Easy Italian Wedding Soup
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This Italian wedding soup recipe is simple to make and the absolute BEST thing to eat! My whole family loves it, and yours will, too. Check out the rave reviews.
When my daughter was in kindergarten, she discovered Italian wedding soup, and it quickly became her favorite food. She ate a canned version almost every day for lunch, and when her beloved brand was discontinued, she was distraught.
So I got to work creating an easy, homemade Italian wedding soup recipe that would taste exactly like her favorite. It was a huge hit with the whole family, and I’ve been making it in double batches ever since.
What makes it so simple is that you don’t need to brown the meatballs beforehand. Cooking them right in the broth saves you time, and also infuses the broth with lots of flavor. You can also use frozen meatballs to save time (see below).
This soup is delicious, comforting, and hearty enough for dinner, especially if you serve it with a salad and some good, fresh crusty bread.
Best Pasta to Use in Italian Wedding Soup:
My favorite pasta to use in Italian Wedding Soup is Acini de Pepe. These are tiny pasta balls that are perfect for soup because they don’t overtake the other ingredients.
Shortcuts and Substitutions:
- If you can’t find Acini de Pepe, you can substitute another small noodle such as ditalini, small shells, or orzo.
- If you own a food processor, you can use it to make this recipe even faster. Just grate/chop the onion, parsley, garlic, and even the bread right in the processor.
- I prefer to use spinach in Italian Wedding Soup, but many people like to use escarole as a substitute. You can also use fresh spinach in place of frozen spinach.
- Several commenters have substituted ground turkey for the beef/pork with good results.
- I included parmesan cheese as an optional ingredient because I wanted this wedding soup recipe to be dairy free (to accommodate a dairy allergy). But you can use freshly grated or store bought parmesan cheese in your own version.
Making Italian Wedding Soup with Frozen Meatballs:
Now that I know that this recipe is a winner, I always double the meatball part of the recipe, and freeze half of the meatballs for later so that I can quickly make another batch.
To do this, just form the second set of meatballs on a baking sheet, and place the baking sheet in the freezer. Once the meatballs are frozen completely, put them into a gallon freezer bag.
The next time you want to make this soup, just boil the broth, toss in the spinach, frozen meatballs, and pasta, and cook until the pasta and meatballs are done.
You can also use store bought frozen meatballs in this recipe if you don’t have the time or patience to make your own.
Degreasing the Broth:
I prefer to use lean pork and beef in this recipe to cut down on grease in the broth. Another alternative is to skim the fat from the broth prior to serving.
Some commenters suggested pre-cooking the meatballs in the oven to eliminate grease, but I personally like to cook them directly in the broth because it adds great flavor.
Italian Wedding Soup
Ingredients
- 1 small onion, grated
- 1/3 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 slice white bread, crusts trimmed, grated or shredded
- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan, optional
- 8 oz lean ground beef
- 8 oz ground pork
- 12 cups chicken broth
- 10 oz frozen chopped spinach
- approx 6-8 oz of Acini de Pepe or other tiny pasta*
- 2 tbsp parmesan, optional
Instructions
- To make the meatballs: Stir the first 6 ingredients in a large bowl to blend. Then add the cheese, beef, and pork. Shape the meat mixture into meatballs, and place on a baking sheet. I prefer the meatballs to be on the smaller side, but you can make them any size you want.
- To make the soup: Bring the broth and frozen spinach to a boil in a large pot. Add the meatballs (uncooked) and simmer for a few minutes, stirring occasionally to make sure they don’t stick. Add the pasta and continue cooking at a low boil until both the pasta and meatballs are cooked (approx 20 minutes). Season with salt and pepper if needed. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese before serving, if you wish.
Video
Notes
Nutrition Facts
After you’ve made this soup, comment and let me know how you liked it! Also, be sure to try my family’s other favorite soup: Pasta e Fagioli.
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342 Comments on “Easy Italian Wedding Soup”
Made this tonight it was awesome. Baked small meatballs, melted cheese crispy on the bottom. Used beef and veg broth 4C each and small shell pasta. I’m going to try button mushrooms in place of meatballs with wild rice to make it more plant based.
I made this for the first time and we LOVED it! So easy to make. Thank you so much
I have made this recipe many times now ! Thank you for sharing it with us . I make a big batch and share with my neighbors. They look forward to Italian wedding soup day.
Patricia, you are a great neighbor! Thanks so much for your comment. I love that you have been enjoying and sharing the recipe!
This is a recipe I make every few months. So easy and the whole family loves it!
cant find it online! I dont have fresh parsley how much would that be in dried parsley
I absolutely love this soup….
especially when you have the meatballs already frozen. It tastes so good, it’s hearty, delicious and very easy…!!!
How much fresh spinach would you recommend in place of the frozen?
Absolutely one of my favorites and I love how easy you’ve made this recipe! I’m so excited for soup season…this is sure to hit the spot!
I love the soup!
Yours is my go to recipe.
Thanks!!!
Oh, this is my favorite soup! I learned how to make it a couple of years ago and make it non-stop ever since! Will try your version, it looks absolutely delicious!
This is one of our favorite soups. I make it every time the family gets together in the fall. I do like your small pasta – I will have to look for it when I’m at the store. It’s easy to get on the spoon along with the meatball. And may I say they look delicious!! I’m craving the soup now.
This is a great recipe. I usually cook my meatballs first, but I should try cooking them in the broth for more flavor. Great tip!
I heard so much about Italian wedding soup. First time get to see the picture and procedure! Looks like flavorful and comfort food.
My ex’s dad used to make an amazing Italian Wedding Soup. I miss that soup more than I’ll ever miss his son. I bet this is tons better than his, though! LOL!
Funny how I have only recently learned about this recipe, as I had never heard of it in Italy. The combination of the tiny pasta and meatballs makes me understand how this can so quickly become a child’s favourite. I wasn’t much into sopus as a kid, but I would have loved the texture of this one for sure!
I had always wanted to make this soup, and had no idea how easy it would be… this soup is amazing! So hearty, so warming, and will be making it again.
My nextdoor neighbor has a heavily guarded recipe for Wedding Soup that my family just adores. Thanks for sharing your version, so I can make this family-favorite myself! Yay! And, especially, thank you for the great tip about saving time by using frozen meatballs – I love shortcuts. So great that you don’t even need to brown the meatballs, and that cooking them in the broth actually adds flavor (besides saving time)!
So delicious! I followed your tip and doubled meatball recipe to freeze. This is probably a dumb question but I’m NOT a chef by any stretch… when I make the soup with my leftover frozen meatballs, do they need to thaw first? If not.. do you just increase the cook time?
Not a dumb question! You don’t have to thaw them…just toss them in frozen. It may take a tiny bit longer to cook, but it shouldn’t be much.
This is a favourite in our house. Been making it a couple of years and make big batches of meatballs and freeze so we always have them available. Thank you. Of all the recipes I have got online this still remains the family favourite
if I wanted to use baby spinach instead of frozen how would I do that and how much. would I cook the spinach first and then add or just add it in fresh?
Yes, you can use fresh baby spinach! Just cook it in the broth until wilted…no need to cook it first. Enjoy!
Love this recipe! I make it every couple months, as it’s my favourite home-made soup. I never do make my own meatballs though, and typically buy a large bag of pre-cooked meatballs for $10, and then quarter the meatballs before tossing them in the pot. Hate the texture of raw ground meat! ☹️ This does alter the flavour a bit, but as I almost always use my own homemade chicken or veggie stock, I’m not too worried, and the taste is fairly consistent in every batch. Thanks so much for sharing this with us!!
This soup is excellent! So easy to make. Thank you 😁
This was easy and really good. I froze the meat balls so l can make small amts. of soup at any time.
I made this today with lean ground turkey, it was delicious and no grease. Thank you for sharing!
I always liked Italian Wedding soup, but didn’t get many opportunities to consume it. This recipe resembles my memories of the rare times I did. Yet, with the ability to freeze the meatballs, we can throw this all together rather quickly with frozen spinach and pantry stocked items of pasta and chicken stock. We eat this regularly and I love it! To boost the flavor even more, I use boxed “Tuscany” chicken stock seasoned with thyme, marjoram, and oregano. Yum….
Thank you for sharing this delicious recipe.
I love this recipe. My kids favorite! Thank you for sharing :)
My go-to soup recipe. My kid loves it!
This is absolutely one of the beat soups I’ve ever made! I make it all the time, the only thing I can’t perfect is the amount of noodles but that’s only because I have picky family members😂
I would love to see more of your comfort food recipes😊
This is sooo easy and can be made at the last minute and uses ingredients you already have lying around the house, I really can’t say enough about this soup!
Delicious!
