Winter Recipes – Page 4

Chicken Korma

This Chicken Korma recipe is easy and lively with so much flavor! Tender chicken breast cooks in a creamy luscious yogurt sauce infused with fragrant Indian spices.

This Holiday Crunch Salad is bursting with flavor! Made with quinoa, pomegranate seeds, avocado, toasted almonds, and fresh parsley, it’s a festive, healthy, vegan, gluten-free salad, perfect for the holiday table!

Holiday Crunch Salad - w/ Quinoa, Pomegranate Seeds, avocado, parsley and toasted Almonds...a healthy vegan gluten -free salad to your holiday table! | #vegansalad #healthysalad #christmassalad #pomegranate #quinoa #quinoasalad |www.feastingathome. com

This Holiday Crunch Salad is bursting with flavor! Made with quinoa, pomegranate seeds, avocado, toasted almonds, and fresh parsley, it's a festive, healthy, vegan, gluten-free salad, perfect for the holiday table!

Italian Wedding Soup

This cozy Italian Wedding Soup recipe features tender and flavorful meatballs, vegetables, and pasta in a delicious chicken broth.

The post Italian Wedding Soup appeared first on Budget Bytes.

Chicken noodle soup is great and all, but have you tried Italian Wedding Soup?? This classic soup shares a lot of the same cozy ingredients as chicken noodle soup, but with one huge advantage: tender and flavorful homemade meatballs! The meatballs are packed with herbs and spices that flavor the soup and make this Italian Wedding Soup recipe extra special. So if you want to change up your winter soup game, give this Italian Wedding Soup a try! I think you’re really going to like it.

Overhead view of a bowl full of Italian Wedding Soup with bread on the side.

What Is Italian Wedding Soup?

This hearty soup is a combination of vegetables, greens, meatballs, and pasta all simmered in chicken broth to make an incredibly flavorful and filling soup. And, contrary to how it may sound, Italian Wedding Soup is not named so because it’s typically served at weddings. The name is actually a mistranslation of its Italian name, minestra maritata, which translates directly to “marriage soup,” referring to the marriage of ingredients in the soup.

There’s also some disagreement over whether this dish originated in Italy or Spain, as it is popular in both regions of the world. As with most dishes that have been around for generations, there are many different variations, and today we’re making my interpretation based on what I have available, but if you’d like to make an authentic Italian Wedding Soup, check out this version from The Kitchen Whisperer.

Here’s what you’ll need to make a big cozy pot of Italian Wedding Soup:

Vegetables: This soup starts with a classic mix of soup vegetables like onion, garlic, carrots, and celery. Later I add in some fresh spinach, although traditional Italian wedding soup usually uses escarole as the green element.
Chicken Broth: Chicken broth makes up the bulk of this soup, so make sure you’re using a good quality broth or stock that has a lot of flavor. We like to use Better Than Bouillon to make broth because it’s inexpensive and has tons of flavor.
Pasta: You can use any small-shaped pasta here. We had some leftover pearl couscous in the studio that I wanted to use up, so I used that, but you could also use acini de pepe (very similar to large pearl couscous), orzo, ditalini, pastina, or any other tiny-shaped pasta.
Italian Sausage: I use Italian sausage as the base for my meatballs because it’s already pre-seasoned and makes every meatball super flavorful.
Breadcrumbs: Breadcrumbs help bind the meatballs and keep them moist and tender.
Egg: Egg combines with the breadcrumbs to act as a binder for the meatballs.
Parmesan: Parmesan gives extra umami and flavor to the meatballs.
Seasoning: To keep things simple, we season both the meatballs and soup with a pre-made Italian seasoning blend, plus a little extra salt and pepper as needed!

What Else Can I Add?

If you want to “soup up” your Italian Wedding Soup and take it to the next level, try adding a few Parmesan rinds to the soup as it simmers for extra umami in the broth, or top each bowl with a heaping dose of freshly grated Parmesan. Use homemade chicken stock for the broth to make this soup extra special, or you can also experiment with thickening the broth with a whisked egg. One final twist that I love doing with a lot of soups is adding a squeeze of fresh lemon at the end to brighten it all up!

How to Cook the Meatballs

You have a few options when it comes to cooking the meatballs for this soup. The easiest method, and the method that I think creates the juiciest meatballs, is to simply add the raw meatballs to the simmering soup and allow them to simmer in the liquid until cooked through (about 10-15 min.).

