Italian Wedding Soup
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Tender meatballs, veggies, and pasta in a rich and flavorful broth, Italian wedding soup is a meal unto itself.
Photo by Johnny Miller (Clarkson Potter, 2021)
My kids love anything with meatballs in it (especially mini meatballs), so there’s always excitement at our house when Italian wedding soup is on the menu. The name “wedding soup” comes from the Italian phrase minestra maritata—or “married soup”—which is a reference to the way the flavors combine, like a happy marriage. Wedding soup is traditionally made from a rich, long-cooked homemade chicken stock. To save time and mimic the same rich flavor, I use a combination of high-quality store-bought broth fortified with wine and lots of veggies. For the meatballs, my secret is to add ground sausage to the beef mixture, which adds tons of flavor without the need for lots of other seasonings.
The most tedious part of the recipe is rolling the little meatballs (the recipe makes 50!), so I usually get one of the kids to help. Italian wedding soup is hearty and truly a meal unto itself. Serve it with warm bread—focaccia is especially good—and a Caesar salad, and dinner is served!
Table of Contents
“This soup is perfect for a cold evening meal, and a real crowd pleaser.”
What You’ll Need To Make Italian Wedding Soup
Note that the recipe calls for regular (not low-sodium) chicken and beef broth. I find the soup to be a bit bland with the low-sodium varieties, but if you special dietary considerations, go ahead and use low-sodium and season to taste before serving.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Begin by making the meatballs.
In a large bowl, beat the egg with the chives, sage and garlic.
Add the ground beef, sausage, cheese, breadcrumbs, and salt.
Mash with your hands until evenly combined.
Roll the mixture into tablespoon-size balls (about 1 inch in diameter) and place on a greased oven-safe rack. (If you don’t have an oven-safe rack, it’s fine to cook the meatballs directly on the baking sheet; it’ll just be a little harder to get rid of the fat as it tends to collect around the meatballs.)
Bake for 15 to 18 minutes, or until lightly browned and cooked through. Set aside.
To make the soup, heat the olive oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onions, carrots, and celery.
Cook, stirring frequently, until the vegetables are softened, about 8 minutes.
Add the chicken broth, beef broth, water, wine, bay leaf, salt, and pepper and bring to a boil.
Add the pasta and cook, uncovered, at a gentle boil until the pasta is al dente, 8 to 10 minutes (or according to package directions).
Taste the soup and adjust the seasoning, if necessary. Reduce the heat to low and add the spinach and meatballs.
Simmer for a few minutes, until the spinach is wilted and the meatballs are warmed through. Ladle into bowls and serve with grated Parmigiano Reggiano.
Make It Ahead
If you’d like to make this soup part of your rotation and want to shave off a little time for the next time around, double the recipe for the meatballs and freeze half. That way, all you’ll have to do is make the soup and add the meatballs to it as directed in the recipe. (They may take a few extra minutes to warm through if you’re adding them directly from the freezer.)
Video Tutorial
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Italian Wedding Soup
Tender meatballs, veggies, and pasta in a rich and flavorful broth, Italian wedding soup is a meal unto itself.
Ingredients
For the Meatballs
- 1 large egg
- 3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh chives
- 2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh sage
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- ¾ lb 85 or 90% lean ground beef
- ½ lb sweet or hot Italian sausage, removed from the casings
- ½ cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano
- ⅓ cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs
- ¼ teaspoon salt
For the Soup
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 medium yellow onion, diced
- 2 large carrots, diced
- 2 stalks celery, diced
- 6 cups high-quality chicken broth, such as Swanson (do not use low-sodium)
- 2 cups high-quality beef broth, such as Swanson (do not use low-sodium)
- 2 cups water
- ½ cup dry white wine (optional)
- 1 bay leaf
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon white pepper (okay to use black pepper)
- 1 cup small pasta such as dittalini
- 4 oz fresh spinach, stems trimmed and roughly chopped (once prepped, you should have about 3 packed cups)
- Parmigiano Reggiano, for serving
Instructions
- Make the meatballs: Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and set an oven-proof roasting rack over top. Spray the rack generously with nonstick cooking spray.