I have made this 4 times now. The ONLY change is that I add some shredded carrots. Otherwise, I follow the recipe exactly. I definitely include the Parmesan cheese.
The whole family loves it!!!
Amazing!!!! This was such a wonderful soup!!! I made the double batch of meatballs and can’t wait to make it again. My 6 year wants me to make the meat balls for spaghetti. He approved as well!!! ☺️
QUESTION: I’m so excited to try this soup! Our family makes soups for our Christmas get together. We usually have 8 or so big pots of soup with different breads on the side. So fun! It’s a tradition that all look forward to! My question is, I’m hosting, so making this soup the night before would be very helpful to me… will it hold up? Could/should I just make the broth/spinach/meatball portion ahead of time, then bring it back to a boil and add the pasta before serving? Thanks for any help or suggestions to make this the best soup ever! It’s not a competition… but, it kinda is… and I wanna “win” ;)
I love that tradition!! Yes, I think your make ahead plan sounds perfect.
I liked your story about your mom’s version using Escarole instead of spinach. I don’t know why you got a thumbs sideways for that. Escarole is traditional, not spinach. You are right though, with the meatballs they should be small, like we use in our lasagna. My grandmother’s version seems to be unique. Pretty much like use, (except escarole not spinach), but she never used pasta in hers. She used rice. Never called it wedding soup either. I think she called it mineste.
This soup is awesome. I used garlic and onion powder just because I felt lazy. An easy and tasty weeknight meal!
My family has been making a version of this soup for years and was never called wedding soup. My dad says that is the American name. We call it scalata soup and is made with escarole, little meatballs with no pasta. We scramble a couple eggs with Parmesan cheese in a bowl and drop it in the soup making little ribbons
Frozen meatballs and boxed fresh organic spinach makes this an easy family weeknight (or any night) favorite. I just eyeball the amounts of pasta and spinach adding to our liking – sometimes we prefer it more like a stew with less broth.
I have a question.your Italian wedding soup,do you use the crust on the bread too?
It depends on the bread. If it’s a soft crust I do – otherwise I pull it off.
I made this for a friends 40th anniversary party (she is 1/2 Italian) and everyone loved it. I did make a slight change, I added a small onion, a cubed carrot and 2 stalks celery to the broth. I simmered the broth for about 20 minutes and removed the vegetables and corrected the seasonings. Then I added the meatballs and tiny pasta. It really made a big difference in the taste of the broth.
Do you put the meatballs straight in the pot or bake them first??
They go straight into the pot
Very good base recipe. I made a few changes: escarole instead of spinach, added a parmesan rind, extra broth, and about 1/4 cup grated carrot for flavor and color. Will be making again.
the amount of beef and pork…. is that the amount you would use for the extra made meatballs to freeze or would we double that? how many meatballs on the small side would this amount make
The amount in the recipe is just for that recipe (although it does make a fairly generous portion). If you want to double, you’d use a pound of each meat.
can you use fresh spinach rather than frozen?
Sure! This is such a fabulous and forgiving soup…but if you use fresh spinach, definitely increase the quantity. Three to four cups of raw will look like a lot, but will cook down so quickly. And I might add that a parmesan rind and some grated or small sliced carrots are favorite additions in mine.
This turned our really well! I did some variations with mine due to time and availability, but it tasted just like the $8/cup recipe I buy from Whole Foods – maybe even better! I didn’t make the meatballs, but was able to buy ready-cooked mini meatballs (beef/pork) from Trader Joe’s, I added some diced celery (had some left over), and some fresh kale, in addition to the spinach. As for spices, I added a pinch each of paprika, turmeric, cumin, and some All Seasoning (from Trader Joe’s). Took about 30 minutes to prepare and cook, and I let it simmer an additional 20 minutes for the acini de pepe to absorb the flavours. To serve, I added some parmesan cheese and lemon juice. It was delicious and SO easy to make. Thank you for sharing this recipe!
This soup is a staple around the Pittsburgh area. I’ve never had it without chicken and meatballs. Isn’t that what the name means, a “wedding” of the two different meats?
Absolutely delicious! We also used to get that soup at the store, I wonder what happened to it! Anyways, thank you for this recipe, it is very much like it, and I am sure way healthier with fresh ingredients!
This soup was AMAZING!! My family absolutely loves it. I made gnocchi to replace the pasta, but the sauce and meatballs made this perfect. This is going in my recipe vault, for sure! Thanks for sharing!
Your recipe for wedding soup looks delicious and the idea of cooking the meatballs in the broth is different than what I am used to. Let me tell you about my experience with wedding soup. I am 70+ years young and have been eating wedding soup all of my life. I grew up in western Pennsylvania where there was a large Italian immigrant population. As a child I remember my grandmother and mother making meatballs for the soup. To get them so tiny, my grandmother would hold up her pinkie finger to show me they should be the same size. I know, that’s really small but that’s how was done and how I make mine today. Our recipe did not include pasta and the greens were escarole added raw. That really imparts another flavor to the broth. The most interesting memory it that it was not called wedding soup. That name came from the fact that it was always served at family weddings in our community. We called it “French” soup! I have no idea why but that was what we called it! Go figure!!
Thanks for your comment, Charleen! I’d love to make meatballs that tiny, but I’m not sure I’d have the patience. Maybe I’ll try it that way next time, though!
I loved making this recipe. It was completely delicious! Making the meatballs smaller was quite fun. I made double, and froze the rest-what a time saver! Thank you for sharing!
~Aimee
Hello Aimee…
congratulations on your accomplishment with the delicious Italian Wedding Soup. I need a little advice on the meatball process.
How do you make them soooo small. I ended up using a small baller and my finished meatballs were ~1-inch in diameter-much too big for this delicate and flavorful soup. Any suggestions? Harry
I used a one teaspoon measuring spoon. Leveled off the meat so really just a teaspoon. I halved the recipe, used 8-9 oz of meat and got 44 meatballs. Very nice size for this soup! Delicious recipe.
I would like to make this recipe for my grandparents who have several food restrictions, including beef and pork. Could I make the meatballs with turkey? And if so, can I still cook them right in the broth or do I need to precook them? Thank you
Hi Mary, I haven’t tried with turkey personally, bit some commenters said they used turkey and had a good result. I would use a turkey with some fat content (not all white meat) and perhaps add parmesan to help with binding.
Tasted wonderful, though time-consuming to put together. I made it for a supper meeting with my church group and I was given raves by the one Italian present for so successfully managing it. Said it tastes just as an Italian would make it! I guess it doesn’t get much better!
Made this tonight…. absolutely awesome. I wouldn’t alter a single thing
Thank you for this great recipe! I have made it several times and always a winner. Even though I am cooking for just my husband and I ( kids are all paired up with their own families) , I make a big batch and share with my elderly neighbours ( just like parents)who are in their 80’s and they just love it . So I make it often so they can enjoy it . Thanks again!
USE OF A SMALL COOKIE SCOOPER SAVES TIME
This is the best soup I’ve made, and very easy to make, it’s hearty and goes a long way. While getting everything ready, I accidentally poured the Spinach into the raw meat mixture, I picked out most of it, leaving what I couldn’t get out, and mixed it with meat, I figured it wouldn’t matter, and it turned out great. I also partially baked the meatballs to release some of the fat. I also used the smallest cookie dough scooper to make the meatballs, that saved a lot of time. I had extra meatballs and froze those for use in spaghetti sauce and other recipes. Again this recipe is so very easy to make.
I think this recipe freezes very well. I buy it from an Italian deli frozen in quart sizes. It defrosts easily and tastes wonderful.
This looks really good, but I have a question on portion size. 12 cups of chicken broth is a lot (even with some of it being absorbed by the pasta), and my family is just me, my wife, and my seven year old daughter. Your recipe overall looks like the Italian Wedding Soup I like the most, so I want to give it a go.
If I were to reduce the broth to six cups, and keep everything else pretty much the same (we love pasta and meatballs), will the recipe itself still work? I realize there will be considerably less broth. Or should I reduce the pasta and meatball (overall ounces – such as halving them) as well?
Hi Kevin – I would halve the whole recipe instead of just the broth. I’m afraid if you just reduce the broth, it won’t be “soupy” enough. I think half the recipe would be plenty for a family of 3.
Try to make it with 6 cups of broth. Keep an other 6 nearly.
If you see your soup is to thick you can bring to boil an other 1,2,3,4,5,6 cups separately and then add it to your soup
So my mom is full blooded Italian and I have eaten wedding soup all my life. I am sure for the average American your recipe is super good and works but from my perspective spinach is out. Has to be escarole. As for the pasta I know some people put it in although my family never did. Otherwise this looks like a good recipe. And u r right. No carrots ever. I use them in chicken noodle but not wedding soup.
