Looking for a good side to pair with this soup? Try my homemade breadsticks, buttery garlic bread, or arugula salad.

Homemade Mini Meatball Soup

This meatball soup is a comforting soup reminiscent of spaghetti and meatballs but in homestyle, sip-able soup form! It's an excellent thing to prepare to warm up with after a long chilly day and it pairs beautifully with salad or bread.

For a meatball vegetable soup it can be modified to reduce the carbs and replace the pasta with more vegetables. There are also options to replace the ground beef with ground turkey or ground chicken, or use other various types of pasta (all these ideas addressed in the variations and questions below).

Just keep in mind if you plan on having extra servings you may want to consider cooking the pasta separately if you are like me and hate soggy pasta (just reduce the broth by 1 cup if doing so).

Happy fall and welcome to sweater weather and soup season!

Looking for more ways to make meatballs? Also try my super popular Italian Meatballs and the healthier Turkey Meatballs.

Greek Keftedes

Keftedes are a popular Greek dish made with ground beef, lamb or pork, bread crumbs (dried or fresh) with a liquid to soak, egg to bind, and to flavor they include onion and fresh herbs such as mint and parsley. Traditionally they are pan fried in oil but for a healthier alternative they can be oven baked (I've included both methods in the recipe).

They have delicious rich meaty flavor paired with fresh herby notes, they are beautifully browned, and you'll find them to be incredibly hearty and filling (5 meatballs may not seem like much but it's quite a generous serving).

These can be served bowl style as a main dish combining them with other sides, or stuffed in a sandwich, or you can opt to serve them as of an appetizer on a mezze platter. See serving suggestions below.

Want to try a different type of burger next? Go for my Turkey Burgers or Black Bean Burgers to switch things up sometimes.

An Easy Classic Burger Recipe

Burgers have long been a staple food in our family. So I guess you can say we are a typical American family.

Growing up we had them cooked to that hockey puck doneness, overly well, but as a kid I didn't care it was a burger. One thing my mom never got wrong though was that she never used the pre-formed patties. That's burger mistake number one in my mind.

Shaping your own burgers from fresh ground beef will give you a fair superior result.

Helpful Tips

After 20 years of experience making hamburgers I've learned several other things along the way to create the perfect burger:

• Use a high quality bun for the base as this makes up a huge portion of the completed burger. Homemade or bakery fresh is best.
• Go for a good fat ratio within the beef for tenderness (personally I prefer 85%).
• Adequately season the meat with salt, this is a big one people often miss.
• Careful not to overwork the beef as you shape the patties so it's not tough.
• Use a food thermometer to cook to the right temp so it's not undercooked and dangerously rare, or over-cooked and dry and rubbery.
• Preheat pan/grill and maintain that proper temp. Otherwise you'll end up with a pale steamed-like patty or overly charred burger.
• Cook at a fairly high temp without disturbing as it cooks, this helps create a beautifully brown crust. The only way I could achieve this in the oven was to start that pan out super hot and not turn the burger until the end, for one nicely browned side at least.
• Slice toppings fairly thin. For texture and this allows the flavor of the beef shine if we don't go overboard on toppings.
• Toast the buns so they don't get soggy and they hold up better.
• If grilling burgers don't leave them unattended. Grills can have dangerous flare ups if you don't keep an eye on things. You should also be cleaning the fat from the grill regularly.

Over the years I've also tried different things like seasoning the beef to build in other flavors, creating various sizes of burgers, and trying various toppings.

I've settled on simple, and freshest is best but you are always welcome to change things up and go more bold (unique toppings, hot sauce/ peppers, blue cheese, etc).

And of course if you are a cheeseburger fan don't forget to add the cheese after turning the burger (during cooking) for perfectly melty cheesy goodness.

If you are wondering what my personal favorite method of cooking is here it's easily the cast iron stovetop method. But the others are nice for convenience as well and I use all three.

One Pot Chili Mac

This is the perfect sweater weather recipe! It's hearty, homemade comfort food that's brimming with flavor and it's just the dinner friends and family of all ages will love on a cold day.

One thing I think you'll really appreciate about this recipe is that many of the ingredients are things you may likely already have on hand, especially if you keep a pack or two of ground beef stashed away in the freezer. I love a one-pot meal, especially for weeknight dinners.

