Italian Wedding Soup
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Simple ingredients, big comfort—this Italian wedding soup recipe is one you’ll want on repeat all season long.
Photo by Johnny Miller (Clarkson Potter, 2021)
My kids love anything with meatballs, so this Italian wedding soup recipe is always a hit at our house. Made with a rich broth, greens, tiny pasta and mini meatballs, it’s a meal unto itself. The name comes from the Italian phrase minestra maritata, or “married soup,” a nod to the way the flavors combine, like a happy marriage.
The traditional recipe can be a bit of a project, but I save time by using store-bought broth fortified with wine and plenty of veggies. For the meatballs, my secret is adding ground Italian sausage to the beef mixture—it packs tons of flavor without the need for extra seasoning.
Rolling the mini meatballs is the most time-consuming part, but I usually recruit the kids to help. To save even more time down the road, you can double the meatball recipe and freeze half—you’ll be glad you did! Serve with warm garlic bread and a Caesar salad.
“Wonderful recipe! Tastes as great as it looks.”
What You’ll Need To Make Italian Wedding Soup
- Lean ground beef and Italian sausage: Form the base of the meatballs, adding tenderness, spice, and rich flavor.
- Egg and Italian seasoned bread crumbs: Bind the meatballs and give them a light, tender texture.
- Fresh chives, sage, and garlic: Lend subtle onion, earthy, and savory notes to the meatballs.
- Parmigiano Reggiano: Adds sharp, nutty flavor to both the meatballs and the finished soup.
- Olive oil: Used to sauté the vegetables and adds richness.
- Yellow onion, carrots, and celery: The classic aromatic trio for a flavorful soup base.
- Chicken and beef broths: Create a rich, hearty base (use regular, not low-sodium, for best flavor).
- Dry white wine: Adds a touch of acidity that brightens the broth.
- Bay leaf: Infuses the soup with a subtle, earthy aroma.
- Small pasta (like ditalini, orzo, or pearl couscous): Gives the soup heartiness and texture.
- Fresh spinach: Stirred in at the end for color and freshness; chard or escarole also work well.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
Step-by-Step Instructions
Step 1: Start the meatballs. In a large bowl, whisk together the egg, chives, sage, and garlic with a fork — this helps evenly distribute the flavor before you add the meat and breadcrumbs.
Step 2: Mix in remaining meatball ingredients. Add the ground beef, sausage, Parmesan, breadcrumbs, and salt. Use your hands to gently mash and mix until everything’s evenly combined — don’t overwork it or the meatballs will be dense.
Step 3: Roll and bake. Shape the mixture into tablespoon-size balls and arrange them on a greased, oven-safe rack set over a baking sheet. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes, until lightly browned and cooked through. Set aside while you start the soup.
Step 4: Start the soup. Heat the olive oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion, carrots, and celery, and cook, stirring often, until the vegetables are softened and just starting to turn golden, about 8 minutes.
Step 5: Add the liquid and seasoning. Pour in the chicken broth, beef broth, water, and wine, then add the bay leaf, salt, and pepper. Bring the mixture to a boil, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pot for extra flavor.
Step 6: Add the pasta. Stir in the ditalini and cook, uncovered, at a gentle boil until the pasta is al dente, 8 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally so it doesn’t stick to the bottom.
Step 7: Finish the soup. Taste and adjust the seasoning, if needed. Reduce the heat to low, then add the meatballs and spinach. Simmer for a few minutes, just until the spinach wilts and the meatballs are heated through.
Video Tutorial
More Italian Soup Recipes You May Like
Italian Wedding Soup
Tender meatballs, tiny pasta, and a flavorful broth come together in this comforting Italian classic.
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 have been looking for a good Italian Wedding Soup for a while and this one looks amazing! Thanks Jen! One question though: why not using the low sodium broth?
Hi Lu, I tried it but thought it made the broth taste really bland.
My family doesn’t care for sage, do you have another suggestion of herb to use in place of it.
Hi Ellen, You can just leave it out – or thyme would be nice.
love love love italian wedding soup. your addition of sausage to the meatballs is a great idea. i don’t cook my pasta in the soup mixture but do it separately, adding as needed to each serving. otherwise, it absorbs alot of the broth. and i also switch out greens, using swiss chard or baby kale.
This looks wonderful! I was wondering if you can tell me the brand and type of rack you used for baking the meatballs? I’ve been searching for a good one for years!
Hi Natalie, This isn’t the one I used here but it’s a good one: oven-safe rack
Thank you so much!
Can I ask why the recipe calls for low sodium broths? I always use low sodium but if it really makes a difference, I will try the regular when I make this.Thanks!!
Hi Mary, I typically do as well, but I found that the low-sodium broth made this soup very bland.
My mother-in-law’s version of this soup was served at my Italian wedding. It was a big hit.
P.S. I love almost all of your recipes but I can’t give 5 stars to any recipe that has celery in it. Sorry.
Hi Jenn! Thanks so much for this recipe! Italian Wedding Soup is one of my favorites. I eat a lot of soup in the winter, and prefer to make my own so that I can control the ingredients. I know that if it’s one of your recipes, it will be delicious. I live alone, so I plan on cooking the pasta separately and adding it to each serving so it doesn’t get mushy. Pinned it to all my group boards!
GREAT SOUP….FULL OF FAVOR….LOVE IT
This looks amazing! Perfect cold night dinner – thanks!
This is my favorite soup but I never tried to make it. Now I will. Thank you Jen!