Homemade Italian Wedding Soup Recipe

This super tasty wedding soup recipe is loaded with homemade meatballs, veggies, escarole, and pasta simmered in delicious chicken stock.

It’s that time of year when the soup is the main entrée.  Like in my Scotch Broth Soup or my Minestrone, It’s comforting; it’s hearty and perfect for those cold wintery days.

Wedding Soup

Italian wedding soup is an Italian American dish, mush like Chicken Parmigiana or Cioppino, adapted and popularized by Italians who immigrated to America.  It consists of:

• Meatballs
• Mirepoix
• Chicken Stock
• Acini di Pepe Pasta
• Escarole

Why Do They Call It Wedding Soup

It originally stems from the Italian word “minestra mariata, which translates to “wedded broths.”  Italian Americans adapted it to wedding soup. However, It’s more about marrying flavors in a broth as opposed to being served at weddings in Italy, which it is not.

How to Make Wedding Soup Meatballs

Making meatballs is easy to make.  Here’s a quick overview of how to make them:

1. Add ground beef, pork, small diced yellow onions, finely minced garlic, parsley, grated parmesan cheese, eggs, and water-soaked and squeezed-out Italian Bread, salt, and pepper to a large bowl.

2. Mix with your hands until combined and form into small ping-pong-sized balls.

1. Place on a sheet tray and bake until browned and cooked through, or pan roast in some oil in a pan and cook through, finish in an oven, or simmer in the soup broth at the end.

Set them aside until it’s time to serve up the soup

This recipe makes quite a few meatballs, which I did on purpose to freeze half the batch.

How to Make the Soup

Once the meatballs are done cooking, the soup is incredibly easy to prepare.

• Add the mirepoix to a large-size pot with some oil on low heat to sweat the vegetables for about 15 minutes. Stir frequently.

• Add the chicken stock and simmer on medium-low heat for 15-20 minutes or until the vegetables are tender.

• Cook the pasta in boiling salted water and set aside.
• Once everything is done, it is then time to plate up your soup.

Do not brown the vegetables.

How to Serve It

If you plan on serving this soup immediately and finishing it on the same day, I advise you to add everything to the pot and serve it.

If you’re going to be grazing all day for a few days, then plate it like this so that the greens wilt and the pasta doesn’t turn to mush:

1. Add some of the soup broth with vegetables to a bowl.
2. Place in some escarole (sub with baby spinach if you’d like).

3. Add in some cooked acini di pepe.
4. Place in some meatballs.

5. Grate in Parmesan cheese and serve

Make-Ahead and Reheat

How to Make Ahead: Make the soup and keep the meatballs, broth with vegetables, and acini di pepe separate until the day of serving it.

How to Reheat: Place your desired amount of wedding soup into a small pot and heat over low heat until hot. You can also heat it in a microwave until hot.

How to Store: Place in a container with a lid and keep in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. You can absolutely freeze it, and it does so well. Once the soup is cool in the fridge in a container with a lid, please place it in the freezer for up to 2 months. Thaw it for 1 day in the refrigerator before reheating it.

chef notes + tips

• This recipe makes quite a few meatballs, which I did on purpose to freeze half the batch.

More Soup Recipes

• Clam Chowder
• Pork Confit and Split Pea Soup
• Broccoli Cheddar Soup
• Zuppa Toscana
• Chicken Dumpling Soup Recipe

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Homemade Italian Wedding Soup Recipe

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5 from 19 votes

This super tasty wedding soup recipe is loaded with meatballs, veggies, escarole and pasta that’s simmered in a delicious chicken stock.

Servings: 12

Prep Time: 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 50 minutes minutes

Total Time: 1 hour hour 20 minutes minutes

Ingredients 

US CustomaryMetric

For the Meatballs:

• 2 pounds ground beef
• 2 pounds ground pork
• 1 peeled small diced yellow onion
• 4 finely minced cloves of garlic
• ¼ cup finely minced parsley
• 1 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 1 loaf Italian bread soaked in water and squeezed
• 5 eggs
• Sea salt and pepper to taste

For the Soup:

• 1 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 peeled medium diced yellow onion
• 3 finely minced cloves of garlic
• 4 stalks medium diced celery
• 4 peeled medium diced carrots
• 128 ounces chicken stock
• 2 heads escarole or 8 cups packed baby spinach
• 1 pound cooked and cooled acini di pepe
• Sea salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 400°.
• Meatballs: Combine all of the ingredients together in a large bowl until thoroughly mixed in and form small ping pong sized meatballs and set them on sheet trays lined with parchment paper.
• Bake in the oven at 400° for 22-25 minutes or until lightly browned and cooked through.
• Freeze ½ of the meatballs and set the other ½ aside.
• Soup: Add the olive oil to a large soup pot along with the onions, garlic, celery and carrots and sweat over low heat for 15 minutes. Do not brown them.
• Add in the broth and simmer over low to medium heat for 15 more minutes or until the vegetables are tender. Season with salt and pepper.
• To Plate: Place some of the broth and vegetables into a bowl. Add in some of the cooked and cooled acini di pepe along with a small handful of escarole, and 5-6 meatballs.
• Grate on optional parmesan cheese.

Notes

Chef Notes:

• How to Make Ahead: Make the soup and keep the meatballs, broth with vegetables and acini di pepe separate until the day of serving it.

• How to Reheat: Place your desired amount of wedding soup into a small size pot and heat over low heat until hot. You can also simply heat in a microwave until hot.

• How to Store: Place in a container with a lid and keep in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

• How to Freeze: You can absolutely freeze it and it does so well. Once the soup is cool in the fridge in a container with a lid, place in the freezer for up to 2 months. Thaw it for 1 day in the refrigerator before reheating it.

• This recipe makes quite a few meatballs, which I did on purpose so I could freeze half the batch.

Nutrition

Calories: 644kcalCarbohydrates: 58gProtein: 32gFat: 32gSaturated Fat: 13gCholesterol: 108mgSodium: 688mgPotassium: 965mgFiber: 6gSugar: 15gVitamin A: 5292IUVitamin C: 10mgCalcium: 132mgIron: 4mg

Course: Appetizer, Soup

Cuisine: Italian

Author: Chef Billy Parisi