IndiaAIFounders — Italian Wedding Soup

Chicken noodle soup is great and all, but have you tried Italian Wedding Soup?? This classic soup shares a lot of the same cozy ingredients as chicken noodle soup but with one huge advantage: tender and flavorful homemade meatballs! I make the meatballs with pre-seasoned Italian sausage, which saves me from measuring out a bunch of extra spices and gives the broth so much flavor as they cook. You don’t even have to brown them first! It’s an easy, beginner-friendly recipe that makes six hearty servings for just $1.66 each. If you’re looking to change up your winter soup game, I think you’re really going to like this one!

“Absolutely amazing recipe, turned out lovely. Reminds me of the Italian wedding soup my mom made me as a kid :)”
Kate

Little Meatballs, Lots of Flavor!

This Italian wedding soup is packed with veggies, similar to my minestrone soup, but takes a deliciously different turn with tender sausage meatballs, tiny pasta, and fresh spinach in a lighter chicken broth. And don’t worry if you’ve never made meatballs before! They’re really simple to make, and you’ve got options. Brown them first for extra color and flavor, or add them straight to the pot to keep things easy. Either way, everything simmers together and is ready in about an hour. I purposely chose inexpensive vegetables and only use a small amount of pasta (I use pearl couscous, but I’ve given more options below) to stretch one pound of sausage into six hearty servings. Not bad for a pound of sausage, right? My grocery budget certainly isn’t complaining!

And, contrary to how it may sound, Italian wedding soup isn’t named because it’s typically served at weddings. The name actually comes from its Italian name, minestra maritata, which translates to “married soup,” referring to the marriage of the meat and greens. As with most dishes that have been around for generations, there are many different variations, and this is my easy, affordable interpretation using ingredients I can find at most grocery stores.

Recipe Success Tips

Keep the meatballs small and don’t overmix. I get about 20 meatballs (about 1 tablespoon each) from this recipe. I keep them similar in size so they cook evenly, and they’re much easier to eat with a spoon this way! I like using a small cookie scoop to make portioning easier, then I lightly dampen my hands to stop the sausage from sticking when I’m shaping them. Mix the meatball ingredients until combined and don’t pack the meatballs too tightly. Overworking or tightly compressing the mixture can make them dense.
Be gentle with the meatballs as they cook. Once I add them to the boiling broth, I leave them alone for the first couple of minutes so the outside can firm up before stirring. This helps avoid them breaking apart. They should take about 10 minutes to cook through, but I recommend using a meat thermometer to check the center of the largest one. Pork sausage meatballs should reach 160°F, or 165°F if you’re using poultry sausage.
Don’t add too much pasta! Half a cup of tiny pasta might not look like much, but I promise you, it expands considerably as it cooks! Also, different pasta shapes may need slightly different cooking times, so I always taste a piece before calling it done. It should be tender all the way through.
Use a flavorful broth and taste before seasoning. The chicken broth makes up most of this soup, so its flavor really matters. I like using Better Than Bouillon because it’s affordable and has great flavor. Italian sausage and Parmesan also add plenty of seasoning, and some of that flavor makes its way into the broth as the meatballs simmer. I always wait until the soup is finished before adding extra salt, because what tastes a little underseasoned at first might be perfectly seasoned by the time it’s done!
Add some extras! If you want to “soup up” your Italian wedding soup and take it to the next level, try adding a few Parmesan rinds to the soup as it simmers for extra umami in the broth, or top each bowl with a heaping dose of freshly grated Parmesan. You can also use homemade chicken stock for the broth to make this soup extra special. One final twist that I love doing with a lot of soups is adding a squeeze of fresh lemon at the end to brighten it all up!

How to Serve Italian Wedding Soup

I recommend serving this Italian wedding soup right away for the best texture, before the pasta soaks up too much of that delicious broth. I like topping each bowl with a little shredded Parmesan and serving it with my homemade garlic bread for dunking (because leaving that broth behind would be a shame!). A store-bought baguette, crusty Italian bread, or some dinner rolls work just as well if you want to keep things extra easy. This soup is also plenty filling on its own, and I think it’s perfect for a cozy weeknight dinner or lunch. But if I want to stretch the pot a little further, I’ll serve an easy antipasto salad on the side. It’s a great way to use up odds and ends of cheese, olives, and veggies I’ve already got half used in the fridge without buying a bunch of extra ingredients!