I am making this soup and it is so easy. I added a few carrots cut up in small pieces. I also put in a small amount of kale and onions.
This is just awesome and tastes splendid.
I’ve made this recipe so many times I know it almost by heart. It’s so delicious and easy. I love it❤ thank you so much for sharing!
Susie try cooking up your pasta and serving it on the side. I grew up with an Italian neighbor. They always served the pasta on the side so you could ad as much as you wante!
This make freezing the left overs easy! Hope this helps!
Thanks, Cindy, I think that is what I’ll do. The flavor in this soup is so good!
This soup tastes amazing but you need to be prepared to eat it all right away or the pasta absorbs all the broth and it’s no good. So frustrating because now it’s wasted. If I make it again I’ll cook the pasta separately.
Thank you for the great recipe! I have made it a few times now and always turns out just right. I too like extra pasta. Thanks again 😁
The Italian wedding soup it’s a BIG BIG hit with my family. Today I am making an extra batch for my sister gave her a taste and she is hooked. Thank you, love it!
This is the BEST Italian Wedding Soup recipe I have ever tasted. My husband helped me roll hundreds of tiny meat balls and after having the soup for dinner, told me he’d be willing to roll hundreds more! Can’t thank you enough for sharing this recipe and can assure you, this will become one of our most-made recipes!
I had never made IWS from scratch and went looking online. I chose your recipe over others as I share your disdain for carrots and some even had, blech, corn! The only things I changed were, I used Panko bread crumbs instead of crusts, I used fresh baby spinach instead of processed spinach and I did borrow some advice from another recipe I found online… brown the meatballs first. In the words of that poster, “why not brown them and get all the benefits of that added flavor?” Browning them did add flavor and isolate the grease outside of the soup and your meatballs with the browning were unbelievable! I love your level of pasta as it adds a LOT to make the soup into a meal. Fantastic! Thank you!
I prefer to add the cooked acini de peppe to each individual bowl and ladlle the soup over it.The pasta in the soup makes it cloudy and it swells up and leaves less broth.
I like Pecorino too I might use that when I make this can’t wait to try it hope I can find your preferred pasta. Thanks for the recipe
I’d give it 5 but that goes to my late grandmother who came from Messina, Italy in the 1920’s. She would make hers in a 40 gallon pot that she sold to a market (and sometimes for weddings!), and with the escarole instead of spinach but I like both. Also, she used equal parts ground beef and ground veal for the meatballs and the cheese in meatballs had to be Pecorino Romano, not parm, because it was saltier and better for meatballs, something her mom taught her. The parmesan cheese was for later when soup was served. The pastina was acini de pepe but she cooked it seperate and cooled it in ice water first before adding it to the soup. I liked this because it was easy and tasty!
This sounds amazing! Would she put the meat separately or put it right in the soup?
Does this reheat well or will the pasta get too soft, I want to freeze some for later.
I freeze mine all the time. The pasta does get softer, but it still tastes delicious. You could always freeze soup without pasta and add when u are ready to eat it.
I’m going to make this today, it’s cold here in Texas! Any idea how to cut down on the sodium content (of course cutting out the parm.) I can’t wait!
You can use low sodium broth if you want to reduce the sodium. You’re right – it’s definitely a soup day in Texas!!
The recipe for the wedding soup says “10 spinach”. How do I understand this? Is this frozen chopped spinach or 10 frozen fresh spinach leaves?
Thanks you,
Peter
Hi Peter – It should say 10 oz of frozen spinach. I will make sure it’s corrected. Thanks!
The soup was very good and I liked your simple approach to the recipe. Thanks
I am having company over at six and plan on making Italian wedding soup tonight. How long should I give myself to prepare this and how long can it sit before my company arrives. Do I need to serve it right away?
I would allow at least an hour…the meatball rolling is the most time consuming. Otherwise it comes together pretty quickly. I don’t think you need to serve immediately, but don’t let it cook too long or the pasta may overcook.
I heard ground chicken. Or Turkey is better for this soup, any feedback?
Hi Lorie! If you read through the comments you’ll see that several people have substituted different meats with good results. I haven’t personally tried it with chicken, but it might be good!
I have some Italian sausage links,Can I take the casing off and make the meatballs with it ?
I love this soup with ground white turkey for the meat balls. Cooked in the broth so delicious. I’ll try the beef today not going out in the 5+” of snow and frigid temps. Anci di pasta is also my favorite.
How many servings should this make? Trying to decide if I need to double it for my family!
I would say it serves 6 hearty portions or 8 smaller ones.
The best Italian wedding soup I’ve ever eaten! Way better than a restaurants! My whole family loved it, and I brought the left overs to my in laws and my father in law has now requested it every time he comes over ;) I am doing weight watchers so I made it with ground turkey and it was still perfect. Next time I’ll try it with the beef/pork combo.
Use homemade broth. Much healthier. Processed or store bought broth is full of sodium.
I had leftover acini de pepe from frog-eye salad and when my wife asked what to do with it, I said Italian wedding soup. Of course, then I had to find a recipe! So glad I found this one, it is the best version I’ve had. Thank you for sharing it, it’s my go to now.
I am making this for the second time, I made it early in December as we were all craving soups. I have never made Italian wedding soup so wasn’t sure how I would do. This is seriously the best soup I have ever made and to me this was the bomb. I made an extra tray of meatballs as suggested and within a week they were gone My daughter took it to work and then I received recipe requests from colleagues. It is that kind of recipe. This will be a staple for our family and I will even take to potluck or parties at home. Classy yummy soup. Thanks
Hi, I’m confused about the slice of white bread. Do I use the whole slice or just the crust?
This was seriously the BEST Italian wedding soup I have ever made! Other recipes call for carrots which is not traditional IMO. The cheese of the meatballs flavored the broth beautifully too! I did use ground turkey breast for the meatballs and fresh spinach but am excited to try it with the beef/pork combo and the frozen spinach! I also modified the original because I didn’t have any pasta and only 8 cups of broth and it was STILL DELICIOUS!!!
This is the first time I have ever made wedding soup. I made this recipe using Orzo since I could not find the correct pasta. Next time I will try couscous since I am not happy with my pasta choice and can’t find the one specified in the recipe. The meat balls are amazing and the soup is very good over all. Its still missing something. I loved it and will certainly make it again but will probably tweak it just a little. I’m sure by the time I finish this batch I will have an idea of what I should add to the next batch. Thanks for giving us your recipe. I really did enjoy it.
The Acni de Pepe is right in the pasta aisle. It’s a small box and easily missed. It’s the only pasta I would use for this recipe
It is not a common pasta in South Carolina. Most stores around here do not sell it. I am sure this isn’t the only area it happens in. The last time I found it, was in the expensive store.
I made this recipe and it was the BEST ever.
Thank you…
This was a beautiful soup! I made many tiny meatballs and froze them then prepared the broth and finished the soup the next day. I found that the frozen spinach was not necessary for taste and clouded up my broth so I might just use a little bit of fresh baby spinach next time. I used Israeli couscous for the pasta and that worked very well!
I made this soup to take to a “Little Italy” dinner. It was an Italian themed potluck. It was the hit of the party! People loved it, and my friends who come from Italian families said it was truly authentic.
Excellent recipe! I made this soup in the instant pot. I just browned my meatballs, then added all of the ingredients and pressure cooked it for 6 minutes! It came out delicious! Thank you!
Super good! Will be making it on the regular.
Made this for a progressive family dinner. EVERYONE said it was the best the ever tasted… and I have a picky family.
Great recipe. Don’t put too much pasta in though unless you want a stew!
Try roasting the meatballs in the oven to brown before adding to the soup. Makes a wonderful difference.
Totally need to try it!!!
Authentic and delicious!!
Awesome soup- my family loves it! How much bread crumbs do you think a slice of bread is?
Thanks for the great recipe!
I made it for dinner and I loved it! I told my husband to get lean ground beef, but he got me 80/20…so that’s what I used. I may have to skim the broth after I refrigerate it. Oh, and I used 4 oz. of Israeli couscous and approximately 4 oz. of angel hair vermicelli—that’s what I had on hand.
It’s my go to soup. My family just loves it!
I add 2 boxes spinach and squeeze 2 lemons in broth. Yummy!!!!!!
I just made this soup and it is DELICIOUS! Perfect recipe for a warm cozy night in!
We loved it!!!!than you for the recipe!I shared it with my nieghbors OMG they cant resist huw yummy it was…
This recipe is awesome. I made the meatballs with fresh sausage pork so the completed soup is so
flavourful. Thank you for this recipe. You have class.
FIVE STARS TO BE SURE!!! Simply FANTASTIC!!! I took the advice and made a double batch of meatballs. I used ground chicken and ground turkey and boiled them in the broth. Very very happy with this recipe. I will be making this again!