- In a large bowl, beat the egg with the chives, sage and garlic. Add the remaining meatball ingredients and mash with your hands until evenly combined. Roll the mixture into tablespoon-size balls, about 1 inch in diameter (it will make approximately 50 meatballs), and place on the prepared rack. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes, or until lightly browned and cooked through. Set aside.
- Meanwhile, start the soup. In a large soup pot or Dutch oven over medium heat, heat the olive oil. Add the onions, carrots, and celery and cook, stirring frequently, until the vegetables are softened, about 8 minutes. Add the chicken broth, beef broth, water, wine, bay leaf, salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Add the pasta and cook, uncovered, at a gentle boil until the pasta is al dente, 8 to 10 minutes (or according to package directions). Taste the soup and adjust the seasoning, if necessary. Reduce the heat to low and add the spinach and meatballs. Simmer for a few minutes, until the spinach is wilted and the meatballs are warmed through. Ladle into bowls and serve with grated Parmigiano Reggiano.
- Freezer-Friendly Instructions: The soup can be frozen for up to 3 months but wait until you reheat the soup to add the pasta. Defrost the soup in the refrigerator for 12 hours and then reheat it on the stovetop over medium heat until simmering, add the pasta, and cook until the pasta is tender.
Nutrition Information
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- Calories: 359
- Fat: 22 g
- Saturated fat: 7 g
- Carbohydrates: 16 g
- Sugar: 5 g
- Fiber: 2 g
- Protein: 23 g
- Sodium: 930 mg
- Cholesterol: 83 mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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I made this soup for my family and it was a huge hit! My sister begged me to send her home with some because she loved it so much. My boyfriend who doesn’t like vegetables even liked it. And I myself appreciated having an easy lunch to bring to work all week. From a cook’s perspective, it was an enjoyable meal to make. While at first making the mini meatballs was tedious, it soon became fun once I saw how cute they looks all lined up on a sheet ready to go in the oven.
I will mention the two adjustments I made: 1) I surprisingly preferred the soup with out the cheese on top, a strange revelation coming from a cheese lover and 2) I put in twice the recommended amount of noodles thinking the recommended amount wasn’t enough, and I was wrong haha. Should have listened to Jenn. It made too many noodles and soaked up a lot of the broth that would have otherwise yeilded more soup. Oops. Don’t do that.
Great recipe – I’ll certainly make it again.
We made the Italian wedding soup this week and it was the perfect Fall dinner! Great flavours and it was very comforting. We were short on time so we used Italian sausage (which we rolled into meatballs) instead of the homemade meatballs in this recipe. We also substituted kale for spinach, even though it’s not typical of this soup. The colour of the kale intensified from dropping it into the soup and the pre-existing texture remained on the kale. Overall a wonderful recipe! Will definitely be making this again.
this Italian wedding soup is absolutely wonderful. I especially liked making my own meatballs! I usually have to go to the local restaurant for this soup. Now I can make my own and it is even better! We gave a batch to a friend who was recovering from a fall. they loved it too! She couldn’t believe I made the meatballs. Thank you for developing this recipe and sharing it!! I tried a few of your other recipes and not a one was a disappointment! Your cooking talents are amazing, as is your cookbook!
I made this for my family, and it was a big hit! The only thing I substituted was homemade chicken broth (Ina Garten’s recipe). I make a huge batch and freeze mason jars of broth for soups and risottos! Yum!
This has become a routine “go to” recipe for us. It’s easy to make and always tastes so fresh! Crunchy vegetables, tender meatballs and wonderful flavor! The white pepper, to season to taste, is a must. I eat soup year round. This recipe is a keeper!
Delicious recipe – will make double next time!
