Italian Wedding Soup
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
This Italian Wedding Soup is an American-Italian soup with spinach and pasta, 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!
Quick And Easy Italian Wedding Soup Recipe
Italian wedding soup is one of my favorites because it’s so quick easy to make! Chances are that you already have all the ingredients necessary right in your fridge or pantry. I call this soup healthy because of all the spinach in it, plus you’ll see how few ingredients you’ll actually need to make this.
I love to top this soup with freshly grated Pecorino Romano and some cracked black pepper. It’s perfect for a cold fall or winter day, pure comfort in a bowl.
Why You’ll Love This Italian Wedding Soup
- Simple Recipe! It’s a quick and easy 30-minute meal. The meatballs take just minutes to form and you can make the base of the soup while they bake in the oven.
- Comforting Classic! This authentic Italian soup is absolutely delicious. It’s full of perfectly seasoned bite-sized meatballs, pasta, and carrots in a super flavorful broth.
- Healthy and Filling! Made with wholesome fresh ingredients free of preservatives and filled with veggies it’s both a healthy and filling meal.
Meatballs
- Beef – You’ll need some extra lean ground beef. You can also use ground pork or a combination of the two. For an extra healthy meatball, use ground chicken or turkey.
- Egg – You’ll need one egg as the binder for our meatballs.
- Herbs – Chopped fresh parsley.
- Milk – Feel free to use any kind of milk you’d like.
- Breadcrumbs – Use any you have on hand, I do love to use Panko personally but Italian breadcrumbs would be great in these meatballs.
- 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 – Traditionally, this is made with acini di pepe (acini de pepe) which is a small tiny pasta, but I have made this many time with orzo as well. Any 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. I also sometimes like to add a chicken or beef bouillon to the soup for lots of extra delicious flavor.
Like any soup, this recipe is pretty effortless. The only difference here is that you’ll need to make some meatballs and bake or air fry them while you get the foundation of the soup started. Then once they are cooked, add them to the soup. It’s a super simple step that is not only really easy to do, but also creates a soup that is lower in calories and fat too.
Form The Meatballs
In order to make a meatball soup, you obviously need to make some meatballs! So put all the meatball ingredients into a large bowl and use your hand to mix it all together. The ingredients really need to be well combined in order to properly form the meatballs. Then shape the meat mixture into little balls that are about ¾ to an inch in diameter.
At this point, if your meat mixture isn’t holding its shape it most likely means that you’ve either added too much or not enough egg or breadcrumbs to the mixture. Yet, it’s a simple fix. If your meatballs seem too wet just add some more breadcrumbs and if they seem too dry just add a little more egg. However, start with part of an egg and just a little bit of breadcrumbs.
Cook The Meatballs
You have a couple options to cook your meatballs. My favorite way is to air fry them because it’s super quick, simple and less mess. To do so, place the meatballs in the air fryer basket and cook them for 15 minutes at 380°F (193°C).
To bake the meatballs, preheat your oven to 350°F (176°C) so that it is good and hot once the meatballs are formed. Then line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat to prevent the meat from sticking to the pan. Place all the meatballs on the prepared baking sheet evenly spaced out. Next, transfer them to the preheated oven and bake for about 16 to 18 minutes or until lightly browned and cooked through.
Make The Soup
While the meatballs are cooking you can start the soup. Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium-high. Then add the carrots and sauté them for about 3 to 4 minutes or until tender. It’s important that you move the carrots around the pot as they sauté so that they don’t stick and cook evenly. Next, you’ll want to add in the pasta and pour the chicken broth into the pot with the carrots and bring it to a boil. Once it’s boiling, taste for seasoning and adjust with salt and pepper. I also like to add a chicken or beef bouillon cube for some extra flavor.
Then add the meatballs and simmer on medium-low heat for 10 minutes until the pasta is fully cooked. Finally, stir in the spinach and cook for another minute until the spinach wilts.
Finish And Serve
When the soup is ready, ladle it into your favorite bowls and serve with grated Parmesan or Pecorino Romano Cheese along with some freshly baked dinner rolls or crusty bread if you like.
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!
How To Serve
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
Expert Tips
- 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.
- If your meatball mixture seems too wet just add some more breadcrumbs and if they seem too dry just add a little more egg. However, start with part of an egg and just a little bit of breadcrumbs.
Leftovers
In an airtight shallow container this Italian wedding soup will keep for 3 – 4 days in the fridge, just be sure it is cooled before storing. You can also freeze this soup, 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.
Other Delicious Recipes To Try
- Beef Barley Soup
- Lemon Rice and Chicken Soup
- Brazilian Shrimp Soup
- Albondigas Soup
- Broccoli Cheese Soup
- Instant Pot Chicken Noodle Soup
- Turkey Meatballs
- Italian Meatballs
Before You Begin! If you make this, please leave a review and rating letting us know how you liked this recipe! This helps our business thrive & continue providing free recipes.
Italian Wedding Soup
Video
Ingredients
Meatballs
- 1 pound ground beef (extra lean )
- ¼ cup milk
- ½ cup Parmesan cheese (grated)
- ½ cup breadcrumbs
- ¼ cup parsley (fresh, chopped)
- 1 large egg
- ½ teaspoon salt (or to taste)
- ½ teaspoon pepper (or to taste)
Italian Wedding Soup
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 medium carrot (chopped)
- 1 cup acini di pepe (dry, or orzo)
- 8 cups chicken broth (low sodium)
- 1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
- 1 teaspoon pepper (or to taste)
- 1 cube chicken bouillon (or beef bouillon)
- 2 cups spinach (packed down and roughly chopped)
- Pecorino Romano cheese ( freshly grated, for serving)
Before You Begin! If you make this, please leave a review and rating letting us know how you liked this recipe! This helps our business thrive & continue providing free recipes.