The only drawback to boiling the meatballs in the soup is that this method does not create any pretty browned color on the surface of the meatballs. If the appearance of the meatballs is important to you, you can sauté the meatballs in a hot skillet with some butter until browned on the outside, then add them to the soup and simmer until cooked through.

Italian Wedding Soup

This cozy Italian Wedding Soup recipe features tender and flavorful meatballs, vegetables, and pasta in a delicious chicken broth.

Course Dinner, Lunch

Cuisine Italian

Total Cost $8.89 Recipe / $1.48 serving

Prep Time 30

Cook Time 30

Total Time 1

Servings (1.5 cups each)

Calories 448kcal

Author Beth – Budget Bytes

Equipment

Dutch Oven

Ingredients

Meatballs

1/4 cup plain breadcrumbs $0.30
1/4 cup grated Parmesan $0.44
1/2 tsp Italian seasoning $0.05
1/8 tsp salt $0.01
1/8 tsp black pepper $0.01
1 lb. ground Italian sausage (hot, mild, or sweet) $3.99
1 large egg $0.11

Soup

1 yellow onion $0.32
2 cloves garlic $0.16
3 carrots $0.47
3 stalks celery $0.67
2 Tbsp olive oil $0.32
1 tsp Italian seasoning $0.10
6 cups chicken broth $0.63
1/2 cup small pasta* $0.16
4 cups fresh spinach $1.15

Instructions

Begin by making the meatballs. Combine the breadcrumbs, Parmesan, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper in a bowl.
Add the Italian sausage, breadcrumb mixture, and egg to a large bowl and use your hands to mix them together until evenly combined. Divide and shape the mixture into 32 small meatballs, about 1 Tbsp each. Set the meatballs aside.
Finely dice the onion, carrots, and celery, and mince the garlic. Add the olive oil to a large soup pot and heat over medium. Add the onion and garlic and sauté until the onion is soft. Add the carrot and celery and continue to sauté for a few minutes more, or until the celery begins to soften.
Add the Italian seasoning and chicken broth to the soup, stir to combine, then place a lid on top and bring it up to a boil.
Once the soup is boiling, add the meatballs to the soup and continue to boil until the meatballs are cooked through (about 10 minutes). Or, if you prefer browned meatballs, you can cook them in a skillet with butter first over medium heat until browned on the outside, then transfer to the boiling soup to finish cooking.
Add the pasta to the soup and continue to boil until the pasta is tender (about 7 minutes).
Finally, stir in the fresh spinach until wilted. Give the soup a taste and adjust the seasonings to your liking. Serve hot and enjoy!

See how we calculate recipe costs here.

Notes

*Use any very small-shaped pasta like acini de pepe, pearl couscous, orzo, ditalini, pastina, or any other tiny-shaped pasta. If using a slightly larger pasta, you may want to increase the quantity to one cup.

Nutrition

Side view of Italian Wedding Soup in a bowl.

How to Make Italian Wedding Soup – Step by Step Photos

Prepare the meatballs first. In a bowl, combine ¼ cup plain breadcrumbs, ¼ grated Parmesan cheese, ½ tsp Italian seasoning, ⅛ tsp salt, and ⅛ tsp pepper.

Add one pound of ground Italian sausage (hot, sweet, or mild) to a large bowl along with the breadcrumb mixture, and one large egg. Use your hands to mix these ingredients until evenly combined.

Shaped meatballs on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

Divide and shape the mixture into 32 small meatballs, about 1 Tbsp each. Set the meatballs aside.

Chopped Vegetables for Italian Wedding Soup on a cutting board.

Chop one yellow onion, finely dice three stalks of celery and three carrots, and mince two cloves of garlic

Cooked vegetables in the soup pot with Italian seasoning and chicken broth being poured in.

Add the onion and garlic to a large soup pot with 2 Tbsp olive oil. Sauté over medium heat until the onions are soft. Add the carrot and celery and continue to sauté for a few minutes more, or just until the celery begins to soften. Add one tsp of Italian seasoning and six cups of chicken broth, then stir to combine. Place a lid on top and allow the soup to come up to a boil.

Add the meatballs to the boiling soup and boil for about 10 minutes, or until cooked through. Or, if you want browned meatballs, melt a tablespoon of butter in a large skillet over medium heat, then add the meatballs and brown them on each side. It’s okay if they’re not cooked through, you can add them to the simmering soup to finish cooking.