This was really delicious, even better as leftover. It’s a great way to work in those veggies (you can add all sorts of greens to the mix) and delicious on a chilly day.
Yum ! I made this and it was so delicious . Those little meatballs took some time to make but they were worth it . I also thought the wine was a good addition . Thank you !
Hi Jenn! Your pictures of this soup looked so mouth watering that I just had to make this soup last week! It was sooooo tasty and lots of flavor from the meatballs! It made a big potful and I invited our oldest son and his wife to help eat it up! His wife and I love soups for dinner choices! She even took a container home to enjoy for lunch at work. And we were able to enjoy leftovers for lunch the next day too. So Delicious! Thank you!
Can you freeze this Italian Wedding soup?
Hi Roberta, Sure, but I’d suggest waiting until you reheat it to add the pasta, otherwise it may get mushy.
Very good soup. Thank you.
This soup was amazing. I’m making it tonight for a second time. I used small shell pastas (I couldn’t find the kind in the recipe in Australia) and I used just a regular flavoured sausage cause I couldn’t find Italian sausage. It tasted so so good and had it for lunch the next day mmmm
Delicious! I fallowed the recipe exactly and I loved it, as well as all the people I served it to. Like most soups it tasted even better the next day. I can’t wait to make this again!
My husband and daughter are sick – was originally planning to try the chickpea soup for meatless Monday but decided to go with something that looked comforting. My husband loved the soup – said it was delicious. I loved how quick it was to make the meatballs and the soup was very hearty with them in there. Thanks Jen!
Hope they feel better (and glad the soup was a hit)!
Just like other recipes from this talented chef, the Italian weddding soup is wonderful. I followed recipe exactly, as I do with all recipes in order to evaluate the recipe as written and tested. I deleted all other Italian soup recipes from my ollection because this one by far is the best.
First time making and it came out great. I doubled the veggies because I had so many. It was perfect on a cold rainy day.
I did not see the temperature for the meatballs in the oven am I missing it?
Hi Jana, the meatballs should be baked at 350 degrees. Hope you enjoy!
Big hit with the whole family (kids ranging age 6-teenager). Kids loved helping me make the meatballs, so that was fun too! It came out great.
I have made this amazing soup several times now. The only change I make is to add more vegetables.
Thanks, Jenn for helping me to become a better cook!
This is one of the best soups I’ve ever made. The only changes I made were to increase the broth by 50% because we like a little more broth and added sliced mushrooms. It makes a large amount which I shared with friends, and it received 5 stars from them, too.
I’ve made several of your recipes, and they’ve all been winners.
I’ve made this twice and each time it was a big hit. It’s a keeper.
I made this soup and it was fantastic. The funny part is that I completely spaced it on adding pasta! We didn’t notice until the end because the rest of the soup was delicious. I didn’t have all the ingredients so I substituted the beef stock with a few dashes of Worcestershire and increased chicken stock and water. I served it with. Baguette. My picky kids even liked it! I made it again a week later because I wanted to add the pasta. It (obviously) was more hearty. I also used the beef stock and while it definitely was better- a richer flavor- I wouldn’t run to the store if that was the only ingredient I was missing- and use the substitutes Worcestershire again. Thank for a great recipe! I’m so excited about your new cookbook.
If I have to choose what to eat,I will always choose a hearty soup to warm up my soul. Any time of the year! This soup hits the spot. Since I cook for just two of us, I make pasta separate and add as we eat.
Delicious!
Thank you, Jenn! This is a fabulous soup! I grow the chives, greens and herbs in large pots on the deck and this gives me a chance to use all of them together. When I once neglected to buy ground meats, I used Italian sausage instead and it gave a slightly different but equally good result. I top the soup with a small amount of finely chopped Italian parsley.
Very tasty soup, lots of flavor for so few ingredients! Had both ground pork and hot Italian sausage on hand to mix with beef, and made double batch of meatballs to freeze for another time. Can’t wait!
