions right in the instant pot.
2. Push cancel.
3. Add the remaining ingredients (except the milk and cream) and reset the instant pot to high pressure for 15 minutes.
4. Add the lid and turn the valve to seal.
5. Allow a 10 minute natural release and then push cancel.
6. Turn to sauté mode again and once boiling stir in the cornstarch, milk (or cream) and cheese.
7. Serve with bread!

How to Make Cheesy Meatball Soup – Stove Top

Out of all three cooking methods, this is the method that I actually prefer, but sometimes you just need options for the slow cooker and Instant Pot. I still use those options if the schedule for the day works better with a slow cooker or the Instant Pot. To cook it on the stove top, do the following steps:

1. In a large dutch oven, add the butter over medium heat. Once the butter has melted, add the onions and cook until tender.
2. Add the garlic, celery and carrots and cook for about 5 minutes.
3. Add the meatballs and brown them on each side.
4. Pour in the rest of the ingredients (except the cornstarch and cheeses) and let it simmer for 30-45 minutes or until the potatoes are tender.
5. Combine the cornstarch and cheeses and add just before serving stirring in until it is melted.

Slow Cooker Soup versus Instant Pot Soup

A slow cooker will allow more flavors to come out and the soup to be a little thicker.

Instant pots collect more steam and therefore water so you could end up with more liquid than you wanted.

If you make this soup, make sure you also try our instant pot chicken noodle soup. Our younger daughter is OBSESSED.

Also, if you go with the Instant Pot, add the milk in the last step (step 3 in the instruction). Adding milk before the pressure cooking can result in curdled milk.

Why Meatballs?

Meatballs make this cheesy soup a little more hearty and on a cold day that’s been busy with errands it’s kind of nice to get something more substantial in your soup.

Plus, the flavor and texture not only gives you something to bite while eating but it also brings more to the soup than just a plain, no seasonings added meat.

Can You Use Ground Beef or Stew Meat?

If you don’t have meatballs on hand you can cook up ground beef in a pan or use stew meat.

Because neither come flavored I’d add:

• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

Now that I mention it, Italian sausage would would be delicious in this too!

Is It Okay to Put Raw Meatballs in Soup?

Surprisingly enough you can totally add raw meatballs to a soup. But that’s usually for a stove top method as you get the soup hot and boiling and drop in the meatballs.

How Do You Get Onion Smell Off Your Hands?

Ugh, I hate when your hands smell like onions and garlic all day and night.

Wet your hands with water and rub your hands all over a stainless steel sink faucet and the smell will go away. Or you can buy this stainless steel odor absorber that’s shaped like a bar of soap. It’s only $8 and totally worth it.

Storage and Reheating

Leftovers of this soup will keep for up to a week stored in the fridge in an airtight container.

This is a really good soup to freeze because you can just wait to add the cornstarch and cheese. Make the recipe as written but don’t add the cornstarch and cheese. Wait for the soup to cool, add the soup to a freezer container or bag and freeze for up to 5 months.

Reheating frozen soup is not just dumping it in a hot pan. Instead, put the soup in the fridge or put the bag in a bowl of regular water-not hot or cold. Allow it to defrost and then reheat on the stove. Bring to a soft boil and add the cheese at this point.

Nothing says comfort quite like a creamy meatball soup loaded with veggies and cheese! Choose the cooking method that best fits with your schedule and it’s cheesy meatball soup for dinner tonight!

More Cozy Soups to Get You Through the Winter…

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