This recipe is amazing! Making it for the second time today (during a snow storm) and I’m freezing a batch of meatballs for the next time. Cooking the meatballs in the broth makes a very flavorful and rich broth. I have never commented on any internet recipe but I had to for this one – a real winner!!!
So perfect for a chilly, snowy day! Stay warm!
Wedding soup is one of my favorite soup. Thank you for sharing your recipe. I will definitely will try to make this soup for the holiday.
This recipe is perfect. I added cheese because we don’t have any allergies here and it was great.
Thank you.
This soup is AMAZINGLY delicious!!! I followed the recipe except I didn’t have fresh parsley so I used half Italian seasoning and half dry parsley. I used orzo pasta and it cooked fast. Will be making it over and over again for the hubby.
Thank you 😊
Awesome! I’m glad you loved it.
Thank you for this! It’s my five year okd’s Absolute favourite! And once the meatballs are in the freezer, a fast and nutritious meal.
This is how I make it also! I use the low sodium chic broth, dry white wine and toss is one beef broth cube and a couple of dashes of Worchester Sauce for some zing! Using a mortar and pestle, I grind some basil, sage and tarragon with a pinch or oregano. I freeze it in single size containers for a quick and tasty meal.
I agree the acini de pepe pasta (Davinci) is the best with the recipe and if your local grocery doesn’t have it try Ronzoni Pastina No. 155 (tinny stars)….Thanks again!!!
I have alphabet Pasta! I may use that. Just for something different!
Wow what a great recipe!!!!!!! I made this tonight with just a few changes to reflect the tastes of my family:
1. I used ground chicken as my meat (happily it was still delicious even if a little lower in fat)
2. I sautéed about 1 cup each of chopped onion, celery and carrot before adding the broth and greens.
3. Instead of spinach I used a 12 oz bag of fresh kale.
This soup was so delicious! My family couldn’t stop eating it! It’s going into the family favorites file in Pinterest!
Reading this through beforehand, I expected it to be on the boring side. Wow, was I wrong! This is a perfect example of amazing flavor via simplicity.
I had a Muslim coming for dinner, so couldn’t use pork and had a pound of ground lamb in my freezer. Using the lamb and beef together was fantastic — I highly recommend it for anyone who avoids pork, for whatever reason.
Thanks so much!
Wonderful, Catherine! I’m so glad you enjoyed it.
What would you suggest to make this gluten free? There is celiacs disease in my household. I was thinking rice or quinoa.
I think a small gluten free pasta would probably work best!
My daughter has Celiac and I was thinking of making this with corn instead of pasta. And gluten free bread crumbs in the meatballs. The soup sounds delicious!
Hi !
I got your recipe from pinterest.
I did it tonight and it was delicious. Unfortunately we don’t have the pasta you’re talking about. I took the smallest pasta I found.
Very funny to make an italian soup, seen on an american blog, in Mauritius …
Thanks for this recipe. For sure i’ll tke time to go through your blog and will try others soon.
My family enjoyed this recipe, thank you for sharing it! The only thing I added was 1/2 tsp Italian Seasoning to the broth and I used ground Johnsonville Mild Italian Sausage for the pork. My pasta was slightly undercooked at 12 minutes so I turned it off since I knew it will continue to cook in the hot soup. We ate the soup with a slice of sourdough toast –Yum!
Hello my name is Victoria. This has been one of my favorite soups growing up and I was super excited to try and make it myself. I followed your recipe except I used all fresh ingredients so I had to cook them before putting them in the soup. I added kale, green bean, and potato to the soup just to add more substance. Turned out amazing! Thank you!
Thanks so much for your comment, Victoria! I love the additions you made…I’ll have to try that out myself!
Does putting the meatballs right into the broth and cooking create too much grease, instead of pre-baking or -frying?
Hi Jean – I do cook the meatballs right in the broth, but I typically use lean ground beef and pork to avoid too much grease.
Cooking the meatballs in the broth gives the soup its distinctive flavor. If you cook them first, all you have is a bland chicken soup with some spinach floating around. You can skim off the fat if it’s too much.
I followed the recipe and it is amazing. I did think there was too much grease floating around though. Next time I will pre-boil the meatballs in a different pan that is a mixture of water and a tablespoon of boullion and then add them.
refrigerate the soup until the grease congeals on top, scrap off most of the grease. DO Not take all the grease out or you will have bland soup.
I have been looking forward to making this soup, collecting ingredients etc. Looked at the recipe again today and was amazed at the amount of salt! YIKES! This does not work with my low sodium diet as one serving has more salt than I am allowed in a day! So bummed!
Hi Colleen – You can easily reduce the salt in the recipe by using a low sodium broth and reducing the salt added to the meatballs, or using a salt substitute.
There is a brand of stock called Kitchen Basics, they make unsalted stocks. They are really low sodium, especially compared to regular stocks, and even ones labeled low sodium. This what I always use for everything, never had an issue. I stock up on the unsalted chicken whenever my local store has it on sale, but they do have it on Amazon too.
I make this soup all the time but under no circumstances would I ever use store-bought broth. Making your own chicken broth is so much better tasting and doesn’t have the sodium and chemicals commercial broth does. 1 teaspoon salt for eight servings is quite low. It’s about 287 g of salt per serving. Throw a cut up chicken into a pot of water, add carrot, celery, onion , and a Bayleaf and you’ve got broth in an hour.
How much spinach is in a package? I want to use fresh spinach.
Hi Alana – If you’re going to use fresh spinach, I’d just eyeball it. It just depends how spinachy you’d like it. :) I’d probably start with about 2-3 cups.
I’m excited to try this recipe, can a crockpot be used?
Hi Peggy! You can probably use a crockpot to keep the soup warm after it’s made, but I recommend making it on the stovetop.
I would definitely not recommend using the crockpot for this recipe. I tried it both ways and theLong cooking time in the crockpot tends to lose a lot of flavor. This recipe doesn’t call for long cooking so there’s no reason to use a crockpot. Stick with stovetop on this one, I think you’ll be much happier. This is an outstanding recipe.
Second time making it. Always comes out excellent. Great and easy recipe.
Have you ever considered boiling Chicken thighs and once they’re done dry them, bread them and bake it for some baked chicken and soup? Mother always did that as a super budget meal instead of buying the stock.
Hey! That’s a great idea. Thanks!
I did half beef half Italian sausage for the meatballs and it was delicious!!
Could you ballpark how many meatballs do you make out of a batch? You said you preffered smaller, which I do too. I just made a double batch and I made what I considered small, one bite, fit on a spoon, meatballs and it seems like a LOT. Double batch was 100 meatballs, so 50 per batch. They smell wonderful, can’t wait to try the finished soup. Thanks
100 sounds about right. I used a melon scooper, small end, and made about 150. Used half in one batch of soup, froze the rest on a cookie sheet and then put them in a baggie when they were frozen. Had some baby spinach leaves I had bought for salad and used them in the soup for the greens. Delicious!
Yes, it does make a lot of meatballs if you make them on the small side. But I like to freeze any extra. If you get tired of making meatballs, you can even freeze a big handful or two of “meatball mixture” and then thaw it out at a later date and roll it into meatballs. Hope you loved the soup!
I just want to say that this is amazing, and not just because it’s amazing (sorry…little joke on my part)!!
I have an extreme allergy to dairy. Immediate anaphylactic shock kind of allergy. I’ve often seen recipes for Wedding Soup, but they’ve always had so much dairy that it would be pointless to make it. Even with the Dairy Free cheeses and milk, it was too much of a costly venture. Dairy Free stuff isn’t cheap.
Then, I came across your recipe. Only Parmesan cheese. I was ecstatic! I ran to Whole Foods, grabbed the (obviously) Dairy Free cheese, and made this recipe. I CANNOT THANK YOU ENOUGH!!!!! It was delicious and it only lasted one night!
I will definitely be making this again, probably doubling or tripling it. The whole house LOVED it.
Thank you so much, Alyssa. I’ll be following Good In The Simple from now on for ideas!!
That’s great! My daughter is allergic to dairy too, do I’m always aiming to cook without it. You should try the pasta fagioli recipe…dairy free, yet tastes really creamy. Thanks for your comment!
