Meatball Soup - $5.04 a serving

Makes 4 servings · american · medium · USDA MyPlate Kitchen (public domain)
$20.18
basket total, in-store
$5.04
per serving (4 servings)
+$0.42
dearer than the $4.62 median dinner

Every non-staple ingredient matched to a real product on the shelf, priced on 2026-07-19 at Kroger - Kroger On the Rhine (ZIP 45202). 2 pantry staples excluded. 2 matches are flagged for you to check rather than silently swapped. Prices change without notice - this is what we paid attention to on that date, not a quote.

The recipe saysWe foundPackageUsesCostsLeft over
1/3 cup brown rice (uncooked)Kroger® Long Grain Brown Rice · 16 oz$0.9965 g$0.14$0.85
3 bouillon cubes (low-sodium chicken or beef flavored, or 1 tablespoon low-sodium bouillon powder)Knorr Chicken Cube Bouillon · 8 ct / 3.1 ozSIZE UNREAD - 1 PKG ASSUMED$1.193$1.19-
1 tablespoon oreganoCHECK THISSmart Way™ Oregano Leaves · 0.63 oz$1.254 g$0.28$0.97
8 ounces ground beef (90% lean, or turkey or chicken)Kroger® 85/15 Ground Beef Tray 1 LB · 1 lb$8.99227 g$4.50$4.49
1 tomato (finely chopped)Fresh Large Red Slicing Tomato · 1 lb$1.991$0.53$1.46
1/2 onion (peeled and finely chopped)Jumbo Yellow Onions · 1 lb$1.190.5$0.14$1.05
1 egg (large)Kroger® Grade A Large White Eggs · 18 ct$2.791$0.16$2.63
2 cups vegetable mix (chopped, fresh, carrots, celery, and spinach)CHECK THISKroger® Frozen Vegetable Soup Mix · 12 ozSUBSTITUTE$1.79300 g$1.58$0.21

ground beef drives this basket at $8.99, 45% of the total. The next biggest lines are egg ($2.79) and tomato ($1.99). $11.66 of the basket - 58% - is package remainder: food you buy because stores sell packages and recipes call for amounts. It does not vanish, it sits in your kitchen for the next meal.

Mixed vegetables, meatballs, and brown rice make a delicious and hearty soup that will warm you up on a cold winter night.

This recipe is credited to a partner program (California Champions for Change Lunch Recipes California Department of Public Health Network for a Healthy California), so we don't reprint its directions - read them on the archived original.

California Champions for Change Lunch Recipes California Department of Public Health Network for a Healthy California. MyPlate took its recipe pages offline in 2026 - the original lives on at the Internet Archive. More on this: What each protein actually costs per serving.
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