Want to make hearty and flavourful soup? This Ninja Speedi Italian meatball soup recipe is quick & easy and comes out so delicious in 25 minutes from prep to end!
Soup makes such great meals!
It can be an appetizer, lunch or dinner.
And it’s such great comfort food especially when it’s cold outside.
Plus, it’s a great way to incorporate vegetables into your meal.
But soup can take a long time to cook, especially when you want to put all kinds of ingredients.
Enter Ninja Speedi!
I was able to make this Italian meatball soup with flavourful tomato broth, beef meatballs and all kinds of vegetables all in one pot using the Ninja Speedi, and I’m here to show you how.

Italian Meatball Soup
Ah, the comforting and savory delight that is meatball soup!
In its simplest form, meatball soup centers around the flavorful meatballs, simmered with a variety of vegetables and ingredients.
In this Ninja Speedi recipe, I’m making meatball soup in Italian style.
Traditionally, meatball soup is crafted with a clear and delicate broth.
Here, we’re using marinara sauce, a classic Italian sauce, to make a rich tomato broth.
And to elevate the soup, we’re adding pearl couscous, a small pasta that’s been part of Italian culinary and a staple in Sicily.
A variety of vegetables and Italian seasonings are used for the broth for richness, flavour and depth.
Travel to Italy at home with this Ninja Speedi Italian Meatball Recipe!

Why Make Italian Meatball Soup With Ninja Speedi
My Italian meatball soup with the Ninja Speedi takes meatball soup to a whole other level!
Unlike my Instant Pot Albondigas Soup recipe, the meatballs here aren’t simmered with the soup.
They are air fried to provide a crispy dimension to the soup instead of the fall apart kind when simmered.
Air frying keeps the juices inside the meatball as it sears the outside.
You might be thinking: But simmering lets the meatball flavours go into the soup.

Don’t worry!
This is also covered because we’re not air frying the meatballs separately from cooking the soup when using the Ninja Speedi.
Using the Speedi Meals feature on the Ninja Speedi, the entire unit steams first.
And, as the meatballs steam, the beef fat and some juices would fall from the crisper tray to the inner pot where the soup lies, infusing the soup with the juices.
You’re going to love this Ninja Speedi Italian Meatball Soup!

What Makes This Ninja Speedi Recipe So Good?
This is why the Ninja Speedi Italian Meatball Soup recipe is so good:
- Easy Recipe: This quick and easy meal is pretty much “dump and push start” recipe. The soup is just a dump and mix, and the meatball is mix, form and dump.
- Set and Forget: Once you’ve placed the ingredients, the Ninja Speedi does the rest without you having to do anything until it’s done. This gives you more time to do other things while you wait.
- Easy Cleaning: You don’t need much kitchen accessories to make this Ninja Speedi recipe, and the Ninja Speedi is very easy to clean after.
- Flexible: Though I made Italian style meatball soup, it doesn’t need to be! You can basically use this recipe as guide for your own Ninja Speedi meatball soup recipe by changing meat, herbs, spices, etc.
- Crispy: Unlike traditional meatball soup where the meatballs are simmered with the soup, the Ninja Speedi air fries the meatballs making it crispy while still giving the essence to the soup by the meatball drips as it cooks.
- Homemade: Surprise your family and friends with this amazing homemade soup that’s so easy to make! If you want to reduce further steps or time, you can use frozen meatballs instead of homemade meatballs.
- You can enjoy as a main course or appetizer! Or it can be your soup course for a prix fixe or tasting menu.

What You Need For Ninja Speedi Italian Meatball Soup
Equipment
I used the Ninja Speedi Rapid Cooker & Air Fryer for this recipe, which makes it easy to steam and air fry together.
Ninja Speedi is such a unique air fryer type because its Speedi Meals feature allows you to make “steamed then air fried” meals in one shot with its dual layer rapid cooker functionality.
So you can have your steamed food (the soup) at the bottom and air fried food (the meatballs) on top, cooking at the same time.
You can also use Ninja Speedi accessories like air fryer pot so you can remove and eat from the pot directly, or the gripper to easily help you remove the crisper tray.