MY HUSBAND WAS BNORN IN ITALY AND HIS MOTHER WAS A GREAT COOK, I AM ITALIAN, POLISH AND MY MOM WAS THE BEST (OF COURSE I’DE SAY THAT) BUT SHE LIKE MY MOTHER-IN-LAW DID THE SOUP THE OLD FASHIONED WAY BY USING FRESH CHICKEN TO MAKE THE BROTH. I WAS A FLORIST BEING OPEN FOR 6 DAYS A WEEK AND HAVING 2 SMALL CHILDREN, I ALSO HAD ALL THE HOLIDAY MEALS, ONE DAY I SAID HECK WITH THIS AND BOUGHT BROTH IN A CONTAINER AND DID JUST AS YOUR RECIPE!!! WOW EVERYONE LOVED IT EVEN MY VERY ITALIAN HUSBAND AND HIA PARENTS. I PUT THE CONTAINERS IN THE GARBAGE BAG AND DID NOT TELL A SOUL (MY SECRET) IT MAKES A BEST SOUP AND NO ONE KNEW ABOUT THE BROTH.
I used Swanson’s 33%less sodium broth, left over Alton Browns lamb,pork,beef meatballs, and some baby arugula I had on hand… It certainly did in a pinch. It turned out great. Of course one day I’ll make the correct recipe, but for now we’re enjoying this one!!!!
I think the meatball releases it’s flavor into the soup anyway. Even when prebaked. Mine did.
I followed the recipe. Perfect! Thank you. I will make this again.
I made this recipe. It is excellent!! Thank you very much. The only thing I did different is add carrots, because my little ones let me. :)
Thanks for this soup recipe. I first had Italian Wedding Soup years ago and had the desire to make my own batch recently. This recipe makes the perfect serving size. I made some alterations on my second attempt at this soup. I cut out the salt altogether, make my own chicken broth and used fresh grated Parmesan. It turned out beautifully! This recipe is definitely one to keep for years.
Thanks,
Dagny
Hi Alyssa,
I only have ground beef in the fridge (not pork too). Are there any recipe recommendations you’d give if I just use beef?
Looking forward to trying it.
Hi Jess! I think it would be OK to make it just using beef. The meatballs might be less tender, but they will still be good. We recently made the soup using just ground turkey, and it came out fine!
Totally substituted little ABC pasta. Lol
Love it!! :)
Made the soup yesterday, a double batch of meatballs, one for the soup and the rest for the freezer . I was thinking why not use a melon ball tool to get the meatballs small, with less work, try it saves time Love the soup Thanks
Yes – that’s a smart idea! I’m so glad you enjoyed the soup. :)
This is a wonderful recipe and I love it. Have made it several times but I freeze the entire batch of soup rather than just the meatballs. I always make a double batch so I can freeze it in pint mason jars. Takes about three minutes to defrost in the microwave and I’ve got soup when I want it. It really does freeze beautifully.
Melon scoop works great. You still have to shape the balls a little, but the melon thingy scoops out just the right amount. Made 2 batches, took all afternoon but it’s worth it, used the bigger end of the scoop to make some larger meatballs for spagetti too.
The recipe is delicious, but I couldn’t find acina de Pepe so I used orzo. Bad idea! It started out the size of rice and ended up over l/2 inch long. I had to strain out most of the orzo when refrigerating the leftovers. Where can I find Acina de Pepe?
Hi JoAnn! In the post I have a link to where you can buy it on Amazon if you can’t find it at a local grocery store. Or you could look for the tiny star pasta that some stores sell. Any super tiny pasta should work.
Why couldn’t you use pearl couscous? It looks just like the acini de pepe, which I’m afraid I’ve never heard of.
Hi Trudy – You could definitely use the pearl couscous as a substitution, and some people have mentioned that they have. I think the Acini de Pepe is just a little bit smaller.
I use pearl couscous because acini do pepe is hard to find. The couscous works perfectly.
I make the meat ball with lean ground turkey..and I use kale instead of spinach.but either way either
Is excellent.
Just saw your recipe on Pinterest and freaked! I had been making Giada DeLaurentis’s wedding soup for years and recently lost the recipe. When I saw this one and the fact that this was also her recipe tweaked, I couldn’t believe it. This is truly the best wedding soup I have ever had. I always make enough to freeze about for Mason jars. Like you, I don’t put the pasta in till I’m ready to eat it but I don’t always have acini de pepe so I substitute with pearl couscous. I always use fresh spinach, homemade chicken broth and fresh parsley.
Going to print out a couple of copies and keep one on my iPad on my Pinterest board so I never lose it again. Thank you so much.
Hi Alyssa, I’m so excited that I found your site. I just made an Olive Garden knock off recipe for Pasta E Fagioli…and it wasn’t bad. But afterwards I wanted to see if there were any authentic Italian recipes online so I typed it in and your site was the first one on the list. I became so excited just looking at the picture of your dish. I then saw that you had a recipe for Italian Wedding Soup and I was in heaven. I wrote down both recipes and can’t wait to try them. I just have one question about the wedding soup. My husband has high cholesterol problems so I’m concerned about boiling the meatballs in the soup mixture. When I make regular meatballs I boil them (place in boiling water until they float) and then add them to my sauce. This allows me to boil out much of the grease from the meat. Will I lose flavor if I do this with the wedding soup? I could boil them in a low sodium soup stock instead….what do you think? And thank you for this site.
I’m hoping she answers. I’m curious about the amount of oil in the soup since you are cooking the meatballs in the broth so there is no opportunity to drain the fat.
Hi Patti! I try to use ground beef/pork with a low fat percentage, and in that case the fat isn’t an issue. Occasionally I have used meat with a higher fat level, and in that case I just let the soup sit on the stovetop for a while and then skim some of the fat off of the top. Hope that helps!
I have made her recipe several times now, but I bake the mini meatballs of beef and pork on a cookie sheet in the oven. After baked,,I lay them on a paper towel to draw out any excess fat. I also like them to have a bit of color from the baking! Excellent recipe!
You can use 90 – 95% Hamburg. It has hardly any fat. Boil in low sodium bouillon or low sodium broth/stock.
i put the meatballs on a large deep dish pizza pan, lined with non stick foil.
put them in the oven @ 400f just long enough to cook them med-rare, about 8 minutes for 1/2″ meatballs, about 14 minutes for 3/4″ meatballs.
this will render most of the fat out of the meatballs, and they will finish cooking in the soup without loading it with fat.
Turned out great! Will definitely make again.
I never come back to comment on recipes I find on Pinterest, but this soup was so amazing, I just had to. Everyone in my family (including the kids!) had a second bowl. The only thing I did differently was use 3 handfuls of chopped fresh baby spinach, instead of frozen, and I used 16oz of the triple meat mix you find at the grocery store (beef, pork, veal mix) since I couldn’t find ground pork by itself. Next time I will maybe use only 6oz of acini de pepe, instead of 8oz to make it a little more broth-y, like you suggested. Seriously, probably one of the best soups I’ve ever had. Thank you!
I appreciate you taking the time to comment, Jessica! I sometimes use fresh spinach, too – depends what I have on hand. I’m so happy that you loved the soup. :)
Great, easy soup to throw together! Next time I will make the meatballs smaller like you showed in your photos. Thanks so much for sharing this great recipe!
I have made maybe 1 comment in my life on a blog but I just HAD to comment on this recipe. I made it tonight and it was absolutely amazing. SO GOOD. Like someone else mentioned, I couldn’t believe how flavourful it was with such a short ingredient list. The only thing I changed was using breadcrumbs, as I don’t keep bread in the house, dried parsley, and I used a bit more garlic because I love garlic. I am freezing most of the leftovers (no big family here) so that I can keep it at work and have delicious, homemade soup for lunch. I’ve never frozen soup, so I hope it works. Thanks again for this recipe, I look forward to trying more from your site!
soup freezes well, so you shouldnt have a problem.
This soup is amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was worried it wouldn’t have much flavor because of the lack of ingredients – but wow! The meatballs flavor the broth up better than I believed it would. I only have tiny shells for pasta in the pantry – wish I had the anci de pepi or ditalini. Will make sure to have those on hand as I will be making this soup again and again and again!!!
So glad you loved it, Leanne! I agree – it’s one of my favorite recipes because it’s so flavorful with just a handful of ingredients. Do the double-batch of meatballs (and freeze half) next time and it gets even easier! XO
Can you partially precook the meatballs and safely freeze them to finish cooking in the soup at a later time?
Hi Christina – You could, but I don’t think it would be necessary. Just freeze them raw and then they will still cook in the soup pretty quickly.
Omg! I’m Italian and of course I love to cook. I made this last night and yummy! I did use low sodium chicken broth to lessen the sodium intake but everything else stayed the same! Thanks for the awesome recipe
Hello
Sorry if someone asked but instead of one slice of bread can bread crumbs be used ? If so how much ? I don’t keep bread in the house so it’s a waste to buy for one slice. Also can dried parsley be used ? How much ? Thanks !
I would estimate it’s about 1/4 cup of breadcrumbs. And dried parsley can definitely be subbed in. I’d use about 2 tbsp.