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 ¾ to an inch and place them in a bowl.
- Place the meatballs in the air fryer basket and cook them for 15 minutes at 380°F (193°C). Alternatively, you can bake them. Preheat your oven to 350°F (176°C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat to prevent the meat from sticking to the pan. Place all the meatballs on the prepared baking sheet evenly spaced out. Next, transfer them to the preheated oven and bake for about 16 to 18 minutes or until lightly browned and cooked through.
Italian Wedding Soup
- Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium-high. Then add the carrots and sauté them for about 3 to 4 minutes or until tender. Next, you'll want to add in the pasta and pour the chicken broth into the pot with the carrots and bring it to a boil. Once it's boiling, taste for seasoning and adjust with salt and pepper. I also like to add a chicken or beef bouillon cube for some extra flavor.
- Then add the meatballs and simmer on medium-low heat for 10 minutes until the pasta is fully cooked. Finally, stir in the spinach and cook for another minute until the spinach wilts.
- Ladle the soup into bowls and serve with grated Pecorino Romano Cheese or Parmesan cheese.
Notes
- You can make the meatballs before and freeze them in a freezer bag until ready to use.
- 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.
- In an airtight shallow container this Italian wedding soup will keep for 3 – 4 days in the fridge, just be sure it is cooled before storing. You can also freeze this soup, 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.
Nutrition Information
Notice: Nutrition is auto-calculated for your convenience. Where relevant, we recommend using your own nutrition calculations.
Loved this recipe! I actually used frozen Italian meatballs to make it even simpler, and it was delicious. We all really liked it!
This is the first time I’m joining your group!! I can’t wait to make this Italian wedding soup looks so delicious. My parents used to make it. They have passed away I never got that recipe. I am looking for something similar to my parents wedding soup recipe. This recipe looks very close and by the reviews sounds so delicious!!
Hope you like it!
SOOOOOO, good, flavours are perfect! I doubled so I could freeze some for my daughter. If I double it again I won’t double the orzo, it became very thick, you can fix it by just adding more broth, added a bit a garlic powder to the meatballs. Jo, this is a great recipe. I love getting your recipes daily and have made many of them. Keep them coming, Ontario loves you!!
Glad you liked it, Liz! I love Ontario too, lived there for 20+ years and I miss it!
My nona used to make her meatballs half that size and cook them right in the soup. Only takes a few minutes. Flavors the soup and less work. Yes, absolutely, romano cheese was all she ever used–grated and added fresh grated black pepper to it. Great soup.
She also added a beaten egg or two with a bit of cheese in that too at the end. Turn the stove off pour on the egg and cover. Then break it up when you serve. Or you can swirl the soup as you pour it in. There should be egg throughout the soup.
Yes, I also make it that way too, it’s just I found that if I cook the meatballs first, I get a clearer broth, but it’s totally up to you how you make it.
Ok this is the 4th recipe of yours I’ve tried in the last couple of weeks and I’m officially your biggest fan. I grew up in an Italian-American community and I’ve missed Italian wedding soup since moving away. Usually I think they used escarole or endive but we can’t get that here so I haven’t tried making it. So when I saw your recipe I was excited to give it a shot. Delish! Thank you!
Awesome to hear!! We are so happy you like the recipes 🙂
Hi, made this before and loved it! Wanted to make a double batch to freeze, you mentioned in the notes section the meatballs can be made before and frozen, do you freeze them raw and then drop into soup frozen, or are they frozen after cooked? Thanks!
Yes you can freeze them raw! They’re nice and small so it won’t take much longer for them to cook in the soup. Take one out and break it in half to test the doneness to make sure they’re fully cooked once they’ve boiled in the soup.
Jo, I Love your recipes & I’m so glad that I found your site!!! This soup looks and sounds amazing & I’m looking forward to fixing it! Do you think that I could substitute Quinoa for the Orzo? Thanks in advance 🙂
You can give quinoa a try! It will likely take a little longer to cook.
Jo, I love your blog and your recipes. I can’t wait to try this Italian wedding soup. I’m so glad it contains spinach, not kale, my least favorite vegetable. Keep up the good work.
Thanks, Eileen!!
acini di pepe means berries of the pepper (spice) plant
I’ve followed a billion IWS recipes, but this one is the best! I accidentally threw in a bit too much orzo, so I’ll be more careful next time. Quick and delicious! Thanks Jo!
Thank you very much, we’re so glad you love this recipe!
Loved the flavor. Added garlic to my meatballs – yummy, however some fell apart. Any idea why?
Usually they fall apart because there’s too much breadcrumbs, so you could try decreasing that a bit or maybe adding another egg.
I’ve made this soup numerous times and for many friends. I use 50/50 ground pork/beef, and
Acini de pepe pasta. I’ve also used frozen spinach or fresh swiss chard chopped.
Highly recommended.
Made it! Absolutely amazing! I added a little sausage to my meatballs AND a few cauliflower raviolis I was staring at…. thank you!
Love your recipes! I gave a try on the bread in a pot😩. I think I let it ‘rise ‘ too long —- that matters, right?
It will start to deflate if it’s left too long
I love your recipes, Jo!!! Thank you so very much for sharing your love of cooking!!! =)
Thanks for the five star rating! So glad you are enjoying the recipes and thanks for posting your comment and being a part of our Jo Cooks community