Yum. This was perfect on a cold snowy day. Worth all the rolling. I also appreciate how she shows all the ingredients and the pictures step by step.
Do you have this recipe with the grams in milliliters converted?
Yes, Liz, it has metric conversions; to view them, scroll down to the recipe and immediately under the recipe title on the right side, you’ll see a little toggle. If you move it from “cup measures” to metric, you’ll see measurements that will work for you. Hope you enjoy the soup!
Italian Wedding Soup is one of my favorite soups. I have a recipe but decided to try yours. Yours is better than the one I have on file. Very tasty. I didn’t have on hand the pasta you recommended so I used orzo. Other than that the only thing I did on my own was add a few splashes on Worcestershire. It kicked up the stock a little. (But I add Worcestershire to almost everything! 😉 )
I have made this soup twice. Excellent recipe! Everyone LOVES it! One comment: the first time I made it, I used both homemade chicken stock and homemade beef stock. Perfect flavor! The second time, I used homemade chicken stock, but didn’t have any more homemade beef stock, so I used store bought, supposedly high quality, beef stock. Not quite as good. Still good, but not that heavenly flavor of the first batch. Honestly, I don’t believe there is any such thing as high quality beef stock in the stores. I’ve tried various brands, there is something off about all of them. (Chicken stock— yes, there are some good ones in the stores.). So, next time I make this soup, I will wait until I have some more homemade beef stock,
We really like this soup! I like to double the meatball recipe and freeze half for a second batch later.
This soup was really delicious. I had to improvise a bit, but it didn’t matter at all. I didn’t have chives or sage, but mixed italian turkey sausage with ground beef , egg and the cheese and bread crumbs. They were really good. I also used 12 ounces of spinach to boost the vegetables up. Definitely a great recipe.
Can ground chicken or ground turkey be used in place of the ground meat and sausage? Would extra seasonings be needed? Also, will a strong homemade chicken broth be a good substitute for adding beef broth? Making chicken broth in an Instant Pot is easy, fast and the broth flavor is strong. Thank you.
Hi Marcia, You could use ground turkey here in place of the ground meat and sausage, but the meatballs won’t be nearly as flavorful as the sausage definitely adds a lot of flavor and moisture to them. I would suggest adding some additional seasoning (like parsley, oregano, garlic) to the meatball mixture to up the flavor a bit. And, sure, the homemade chicken broth will work nicely. Enjoy!
This is now my husband’s favorite soup, and he LOVES soup. I made it once and he kept asking for it until I made it again. I want to try the suggestion to make more of the meatballs and freeze them to have on hand so I can make this soup more quickly. And I will admit that I used homemade chicken broth because I had a stockpile of that premade and in the freezer already. I also served a small portion of this as a first course to guests, and it was a hit. A winner!
I don’t watch much tv, but doubling this recipe and rolling 200+ tiny little meatballs while netflixing was worth every moment. So tender, the soup was so flavorful, and having a second vat in the freezer for later was great when guests popped in a few weeks later. I used homemade chicken stock and followed your recipe exactly, with the exception of leaving the noodles separate in order to not be mushy. Everything of yours I’ve tried is spot on. Thanks for the great meals!
Made this for my friends who spend most Friday evenings around our table. We all agreed that this was one of the BEST soups yet! Thanks, Jen, for recipes that are are as tasty to the palate as they are appealing to the eye. Looking forward to your cookbook.
I made this for Christmas Eve dinner and it was delicious! I did add a can of cannellini beans per my mother-in-law’s request and it was a home run! Thanks for all of your great soup recipes! Happy New Year Jenn!