You are my hero! I made this today and it was amazing. My daughter’s wisdom teeth are coming in and they are very painful. This was perfect for her to eat and she LOVES Wedding soup. Thanks for sharing.
That’s so great, Tammy! We haven’t dealt with wisdom teeth yet, but my daughter has had to deal with braces being tightened and I know how hard it is to find a soft meal that works for sore teeth. Thanks so much for commenting, and I hope your daughter’s pain goes away soon! XO – Alyssa
I guess I will be making again this week. My daughter needs her wisdom teeth pulled on Friday. This is soft comfort and very good soup.
How funny! I just read the comments (after already starting this soup) and MY daughter just had her wisdom teeth removed 2 days ago and I’m making this for her. Looking forward to eating this!
I’ve been looking for this for years, Campbell’s makes one, but I refuse to pay $2.50 for a can, barely a 2 serving. Can’t wait to make it. It’s my husbands favorite.
I am wondering if the small pastas soak up the chicken broth? I have made a soup in the past and that happened.
Thank you
Alison
I am wondering the same thing
The pasta does absorb some of the broth as it cooks, but it’s still a very “brothy” soup, if that’s a word. :)
That’s happened to me before too. One way around it is to cook the pasta seperately and add to the soup afterward. OR if you plan on freezing the soup, don’t add any noodles in at all. Keep the noodles in the pantry and whenever you want some soup, cook fresh pasta to toss in!
Can’t wait to try this soup! It’s cold outside! :)
When I make any soup with pasta, I cook the pasta separately so that it doesn’t soak up the broth. I put the cooked pasta in a bowl then label soup over it.
If there are leftovers, I store it separately also. Otherwise the pasta continues to soak up broth and gets mushy and soup becomes like a stew.
I agree that pasta can soak up the broth in some soups, but that’s never been an issue with the acini de pepe. Even when I reheat leftovers, the pasta is always firm and doesn’t get mushy. If you use a different type of pasta, however, it might be a good idea to cook separately like you mentioned.
I do the same thing. Cook the pasta then add the soup on top.
I made this recipe in my instant pot tonight for dinner and it was amazing!!!! Only took 10 minutes! Super delicious!
Oooh, I’ve never used an Instant Pot before. I’m intrigued!! :)
Can I ask how you converted this to the Instant Pot? I just got one and have been wanting to try this recipe out in it, but I’m not sure exactly what steps I should follow. Would love to hear how you did it!
I haven’t attempted this recipe in the Instant Pot yet. It’s pretty quick on the stove, so I’ll probably continue to do it on the stove top for the time being. :)
I was going to make the meatballs the night before and throw everything in the crock pot before work in the morning, and leave it on low all day. What tips would you have for doing this and would it work?
Hi Tara – I’m not sure how well this would work in a crockpot. But if you make the meatballs the night before and freeze them on a cookie sheet, the soup comes together really quickly. All you’d have to do before dinner the next day is boil the broth, throw in the pasta, meatballs, and spinach, and it will be ready in about 15-20 minutes.
For full disclosure; I just want to say that spinach is one of my favorite greens, both cooked and raw in salads. BUT, this soup screams for escarole. I’m not a fan of bitter greens one bit but escarole totally changes the flavor of the soup into the traditional Italian Wedding Soup. Other than the escarole, I followed this recipe and it was a major hit. The advice to double the meatball recipe is brilliant. Next batch I’m going to increase the amount of meatballs in the soup (and make them a touch smaller) and make a double batch to freeze for the next time I make this.
Hi John – I know escarole is what’s traditionally used in wedding soup, but my girls thought it was too bitter and they preferred it with spinach. If my kids are willing to eat greens in any form, I don’t argue!! :)
In my version, I use escarole, and make turkey meatballs, and my pasta is orzo. It is delicious! Christine flynn
Agree on the escarole! I grew up eating this soup. My Nana and mom always made it and for me, it has to have escarole.
I always buy extra escarole, clean and chop it and store in the refrigerator along with extra meatballs. I make enough soup for 2-3 meals and this way, there is always fresh escarole and meatballs to add for the leftovers!
For the meatballs, I roll and drop into broth. That’s how my Nana did it and I’ve been doing the same!
Great to see this simple and delicious recipe! Love knowing others are falling in love with this soup that has always been my comfort food.
I made your wonderful recipe. My family loved it! I’m glad I took your advice and doubled the number of meatballs. I’ve put them in the freezer and have them ready for round two. I used my own well-seasoned homemade chicken broth. Simple and delicious!
Oh and thank you for the food processor tip! I just wish I had listened and made a double recipe of meatballs!
Best,
Jenny
Thank you so, so much! This is one of my all-time favorite soups and I have been searching for the best recipe. Clearly I have found it! Just made it for lunch today and my finace keeps kissing me and saying thank you every time she walks by me!
Best,
Jenny Block
http://www.thejennyblock.com
This soup is absolutely delicious! Someone I know was talking about making Italian Wedding Soup and I couldn’t stop thinking about making my own for days. Your recipe looked and sounded really tasty, and it most certainly was, I can definitely see this going into my soup rotation. Cheers!
Hello! My little girl loves Italian Wedding soup but we are not meatball eaters…would it taste as wonderful without the meatballs in it? Thank you!
Hi Nicole – I’m afraid it wouldn’t taste the same because the meatballs flavor the broth while they cook in it. But you could probably get a good result using a chicken noodle soup recipe and swapping the noodles with the little pasta balls, plus adding some spinach.
I have a similar recipe that calls for a can of beef broth. That may help with the taste if you don’t use beef, but dont mind using beef broth.
I made the meatballs with white meat ground chicken instead of beef. It was delicious. Maybe a healthier version. Could also use ground turkey. We always make chicken meatballs with spinach and feta mixed in yummmm!!!
My apologies if someone all ready asked this, but can you make the meatballs with ground turkey?
I haven’t tried it in this particular recipe, but I’ve swapped in turkey for other meatball recipes with success. If you give it a try, let me know how it turns out!
May I use sausage instead of meatballs?
I think you could combine sausage with beef or pork, but I wouldn’t use just sausage or it will make the soup too greasy & salty. If you do use sausage in place of either the beef or pork, just be sure to omit the extra salt, and also use low sodium broth.
I believe you’re asking if you can simply eliminate the meatballs and use sausage instead (rather than using sausage meat to make the meatballs out of), correct? Sausage in Italian soup is definitely doable without too much grease or salt. I use it all the time.
The way I would apply it to this recipe would be to cook the sausage alone in the bottom of the soup pot until fully cooked, then remove. Wipe the pan free of all the rendered sausage fat. (If it’s stuck on the bottom you might need to use a glug of cold wine, vinegar or lemon juice while the pan is very hot to remove it; then drain all this reduction out and wipe away; some cooks would keep it though!).
Then proceed to make the soup. While the soup is cooking you cut the sausage links into slices, drain, and add back to the soup. If that’s still too much grease, you can rinse the cooked sausage after cutting it into pieces.
The higher quality Italian sausage you use, the less fat it’s likely to have as well. I can’t guarantee this would qualify as Favorite Soup, but it’s definitely less work if you enjoy italian sausage. I’m sure you could use Italian sausage not formed into links just as easily, too.
You mention that you have a dairy free eater — was she OK with the pasta? We need to avoid lactose and milk is in so many pastas.
Making this today — it looks so yummy.
Hi De – I don’t ever think I’ve seen pasta that contains milk, unless it’s cheese-filled like ravioli or tortellini. The typical grocery store brand pastas don’t contain any milk.
I just found your site. I would like to make this soup for a group coming over for Bunco. We have one person allergic to dairy. Is the pasta easy to find? It is 12 people so is doubling the recipe enough?
Thank you
Hi Karen! I don’t have trouble finding the acini de pepe pasta, but some people have had a hard time depending where they live and/or the size of their grocery stores. If you can’t find it, you could substitute Israeli couscous or ditalini (another small pasta), or even orzo. I’d recommend tripling the recipe for 12 people…it might be too much, but you can always freeze the leftovers. :)
This was super delicious. We kept going back for seconds. I was surprised at how flavorful it was given the few simple ingredients. Followed your suggestion and doubled the meatballs. This is a new staple in our house! Thanks for sharing!
I was wondering can I use 1lb sausage instead of the red meat? My daughter doesn’t eat red meat.. Thanks.
Hi Dawn – You can use sausage, but just make sure not to add the additional salt in the recipe or it will get too salty. – Alyssa
My daughter uses escarole instead of spinach for her wedding soup. It isn’t quite as bitter. Tastes great.
I am making this do you use all meatballs rolled from 8 oz pork and chop meat ? When you were referring to freezing extra would that have been 1 pound of each?
