Classic Italian Wedding Soup is made with delicious pork and beef bite-sized meatballs, onions, carrots, celery, garlic, spinach, and pasta in a deliciously seasoned broth.
The name wedding soup comes from the Italian phrase minestra maritata, which means married soup, not as in wedding nuptials and bells but in the marriage of delicious flavors and tastes that complement each other. I love to serve this soup with oatmeal biscuits and potato croquettes.
Why is it Called Italian Wedding Soup?
Unfortunately, this classic Italian soup has nothing to do with weddings. It wasn’t named after the marriage of two people but after the heavenly marriage between meat and vegetables. I know this is a bit of a letdown, as you were probably thinking this soup has got to have a great story behind it and a bunch of symbolism. Nope, it’s just terrific-tasting soup that should probably be served at weddings.
Ingredient Notes and Substitutions
- Meat: I like to use a mixture of ground beef and pork, but you can use either one or the other.
- Breadcrumbs: Italian or homemade
- Parmesan cheese: freshly grated is best
- Pasta: Orzo or ditalani can be substituted for the acini de pepe pasta.
- Baby spinach: you can use regular spinach, but remove the long and thick stems
How To Make Italian Wedding Soup
This is the summary version; see the recipe card below for the complete list of ingredients and the instructions.
First, combine the ground beef, pork, breadcrumbs, egg, Parmesan, herbs, and spices. Roll the mixture into small meatballs and cook in a large skillet over medium-high heat until browned. Don’t worry if they are not fully cooked. Those sweet babies will finish cooking in the soup. Remove the meatballs from the skillet and plate.
Add the onions, carrots, and celery to the same skillet and cook until softened. Add the garlic and herbs and cook for 1 minute while stirring constantly. Move the cooked vegetables to a large Dutch oven or large pot. Add the chicken broth and bring the Soup to a low boil. Add the pasta and cooked meatballs. Reduce the heat and simmer for 10-15 minutes or until the pasta is tender. Stir in the spinach at the last minute of cooking. Season with kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper.
If you own a Dutch oven, you can prepare the entire recipe in that pot. They are great for browning meat. However, I would drain any excess grease before adding the chicken broth.
Preparation Tips and Storage
- For optimal taste, brown the meatballs before adding them to the soup. Browning adds great flavor that spreads throughout the whole pot. It also lends a better texture than a boiled meatball.
- Use dried or fresh herbs like parsley, thyme, and rosemary.
- You can substitute escarole, kale, or endive for the spinach in this soup recipe. They all work well.
- Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. They can be reheated on the stove over low heat or in the microwave at reduced power.
- Freeze for up to 3 months. See below for more on freezing this soup.
How to Freeze This Soup
To freeze this soup, first, cool the soup thoroughly. Ladle the fully-cooled soup into quart or gallon-sized heavy-duty freezer zipper bags. Mark the bags with the date and the contents. Lay the soup bags in a single layer on cookie sheets and place them in the freezer.
Once fully frozen, stack the bags on their sides in the freezer to save space. Thaw in the fridge overnight. Reheat on the stovetop on low or in the microwave at 60% power so as not to overcook any ingredients before the soup is hot.
More Soup Recipes
Classic Italian Wedding Soup Recipe
Ingredients
Meatball Ingredients
- 1 1/4 lbs mixed ground pork and beef
- 1/2 cup bread crumbs
- 1 tablespoon dried parsley
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
- 1 1/2 tablespoon olive oil
Soup
- 1 medium sweet onion diced
- 2 large carrots diced
- 2 stalks of celery diced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tablespoon dried parsley
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 8 cups low-sodium chicken broth
- 1 cup acini de pepe pasta see notes
- 4-5 ounces baby spinach
- Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, combine the ground pork, ground beef, breadcrumbs, parsley, basil, oregano, egg, and Parmesan cheese. Shape the mixture into 3/4-inch balls. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add the meatballs and brown in the skillet. Remove the meatballs from the skillet and plate.
- In the same skillet over medium heat, add the onions, carrots, and celery. Cook until the vegetables are softened, about 7-10 minutes. Add the garlic, parsley, basil, and oregano and cook for 1 minute while stirring constantly. Add the cooked vegetables to a heavy stockpot or Dutch oven. Add chicken broth and bring to a low boil.
- Add the acini di pepe and the cooked meatballs. Cook for 15 minutes or until the pasta is tender. Add the spinach at the last minute of cooking. Stir the soup until the spinach is wilted. Season with kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste.
Video
Notes
- You can substitute ground turkey, ground pork, ground beef, or Italian sausage.
- For optimal taste, brown the meatballs before adding them to the soup. Browning adds great flavor that spreads throughout the whole pot. It also lends a better texture than a boiled meatball.
- Use dried or fresh herbs like parsley, thyme, and rosemary.
- Feel free to substitute escarole, kale, or endive for the spinach. They all work well in this soup recipe.
- Orzo or ditalani can be substituted for the acini de pepe pasta.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. Reheat leftovers on the stove over low heat or in the microwave at reduced power.
- Freeze for up to 3 months. See below for more on freezing this soup.
Nutrition
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https://www.smalltownwoman.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Beth-1.pdf
Jane Freed
Making this today, a-snowy Saturday with homemade crusty bead. Using Ground turkey and escarole. Thanks for sharing this great recipe.