This is about the 4th or 5th recipe I’ve tried for Italian Wedding Soup. I just deleted the other recipes from my cooking software and this is the go-to recipe. Nice job. Couple things different… I used 1 teaspoon ground sage as I didn’t have sage leaves. I forgot to put the parm reg in the meatballs but they seemed forgiving! Lastly, I added 2 tablespoons cream to the eggs. I’ve learned that cream softens the texture of meatballs. Also switched up the order of things. Mixed all meatball ingredients together except egg & cream. Added them last. And used anci di pepe pasta. Very good flavor. Thank you 🙂
Hi Cindy –
I have also used light cream or 1/2 & 1/2 in the my meatloaf and it turns out great!
This is the first time I’ve made Italian Wedding Soup, and it was delicious! Definitely will make again – everyone loved it, even one of my kids who doesn’t usually like soup. The only substitution I made was 1 small shallot finely minced in place of the chives in the meatball (I can’t always find chives @ my supermarket). Otherwise, I followed the recipe exactly. Delicious!
I have never cooked my own soup dish before. Since I had such a confidence with your recipes from my previous attempts (about 15 so far – Love all of those by the way..) I thought I will give this a try. Came out just as you showed in the picture and was delicious. Shared with friends of ours and they loved it too. The only substitution I did was the Ground Lamb in place of Beef. The time in the oven was increased by 4 minutes to get a good browning.
This recipe is DELICIOUS! My whole family loved it, highly recommend.
Made this soup last week and it was delicious. Did not have any spinach, used what I had on hand (power greens, stemmed). My husband said the soup tasted better than one of his friends soup, who is known for his Italian Wedding Soup. Plan make soup again very soon, with spinach. Thanks Jenn!
Hi Jen,
I made this soup last week and both my husband and I liked it a lot…hoping to make it again this week…great flavor..
Made this for first time tonight. Loved it.
Thank you for so manny great flavours in your recipes !
My husband and I loved this soup! So easy to make. Instead of spinach I used escarole and cooked the pasta separately. WIll try tiny pasta shells next time.
This turned out so well. I realized too late that I was out of eggs and substituted milk as suggested in the reviews in addition to usinga baby spinach/kale mix I had on hand. Turned out great for us!
Can I omit sausage and use more ground meat ?
Hi Z, the sausage definitely adds a lot of flavor and moisture to the meatballs, but I think you could get away with ground meat. I would suggest adding some additional seasoning (like parsley, oregano, garlic) to the meatball mixture to up the flavor a bit.
I have not made this recipe but I am sure it is tasty. I just wanted to comment on your comment that the soup is not served at Italian weddings. Not so! It was served at mine over 40 years ago and at the weddings of my cousins as they married. My family had many Italian restaurants and this was always a popular dish but never made with celery and carrots!! This soup continues to be a family favorite and I make it regularly.
I really enjoy your recipes.
Am making this soup right now, but don’t see an oven temp for the meatballs
Hi Rosemary, It’s 350°F. Enjoy!
I made this last Sunday and the meatballs were amazing, however, my family and I weren’t big fans of the soup itself. I think we’re accustomed to wedding soup that only contains chicken broth. The addition of beef broth and water altered the taste significantly. It also didn’t seem as flavorful (even with using broth that wasn’t low sodium). I will try this again using the exact meatball recipe, but substituting chicken broth for the water and beef broth. This was one of a very few recipes from this site that wasn’t a home run with my family.
I agree. I have loved all the recipes so far but this is a disappointment. I followed the recipe except used part ani ci dpepa and part dititila as that is what I had. I will be comparing to another recipe to see differences.
Made this yesterday and it lasted about 2 hours. Everyone loved it. Always wanted to make this soup and didn’t realize how easy it was. Another winner recipe from Jen!
I made this soup last night for my family since we are all getting over the flu and it was a big hit! I made it vegetarian style by substituting the meatballs and ditalini for tortellini. I cooked these separately and added them at the end with the spinach! Since I already had homemade chicken and bone broth I made a few days ago I used this in place of the canned broths! Everyone loved it! Thank you so much for all your wonderful recipes! I can’t wait for your cookbook! You are the real deal Jenn!