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Italian Wedding Soup is a complete meal with tender meatballs, vegetables and pasta all in a delicious broth.
Over the holiday break we attended a wedding that had a soup and sandwich bar. Â A fun idea. Â There were several different selections of soup and I went for the Italian Wedding Soup – it was a wedding after all! Â The mother of the bride had made all the soup herself! Â I had never had Italian Wedding Soup before and it was delicious.
This is a traditional Italian-American soup that contains green vegetables (in this case spinach) and some kind of meat (pork). According to Wikipedia, “The term “wedding soup” is a mistranslation of the Italian language phrase “minestra maritata (“married soup”),” which is a reference to the fact that green vegetables and meats go well together.”
Ingredients
- Spinach
- Carrots
- Onions
- Garlic
- Orzo Pasta
- Chicken broth
- Sage
- Parmesan Cheese
- Meatballs
How To Make Italian Wedding Soup
Meatballs
- Combine pork, breadcrumbs and Parmesan cheese, garlic, Worcestershire sauce and sage in a bowl.
- Mix to combine.
- Form into 1 inch meatballs and place on a cookie sheet.
- Bake at 350 until cooked through, about 7 to 10 minutes.
Soup
- Heat oil in pan over medium heat.
- Sauté onion and carrots and cook until softened, about 4 minutes
- Add garlic, Worcestershire sauce and sage, cook 1 minute
- Add chicken broth and water.
- Bring to a boil
- Cover and reduce heat and simmer until the vegetables are tender.
- Add in orzo pasta and cook until pasta is tender, about 6-8 minutes.
- Add in meatballs.
- Mix in spinach right before serving.
- Garnish with Parmesan and Serve.
Tips
- I made and baked my meatballs first and then added them to the soup. I think the flavor is better if they are baked before adding to the soup.
- You can always use premade, frozen meatballs. They will be larger, but will do in a pinch. No need to bake them, just add them to the soup broth and simmer until heated through.
For a few other of my favorite soup recipes check out these:
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Italian Wedding Soup
Ingredients
- 1/2 lb. ground pork
- 3 Tbsp Italian Breadcrumbs
- 1/2 cup Orzo pasta
- 2 cups baby spinach chopped
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 small onion finely chopped
- 3 carrots finely chopped
- 3 cloves garlic finely chopped
- 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce divided
- 1 tsp dried sage divided
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 2 cups water
- Parmesan cheese for garnish
Instructions
Meatballs
- Combine pork, breadcrumbs and 1 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese, 1 clove garlic, 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce and 1/2 tsp sage in a bowl,. Mix to combine.
- Form into 1 inch meatballs.
- Place on a cookie sheet and bake at 350 until cooked through (approx. 7-10 minutes)
Soup
- Heat oil in pan over medium heat.
- Add onion and carrots and cook until softened, about 4 minutes
- Add 2 tsp garlic and 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce and 1/2 tsp sage. Cook 1 minute
- Add chicken broth and water. Bring to a boil
- Cover and reduce heat and simmer until the vegetables are tender.
- Add in orzo pasta and cook until pasta is tender (about 6-8 minutes)
- Add in meatballs.
- Add in spinach right before serving.
- Garnish with Parmesan
Melanie @ Carmel Moments says
One of my favorite soups of all time. Looks awesome!
Liz says
Love your Wedding Soup recipe. Thank you and have a Happy Tuesday.
Val A. H. says
Being Italian, I’ve had this soup many times and make it too. It’s one of my favorites. Not too heavy and it’s quick to make. Glad you discovered it at the wedding. 🙂
Becki's Whole Life says
One of my favorite soups! I just bought some ground pork with nothing in mind for it, but I think I will make this.
Leigh Anne says
Becki – This was my first time having Italian Wedding Soup and it is now a family favorite too!
Debra@TheCookbookDiva says
I love soup but I’ve never tried Italian Wedding Soup before. It would be perfect for tonight’s snow storm. 🙂 I’m looking forward to our tribe challenge this week. Hopefully I can find our tribe thread over SITS. Have a great day!
Leigh Anne says
Debra, Thanks so much for stopping by. Hope you enjoy the soup.