Making Dinner Easier: A Guide to Semi-Homemade Recipes

Hey guys, making dinner during the week can be a challenge, but if you have a few semi-homemade recipes that you can rely on, you can make sure your family's eating a healthy dinner today. I'll show you my favorite Italian wedding soup, it's delicious, super easy, and semi-homemade. I'm Meg, and I'm passionate about finding ways to make life with kids easier in the kitchen.

To get started, here's what you'll need: olive oil, chopped onion, chopped carrot, chicken broth, spinach, meatballs, and cooked pearl couscous. This soup is made entirely on the stove, so let's head over to the stovetop. The first thing you're going to do is heat your olive oil in a pan. I have a nice heavy body pan that I'm going to add my olive oil into. Once you have a nice sizzle going on, it's time to add your onions to the pan.

As the onions hit the hot pan, they'll start to sizzle and caramelize. That's when you know they're ready! Next, you'll add your chopped carrot to the pan. I'm adding a little pepper to my pot today, but feel free to use as much or as little as you like. Since I'm using a salted chicken broth, I don't want to over-salt the soup. Let these guys cook for about eight minutes, until your carrots are soft and your onions are translucent.

Once your veggies are soft, it's time to add your meatballs. What makes this soup semi-homemade is that I'm using store-bought meatballs today to save myself a little bit of time. If you can find mini meatballs or party-sized meatballs, those would be ideal because they're already bite-sized. These meatballs were frozen, but I've thawed them and now I'll add them to the base of my soup to really boost the flavor. I like to add the meatballs before the broth because I feel like it gives them two chances to release their flavor.

I also love using a beef meatball because that really enhances the flavor a lot better than a turkey meatball. But you can try both, whichever suits your taste buds best. My meatballs have been in there for just a couple minutes, and now it's time to add my spinach and sauté it before my broth. I'll put it in by the handful as you can see – I'm using a ton of spinach which is what I love about this soup. Once the spinach is slightly wilted, you can go ahead and add your broth.

I like to let my soup simmer for about 15 minutes to make sure all the flavors are really incorporated and then you can go ahead and turn off the heat once your soup is off the stove. It's ready to be served! If your family is going to eat the entire pot of soup, go ahead and add your couscous directly into the pot. Otherwise, because the couscous absorbs so much liquid, you may want to do that individually in a serving bowl and then ladle out a couple fulls of soup.

I just love all the colors in this soup – even though it's healthy, it's actually very filling. And the best part? It's incredibly easy to make! I'm sharing my favorite semi-homemade meal with you today because I know how hard it can be to get dinner on the table without sacrificing flavor or quality. By using store-bought ingredients and a few simple techniques, you can create delicious meals that will please even the pickiest eaters.

So there you have it – an easy, delicious semi-homemade meal for any weeknight. Let me know in the comments below your favorite semi-homemade meal and I'll see you next time!

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enhey guys making dinner during the week can be a challenge but if you have a few semi-homemade recipes that you can rely on you can make sure your family's eating a healthy dinner today i'll show you my favorite italian wedding soup it's delicious super easy and semi-homemade i'm meg and i'm passionate about finding ways to make life with kids easier in the kitchen here's what you'll need to get started olive oil chopped onion chopped carrot and chicken broth spinach meatballs and cooked pearl couscous this soup is made entirely on the stove so let's head over so the first thing you're going to do is heat your olive oil in a pan so i have a nice heavy body pan that i'm going to add my olive oil into i'm going to wait until it gets nice and hot once you have a nice sizzle going on your olive oil you add your onions to the pan hear them sizzle and then your carrot so i'm gonna add a little pepper to my pot and then just a little bit of salt because i'm actually using a salted chicken broth today and i don't want to over salt i'm going to let these guys cook for about eight minutes you want your carrots to be soft and your onions to be translucent once your veggies are soft you're going to add your meatballs and what makes this soup semi homemade is that i'm using store-bought meatballs today to save myself a little bit of time if you can find mini meatballs or party sized meatballs that is ideal because they are already bite-sized these meatballs were frozen but i've thawed them and now i'll add them to the base of my soup to really boost the flavor i like to add the meatballs before the broth because i feel like it gives them two chances to release its flavor and i also love using a beef meatball because that really enhances the flavor a lot better than a turkey meatball but you can try both my meatballs have been in there for just a couple minutes and now i'm going to add my spinach and saute it before my broth so i'll put it in by the handful as you guys can see i'm using a ton of spinach which is what i love about this soup once the spinach is slightly wilted you can go ahead and add your broth i like to let my soup simmer for about 15 minutes to make sure all the flavors are really incorporated and then you can go ahead and turn off the heat once your soup is off the stove it's ready to be served if your family is going to eat the entire pot of soup go ahead and add your couscous directly into the pot otherwise because the couscous absorbs so much liquid you may want to do that individually in a serving bowl and next a couple ladle fulls of soup i just love all the colors in the soup and even though it's healthy it's actually very filling so there you have it easy delicious semi-homemade meal for any weeknight let me know in the comments below your favorite semi-homemade meal and i will see you next time bye guyshey guys making dinner during the week can be a challenge but if you have a few semi-homemade recipes that you can rely on you can make sure your family's eating a healthy dinner today i'll show you my favorite italian wedding soup it's delicious super easy and semi-homemade i'm meg and i'm passionate about finding ways to make life with kids easier in the kitchen here's what you'll need to get started olive oil chopped onion chopped carrot and chicken broth spinach meatballs and cooked pearl couscous this soup is made entirely on the stove so let's head over so the first thing you're going to do is heat your olive oil in a pan so i have a nice heavy body pan that i'm going to add my olive oil into i'm going to wait until it gets nice and hot once you have a nice sizzle going on your olive oil you add your onions to the pan hear them sizzle and then your carrot so i'm gonna add a little pepper to my pot and then just a little bit of salt because i'm actually using a salted chicken broth today and i don't want to over salt i'm going to let these guys cook for about eight minutes you want your carrots to be soft and your onions to be translucent once your veggies are soft you're going to add your meatballs and what makes this soup semi homemade is that i'm using store-bought meatballs today to save myself a little bit of time if you can find mini meatballs or party sized meatballs that is ideal because they are already bite-sized these meatballs were frozen but i've thawed them and now i'll add them to the base of my soup to really boost the flavor i like to add the meatballs before the broth because i feel like it gives them two chances to release its flavor and i also love using a beef meatball because that really enhances the flavor a lot better than a turkey meatball but you can try both my meatballs have been in there for just a couple minutes and now i'm going to add my spinach and saute it before my broth so i'll put it in by the handful as you guys can see i'm using a ton of spinach which is what i love about this soup once the spinach is slightly wilted you can go ahead and add your broth i like to let my soup simmer for about 15 minutes to make sure all the flavors are really incorporated and then you can go ahead and turn off the heat once your soup is off the stove it's ready to be served if your family is going to eat the entire pot of soup go ahead and add your couscous directly into the pot otherwise because the couscous absorbs so much liquid you may want to do that individually in a serving bowl and next a couple ladle fulls of soup i just love all the colors in the soup and even though it's healthy it's actually very filling so there you have it easy delicious semi-homemade meal for any weeknight let me know in the comments below your favorite semi-homemade meal and i will see you next time bye guys\n"