This Thai-Inspired Meatball Soup is what dreams are made of. A rich, umami-filled broth filled with perfectly flavored meatballs, delicious bok choy, and slurp-worthy rice noodles. This recipe comes together in 30 minutes and you need to make it NOW.
So, surprise surprise, meatballs aren’t really traditional Thai food. Sometimes, though, fusions work…. And in this case, they really do. It might not be normal to eat a meatball and bok choy soup in Thailand, but THAT DOESN’T MEAN IT’S NOT YUMMY. In fact, this Thai-inspired Meatball Soup (if I do say so myself) is downright dee-lish-ous.
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A Partnership with Mighty Spark
So here’s the story: the wonderful human beings at Mighty Spark Food sent me a cooler full of yummy ingredients to try. It was filled to the brim with exciting products, like fun-flavored Chicken Snack Sticks, Queso Fresco & Jalapeño Turkey Patties, and (the best part) different flavored ground chicken blends.
It took a while to figure out what I wanted to make with the Sweet Thai Ground Chicken blend, but finally, it came to me… Thai Meatball Soup with Bok Choy and Rice Noodles. Okay, it may not be a soup that you’d normally whip up in your kitchen, but I’m telling you, it’s so worth it. And actually, it’s very simple in terms of effort and workload. My favorite kind of recipe!
Making the Broth of Thai-Ispired Meatball Soup
The broth of this soup is easy to doctor up, and the few ingredients you add to it make all the difference. The chili paste, fish sauce, and coconut milk transforms your soup from a simple chicken broth to a creamy, warm, umami-packed soup that surprises your tastebuds.
How to Keep your Noodles from Absorbing the Broth
I learned an important lesson when making this Thai-Inspired Meatball Soup. Homemade soup with noodles doesn’t mix. If any of you have ever made a homemade soup with noodles before, you’ve found that as time goes on, the broth in your soup starts to disappear. Slowly, the pasta in the soup absorbs the broth and leaves you with a pot of soggy rice noodles.
The solution to this is simple. Don’t add the noodles into your soup. Instead, right before you serve your soup, cook up a pot of rice noodles. Drain the water from the pot. Each guest can fill their bowl with their desired amount of noodles and then spoon the soup over top. This way, each bowl is the perfect combination of broth, meatballs, and pasta!
This recipe is one I am going to make over and over again in my house. In fact, writing this post has me dreaming about it right now. Don’t forget to check out Mighty Spark’s page to purchase your Thai Spice Blend and read about their awesome mission of ending hunger!
If you liked this recipe, please leave a review to let me know! Don’t forget to also check out this Escudella Stew from Andorra and this Mantiabour Soup from Armenia! And, as always, if you make this recipe, tag @TheForeignFork on Facebook or Instagram and hashtag #TheForeignFork. Thanks for stoppin by!
Thai-Inspired Meatball Soup
Ingredients
Meatball Ingredients:
- 1 lb Mighty Spark Thai Chicken blend
- ½ tbsp fish sauce
- ½ tsp chili paste
- ¾ cup bread crumbs, plain
Soup Ingredients:
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 1 shallot, finely chopped
- 6 green onions , with whites chopped
- 1 tbsp fish sauce
- ½ tsp chili paste or more to taste
- 7 cups chicken broth
- 1 cup coconut milk
- 1 head of bok choy, with leafy greens roughly chopped. Do not use the white stems.
- 6 oz Rice noodles
Instructions
To Make the Meatballs:
- In a medium bowl, combine the meatball ingredients together with your hands.
- Roll the meatballs into golf-ball sized balls. The recipe should yield about 20-22.
- Cover the raw meatballs and chill in the fridge for a half an hour
To Make the Soup:
- Once the meatballs have been chilled for a half an hour, it’s time to make the soup. In a large pot over medium heat, heat 1 tbsp of sesame oil.
- Add shallots. Cook for three minutes.
- Add the green onions. Cook for two minutes.
- Add fish sauce and chili paste to the shallot and green onions. Let cook for about 1-2 minutes.
- Pour the chicken broth and coconut milk into the pot. Bring to a boil.
- One the broth is boiling, gently add the meatballs into the pot. Allow to cook for about 10 minutes.
- Add bok choy into the pot and cook for 5 minutes. Allow the bok choy time to wilt, similar to spinach.
- In a separate pot, boil water and cook the rice noodles. When it comes time to serve the soup, add the amount of noodles that you want into your bowl and top with the soup!
- You can also top the soup with red pepper flakes, sesame seeds, and cilantro! Enjoy!
- Leave a comment on this post letting me know what you thought of this recipe!
Verne says
I made this in the instant pot…when I started this recipe I thought that google had sent me to instant pot recipes…we will see how mine turns out..just doing a few things differently’
The Foreign Fork says
Whoops! lol. How did it turn out?
Rory says
Learn to make Thai pork balls and this would actually be close to common Thai street food.
May says
Sounds delicious. Why do you recommend not using the whites of the bok choy?
The Foreign Fork says
Hi May! Just because with the cooking method of the bok choy in this recipe, the whites wouldnt cook in time (they wont get soft as quickly as the green parts). If you want to boil the whites the whole time, you can! Just don’t add them in at the same time as the greens or they won’t be ready
Hairstyles says
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Alexandria Drzazgowski says
Hi There,
I appreciate you reaching out to let me know! I’ve tested my site on Internet Explorer and I can’t personally find anything that isn’t working…. what problems are you experiencing? I’d like to know so that I can fix them!
Rina Risper says
I could not find the Mighty Spark Thai Chicken Blend even though it was supposed to be at a local store. Maybe an alternative meat recipe for those who cannot find it. I have dedicated myself to using online recipes no matter how complicated.
Alexandria Drzazgowski says
Hi Rina,
I totally agree with that suggestion… It’s something that’s been on my to-do list for a while, but I’m glad that you brought it up. That will push me put it at the top of my list! Stay tuned, I will try to come up with an alternative this week 🙂
Rina N Risper says
Thank you. I did make my own version of Thai meatballs. It was delicious but I will surely make it again when the recipe posts.
Katie Wheeler says
This Thai soup really blew me and my partner away! It provides all of the comfort food, night in around the fire feelings that classic chicken noodle soup does, but adds its own unique umami broth flavors. Suffice to say I had three bowls in one sitting.
We will definitely be making this soup again in the near future! Great job, Alexandria!
Alexandria Drzazgowski says
I’m so glad that you loved the soup, Katie!! I’ve been thinking about making it again myself lol. Thanks for leaving a comment 🙂
Nancy Mooradian says
This soup is delicious! I followed the recipe exactly as written, and it came out great! I was a little worried at first because I am not a fan of typical curry, and the chicken blend had a strong curry flavor. However, with the soup broth and ingredients, it’s not too strong and I really enjoyed it!
Alexandria Drzazgowski says
Yes! I’m so happy that you tried it! I had a similar fear of the curry, but I really like Mighty Spark’s blend. I think the coconut milk in the recipe also does a lot to even out the curry taste. Thanks so much for leaving a comment!
Nancy Mooradian says
And I forgot to mention that I love the tip to keep the noodles separate! I definitely would have added them all and had to make more broth for my lunch today if I would have mixed them all up together!
Alexandria Drzazgowski says
I definitely had to learn that lesson the hard way! I couldn’t figure out why my homemade soups kept drying up…. Turns out, noodles are thirsty lol. Im glad it helped you out!!