Ingredients
- Ground Beef – used for the meatballs. You can use other kinds of meat like turkey or pork
- Italian Bread Crumbs – gives texture to the meatballs and helps the meatball retain moisture and tenderness
- Shredded Parmesan Cheese – adds flavour to the soup and meatballs, and makes the soup thicker in consistency.
- Onion Powder – for seasoning on the soup and meatballs
- Garlic Salt – for seasoning on soup and meatballs
- Garlic Powder – for seasoning on meatballs
- Worcestershire Powder – adds extra umami flavour
- Italian Seasoning – for more seasoning using common Italian herbs and spices
- Marinara Sauce – for the rich tomato base for the broth
- Pearl Couscous – a healthy pasta to add carbs to the soup. You can replace with your preferred short pasta
- Water
- Diced Onions – adds depth and sweetness to the soup
- Chopped Kale – adds earthiness to the soup
- Diced Carrots – adds sweetness to the soup
- Diced Celery – adds bitterness to the soup
- Minced Garlic – adds flavour and aroma to the soup
- Soy Sauce – adds richness to the soup
- Vegetable Stock Powder – for the soup

How To Make Italian Meatball Soup in the Ninja Speedi
Here’s how to make the quick and easy Ninja Speedi Italian Meatball Soup!
Add pearl couscous, kale, carrots, onions, celery, garlic to the Ninja Speedi inner pot.

Add vegetable stock powder, soy sauce and marinara sauce.
Add parmesan cheese, onion powder, garlic salt and Italian seasoning.

Add water.
Mix everything well until sauce and seasonings combine.
Make sure the pearl couscous are fully submerged in the water.

In a large bowl, add ground (or minced) beef, parmesan cheese, Italian breading, onion powder, garlic salt, garlic powder, Worcestershire powder and Italian seasoning.
Mix everything until combined.

Pull out the legs of the Ninja Speedi Crisper Tray.
Place the Crisper Tray on the elevated position in the pot.
Using your damp hands, make 10 meatballs (equally sized) and place them on top of the Crisper Tray.

Close the Ninja Speedi lid and turn the unit on.
Flip the switch to Rapid Cooker and select Speedi Meals.
Set the temperature to 350F and time to 12 minutes.
Press Start.
Note: It takes around 5 minutes to build steam before crisping.

When cooking is complete, use a silicone-tipped tong to grab the center handle and remove the crisper tray from the Ninja Speedi.
Look how crispy the meatballs are!
It adds a nice layer of texture with the soup.
I used 15 minute run-time to make it crispier, but 12 minutes is the normal.

Some of the beef fat will drip into the soup, enhancing the flavour!
You can add more water if you want the soup to be less thick.

Stir the soup to mix.

Scoop the soup into bowl and top with meatballs.
Enjoy this Ninja Speedi Italian meatball soup!
If you want to make it more photogenic or Instagrammable, sprinkle some shredded parmesan cheese on top!
Make some Air Fryer Garlic Bread as a side dish.

Tips for Ninja Speedi Italian Meatball Soup
Here are some tips for the Ninja Speedi Italian Meatball Soup recipe:
- Don’t use 100% lean so the meatballs don’t become too dry.
- But also don’t use very fatty ground beef so the soup doesn’t accumulate too much grease.
- Aim for 70-80% fat so it adds a nice balance of flavour and juiciness.
- You can buy mirepoix instead of buying onions, carrots and celery separately.
- For a thicker (less soupy/liquid) soup and crispier meatballs, set the Speedi Meals timer for 15 minutes.
- Buy frozen meatballs if you don’t want to make them from scratch and run Speedi Meals for 15 minutes.
- For an even healthier Italian meatball soup, use turkey instead of beef since turkey is generally lower in saturated fat than beef.
- If you don’t or can’t find couscous, you can use a different small pasta.

Other Quick and Easy Recipes You’ll Love
Or check out these other Ninja Speedi recipes and Easy Recipes!
Can You Use Speedi Recipe on the Ninja Combi?
With the Ninja Combi All-in-One Multicooker, Oven and Air Fryer, you might be wondering if Ninja Speedi recipes will work for the Combi as well.
I don’t have a Ninja Combi, but, on researching the functionalities and customer feedbacks who have both, here are my findings:
- Ninja Combi seems to be just an updated version of the Ninja Speedi.
- The Combi basically has the same features as Ninja Speedi.
- It’s just that Ninja Combi is bigger and in a oven-style, loading from the front instead of the top.
- Instead of Speedi Meals, you use Combi Meals function.
- The Speedi has inner pot and crisper tray and the Ninja Combi has a bottom pan and bake tray for the two-level cooking.
- Whereas the Speedi is good cooking meals for 1-2 people, the Combi is good for families and parties.
- Customers who have used both Speedi and Combi say the recipes are interchangeable because of the same setup and features.
So it seems like Ninja Speedi Recipes can be Ninja Combi Recipes.
If you’ve tried a recipe in both Speedi and Combi, let me know your experience.
Ninja Speedi Italian Meatball Soup Recipe
Be sure to bookmark/save/pin this post so you can easily make Italian meatball soup in the Ninja Speedi Rapid Cooker & Air Fryer!
I would love to see how this recipe worked for you! Please share your creations with me on social media and tag me so I can check them out: @TravellingFoodie on Instagram & Facebook and @TravellinFoodie on Twitter.