Shown here with shredded Parmesan, garlic bread, and an antipasto salad. Print Add to Collection Go to Collections Italian Wedding Soup This cozy Italian Wedding Soup recipe features tender and flavorful meatballs, vegetables, and pasta in a delicious chicken broth. Course Dinner, LunchCuisine ItalianTotal Cost $9.95 recipe / $1.66 serving Prep Time 30 minutes minutesCook Time 30 minutes minutesTotal Time 1 hour hour Servings 6 servings (1.5 cups each) Calories 448kcal Author Beth Moncel

Equipment

Dutch Oven

Ingredients

Meatballs

¼ cup plain breadcrumbs $0.08
¼ cup grated Parmesan $0.97
½ tsp Italian seasoning $0.03
⅛ tsp salt $0.01
⅛ tsp black pepper freshly cracked, $0.01
1 lb. ground Italian sausage hot, mild, or sweet, $3.92
1 large egg $0.12

Soup

1 yellow onion $0.86
2 garlic cloves $0.18
3 carrots $0.89
3 ribs celery $0.51
2 Tbsp olive oil $0.35
1 tsp Italian seasoning $0.05
6 cups chicken broth $0.76*
½ cup small pasta I used pearled couscous, $0.41**
4 cups fresh spinach $0.80***

Optional Garnish

fresh parsley chopped, optional

Instructions

For the Meatballs:

Gather the ingredients for your meatballs. I find making the meatballs first helps this recipe go a bit faster! You can also form your meatballs a day in advance, or freeze them for easier use later on.
Mix dry ingredients for meatballs; combine the breadcrumbs, grated Parmesan cheese, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper in a bowl. Stir to combine.
Add the Italian sausage, breadcrumb mixture, and egg to a large bowl.
Use your hands or a fork to mix them together until just combined.
Divide and shape the mixture into 20 small meatballs, about 1 Tbsp each. Set the meatballs aside.

For the Soup:

Gather ingredients for the soup.
Dice the onion, carrots, and celery, and mince the garlic.
Add the olive oil to a large soup pot and heat over medium. Add the diced vegetables, garlic, and Italian seasoning, cooking until the vegetables have softened, about 4 minutes.
Add the chicken broth to the soup, stir to combine, then place a lid on top and bring it up to a boil.
Once the soup is boiling, add the meatballs to the soup and continue to boil until the meatballs are cooked through (about 10 minutes).
(Optional) If you prefer browned meatballs, you can cook them in a skillet with a little olive oil first over medium heat until browned on the outside, then transfer to the boiling soup to finish cooking at this stage in the recipe.
Add the tiny pasta to the boiling soup and continue to boil until the pasta is tender (about 6 minutes).
Finally, stir in the fresh spinach until wilted. Give the soup a taste and adjust the seasonings to your liking. Top with optional parsley, if using. Serve hot and enjoy!

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Notes

*Chicken broth makes up the bulk of this soup, so make sure you’re using a good quality broth or stock that has a lot of flavor. I like to use Better Than Bouillon to make broth because it’s inexpensive and has tons of flavor. **You can use any small-shaped pasta here. I had some leftover pearl couscous in the studio that I wanted to use up, so I used that, but you could also use acini de pepe (very similar to large pearl couscous), orzo, ditalini, pastina, or any other tiny-shaped pasta. If using a slightly larger pasta, you may want to increase the quantity to one cup. ***Traditional Italian wedding soup usually uses escarole as the green element, but I went for fresh spinach because it’s easily accessible and what I had to hand. You can also use frozen spinach, kale, or chard. A note on cooking the meatballs: You have a few options when it comes to cooking the meatballs for this soup. The easiest method, and the method that I think creates the juiciest meatballs, is to simply add the raw meatballs to the simmering soup and allow them to simmer in the liquid until cooked through (about 10-15 min.). The only drawback to boiling the meatballs in the soup is that this method does not create any pretty browned color on the surface of the meatballs. If the appearance of the meatballs is important to you, you can sauté the meatballs in a hot skillet with some oil until browned on the outside (as I do in the step by step photos below), then add them to the soup and simmer until cooked through. Freezer meal prep: This Italian wedding soup is great for stocking the freezer! Here are my two favorite ways to get ahead:

