Welcome to a recipe that feels like a warm hug in a bowl! This Vegetable Ragout with Chicken Meatballs is the epitome of comfort food—hearty, nutritious, and bursting with flavor. Imagine a vibrant mix of fresh vegetables and beans, slowly simmered to perfection, creating a rich and savory base. Then, we add delicate, homemade chicken meatballs that cook right in the stew, becoming incredibly tender and juicy. It's a fantastic one-pot meal for a family dinner, easy to prepare, and wonderfully satisfying.

Vegetable Ragout with Chicken Meatballs

Cooking: 1 hour, 45 minutes

Quantity: 4 Servings

Per serving

Calories: 330 kcal

Proteins: 22.5 g

Fats: 16 g

Carbohydrates: 24 g

For the ragout:

170 g red kidney beans
90 g onion
80 g celery
110 g carrots
150 g tomatoes
120 g bell pepper
30 ml olive oil
salt, pepper

For the meatballs:

300 g chicken fillet
70 g onion
30 ml heavy cream or milk
salt

How to Make Vegetable Ragout with Chicken Meatballs

Making the meatballs

Mince the chicken fillet. You can easily turn chicken into ground meat with a sharp knife on a cutting board or by using a blender.

To the ground chicken, add the finely grated onion, cold cream, pepper, and table salt to taste.

A bowl with ground chicken, grated onion, and cream for making meatballs.

Preparing the ground meat for the meatballs

Thoroughly mix the meatball mixture. With wet hands, form small balls and place them on a lightly oiled cutting board. Refrigerate the cutting board with the meatballs for 30 minutes.

Small, raw chicken meatballs arranged on a cutting board.

Forming the chicken meatballs

Making the ragout

In a large pot, heat the olive oil. Add the onion, sliced into half-rings, and a pinch of salt. Sauté the onion until it becomes translucent and soft, then you can add the other vegetables one by one.

Sliced onions being sautéed in a large pot until translucent.

Sautéing the onion

Dice the celery stalks into small cubes and add them to the onion.

Chopped celery being added to the pot with sautéed onions.

Adding chopped celery

Dice the carrots just like the celery and add them to the pot. Sauté the celery, onion, and carrots together for 10 minutes.

Diced carrots being added to the pot with other vegetables.

Adding chopped carrots to the pot

Cut the ripe red tomatoes in half and remove the stem. Coarsely chop the tomatoes and add them to the pot.

Coarsely chopped fresh tomatoes being added to the pot.

Adding chopped tomatoes

After the tomatoes, add the sweet bell pepper, cut into strips. Quickly sauté all the vegetables together over medium heat.

Strips of bell pepper being added to the simmering vegetables.

Adding chopped bell pepper to the pot

Now, add the pre-cooked red kidney beans to the pot.

To cook the beans quickly, soak them in cold water for 3-4 hours before boiling. It’s advisable to change the water a couple of times. Then, place the beans in a pot, add two liters of cold water, and cook on low heat for 1 hour after it starts boiling. Do not salt. Do not discard the cooking liquid; it will be useful later.

Cooked red kidney beans being added to the vegetable mixture in the pot.

Adding pre-cooked red kidney beans

Salt everything to taste, add a couple of cups of the bean cooking liquid, cover tightly with a lid, and cook over low heat for 20 minutes.

The vegetable ragout simmering in a pot after being seasoned.

Salting and simmering the vegetables on low heat for 20 minutes

About 7 minutes before it’s done, place the chicken meatballs on top of the vegetable ragout and cover the pot again.

Raw chicken meatballs being placed on top of the simmering vegetable ragout.

Adding the chicken meatballs to the vegetables 7 minutes before it's done

Serve the vegetable ragout with chicken meatballs hot, sprinkled with fresh herbs. You can also season the vegetables with smetana (a type of sour cream) or yogurt.