This Easy Italian Wedding Soup Recipe Is a High-Protein Marriage Made In Heaven by Jan Mostrom
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Soups, stews and chilis are my go-to dishes for the winter. This Italian wedding soup recipe is one of my all-time favorites. This Italian soup recipe originated in southern Italy, and the Italian name referred to the “marriage” of the meat and the vegetables in the soup. The original name was mistranslated into Italian wedding soup and it stuck!
This particular high-protein soup recipe has incredibly tasty meatballs that are so good that I doubled the recipe to have extra meatballs for other dishes. To make this hearty Italian wedding soup dinner recipe you will need the following ingredients: ground meat (beef, pork, turkey or chicken), an egg, breadcrumbs (regular or panko), Parmesan cheese, fresh parsley, fresh garlic, dried oregano, olive oil, onion, carrots, celery, chicken broth, pasta and baby spinach.
This soup stands alone for lunch or a high-protein dinner. (Check out the health benefits of protein.) However, you can add a hearty rustic bread or sourdough bread as a side dish. A garden salad would not be frowned upon either. Enjoy!
Cuisine: Italian
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 1 hour and 15 minutes
Servings: 6
Ingredients
Meatballs
- 1 large egg, beaten
- 1 pound ground beef, pork, turkey or chicken (or a combination)
- 1/2 cup Italian breadcrumbs or panko
- 1/3 cup Parmesan, grated
- 3 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
- 2 large garlic cloves, minced (about 1 tablespoon)
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt (or to taste)
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper (or to taste)
Soup
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 large yellow onion, chopped (about 2 cups)
- 3 carrots, diced (about 2 cups)
- 4 large celery ribs, diced (about 1 1/2 cups)
- 3 large garlic cloves, minced (about 1 tablespoon)
- 8 cups (2 quarts) chicken broth, plus more as needed
- 1/2 cup acini di pepe, ditalini, orzo or any short pasta
- 6 ounces baby spinach, destemmed
- grated Parmesan, for serving
Here's how to make it:
- Make the meatballs by adding all the ingredients to a large bowl. Mix the ingredients together well to combine.
- Add some olive oil to your clean hands and form the meatball with about 2 tablespoons of the meat mixture. You should be able to make about 36 to 40 meatballs.
- Heat the 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a dutch oven or stock pot on medium heat. Add half of the meatballs and cook, turning every now and then, until they are brown all over, about 4 to 5 minutes.
- Remove to a paper towel and repeat with the second batch of the meatballs.
- Add onions, carrots and celery to the stock pot and cook for 10 minutes. Add the garlic, and a good pinch of salt and pepper and cook for 1 more minute.
- Turn the heat up to medium-high and add the meatballs back into the pot with the vegetables.
- Add the broth and pasta and simmer for about 10 minutes, or until the pasta is cooked to al dente.
- Turn the stove off and stir in the spinach. Taste the broth to see if more salt and pepper is needed.
- Serve the soup hot topped with Parmesan cheese. Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge. Reheat in the microwave. As the soup sits the pasta will absorb more of the broth so you may need to add more broth when reheating.
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