During my restaurant days, Italian Wedding Soup was a mainstay on my menus. Loaded with fresh vegetables, little homemade meatballs, and escarole in a rich flavorful chicken broth is perfect for any occasion.
Did you know Italian Wedding Soup did not get its name from being served at Italian weddings? True Story, the term “wedding” comes from the Italian phrase “minestra maritata” and refers to the marriage of ingredients in the soup, creating an amazingly flavorful soup!
The origins of the soup can be traced back to the Neapolitan region of Italy. Of course, you’ll find many local variations in the different regions of Italy. Using simple ingredients, Italian Wedding Soup is the perfect example of la Cucina Povera, the no-waste “poor cooking” tradition from rural Italy.
Let’s start by gathering the ingredients we need to make Italian Wedding soup. In Chef Speak, this is called the “Mise en Place” which translates to “Everything in its Place.”
Not only does setting up your ingredients ahead of time speed up the cooking process, it also helps ensure you have everything you need to make the dish.
Simple Pantry Ingredients
- celery
- carrots
- onions
- olive oil
- escarole
- ground beef
- ground pork
- bread crumbs
- chicken stock
- parmesan cheese
How to make mini meatballs
- add the ground beef, ground pork, egg, bread crumbs, Romano or parmesan cheese, and seasonings to a large bowl.
- and mix just enough to incorporate all the ingredients. Be careful not to overmix.
Alternative meatball ingredients
- Meatballs can be made out of all beef or all pork.
- Ground sausage can be used instead of ground pork.
- You can also use ground chicken or ground turkey to make the mini meatballs.
Form the meat mixture into marble size meatballs. Refrigerate until needed.
*These meatballs can be made ahead of time and frozen. To freeze, place the meatballs sheet and freeze until solid. When frozen, place the meatballs in a ziplock bag and keep them frozen.
How to make Italian Wedding Soup
- Add celery, carrots and onions to a large pot with a little olive oil over medium heat.
- Let the veggies cook for 5-6 minutes.
- Add the chicken broth to the pot and increase the heat to medium-high. Bring to a light boil.
- Add the meatballs to the soup and continue cooking for 5-7 minutes to cook the meatballs.
- Add the chopped escarole to the soup (baby spinach or your favorite leafy green can be used instead of escarole)
- Reduce the heat to simmer and continue to cook the soup.
Can I add pasta to the soup?
Italian Wedding Soup does not traditionally have pasta in the soup, but pasta is a great addition to this classic Italian soup. I like to add tortellini to my wedding soup; there are so many great options in the refrigerated section of your grocery store. Acini de pepe, or one of the mini varieties of pasta, are also great choices.
Whether you serve this for dinner, lunch or you’re next party; everyone is going to love the simplicity and flavors of Italian Wedding Soup. Just don’t forget to have plenty of crusty bread, European butter and grated cheese on hand. Add a salad, and you just made dinner a special occasion.
Recipe FAQ’s
A mixture of ground beef and ground pork (or sausage) are used to make the meatballs for the soup. Add Italian seasonings, bread crumbs, parmesan cheese and an egg to make the meatball mixture.
The soup is made of a mirepoix (celery, onions, carrots), escarole, and chicken broth.
The classical Neapolitan soup we know as Italian Wedding soup is called minestra maritata, in Italy. This translates to “married soup”, not wedding soup, and refers to the marriage of the flavors.
You can use ground chicken or ground turkey for the meatball mixture. Both turn out really well and are good substitutes.
More Soup Recipes You’ll Love!
Italian Wedding Soup Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 carrots diced
- 4 stalks celery diced
- 1 medium onion diced
- olive oil for sauteing veggies
- 4 – 5 cups chicken stock
- 1 head escarole chopped – or your favorite green
- sea salt and pepper to taste
Mini Meatballs
- ½ lb lean ground beef
- ½ lb ground pork
- 1 large egg
- ½ cup breadcrumbs
- ½ teaspoon oregano
- ½ teaspoon basil
- 1 tablespoon fresh parsley finely minced
- 2 tablespoons Romano or parmesan cheese grated
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Add celery, carrots and onions to a large pot with a little bit of olive oil over medium heat.
- Let the veggies cook for 5-6 minutes.
- Add the chicken broth to the pot and increase the heat to medium-high. Bring to a light boil and let the pot simmer for 15- 20 minutes.
- Add the meatballs to the soup and continue cooking for about 10 minutes. This will cook the meatballs.*Cooking the meatballs in the broth will enhance the flavor of the soup.
- Add the chopped escarole to the soup (baby spinach or your favorite leafy green can be used instead of escarole. )Reduce the heat to simmer and continue to cook the soup for an additional 15-20 minutes.
Mini Meatballs
- Add the ground beef, ground pork, egg, bread crumbs, Romano or parmesan cheese, and seasonings to a large bowl. and mix just enough to incorporate all the ingredients. Be careful not to overmix.
- Form marble size meatballs from the mix and when finished drop them gently into the hot broth.
- Serve with a little grated romano cheese and enjoy!
Notes
- Meatballs can be made out of all beef or all pork.
- Ground sausage can be used instead of ground pork.
- You can also use ground chicken or ground turkey to make the mini meatballs.
Pam
Really flavorful!
Chef Dennis Littley
Thank you!
John Palmeri
I used to love this soup, but I contracted Alpha Gal (lone star tick disease) and I can’t eat red meat, which includes pork. So this recipe using chicken meatballs, it was a return to an old friend. Thank you Dennis!
Chef Dennis Littley
I’m happy to hear you can get back to enjoying Italian wedding soup. I didn’t eat red meat for a very long time and used ground chicken for just about everything that would have called for ground beef. I found it wasn’t as dry as ground turkey.
Joanne
This soup went beyond our expectations. My boys, who don’t enjoy any kind of vegetable, loved the heck out of this soup. I followed the recipe per instructions but added small pasta during the meatball step (to the soup) and used baby spinach. So yummy! My youngest even asked for this soup for his birthday dinner. Well done!
Chef Dennis Littley
I’m happy to hear you made a few adjustments to the soup recipe, that’s what making soup is all about. In my restaurant days this was one of our daily soup offerings and always goe raves from my guests. I’m glad your family enjoyed it.
Dorothy Gardiner
When my husband was having Chemo, he would always ask for a version of this soup…..he asked that I add chunks of chicken, and I would….I also added some crumbled hard boiled egg.grated the carrots and added some pasta. He even GAINED some weight it tasted so good to him.
Chef Dennis Littley
I’m happy to hear that your husband found something he could enjoy during a very difficult time in his life. And kudos to you for adapting and adding ingredients to the soup to make it even more delicious!
Natalie
Lovely light soup. One of my favorite.
Jamie
So delicious and flavorful!
Rob
It was delicious!
Luca
Amazing recipe, really easy to follow!
Addie
This was such a hearty and flavorful soup!
Brianna
So flavorful, absolutely love the meatballs!
Tyanne
I love this soup! The flavors in this recipe were absolutely amazing.
AISilva
What a delicious soup and so simple too!
Angela
I am happy to have found this recipe. This is now one of my favorite soups. I love the addition of the tortellini.
Mama Maggie's Kitchen
Incredibly delicious. Everyone loved your soup!
Swathi
Italian wedding soup is now my favorite chicken soup!