Italian Wedding Soup Recipe

Name: Italian Wedding Soup
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 45 min
Yield: 6
Ingredients: For the meatballs:; 1 small soft dinner roll or 2 slices white bread, torn into 1-inch pieces; 1/4 cup milk (any kind); 1 large egg; 8 ounces ground beef; 8 ounces ground pork; 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley; 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan; 1 small onion, very finely chopped; 1 clove garlic, crushed; 1 teaspoon kosher salt; 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper; For the soup:; 3/4 cup tiny pasta, such as Israeli or pearl semolina couscous, orzo, ditalini, or acini de pepe; 2 quarts chicken stock; 1/2 head or bunch escarole, Swiss chard, or kale, stemmed and cut into 1-inch pieces; 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan, for serving

In This Recipe

The Name
How to Make It
Picking a Pasta
How to Store

Italian wedding soup is a quick and hearty dinner that only looks like you worked long and hard to make it.

Versions of the soup have been made all over the Mediterranean for centuries. It’s a nourishing meal that's easy enough for any weeknight.

1:20

How to Make Italian Wedding Soup

Why Is It Called Italian Wedding Soup?

Calling this Italian wedding soup"is somewhat of a misnomer since the dish is unrelated to weddings. The name is said to come from the words “minestra maritata,” which mean “married soup.” Here, rather than the couple joining together, it's all the flavors in the pot that balance each other so well.

Peasant cooks, who originally made it with vegetables they grew and scraps of meat trimmed from larger cuts, apparently liked the way the soup came together—a good "marriage" of ingredients!

Romantic Italian-Americans turned it into “wedding soup,” and lots of stories emerged from there.

Italian Wedding Soup recipe in a pot — Simply Recipes / Sheryl Julian

How To Make Italian Wedding Soup

Just shape ground pork and beef meatballs and simmer them in chicken stock, then add leafy greens and cooked pasta, and simmer.

You can brown the meatballs separately in a skillet (or bake them in a hot oven) and add those caramelized balls to the simmering stock, but Nonnas in Italy would have dropped the shaped meatballs right into the soup because they didn't have many burners to work with and some didn't have indoor ovens.

If they had kitchen gardens beside the house, they would have added whatever they grew or foraged along the countryside, like wild chicory or fennel. They used what they had. Follow their lead and use what you can find in your supermarket, including baby spinach or arugula.

Classic Italian wedding in a bowl with a spoon — Simply Recipes / Sheryl Julian

What Kind of Pasta To Use

I particularly love adding Israeli couscous (also called pearl couscous) to this soup. The tiny beads of pasta take the same short time to cook as regular pasta and look so pretty in the pot.

For this soup, you could also use tiny stubby pasta rings called ditalini, rice-shaped orzo, or the miniscule pasta grains called acini de pepe. (I don't recommend North African couscous for this recipe, which is made from ground durum wheat and partially cooked.)

What Is Couscous?

How to Store and Freeze

Store the soup tightly covered in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

This soup keeps well frozen for up to 3 months. Defrost in the fridge, reheat on the stovetop or in the microwave, and add a little fresh Parmesan before serving, if desired.

More Delicious Italian Soups

Italian Wedding Soup

Prep Time 30 mins

Cook Time 15 mins

Total Time 45 mins

Servings 4 to 6 servings

To save time, get the pasta water boiling and cook the pasta while you mix and shape the meatballs. Set yourself a timer so you don't forget about the pasta!

For the soup

3/4 cup tiny pasta, such as Israeli or pearl semolina couscous, orzo, ditalini, or acini de pepe
2 quarts chicken stock
1/2 head or bunch escarole, Swiss chard, or kale, stemmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan, for serving

For the meatballs

1 small soft dinner roll or 2 slices white bread, torn into 1-inch pieces
1/4 cup milk (any kind)
1 large egg
8 ounces ground beef
8 ounces ground pork
1 small onion, very finely chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Cook the pasta:

In a soup pot, bring a generous amount of water to a boil. Add a pinch of salt and the pasta.

Let the water return to a boil, lower the heat, and let the pasta bubble steadily until it is almost tender and still has a slight crunch in the middle, about 6 minutes for pearl couscous. Drain the pasta and transfer it to a bowl; set aside.

Sheryl Julian
Soak the bread pieces:

While the pasta water is coming to a boil and the pasta is cooking, mix the bread pieces with the milk in a large bowl.

Use your fingers to work the milk into the bread, like a sponge. Set aside for 10 minutes. Again, using your fingers, work the mixture until it forms a paste. Stir in the egg until incorporated.
Make the meatball mixture:

To the bowl with the bread and egg mixture, add the remaining meatball ingredients. With a spoon or your hands, work the mixture until it is well blended.

Sheryl Julian
Shape the meatballs:

Set a bowl of cold water on the counter. Dip your hands into the water. Use a spoon to scoop out tablespoon-size pieces of the mixture, then dip your hands into the water after every few meatballs to keep them from sticking to your hands.

Shape into rounds with your hands and transfer to a plate. Continue until all the mixture is used; you should have about 28 to 30 meatballs.

Sheryl Julian
Cook the meatballs:

Add the stock to the soup pot used to cook the pasta and bring to a boil. Use a long metal spoon to add the meatballs to the soup, several at a time.

Return the liquid to a boil, lower the heat, and cover the pan. Simmer for 5 minutes.

Sheryl Julian
Finish the soup:

Add the greens to the stock pot, pressing with a soup ladle to submerge them. Add the pasta. Return to a boil, lower the heat, and cover the pan.

Cook for 3 minutes, or until the greens and pasta are tender and the meatballs are cooked through.

Taste the broth for seasoning and add more salt and pepper, if you like. Ladle into bowls and serve topped with Parmesan.

Sheryl Julian

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
514	Calories
27g	Fat
27g	Carbs
39g	Protein

Nutrition Facts
Servings: 4 to 6
Amount per serving
Calories	514
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 27g	34%
Saturated Fat 11g	54%
Cholesterol 132mg	44%
Sodium 1254mg	55%
Total Carbohydrate 27g	10%
Dietary Fiber 2g	5%
Total Sugars 7g
Protein 39g
Vitamin C 6mg	29%
Calcium 294mg	23%
Iron 3mg	19%
Potassium 804mg	17%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.

Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate. In cases where multiple ingredient alternatives are given, the first listed is calculated for nutrition. Garnishes and optional ingredients are not included.