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 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
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
- 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.
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
Some Tips
- 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.
Leftovers
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
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
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.
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!