Italian Wedding Soup

Italian Wedding Soup – an American-Italian soup with spinach and orzo studded with delicious meatballs. So simple, quick and always a big hit! Try it today and in less than 30 minutes you’ll have a drool worthy dish, I promise!

Italian Wedding Soup

Italian wedding soup is one of my favorites because it’s so easy to make! Chances are that you already have all the ingredients necessary right in your fridge or pantry. We Romanians have our own meatball soup but this Italian wedding soup is a bit different because it has spinach in it.

I won’t say which is my favorite here, you’ll just have to try both and decide for yourself! If you do just be sure to top it with freshly grated Pecorino Romano ad some cracked black pepper. It will rock your world, I promise.

Is This Soup Served At Italian Weddings?

One might think that the name of this soup implies that it’s served at Italian weddings, but actually it has nothing to do with weddings. It’s said to get its name from the marriage of ingredients, the meat, greens and noodles, because together they are a marriage made in heaven. Huh, the more you know!

What Is Orzo?

Orzo is a small cut pasta that tastes heavenly in light little dishes just like the one I’m writing out for you all today. It packs some good protein and pairs well with a good variety of veggies.

Ingredients In Italian Wedding Soup

Detailed measurements and instructions can be found on the printable recipe card at the bottom of the page.

Meatballs

• Beef – Ground beef extra lean is what we will be using today.
• Egg – The binder for our meatballs.
• Herbs – Chopped fresh parsley.
• Milk – Feel free to use any kind of milk you’d like.
• Bread crumbs  – Use any you have on hand, I do love to use Panko personally.
• Seasoning – Salt and pepper
• Cheese – Freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

Soup

• Olive oil – We want a nice neutral tasting oil for this soup.
• Veggies – Carrots chopped up nice and fine and spinach packed down and roughly chopped
• Pasta – I prefer to use orzo as a tiny little chewy addition, but other small shaped pasta will also work.
• Liquids – Low sodium chicken broth is needed to make up the flavorful liquid base of our soup, be sure to find low sodium as we want to control our salt.
• Cheese – Pecorino Romano freshly grated – believe me this ingredient is necessary.
• Seasoning – Salt and pepper.

How To Make Italian Wedding Soup

Detailed measurements and instructions can be found on the printable recipe card at the bottom of the page.

• Make the meatballs: Add all the meatball ingredients to a bowl and mix well using your clean hands until well incorporated. Shape into mini meatballs, about 3/4 to an inch and place them in a bowl. Set aside.
• Saute the carrots: Heat the olive oil in a soup pot or large Dutch Oven over medium-high heat. Add the carrots and saute for a couple minutes or until tender.
• Assemble the soup: Add the meatballs and chicken broth to the pot and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Stir in the spinach, orzo, salt and pepper. Reduce heat to medium-low and cool for about 10 to 15 minutes until the meatballs are cooked through and the orzo is fully cooked.
• Serve the soup: Ladle the soup into bowls and serve with grated Pecorino Romano Cheese or Parmesan cheese.

What Can I Serve Italian Wedding Soup With?

This delicious soup is perfect for a rainy day or a beautiful day for celebrating, like a wedding, and everything in between. I personally like to just serve it up with some Dinner Rolls or some crusty Bread. But if you’d like to turn it into a full spread here’s some perfect accompaniments!

• Italian Roasted Mushrooms And Veggies
• Lemon Garlic Roasted Chicken Legs
• Roast Chicken
• Creamy Garlic Parmesan Mushrooms
• Meatball Parmesan

What Else Can I Use In Italian Wedding Soup

I improvised today by adding some carrots, which is by no means traditional but just because it isn’t traditional doesn’t mean it’s not delicious!

• Feel free to add diced potatoes for a heartier soup.
• Ground veal, ground pork, or ground turkey and chicken are great additions to our meatball, feel free to substitute or combine any of them with the ground beef.
• Feel free to incorporate celery and onion to form a mirepoix.
• If you can’t find Orzo acini de pepe will work perfectly!

Tips For Making The Best Italian Wedding Soup

• Sear the meatballs before adding to the soup if you’d like to add some nice complexity to your dish.
• Be sure your meatballs are small, don’t think pasta meatballs think soup meatballs.
• Use fresh bread crumbs if you’l like to really set these meatballs off, just slice up some nice crusty bread and blend a slice in the food processor till it’s reduced to crumbs.

Storing Italian Wedding Soup

In an airtight shallow container this dish will keep for 3 – 4 days in the fridge, just be sure it is cooled before storing. You can also freeze this dish, just store it cooled in a shallow airtight container and it will keep for 4 – 6 months. Just allow it to thaw overnight in the fridge before reheating on the stove when ready to eat.

Craving More Delicious Soup? Try These Recipes:

• Beef Barley Soup
• Lemon Rice and Chicken Soup
• Brazilian Shrimp Soup
• Albondigas Soup
• Broccoli Cheese Soup
• Instant Pot Chicken Noodle Soup
• Beef Lentil Soup
• Baked Potato Soup

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Italian Wedding Soup

4.6 from 10 votes

Prep: 10 mins

Cook: 20 mins

Total: 30 mins

Author: Joanna Cismaru

Serves: 6

Print Pin Rate

Italian Wedding Soup - an American-Italian soup with spinach and orzo studded with delicious meatballs. So simple, quick and always a big hit! Try it today and in less than 30 minutes you'll have a drool worthy dish, I promise!

Ingredients

Meatballs

• 1 lb ground beef extra lean
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese grated
• 1/2 cup breadcrumbs
• 1/4 cup parsley fresh, chopped
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 tsp salt or to taste
• 1/2 tsp pepper or to taste

Italian Wedding Soup

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 medium carrot chopped
• 8 cups chicken broth low sodium
• 2 cups spinach packed down and roughly chopped
• 1 cup orzo dry
• 1 tsp salt or to taste
• 1 tsp pepper or to taste
• Pecorino Romano cheese freshly grated, for serving

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Meatballs

• Add all the meatball ingredients to a bowl and mix well using your clean hands until well incorporated. Shape into mini meatballs, about 3/4 to an inch and place them in a bowl. Set aside.

Italian Wedding Soup

• Heat the olive oil in a soup pot or large Dutch Oven over medium-high heat. Add the carrots and saute for a couple minutes or until tender.
• Add the meatballs and chicken broth to the pot and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Stir in the spinach, orzo, salt and pepper. Reduce heat to medium-low and cool for about 10 to 15 minutes until the meatballs are cooked through and the orzo is fully cooked.
• Ladle the soup into bowls and serve with grated Pecorino Romano Cheese or Parmesan cheese.

Video

Recipe Notes

You can make the meatballs before and freeze them in a freezer bag until ready to use.

Instead of orzo, the soup is also sometimes made with acini de pepe. Orzo can also be substituted with acini de pepe.

For the meatballs you can use half ground pork or half ground beef. You can even just use ground chicken or ground turkey for a healthier version.

Please keep in mind that nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary greatly based on products used.

 

Nutrition Information:

Calories: 391kcal (20%)Carbohydrates: 31g (10%)Protein: 30g (60%)Fat: 16g (25%)Saturated Fat: 5g (31%)Cholesterol: 86mg (29%)Sodium: 959mg (42%)Potassium: 721mg (21%)Fiber: 1g (4%)Sugar: 2g (2%)Vitamin A: 2975IU (60%)Vitamin C: 6.8mg (8%)Calcium: 175mg (18%)Iron: 3.8mg (21%)

Course:Soup

Cuisine:Italian

Keyword:30 minute meals, italian food, italian wedding soup, soup

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