Beth Pierce
You are most welcome Jane! What a great meal for a snow day!
Teri
What are your thoughts re adding kale to this recipe? I am going to make this, asap!!!
Beth Pierce
I think kale would be delicious. I would remove the stems and chop it up some!
Jackie
I posted a day or two ago but my reply is not listed here so I will try again. This is a very good flavorful hearty recipe for Italian Wedding soup. I love it.
There is one small thing that I would like to mention for those of us who are counting calories.
The nutritional information that is listed can not possibly include the meatballs. The calorie count would be quite a bit higher.
I will just plan my day different on the days that I have this soup. Because once again I want to stress how good it is.
Beth Pierce
Sorry about the delayed response. I really wanted to take a few minutes to respond to this. So glad that you like the recipe. We love it too. I need to put a disclaimer on the site that those nutritional values are approximations. The software that is offered bloggers is only so good and sometimes you have to pick a group of foods. In this particular case I picked a mix of beef, pork and turkey since they did not have a beef and pork mix. Could I have slowed down and made two nutritional lines one for pork and one for beef? Yes I sure could have but the day is full of questions, comments, cooking and blogging. There are just not enough hours to get it all done. Here is another for instance complaints on how high sodium is many recipes. I only have so many choice out there to pick from and they might not have the low sodium version I am listing in my recipe but I have to go with something. This is way I am going to have to come up with a disclaimer. Sorry again for the delay as I wanted a few minutes to type this up.
Mayuri Patel
A cool story behind the name of the soup, when I read the title I thought “that’s interesting a special soup for Italian weddings.” Nutritious and filling and wholesome.
Farah
Seasonal and absolutely heart and delicious! Loved this thank you!!
Jacqueline Debono
This is one of the best winter soup recipes. It really is a meal on its own and so warming and comforting! I made it all in my Dutch oven!
Elizabeth
This recipe is super! It ticked all of my boxes for a fully rounded family meal – thank you for the inspiration!
estee
this looks incredible!!!!!!!! perfect for a heart weeknight dinner when its freezing out.
Dave
Haven’t tried this recipe, but it’s close to my mother’s. She would boil a whole chicken with carrots, onions and celery. After cooking and coolind, pull the chicken meat off the bone, stain the broth, make her meatballs and add onions, celery and carrots into broth with Carole and smmer. Soooooo good.
Beth Pierce
I bet! That sounds delicious! I wish I had a bowl right now!
Daneial Cobb
This is soooo good. I’m in Southern California, so it’s still in the 80’s here, but I was in a soup mood. I am GF so I used GF breadcrumbs in the meatballs, added extra carrots and celery and skipped the pasta. I cooked everything in a dutch oven and forgot to drain the beef fat from browning the meatballs. The extra fat gave the soup extra flavor. I liked it so much, I ate 3 bowls for dinner and I’m looking forward to the leftovers tomorrow night.
Beth Pierce
So glad that you liked it and were able to adapt it to your specific wants. I love a cook that can improvise!
Cheryl Delmastro
What is the best chicken broth for this recipe.
Beth Pierce
I buy an organic low sodium chicken broth. Walmart sells an organic chicken broth.
Judith
I use unsalted chicken broth because I have heart disease, I saute my veggies in lots of garlic, basil ,oregano ,parsley, celery, onions ,and not to much olive oil, also when I cannot find the pasta I use white beans I also cook my meatballs in an air oven. . I also use Italian saugage once in a while. Great soup. This is the best when you just want a good cup or bowl of soup along with some garlic bread.
Beth Pierce
Those are great tips Judith. Thanks so much for sharing those with us. It is one delicious soup.
Patty
Hi everyone -can this be frozen? Should the pasta be added after its defrosts or can it be added before freezing? I want a good soup to send to my daughter at college. Winter is coming and upstate could use some soup:)
Beth Pierce
Oh Patty I am so sorry I missed this one. Soup with pasta in it can be frozen. It will need to be thawed in the refrigerator and heated on low to keep from cooking the pasta more. I would suggest cooking the pasta al dente or you could also bring her the uncooked pasta and she could add it to her soup when she heats it.
Laura O'Connell
You can’t always get acini de pepe pasta where I live, so I tried barley instead. Works just as well. Also, I had some leftover spiralized veggies (carrots, zuccini), so I used them instead of chopped up carrots.
Beth Pierce
Fabulous! I love a cook that can improvise!
Ariane
I just made this and it’s so versatile and delicious! I added one extra carrot and celery since we love them in soup. I also made my soup gf by using gf Italian breadcrumbs (used 2 eggs & garlic salt since I had ground beef/turky blend), and used gf alphabet noodles 🙂 My 2 y/o just gobbled up a bowl! I made my meatballs super tiny, so they were done in 10min. LOVE that I could modify this super easily. Thank you for a great recipe!
Beth Pierce
You are most welcome Ariane! Thanks for your great tips as well.
Liz
It’s been so cold, I’ve been craving soup on repeat! This recipe is so perfect for winter nights! Thanks you for this delicious recipe!
Beth Pierce
You are most welcome Liz! I hope you enjoy it!
Aimee Shugarman
My favorite soup recipe. We have this on a regular rotation!
Beth Pierce
Thanks Aimee! It certainly is a delicious soup!