Ninja Speedi Italian Meatball Soup
This Ninja Speedi Italian Meatball Soup is a delicious Italian soup that simmers kale and a variety of vegetables in a comforting broth with meatballs, couscous and parmesan. An easy Speedi Meals recipe!
Ingredients
Italian Meatballs
- 250 grams Ground Beef
- 25 grams Italian Bread Crumbs
- 14 grams Shredded Parmesan Cheese
- 13 grams Onion Powder
- 8 grams Garlic Salt
- 5 grams Garlic Powder
- 5 grams Worcestershire Powder
- 4 grams Italian Seasoning
Italian Soup
- 132 grams Marinara Sauce
- 120 grams Pearl Couscous
- 3 cups Water
- 66 grams Diced Onions
- 56 grams Chopped Kale
- 33 grams Diced Carrots
- 33 grams Diced Celery
- 14 grams Shredded Parmesan Cheese
- 3 Garlic Cloves, minced
- 1.5 teaspoon Soy Sauce
- 8 grams Onion Powder
- 8 grams Garlic Salt
- 7.5 grams Vegetable Stock Powder
- 4 grams Italian Seasoning
Instructions
- Add all of the Italian Soup ingredients into the Ninja Speedi inner pot.
- Mix and combine well, making sure all the pearl couscous is submerged in water.
- Pull out the legs of the Crisper Tray, then place the tray in the elevated position in the pot.
- In a large bowl, add and combine all the ingredients for Italian meatballs.
- Make 10 equally sized meatballs with the mixture and place them on the Crisper Tray.
- Close the Ninja Speedi lid, flip the switch to Rapid Cooker and select Speedi Meals.
- Set the temperature to 350F and time to 12 minutes, and press Start. Note: It takes around 5 minutes to build steam before crisping.
- When cooking is complete, use silicone-tipped tong to grab the center handle and remove the tray from the unit.
- Stir the soup to mix.
- To assemble, with two bowls, scoop soup evenly into bowls and top with 5 meatballs.
Notes
Here are some tips for the Ninja Speedi Italian Meatball Soup recipe:
- You can buy mirepoix instead of buying onions, carrots and celery separately.
- If you want the soup thicker (less soupy/liquid) and meatballs crispier, set timer for 15 minutes.
- If you don't want to make the meatballs from scratch, you can buy frozen meatballs and run Speedi Meals for 15 minutes.
Recommended Products
As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.
-
Ninja Speedi Rapid Cooker & Air Fryer
-
Mini Oven Gloves Silicone Mini Gloves
-
Vegetable Bouillon Powder
-
Organic Chopped Kale
-
Organic Diced Onion
-
RiceSelect Organic Pearl Couscous
-
Marinara Pasta and Pizza Sauce by Yo Mama's Foods
-
McCormick Italian Seasoning
-
Worcestershire Sauce Powder
-
McCormick Garlic Powder
-
McCormick Garlic Salt
-
McCormick Onion Powder
-
Shredded Parmesan Cheese
-
Italian Style Seasoned Bread Crumbs
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 2 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 678Total Fat: 29gSaturated Fat: 11gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 13gCholesterol: 123mgSodium: 3372mgCarbohydrates: 56gFiber: 8gSugar: 8gProtein: 49g
Please note that nutrition information you see is provided and automatically calculated by Nutritionix. This may vary depending on the specific ingredients that you use. To ensure the most accurate information, I suggest entering your specific ingredients into a nutrition calculator.
Hope this Ninja Speedi Italian meatball soup recipe gives you an idea on what to have for lunch, dinner or appetizer!
It’s a hearty and delicious comfort food especially when the weather is cold.