You might be wondering: do they serve this Italian wedding soup at Italian weddings? Well, no. The soup’s name comes from an Italian phrase, “minestra maritata”, which translates to “married soup,” since the ingredients marry together as they cook. So, don’t feel like you need to save this soup for a special occasion. Make it every week if you want!
I love how easily this soup comes together and how you get big, bold flavors with only some simple ingredients. It’s a hearty and nourishing soup recipe you can make in one pot, so cleaning up is a breeze. Full of rich, flavorful broth, tender pasta, vegetables, and juicy meatballs, everyone will want a big bowl of this comforting soup. If you want another cozy soup recipe, then try my homemade split pea soup, cabbage soup recipe, or black bean soup recipe.
What You Need to Make This Recipe
Ground meat — for the most flavorful meatballs, use a mixture of ground pork and ground beef.
Breadcrumbs — fresh breadcrumbs are the best for these meatballs. The breadcrumbs absorb the moisture in the meatballs, so they stay super moist. However, if you don’t have fresh breadcrumbs, feel free to use any type of breadcrumbs you have on hand, such as Italian breadcrumbs or panko breadcrumbs.
Egg — don’t skip the egg! It acts as a binder in the meatballs.
Mirepoix — this is a key component composed of onions, carrots, and celery that adds a ton of flavor to the base of the soup.
Chicken broth — you can make your own chicken broth or use store-bought broth.
Pasta — use any small pasta such as orzo, acini de pepe, or ditalini.
Spinach — I like adding spinach to my soup, but you can use any leafy green such as kale, endive, escarole, or cabbage. If you do not have fresh spinach, you can also use frozen spinach.
How to Make Italian Wedding Soup
1. In a large mixing bowl, combine the beef, pork, breadcrumbs, Parmesan, parsley, garlic, egg, salt, and pepper.
2. Gently mix together with your hands. Shape the mixture into 42 (1-inch) balls.
3. Heat oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Brown the meatballs in two batches. Transfer the meatballs to a plate lined with paper towels.
4. In the same pot over medium-high heat, add the olive oil, carrots, onion, and celery. Cook until the vegetables are tender.
5. Add the broth, salt, and pepper and bring to a boil.
6. Stir in the pasta and meatballs. Reduce the heat to medium-low. Cover and cook stirring occasionally, until the pasta is tender.
7. Stir in the spinach and cook until the spinach wilts, about 30 seconds.
8. Serve topped with grated Parmesan.
Pro Tips for Making This Recipe
- If you are short on time, you can use pre-made meatballs.
- When shaping the meatballs, try not to make them larger than an inch large, as you want them to be more bite-sized in the soup.
- To keep the meatballs uniform in size, use a small ice cream scoop or cookie scoop.
- Make a double batch of the meatballs and freeze half of them for a later day so you can quickly make a pot of Italian wedding soup when the craving hits!
- When browning the meatballs, don’t worry about cooking them all the way through. They’ll finish cooking later in the soup. When you brown the meatballs, make sure you do it in batches, so they’re not packed together tightly to ensure they’ll brown and not steam in the pot.
- When you brown the meatballs in the pot, they’ll leave behind something called fond. Fond is the caramelized bits left in the bottom of a pot. This is where you get a ton of flavor! When you add the onions, carrots, and celery, make sure to scrape the bottom of the pot to get the flavor.
- When rolling the meatballs, do not squeeze them too tightly. You don’t want to pack the meatballs as they’ll become dense.
- To make shaping the meatballs easier, wet your hands! When you dampen your hands, the water creates a barrier on your skin, so the meat doesn’t stick, and you can roll them into a ball effortlessly.
Frequently Asked Questions
Store the leftover soup tightly covered in the refrigerator for up to a week. Reheat gently on the stovetop or in the microwave.
Yes. However, the pasta will become very soft after you thaw it, and the spinach will lose its color and vibrancy. If you want to prevent this, you can set aside the amount of Italian wedding soup you plan on freezing before adding the pasta and spinach. You can also cook the pasta separately and add it to the soup when you serve it.
The meatballs in this soup are made from a combination of ground beef and pork, breadcrumbs, Parmesan cheese, egg, and seasonings. However, if you prefer, you can swap the ground meat for a leaner ground chicken or turkey. You can also use ground sausage instead of ground pork.
I prefer orzo or acini de pepe but any small pasta will work for this soup. You want to make sure you don’t use any larger pasta shapes as you don’t want the pasta to take over the other ingredients in the soup.
In Italian, this Italian wedding soup is called “minestra maritata,” which translates to “married soup” and refers to the marriage of the flavors within the soup.
If you love this recipe try these out!
If you’ve tried this Italian Wedding Soup recipe, then don’t forget to rate the recipe and let me know how you got on in the comments below, I love hearing from you!
Italian Wedding Soup
Equipment
- Large mixing bowl
- Large Pot
- Plate
- Paper towels
Ingredients
For the Meatballs:
- 8 ounces lean ground beef (227g)
- 8 ounces ground pork (227g)
- ½ cup fresh breadcrumbs (30g)
- ½ cup grated Parmesan (40g)
- ¼ cup chopped parsley
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
For the Soup:
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 carrots chopped (190g)
- 1 yellow onion chopped (323g)
- 1 stalk celery chopped (88g)
- 8 cups chicken broth (1920 mL)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ¾ cup small pasta (orzo, acini de pepe) (132g)
- 6 ounces fresh spinach leaves chopped (170g)
- Grated Parmesan for servings
Instructions
For the Meatballs:
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the beef, pork, bread crumbs, Parmesan, parsley, garlic, egg, salt, and pepper. Gently mix together with your hands. Shape the mixture into 42 (1-inch) balls.
- Heat oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add half of the meatballs and cook until browned on all sides, turning occasionally during cooking, about 3 minutes. Transfer the meatballs to a plate lined with paper towels. Repeat with the remaining meatballs.
For the Soup:
- In the same pot over medium-high heat, add the olive oil, carrots, onion, and celery. Cook stirring frequently, until the vegetables are tender, about 6 minutes.
- Add the broth, salt, and pepper and bring to a boil. Stir in the pasta and meatballs.
- Reduce the heat to medium-low. Cover and cook stirring occasionally until the pasta is tender, about 8 minutes.
- Stir in the spinach and cook until the spinach wilts, about 30 seconds. Serve topped with grated Parmesan. Soup can be refrigerated for up to 1 week and frozen for up to 6 months.
Notes
- If you are short on time, you can use pre-made meatballs.
- When shaping the meatballs, try not to make them larger than an inch large, as you want them to be more bite-sized in the soup.
- To keep the meatballs uniform in size, use a small ice cream scoop or cookie scoop.
- Make a double batch of the meatballs and freeze half of them for a later day so you can quickly this soup when the craving hits!
- When browning the meatballs, don’t worry about cooking them all the way through. They’ll finish cooking later in the soup. When you brown the meatballs, make sure you do it in batches, so they’re not packed together tightly to ensure they’ll brown and not steam in the pot.
- When you brown the meatballs in the pot, they’ll leave behind something called fond. Fond is the caramelized bits left in the bottom of a pot. This is where you get a ton of flavor! When you add the onions, carrots, and celery, make sure to scrape the bottom of the pot to get the flavor.
- When rolling the meatballs, do not squeeze them too tightly. You don’t want to pack the meatballs as they’ll become dense.
- To make shaping the meatballs easier, wet your hands! When you dampen your hands, the water creates a barrier on your skin, so the meat doesn’t stick, and you can roll them into a ball effortlessly.
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