• You will also need: Cooking spray or oil for hands, baking sheet, parchment paper
• Preheat 350°F

Form the Meatballs

• Add the ground chicken, panko breadcrumbs, parmesan cheese, parsley, 1 tablespoon grated onion, 1 garlic clove, 1 teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon black pepper and the egg to a large bowl.
• Use a fork (or your hands) to combine the ground chicken mixture. Do not overwork the meat, mix just enough to incorporate all of the ingredients.
• Lightly coat your hands with oil and form the ground chicken mixture into balls that are roughly 1 - 1½ inch in diameter.
• Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place the meatballs on the pan leaving some space between them so they’re not touching. You should get about 24 meatballs.

Bake the meatballs

• Bake the chicken meatballs on 350°F approximately 18-20 minutes or until fully cooked (165°F).

Start the soup while the meatballs are in the oven

• Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onions, carrots and celery. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently.
• Next, add the minced garlic and oregano, and cook 1 minute while stirring.
• Stir in the diced tomatoes and the chicken broth, while gently scrapping any bits off the bottom of the pot. Raise the heat to high and bring the soup to a boil.
• Once the broth is boiling, lower the heat to medium-low, cover and cook for 10 minutes. Keep the soup at a simmer.
• Add the orzo to the soup, cover the pot and cook for 5 minutes (still on medium-low). Stir the soup occasionally to keep the orzo from sticking to the bottom.
• Add the meatballs to the pot, cover and cook another 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Add the spinach to the pot and stir as you add it in. Continue cooking the soup for 2-3 minutes until the spinach is wilted.
• Taste the soup and add salt if needed. As a reference we added ½ teaspoon to our soup.