Hi Linda – The meatballs are a combination of ground pork and ground beef. If I’m making a double batch of meatballs, I use one lb of pork and 1 lb of beef, and also double all of the other meatball ingredients.
Can this be frozen and thawed for work lunches?
Yes, I think it would freeze well.
Awesome! Thank you! Excited to try it.
Ok , I like your recipe however here is mine and comes from my Aunt Mary just the sweetest woman on earth.
Yes , and its a pain to make. But , I think you will love.
1 , make your meat balls , cook your way in the broth , I bake mine off.
2 , boil a chicken or half chicken , season , save broth , shred chicken
3 , stew meat cut up into bite size pieces and boiled in seasoned water , save broth
Now take the meat balls , shredded chicken , and the beef add to one big pot.
Add the chicken broth , beef broth 1/2 and 1/2 will do
Add diced onion , celery , and carrots , these veggies should be fine chopped
bring to boil let simmer (note if you don’t want celery in soup for the celery haters , or onion haters I I add it to meats while boiling and just discard . ) unless someone is allergic of course other than that I just trick em. I need that flavor.
Add spinach at end
my Aunts wedding soup never had any pasta and i never ask why , just the three meats and the fine minced veggies added. IMHO the combo of the chicken broth and beef broth make this wedding soup the best on the planet LOL . Just kidding , I do hope you try my Aunt Mary’s recipe , I have gotten rave reviews on this soup from soup haters , I think because of the three meats in the soup.
I will, however , be using a pasta the next time I make this soup this coming winter.
Hope you enjoy , Peace , Love and Light Angela
I made this soup and it was really good. I also used up my frozen home made chicken stock from my freezer and it was delicious. I made a big batch of Ina’s chicken stock and freeze for soups. This recipe is a great weeknight dinner.
I bet it was awesome with the homemade stock. I love Ina! :) Thanks for your comment, Michelle!
I found the Giada DeLaurentis recipe a little over a year ago and adapted it to suit my taste and it’s pretty much exactly how you make it! :) (except I use “small bows” pasta -I like confetti pasta, but it’s hard to find and my fam prefers the small bows- and I roughly chop up fresh baby spinach instead of frozen and dump it in a few minutes before I serve it. It’s one of my go-to dishes and is always a big hit in our house! :)
This recipe really is the best. Making this soup for the second time, we love it!
Thank you xxoo.
Thats awesome…thanks, Sherry!!
Alyssa, i love to eat this soup,but i eat i the cambpells soup, and the healthy request. I was lookin for the nutrition on your recipe,couldnt find it. Could u plz tell me the calories and carbs and sodium for yours. Thank you..
This soup is fantastic!! I was a little worried about the onion/meat ratio — but it works!!
I’m so glad you loved it!
I made this just as posted and did the 8 oz pasta. I now have the best wedding soup recipe!! Thanks
Yay!! Thanks for your comment, Sally!
I just experience this soup last week and it is by far one of my favorites, i had the soup with the meatballs, the soup is great withoit the meat but the taste of the meat. I look forward to making it at home but using chicken instead of the beef. Great soup.
YES! This IS the BEST Italian Wedding Soup recipe EVER! I’ve tried others, but to no avail. Only difference with my variation is that I definitely use couscous & my family’s recipe for Italian sausage meatballs ? Thank you ever so much for posting this recipe!
I bet your family’s meatballs are amazing! :)
Add about a teaspoon of cavenders seasoning and drop in a scrambled egg when it’s just done….makes broth SO good! Been making this for years!
Our first encounter with this soup was at East Side Mario’s restaurant. It too became my daughter’s favourite soup. I was having a conversation with a coworker about cooking and somehow this soup came up and he told me he had a recipe for it. It came out of an old family cook book. this was 10 years ago. I have since tweaked that recipe until it suited my daughter’s taste to the one at the restaurant. It is very similar to yours. What I can’t figure out is how you can prepare that many meatballs in 30 min.
My meatballs are about a teaspoon each. Which means I get about 250+ meatballs to a pound of meat. This usually takes me an hour and that’s even when I put the straw in my wine glass so I don’t have to stop and wash my hands.(lol)
Hahaha! I usually recruit everyone in the house to help with the meatball rolling process. It goes quickly that way. And wine definitely helps, too. :)
I first ate Italian Wedding Soup at a funeral dinner for my father-in-law. They served many different soup on this bluster January day. I was not going to try it. My uncle-in-law said to it was delicious. It looked like dirty dishwater but WOW it was so good.
I have made it many times since. My daughter is grown and still her favorite soup. Sent it to college often with her. Took to her when she was ill.
I use barley or quinoa instead of pasta. We prefer spinach. Also like the shredded chicken with it.
We are fortunate to have a meat market that makes very good tiny meatballs.
Love Italian Wedding Soup so I attempted this – only the second soup I ever made! It was delicious and your instructions made it so easy. This will certainly be one of my “go to’s” come fall.
Yay – I’m glad you loved it! :) We just made it again this week — had to fit it in one more time before it starts getting too hot!
This is a fine receip and I used it to get some of the ingredients so I can make it from scratch. I have had my daughter in laws moms receipt but couldn’t remember all the ingredients. She makes the meat ball with ground turkey, bread crumbs and an egg, I agree on the double batch and freezing half. She also boils a whole chicken for the broth plus a couple of bouillon Cubs, i am using if needed chicken broth. Carrots, sm amt of celery, the acini de peps #44 the #78 to too small, spinach, chicken chopped to sm bit size pieces from the boiled chicken. Let the meatballs set about an hour, the plung them into the boiling mixture of the veggies, meat for about an hour or until the carrots a done. It’s fantastic. I had eaten some off the wall brands yuck, I thought I just didn’t like this kind of support until I had hers. Yum yum
Hello everyone! I just subscribed today and hope to get some really good meal ideas.
I get tired of eating the same meals all the time… It will be nice to try something different. Or at least made a different way.
Hugs
Sharon ????
This is now my son’s favorite soup as well! He always asks for that wedding soup!
That’s great! It’s so nice when you find an “adult” meal that kids love.
I’ve been using this recipe for years. Yes it’s a good one. I like to use Swiss Chard in lieu if the Spinich and you might want to try wheat orzo for the pasta.
Swiss chard sounds sounds fantastic! I must try this as well. Thanks
I’ve been looking for an Italian Wedding Soup Recipe-something easy that “I” could make. Tried this and was absolutely thrilled with the results – along with my husband and son. Served it with a salad and Italian bread – delicious! I’m now anxious to make it for friends – maybe a lunch. I’m so enjoying your recipes, Alyssa.
Thanks, Pattie! I’m so glad you all enjoyed it. :)
Off the scale good. I’m 70 years old, and had not tasted this since I was a kid eating at my Italian Grand Mom’s table. Brought back some great memories. Thanks for sharing the recipe.
Thank YOU for sharing such a great comment! I don’t think there’s anything better than favorite childhood foods.
I have been looking all over for the PERFECT Italian wedding soup recipe that replicated the soup at my favorite local Italian restaurant, and this is it! Thank you SO much for sharing this, it’s absolutely amazing!
Thank you so much, Danielle!!
I just made this and have it simmering on the stove now. It smells wonderful! Can’t wait to taste it.
Nothing better than the smell of soup simmering on the stove! Thanks for your comment. :)
Alyssa, this is a winner recipe! Made it tonight for my hubby and I after having some at one of our favorite restaurants two weeks ago. We thoroughly enjoyed the restaurant version, but your recipe far surpasses theirs. So flavorful and relatively easy to make. Couldn’t find acini de pepe in the stores here, so I used pearl couscous instead. I had a second bowl (unusual for me to have seconds of anything) and my husband went back for thirds! He’s already told me he’ll be having the wedding soup for lunch tomorrow! Guess I’ll be making more very soon. Thank you for sharing this excellent recipe.
Thank you, Irene! That’s really smart to substitute the couscous — I never thought of that, but I’m sure they’re essentially the same thing!! I’m so glad you loved it.
Made this today and it is seriously the best wedding soup I’ve ever tasted!! Awesome recipe!!
Thanks for taking the time to comment, Kelly! I love that you loved it. :)
I always thought wedding soup would be a huge pain to make, but this recipe was so easy and super delicious. I was shocked that I didn’t have to add a ton of seasoning once it came together. The meatball mix was plenty flavor! Thanks for a great recipe!
Do u add any water at all? Or just broth?
Hi Natalie – You just add broth. Although depending how much and/or what type of pasta you add you may want to add a little water (or more broth) at the end to thin it out to your desired consistency.
Is there a particular reason you only use the white part of the bread? Can I use the leftover heel that nobody ever eats? :P
Of course! I use all different types of bread for breadcrumbs — sometimes a leftover hotdog bun :). I say use up whatever you have!