Freeze the soup: Make the soup as directed, but leave out the pasta. Pasta continues absorbing liquid and can become very soft after freezing and reheating. Freeze the cooled soup with the cooked meatballs, vegetables, and broth for up to 3 months. Add freshly cooked pasta to each bowl after reheating. See my storage instructions below for additional storage & reheating guidance.
Freeze the meatballs: You can also prepare the meatball mixture ahead and freeze the uncooked meatballs separately. Arrange them in a single layer on a parchment-lined baking sheet and freeze until firm, then transfer to a freezer-safe bag for up to 1-2 months. Add them straight from frozen to the simmering soup, allowing extra cooking time. Make sure the centers reach 160°F for pork sausage (165°F for poultry sausage) before adding the pasta.

Make it vegetarian: The meatballs are a huge part of what makes classic Italian wedding soup so delicious, so I wouldn’t leave them out entirely! Instead, try swapping the Italian sausage for 1 lb. of a vegetarian ground meat alternative that can be shaped into meatballs (or make a batch of our baked vegan meatballs!). Also use vegetable broth instead of chicken broth. You may need to add a little extra Italian seasoning and adjust the soup’s seasonings to taste since you won’t get the extra seasoning from the Italian sausage. You’ll also need a vegetarian-friendly Parmesan, since traditional Parmesan contains animal rennet. Want to use a crockpot? While I haven’t tested this recipe in a slow cooker, I’m sure it can be done. I’d brown the meatballs in a skillet first to help them hold their shape during the longer cooking time. Sauté the onion, garlic, carrots, and celery, too. Then transfer everything to the slow cooker with the Italian seasoning and chicken broth, leaving out the pasta and spinach. Cook on HIGH for approximately 4 hours or LOW for 8 hours, until the vegetables are tender and the meatballs are fully cooked (160°F internally for pork sausage). Stir in the fresh spinach at the end. I recommend cooking the pasta separately and adding it to each bowl when serving, so it doesn’t become too soft in the crockpot.

Nutrition

Gather all your meatball ingredients: You’ll need ¼ cup plain breadcrumbs, ¼ cup grated Parmesan, ½ tsp Italian seasoning, ⅛ tsp salt, ⅛ tsp black pepper, 1 lb. ground Italian sausage (hot, mild, or sweet), and 1 large egg.

Gather all your soup ingredients: You’ll need 1 yellow onion, 2 cloves garlic, 3 carrots, 3 stalks celery, 2 Tbsp olive oil, 1 tsp Italian seasoning, 6 cups chicken broth, ½ cup small pasta, and 4 cups fresh spinach.

Prep the vegetables: Finely dice 1 yellow onion, 3 carrots, and 3 stalks celery, and mince 2 cloves garlic. I like to keep the carrots and celery fairly small, so they soften quickly, and you get a little of everything in each spoonful.

Combine the dry meatball ingredients: In a bowl, stir together ¼ cup plain breadcrumbs, ¼ cup grated Parmesan, ½ tsp Italian seasoning, ⅛ tsp salt, and ⅛ tsp black pepper. Mixing these together first helps distribute the seasonings evenly throughout the meat mix.

Add the sausage and egg: Add 1 lb. ground Italian sausage and 1 large egg to a large bowl with the breadcrumb mixture. You can use mild, sweet, or hot Italian sausage, depending on how much spice you like! I like using mild personally.

Mix the meatballs: Use a fork to start mixing the ingredients, then finish combining them with your hands if needed. The mixture should look evenly combined and feel slightly sticky. Don’t go overboard with the mixing, though. Working the meat too much can leave you with dense meatballs.

Shape the meatballs: Measure about 1 Tbsp of the mixture to form ~20 meatballs. Place them on a baking sheet as you go. I find a cookie scoop makes this so much easier because the meatballs all come out roughly the same size, which helps them cook evenly. Set them aside for now.

