022 / 75 · A Hot Meal to Carry

Tomato Bulgur Soup with Tiny Beef Meatballs

About 9 cups (2.1 liters); 4 servings · Active 25 min · Total 1 hr

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Tiny meatballs make a tomato soup feel like a complete supper without requiring a knife or a second container. Bulgur thickens the broth as it cooks, and grated carrot softens into the tomato rather than adding large chunks. The meatballs are poached directly in the soup, so there is no tray of browned meat to manage. Keep them genuinely small: that is what makes the meal comfortable to eat from a flask.

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Tomato and bulgur soup with small beef meatballs and parsley.

Make a mixture that stays tender

Soak the breadcrumbs briefly in the beaten egg before mixing in the beef. Work with a fork or your fingertips and stop when the mixture holds together; kneading it hard produces dense little balls. Aim for twenty-four pieces of similar size. Damp hands help with shaping, and a plate gives you somewhere to hold the complete batch while the soup base cooks.

Give the bulgur room to swell

The dry grain looks modest when it enters the pot, but it continues taking up liquid after cooking. At serving time the soup should have a brothy space around the meatballs. For a refrigerated portion, expect it to thicken and add a little water during reheating. Do not increase the grain to make the soup seem more generous: the result can set into a stiff mass in a food flask.

Poach without breaking the meatballs

Slide the meatballs into a gentle simmer, working around the pot so they do not land in one pile. Leave them undisturbed for the first few minutes, then move a spoon carefully beneath them to prevent sticking. A thermometer inserted into a larger ball should register the safe temperature for ground beef. If you are taking the soup hot, preheat a wide-mouth flask and check that it can maintain a safe holding temperature until your planned break.

Ingredients

  • 10 1/2 oz ground beef (300 g)
  • 1 large egg
  • 1/4 cup plain dry breadcrumbs (20 g)
  • 2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley (8 g), divided
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil (15 ml)
  • 1 small onion, finely diced (100 g)
  • 2 medium carrots, coarsely grated (150 g)
  • 1 can crushed tomatoes (14 oz/400 g)
  • 4 cups low-sodium beef stock (960 ml)
  • 1/2 cup medium bulgur wheat (80 g)
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano (1 g)
  • 1/2 teaspoon fine salt (3 g), divided
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper (0.5 g)

Set out

4-quart (4-liter) saucepan with lid, Mixing bowl, Instant-read thermometer, Wide-mouth food flask for carrying

Allergens

Egg, Wheat; check stock and breadcrumbs for additional allergens. Check labels and substitutions.

Make it

  1. Beat the egg in the bowl, stir in the breadcrumbs and leave for 3 minutes. Add the beef, half the parsley, half the salt and all the pepper. Mix just until combined, then shape into 24 small meatballs about 1 inch (2.5 cm) across. Keep chilled while preparing the base.
  2. Heat the oil in the saucepan over medium heat. Cook the onion for 6 minutes. Add the carrot and cook for 3 minutes, stirring.
  3. Add the tomatoes, stock, oregano and remaining salt. Bring to a simmer and stir in the bulgur. Cook gently for 5 minutes.
  4. Carefully add the meatballs to the simmering soup. Partly cover and simmer for 10–12 minutes, stirring very gently after the first 3 minutes. Check that the bulgur is tender and the largest meatballs reach 160°F/71°C.
  5. Stir in the remaining parsley. Add a little boiling water if the soup has become too thick. Serve immediately, or bring the entire soup to 165°F/74°C before transferring to a preheated food flask that maintains 140°F/60°C or above until eating.

A spoonable meal for a short break

Make the meatballs small enough to fit comfortably on your actual eating spoon. Carry the spoon separately in a clean wrapper so the meal does not depend on the break room having cutlery.

A useful detail

Fine couscous is not a direct substitute for bulgur in this simmered soup. It has a different cooking time and would give the broth a different texture.

Another way

  • Use ground turkey instead of beef, cooking every meatball to 165°F/74°C.
  • Replace parsley with 1 tablespoon (4 g) chopped dill for a different herb finish.

Keep it well

Cool leftovers promptly in shallow containers and refrigerate within 2 hours, or 1 hour above 90°F/32°C. Store at 40°F/4°C or below for up to 3 days, or freeze for 2 months. Reheat to 165°F/74°C, adding water to loosen the bulgur. Carry chilled with two cold sources if you cannot maintain safe hot holding; refrigerate and reheat at work.