For the past 24 years, we’ve hosted our annual SoupFest … starting with homemade stock to finished 8 – 15 different soups served. It took awhile to ‘catch on’ but now people ask ‘what they need to do to be invited’. Our largest gathering was 82 people! Needless to say, my soup recipe cadre is brimming. You caught my eye with the comment, “combined several different recipes to make the best”, as is often my discovery as well. Tomorrow night I will be making your soup for a dear friend/family having out-patient surgery … soup is comfort in a bowl! Thank you for sharing of your time and talents.
A Soupfest sounds amazing! :) I love soup, and never get tired of trying out new ones. You’re right, it’s definitely comfort in a bowl. I really hope your friend enjoys it!
I’m a single 20 something and I have the same taste as your daughter when it comes to Italian wedding soup! This is great! I try to cook often but very often it turns out not so great, but this was simple enough even for me! Thanks Alyssa! This will become a winter staple for me :)
I’m so glad! I think you and my daughter have good taste! I’d honestly never even tried Italian Wedding Soup until she became obsessed with it. :)
This is delicious! I have searched and tried many soup recipes to find a go to for my family of six. Everyone loves this, which is a feat not met with most meals. My kids have even asked for leftovers in their Thermoses for lunch tomorrow. Thank you for this easy and delicious recipe. It is sure to be a family favorite from here on out. Blessings to you!
I’m SO happy to hear this, Carri! I only have four in my family, and I still find it very hard to find a meal that pleases everyone so I know how great it is when you do find one. I hope they continue to love it!! – Alyssa
My grandson loves Italian Wedding Soup. Thanks to you, I am making it for him for dinner after his surprise birthday party. My grandmother and my mother made this soup many times during their lives and I am so grateful that I was sitting at their table.
Thanks so much for sharing Sandy! I love that you have so many family memories based around this soup. I hope it lives up to the one your grandmother/mother made! XO Alyssa
For those who wonder how long it takes to simmer (not boil) the raw meatballs in the soup–they are done when they all float. That way it doesn’t matter what exact size you make them, they will float when ready. Cooking them much longer after that will make them less tender.
Thanks, Vera!
Hi, I’m going to make this soup tomorrow for dinner. Do I need to squeeze the frozen spinach to get the moisture out or put the whole thing in?
Hi Lauren – you can just toss it in frozen! If you want to take the time to thaw it and squeeze out the water first that would be fine, too (and might make the flavor a little stronger), but for the sake of simplicity you can just add it “as is.” You could also substitute fresh spinach if you’d rather do that. Hope you enjoy the soup!
I’ve made several different Italian Wedding Soup recipes. This was BY FAR, the best recipe for this soup! Thank you so much for sharing it! Yum!
Thank you so much, Diane!! I’m glad you loved it.
Love this soup!
The best way to make these tiny meatballs is to roll out the meat mixture into long strips and then cut off just what you need as you put it into the broth. Saves so much time!! You don’t even have to roll them into balls this way (:
Genius, Kim! Thanks for the tip!
My mom use to always make italian wedding soup it has been on my mind for weeks. I made this recipe today and it is delicious! My local grocery store did not cary the pasta you stated so I made mine with a 16oz box Orzo and it still tastes just like my mommas italian wedding soup! Thank you for sharing!
Awesome – thanks for sharing! I’m so glad you enjoyed it, and it reminded you of home. :)
I just made this soup tonight!!! Wow.. It was so simple and easy and turned out fantastic!!!
Thanks for the recipe!!!!
Thanks so much, Christina! It makes my day when people enjoy my recipes.
Very good! Just added a bag of fresh spinach whole to pot instead of frozen. Microwaved a dinner dish of meatballs prior to putting in pot and juices also. Micro only for 1 min and 30 secs just to set the meat. Had two plates full of tiny meatballs from recepie.
Can you provide the calories and nutritional information?
Hi Patty – Unfortunately I don’t know the first thing about figuring that out!
I made this soup and it was fabulous!! I was able to import the recipe in the myfitnesspal app and it gave me all the nutritional information!
Made this today for my weekend dinners at work with ground turkey and it is so delicious! Thanks for the recipe I will definitely be making this again.
I just made your wedding soup this morning for lunch. My husband ate 3 bowls. It was delicious. Our daughter is getting married Saturday and I’m thinking I will make it to serve at our home between the wedding and reception, Thanks for sharing.
Wow, what a great endorsement! Thanks so much for commenting, Susan, and I hope your daughter has an awesome wedding day!
Hello,
I am making your soup as I send this quick message to you! Do you add the pasta in uncooked? Also, about how long total do you let the soup cook for? Until the meatballs are cooked, a few hours? Thanks!
Hi Lauren! Yep, you just add in the pasta and the meatballs uncooked, and it will all cook up in the boiling broth. I’m not sure of the exact cook time for the meatballs, but it definitely doesn’t take hours – maybe just 15-20 minutes. I’m going to be making this soup again this week, so I’ll come back and update the recipe with a more exact time. Thanks for your questions! Hope it turns out great!
I’m going to make this for my son’s birthday. I’ll let you know how we liked it. Sounds yummy to me!
I have enjoyed my Nonna’s soup for a long time and just found out a few years ago that North American’s call it, “Italian Wedding Soup.” When refering to it as such my Nonna said, “It isa justa soupa”.
I have never made it myself until now. And being the good Italian that I am, I had to make enough to feed a small country or at least my family plus neighbours. I doubled the recipe. It took a good hour to roll 2lbs of tiny meatballs! Next time, I may enlist help for that part.
I used ground chicken in place of the pork – there is definitely a difference in taste. I think I would try ground turkey or all beef next time.
I might also try using fresh chopped spinach in place of the frozen.
Oh and I added 1 1/2 cups of finely chopped carrot.
Delish!
I love your Nonna’s comment! Thanks for sharing your story, and I’m so glad you enjoyed the soup!
Gave your recipe a try — excellent !!!!
Awesome! Thanks for letting me know. It makes my day when someone enjoys one of my recipes.
I’ve made a similar version (I use shredded carrots in mine and do the meatballs a little differently) but I find that if I make enough to keep for a second meal, the pasta swells (absorbs too much of the broth) while sitting. Do you just make enough for one meal or is there a way to avoid having the pasta swell? I’ve tried cooking the pasta before adding it, I’ve tried browning the pasta in a frying pan before adding it but nothing I’ve tried keeps it from swelling till the next meal.
If your store is ever out of the pasta look for Israeli couscous (usually near the rice). It’s what I used until our store started carrying the Acini de Pepe.
Try boiling your pasta first in a bullion / water broth. Let it sit a bit to absorb the liquid, then rinse off the starch, toss in a tad of olive oil to coat and seal and toss in your soup! The swelling is already done before you add it to your soup! If you keep adding broth to thin your soup on day 2, you loose the balance of the original flavor!
Good tip – thanks for sharing!
Do you but both the beef and pork at the meat counter? Would I just get a half pound of each?
Hi Kat – Yes, you can just order half a pound each of ground pork or ground beef at the meat counter. Or if you’re buying the meat pre-packaged, they’re usually sold in 1 lb packages, so you could just cut each in half and freeze the other half for later.
Hi Alyssa,
Thank you for posting this yummy recipe. I made the soup tonight and it’s delicious! I was able to use up the last of the parsley that I grew. I did buy too much ground pork and beef, but I saved half of the meatball mixture for tomorrow’s meatloaf. It’s a hot, humid 82 degrees in New Hampshire today, but I was dying to make this soup!
Thanks so much for commenting, Lisa! I’m glad you love the soup. It’s hot here in Houston, too, but I’m pretending it’s soup season anyway! :)
Our daughters have a lot in common. Sammie could eat this soup 7 days a week and she was upset when they stopped carrying it. I look forward to trying your recipe. She will be so happy. Have you tried freezing it.
Hi Martha – I’ve never tried freezing the entire soup itself…just the meatballs. But I’m sure it would work fine to freeze the whole thing if you want to divide it up into smaller servings. I hope your daughter likes it!
Do you cook the meatballs first or add them raw to the soup?
Hi Alan – You just add the meatballs raw to the soup. If I’m making a batch ahead of time, I freeze the meatballs raw also, and just add them frozen to the broth once it’s boiling. Thanks for asking!
Alyssa, this sounds yummy. Especially on this cold snowy February day here in Carolina. I just might try making this soup. Thanks for sharing this recipe.
Also, hope you had a real nice birthday the other day. Just think next year will be the big one!
Hugs,
Alice
Thanks Alice!! I hope you enjoy it if you make it. XOXO to you and your family.
Escarole instead of spinach