And just like regular chili (or American goulash), it's so versatile that you can swap in other ingredients you have on hand for those you don't (see ideas below for substitutes). I've added carrots to chili before so really just about anything goes.

Then top it as you'd like with all your favorite toppings. You can't go wrong with a sprinkle of green onions and more cheese!

What is Bolognese?

Bolognese is a slow cooked, thick Italian pasta sauce made up of some type of minced meat (usually beef or pork) and tomatoes. It also includes soffritto which is simply a blend of carrot, celery and onion, and here it's used as a base to build up flavor of the sauce.

The process involves sautéing and gently simmering over the stovetop, and seasonings vary by recipe including things such as herbs, nutmeg or garlic.

Bolognese is pronounced in Italian boh-loh-nyey-zey and in English bow-luh-nayz.

Once it's lengthy simmer is over toss it with your favorite pasta and perhaps pair it with a simple green salad to complete it.

It is one of the ultimate home cooked comfort food recipes! Tended to with care that everyone will thoroughly appreciate.

Watch the Video!

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An Easy Rigatoni Recipe!

A quick dinner perfect for busy days! This Italian inspired baked rigatoni is the ultimate comfort food after a long day.

It's cheesy, beefy, generously coated in a vibrant tomato-y sauce, and full of tempting pasta carb-y goodness. Checks all the boxes for a simple yet incredibly tasty dinner.

Serve up a mostly homemade dish (we cheat with a jar of pasta sauce) that everyone can agree on. And honestly it's so easy that it's almost more of a guide than a recipe.

You'll love that you get most of those crave-able lasagna flavors here without near the the amount hassle.

Serve it with a side salad or some steamed veggies to complete the simple dinner, and maybe garlic bread if you are in an extra comfort food mood.

A classic favorite from my childhood and one of the tastiest comfort foods!

The BEST Porcupine Meatballs!

Why are they called porcupine meatballs (or as we always just called them "porcupines")?

Obviously they're no actual porcupine meat included in the ingredients, rather it's how the rice in the meatballs pokes out while cooking giving them a porcupine-like appearance.

This dish became very popular during the great depression because it only required a few basic ingredients. Traditionally they were made with ground beef, rice, onion and canned tomato soup.

My mom made these quite frequently for us growing up so now they are one of the dinners from home I crave.

I think of them as more of a "stuffed pepper meatball" because this version includes bell pepper which isn't so traditional. But I would say it's a must!

Here I adapted my Mom's recipe but have also included egg for binding, a few extra seasonings, and have browned them for a little more flavor. But if you want to keep it perfectly simple you can skip the browning and they're still exceptionally delicious.

This recipe is an adaptation of one of my all time most popular soup recipes - Pasta e Fagioli. But here we get cheesy tortellini instead of plain basic pasta!

Tortellini Soup with Beef

One of the highlights of Fall is a warm bowl of soup to brighten up a chilly day. A soup as good as this!

This Tortellini Soup makes for a dinner that people of all ages can agree on, and even picky eaters will love it!

And the majority of the ingredients in this soup are things you likely keep on hand so you can make it whenever the cravings strike.

Then round out the meal with of loaf of lazy rustic bread for dipping and a side salad with Italian dressing.

Taco Bake Casserole Recipe

I'd say tacos are easily one of the worlds best foods so of course you could never have too many ways to prepare them. Especially when it's a fun twist, and absolute comfort food like this!

Hearty corn tortillas are layered with a perfectly seasoned beef filling that's also loaded up with lots of veggies, then it's topped with tons of cheese. And it's layered again and again.

It's like a Tex-Mex lasagna and it's undeniably delicious!

And you can top it off to your hearts content with all your favorite taco toppings. Or just leave it as is and you'll still have an perfectly tasty meal in one.

Want the same flavors in soup form? Also try my Goulash Soup, another super cozy dinner!

What is Goulash?

There are several types of Goulash. One of the most popular is Hungarian goulash, which is a seasoned stew made up of meat and vegetables.

This however is a different take on beef goulash. It's a classic American goulash made up of ground beef, tomatoes, broth and pasta.

I grew up eating this dish and always loved it, and right now it's all about those comfort food classics. It's jam packed with satisfying flavors that all meld as it simmers and cooks together in one pot.

The other great thing about this recipe is that it's a cheap dish made with simple, everyday ingredients. Nothing fancy or unusual here.

It's just that hearty goodness like mom and grandma made. A dinner that never disappoints!