Sauté the vegetables: Add the diced onion, carrots, celery, and minced garlic to a large soup pot with 2 Tbsp olive oil and 1 tsp Italian seasoning. Cook over medium heat for about 4 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onion begins to look translucent, the garlic smells fragrant, and the vegetables start to soften. Don’t worry if the carrots are still a little firm! They’ll continue cooking in the broth.

Add the broth: Pour 6 cups chicken broth into the pot and give everything a good stir. Place a lid on top and bring the soup up to a boil. I like to give the bottom of the pot a little scrape as I stir to make sure all those flavorful bits from the vegetables make it into the broth.

(Optional) Brown the meatballs: If you prefer a little extra color and savory flavor, you can brown the meatballs in a skillet with 1 Tbsp olive oil over medium heat before adding them to the soup. Look for a nice golden color on the outside, but don’t worry about cooking them all the way through just yet. They’ll finish cooking in the broth. This step is completely optional.

Add the meatballs to the soup: My favorite (and easiest!) method is to skip the browning and add the raw meatballs directly to the boiling broth. Let them cook for about 10 minutes, adjusting the heat if the soup starts boiling too vigorously. The meatballs should become firmer and opaque on the outside as they cook. To check they’re done, insert a meat thermometer into the center of the largest meatball. It should read 160°F for pork sausage (165°F for poultry sausage). If they’re not quite there yet, give them another minute or two. Don’t rely on the outside color alone!

Cook the pasta: Once the meatballs are cooked through, add ½ cup small pasta to the boiling soup. I’m using pearl couscous here, but acini di pepe, orzo, ditalini, or pastina also work. Continue cooking for about 6 minutes, or until the pasta has plumped up and is tender when you bite into it. Different pasta shapes may need a little more or less time, so tasting a piece is your best bet.

Add the spinach: Stir 4 cups fresh spinach into the soup and let it wilt for about a minute. It might look like a mountain of spinach at first, but trust me, it’ll shrink down in no time. The leaves should turn a deeper green and soften into the broth.

Taste and serve: Give the soup a final taste and adjust the salt or other seasonings as needed. You should have tender mini meatballs, soft vegetables, plump little pasta shapes, and wilted spinach in a delicious, savory broth. Serve hot and enjoy every cozy and hearty spoonful!

Storing & Reheating

One thing to keep in mind with this soup is the pasta keeps absorbing liquid as it sits. So your leftovers will likely look thicker the next day. They’ll still taste delicious, but I recommend cooking the pasta separately if you’re making this soup specifically for meal prep or freezing.

Fridge

Store leftovers in airtight containers in the refrigerator for up to 3-4 days. Divide large batches into smaller, shallow containers so they cool quickly, and refrigerate within two hours of cooking. For the best texture, store the cooked pasta separately from the broth, vegetables, and meatballs. If you’ve already mixed everything together, that’s absolutely fine! Just expect the pasta to soften and soak up some of the broth as it sits.

Reheating

Reheat the soup in a saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until it’s steaming hot throughout and the meatballs reach 165°F. I like to add a splash of extra chicken broth or water if the pasta has absorbed some of the liquid. Start with a small amount, stir, and add more as needed.

You can also microwave individual portions. Heat in short intervals, stirring between each one so the meatballs and broth warm evenly. If you stored the pasta separately, add it toward the end of reheating so it doesn’t become too soft.

Freezing

Italian wedding soup is a great freezer meal! Here’s how I recommend freezing it for the best results:

Freeze without the pasta: Freeze the cooked soup with the meatballs, vegetables, and broth, then prepare fresh pasta when you’re ready to eat. The broth-based soup freezes well for up to 3 months. Divide the cooled soup into freezer-safe containers or bags and leave a little room for expansion. I find smaller portions especially handy for an easy lunch.
Thaw and reheat: Thaw overnight in the refrigerator or reheat directly from frozen, stirring as it thaws and warms through. Add freshly cooked pasta before serving, and a handful of fresh spinach if you’d like to brighten it up.
Already added the pasta? You can still freeze the finished soup! The pasta will just be softer afte

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