Make sure the soup is still boiling, then add ½ cup of a tiny-shaped pasta like acini de pepe, pearled couscous, ditalini, pastina, or orzo. Simmer the pasta in the soup until tender (about 7 minutes).

Finally, add about 4 cups of fresh spinach to the soup and stir it in until wilted (this should only take about a minute).

Finished Italian Wedding Soup in the pot being stirred.

Give the soup a final taste and adjust the salt or other seasonings to your liking.

Overhead view of Italian Wedding Soup in the pot with a ladle.

Serve hot and enjoy every cozy and hearty spoonful!

Christmas Punch

This easy Christmas Punch Recipe is the perfect drink to get you in the holiday mood with flavors of apple, cranberry, and sparkling ginger.

The post Christmas Punch appeared first on Budget Bytes.

Whether you’re hosting a big Christmas party this year or plan to spend the chilly evenings of December cozy at home, this easy Christmas Punch recipe will put you in a festive mood. This apple-cranberry-ginger drink can be made in a large batch to share with friends, or you can mix it up one glass at a time to enjoy solo anytime you need a sparkly refreshment. …And you can spike it too, if that’s your vibe. ;)

Overhead view of three glasses of Christmas punch garnished with cranberries and fresh rosemary.

This incredibly simple holiday drink has only three main ingredients:

Apple Cider: You can use either apple cider or unfiltered apple juice for this recipe, but do not use regular clear apple juice.
Cranberry Juice: It’s important to use a 100% cranberry juice cocktail for this punch, not unsweetened cranberry juice. Do not get a cranberry juice cocktail that contains a mix of fruit juices. Check the juice ingredients to be sure it only contains cranberry juice, water, and sugar (and maybe a preservative like vitamin C or ascorbic acid, etc.), no grape juice, apple juice, or any other fruit juices.
Ginger Ale: Ginger ale brings sweetness, a peppery bite, and a festive fizz to the punch.

Optional Garnishes

In addition to the three ingredients for the punch itself, you can garnish the punch with several ingredients, some of which can provide additional flavor to the punch. Here are some garnish ideas:

Fresh Cranberries: Having cranberries float in the punch is visually stunning, but they will not provide additional flavor to the punch.
Orange Slices: Orange slices will add a nice subtle citrus flavor to the punch, and they are a beautiful contrast to the red color of the punch.
Cinnamon Sticks: Placing a cinnamon stick in each glass adds a slight cinnamon aroma every time you sip the punch, which I found to be absolutely delicious. You can also float a few sticks in the bowl of punch if adding one stick per glass is too expensive. You can find cinnamon sticks for a good price at Latin grocery stores or in major grocery store chains in the international food aisle. Badia is a good affordable brand to look for.
Fresh Rosemary: If you grow your own rosemary, I would highly suggest adding this beautiful garnish to each glass. It doesn’t add flavor, but the extra greenery is so pretty and festive with the red punch.

Tip: Kill two birds with one stone by using frozen cranberries as a garnish AND to help keep the punch cold!

Overhead view of the punch bowl with a ladle lifting a serving.

Christmas Punch by the Glass

To make this Christmas Punch recipe in smaller quantities, you can adjust the number of servings in the recipe card below to have the ingredient amounts auto-adjust, or, follow the simple ratio of 2 parts cranberry juice + 2 parts ginger ale + 1 part apple cider. So if you wanted to make one glass you’d use 4 oz. cranberry juice, 4 oz. ginger ale, and 2 oz. apple cider. Easy!

The recipe below is for a non-alcoholic Christmas Punch, but it’s super easy to add alcohol either by the glass or to the entire punch bowl! Simply add 1 to 2oz. of vodka, white rum, or gin to each glass or 20-40oz. to the punch bowl.

Keep it Chilled

To avoid letting the Christmas punch get watered down, I suggest starting with chilled ingredients and adding ice to each glass rather than to the punch bowl itself. Another option is to make a double batch of punch, freezing half in ice cube trays, and using that to chill the punch in the bowl bowl.

Christmas Punch

This easy Christmas Punch Recipe is the perfect drink to get you in the holiday mood with flavors of apple, cranberry, and sparkling ginger.

Course Drinks

Cuisine Amercian

Total Cost $13.88 recipe / $0.69 serving

Prep Time 5

Total Time 5

Servings cups

Calories 104kcal

Author Beth – Budget Bytes