Italian Wedding Soup
Why This Is One Amazing Recipe
This comforting Italian Wedding Soup got everything that a perfect hearty and flavorful soup should have:
- lots of flavor, protein and pasta to keep you full, and veggies to keep you nourished.
- prep time for this soup is just 20 minutes, and the majority of that time is spent making the homemade meatballs and prepping the veggies.
- between the pasta, meatballs, and vegetables, this hearty soup is sure to keep you nice and full for a while!
- you can easily variate the meat, greens, or pasta if you prefer.
Key Ingredients and Substitutions
Meat for meatballs – use a combination of ground pork and ground beef for the best texture and juicy meatballs. As far as beef, use 85%-15% meat to fat ratio for the flavor and the juiciness in meatballs. Substituting: you can use ground turkey instead of beef and pork.
Greens – escarole is the traditional choice, but it’s not always widely available. If you need to, substitute endive, kale, or Swiss chard. (Spinach is my personal least favorite green to use, as it adapts a slimy texture in the soup.)
Pasta– in this soup, think tiny. Go with an option like orzo, ancini de pepe, pastina, or even ditalini.
Gluten free substitutions – use gluten free bread when making the meatballs and use a small gluten free pasta. Tip: if you can’s find small gluten free pasta, you can always bread up GF spaghetti into small pieces.
Parmesan cheese and eggs – adding this mixture is a must in an Italian wedding soup, it’s almost not the same without it. I recommend using freshly grated parmesan cheese off the block because it will melt well and incorporate into the broth.
How to Make Italian Wedding Soup
- Start off by making the meatballs. Combine all of the ingredients that are called for and mix them well. Once mixed, scoop the meatballs into 1 inch balls and set them aside.
- Sauté the veggies: Preheat a Dutch oven with some olive oil and cook the soffritto – the perfect base to all soups (onion, carrot, and celery). Then, stir in the garlic and cook until fragrant.
- Broth and meatballs: Pour in the chicken stock and season the mixture with a little salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer.
- Add in the meatballs and cook them in the simmering broth for approximately 15 minutes.
- Pasta and greens: chop the leafy greens, then add them to the pot. Add the pasta as well. Give it a good stir and let the soup cook for another 8 minutes. (Or, the time the pasta box instructions suggest.)
- Egg finish: Whisk together the eggs and grated parmesan cheese in a small bowl. Drizzle the egg mixture into the pot as you slowly stir. Give it about a minute to cook.
How to store leftover soup?
Storing – Store the leftover soup right in the Dutch oven you cooked it in covered with a lid or in an airtight container, in the refrigerator. Stored properly, homemade Italian Wedding soup should last for about 3-4 days.
Reheating – You can reheat the individual portions in the microwave. If you need to reheat a lot at the same time, do it on stovetop in the Dutch oven over medium heat just until warmed through.
Gluten Free Notes
If you’re gluten free, you can still enjoy this Italian classic soup!
- In the meatballs, make sure to use gluten free bread.
- As pasta, use small gluten free pasta and if you can’t find any, break up some gluten free spaghetti into small pieces.
DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE? PLEASE leave a 🌟 star rating! Let me know how you liked it by leaving the 📝 comment below or share and tag me on social media @willcookforsmiles. DON’T FORGET to subscribe to my newsletter!
Italian Wedding Soup Recipe
Ingredients
Meatballs:
- 1/2 lb ground beef 85/15 meat to fat ratio
- 1/2 lb ground pork
- 1/4 cup finely diced onion
- 3 garlic cloves
- 1 egg
- 1/2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 slice of bread* soaked in milk
- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1/2 tbsp dried parsley
- coarse salt
- black pepper
For Italian Wedding Soup:
- rolled meatballs from above
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 yellow onion
- 2-3 medium carrots
- 2-3 celery ribs
- 4 cloves of garlic
- 12 cups vegetable (or chicken) broth heated
- coarse salt
- black pepper
- 1 cup tiny pasta such as orzo*
- 1 medium bunch or head of endive, escarole, or kale
- 2 eggs
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions
Meatballs:
- Combine all of the ingredients for meatballs in a mixing bowl and mix well.
- Use a cookie scoop to make meatballs that are about or slightly smaller than 1 inch in diameter. Set them aside.
To Make The Soup:
- Preheat a large Dutch oven and add olive oil. Add diced onion, carrots, and celery and sauté over medium heat until softened and starts to get golden brown.
- Stir in minced garlic and let it sear until fragrant.
- Pour in heated chicken stock and season with salt and pepper. Let it come to a simmer.
- Add in meatballs and let them cook for about 15 minutes.
- Chop the leafy greens and add them to the pot. Add pasta as well. Stir and let it cook about 8 minutes, just until pasta is tender.
- In a small bowl, whisk together eggs and grated parmesan cheese.
- Gently stir the soup and as you stir in a circular motion, drizzle in the egg mixture. Keep slowly swirling the soup as the egg cooks for about a minute.
- Serve right away!
Video
Notes
- *Gluten Free Notes: In the meatballs, make sure to use gluten free bread. As far as pasta, use small gluten free pasta and if you can’t find any, break up some gluten free spaghetti into small pieces.
- Substitutes: Pasta– in this soup, think tiny. Go with an option like ancini de pepe, orzo, pastina, or even ditalini. Greens – escarole is the traditional choice, but it’s not always widely available. If you need to, substitute endive or kale.
- Storing: Store the leftover soup right in the Dutch oven you cooked it in covered with a lid or in an airtight container, in the refrigerator. Stored properly, homemade Italian Wedding soup should last for about 3-4 days.
Nutrition
More Comforting Recipes To Try
Italian Wedding Soup with Turkey Meatballs and Orzo
Italian Meatballs and Gnocchi Soup
Olive Garden Chicken Gnocchi Soup
Originally published on Will Cook For Smiles in January 2022.
Would you like to save this recipe?
We'll email this post recipe to you, so you can come back to it later!
All images and text ©Lyubov Brooke for ©Will Cook For Smiles. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If using my posts in collections and features, please link back to this post for the recipe.
Disclaimer: Nutrition information shown is not guaranteed to be 100% accurate as most ingredients and brands have variations.
It was fabulous!
Thanks, Jo!
I don’t see the orzo listed in the recipe?