Italian Wedding Soup

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.

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

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.

Print

4.71 from 17 votes

Italian Wedding Soup

Prep 10 minutes

Cook 20 minutes

Total 30 minutes

Rate Recipe

• Pin for Later

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!

US CustomaryMetric

6

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.

Equipment

• 6 Quart Dutch Oven
• COSORI Air Fryer 5.8 Quart

Video

Notes

1. You can make the meatballs before and freeze them in a freezer bag until ready to use.
2. 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.
3. 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

Serving: 1servingCalories: 411kcal (21%)Carbohydrates: 36g (12%)Protein: 33g (66%)Fat: 16g (25%)Saturated Fat: 6g (38%)Polyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 7gTrans Fat: 0.5gCholesterol: 87mg (29%)Sodium: 989mg (43%)Potassium: 797mg (23%)Fiber: 3g (13%)Sugar: 3g (3%)Vitamin A: 8129IU (163%)Vitamin C: 7mg (8%)Calcium: 230mg (23%)Iron: 5mg (28%)

© Author Joanna Cismaru

Notice: Nutrition is auto-calculated for your convenience. Where relevant, we recommend using your own nutrition calculations.