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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Comments
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This was a huge hit with everyone in my house-and they are very picky! There is something for everyone in this soup and it’s delicious! I love that it has so many veggies and was easy to make! Perfect for this time of year! I also had plenty for two nights of dinner (family of four).
Hello, this is an awesome soup! made numerous time now. When Jenn says to not use low sodium broth, please listen, reg broth is required. However, if like me, you only have low sodium broth on hand, throw in a few Parmesan rinds!
Why full sodium broth? Do you have any ideas? I am not a fan of foods that are too salty.
This is a fantastic Italian Wedding Soup recipe! Great flavor, just the right amount of broth to other ingredients. I’ve made this for church events and they always want the recipe.
WOOHOOO!!!! Italian Wedding Soup… 5 STARS! This recipe was awe inspiring. When I visit my family we order Italian Wedding Soup from a wonderful Italian restaurant, we all love it. It’s heavenly. I was back home and really missing that soup. THIS RECIPE is magnificent and I like it even more than the restaurant version. It makes a good bit so it’s worth the time. It’s not a difficult recipe and it’s worth every second! The meatballs were so tasty, the fresh chives really added flavor and complimented everything perfectly, the parmesan also adds so much flavor. I did as Jenn suggested for the soup and used both beef and chicken broth (Swanson, not low sodium) – it didn’t have a weird “chicken broth” flavor that happens with so many soup recipes. The addition of beef broth to the chicken broth is brilliant. I loved the dittalini and fresh spinach. Every single thing about this recipe is amazing. NOTE! You can freeze it up to 3 months (minus the pasta). So if you like Italian Wedding Soup, this will not disappoint. Make a pot, freeze some for later (what a treat to find it in the freezer!) – Ok, I’ve got to run – going to go make my grocery list, this is DEFINITELY on the menu!
Jenn is my new favorite chef for recipes. This is a soup I’ve wanted to make and the meatballs were so good and the soup was delicious. I followed the instructions for freezing part of it by splitting it before adding the noodles. I’m so happy to have some delicious frozen soup to pull out on a busy day.
Great hot and hearty soup to get my family through the winter. Almost always have the ingredients in stock, so it definitely makes the “hmm…what’s for dinner?” list!
Italian Wedding Soup is a staple for my family during the colder weather. This is one of the best recipes that I’ve found for it. I have even taken crock pots of it to work for a comfort food lunch and there isn’t a drop left. Try it….you’ll love it!!!
My father-in-law said this is the best soup he has ever tasted so this is in regular rotation! I have as much as tripled the batch at a given time and followed the instructions on freezing and it has been great. Thanks for such a great recipe!
Love this recipe! It is chock full of protein from the meatballs and has a hearty flavor for cold winter days. I made for my dad who is in treatment for cancer and suffering from lack of appetite. He ate it up! Thank you for all your wonderful recipes. It doesn’t matter which one I try, they all come out great!
Love this soup (as written – no changes)! You need a very large pot or Dutch oven for it, so plan ahead 🙂 Once the meatballs and spinach go in, it’s a full load. My daughter made the meatballs with beyond burger and said it was also delicious. I love the small amount of beef broth along with the chicken broth since it adds a tiny bit of sweetness. Don’t skip it!
So delicious! Perfectly seasoned soup and the meatballs are so good. This is a great soup to keep you warm during these cold winter months!
This soup is absolutely delicious! Definitely need to make sure you have enough time to make it but it’s worth all the time! I have used kale for it a few times and that is just as good. I’ve also used frozen spinach when I was in a pinch and that worked perfectly fine as well. The little meatballs have so much flavor, I love sage addition! Sometimes I like making it a day in advance because I think the flavors really come together after sitting overnight in the fridge.
I make this soup frequently and everyone in the family (including picky toddlers) love it.
The meatballs are very flavorful easy to make and freeze for future use.
This soup is part of our regular rotation. Using both chicken and beef broth gives the soup so much flavour, don’t skip that part! Husband and I love the leftovers but the kids don’t love the ‘swelled up’ noodles since they absorb so much liquid.
Delicious. I added some crushed red pepper flakes for a little kick. I will definitely make this again!
Love all your recipes! Everyone I’ve made has been a hit!
Such a delicious soup! The whole family enjoyed this. The meatballs are perfect little morsels.
These meatballs are the best! The combo of the egg, cheese, herbs, and breadcrumbs is very flavorful and moist. One time I only had panko Italian breadcrumbs and they worked great.
I’ve made this soup several times with no modification to the recipe. Wonderful flavor and very comforting in cold weather! I usually make a double batch and freeze part of it for later.
Absolutely love this recipe. I have made it for my family multiple times. I’ve made it for friends when they’ve always loved it! Hearty and delicious for a cold day.
I loved this. I did use kale instead of spinach because it holds up so much better, and also added garlic to the veggies. And yes, it was great for breakfast the next day!
It was delicious! I’m not a huge soup fan, but I will save this into my favorites and make again!
Hi Jenn
Made this soup recipe today and my family absolutely loved it. Also, shared the soup with my older neighbor and she thought it was just delicious! Thanks sooo much for sharing your recipe. It is outstanding!
I love your recipes! Everything I have tried has been fantastic. For this soup, my macaroni kept sticking to the bottom of my Le Creuset Dutch oven. Any idea why? Thanks!
Hi Rachel, So glad you like the recipes! If the pasta was sticking to the bottom, it probably just needed a few stirs to distribute it throughout the pot.
Delicious just as written!
We are all sick so I ordered the groceries to make this soup. It was OUTSTANDING. All 3 kids loved it and both adults. I didn’t have white wine or chives so I left those out.
I made this soup for dinner last night and it was fabulous! The only thing I did different was to cook the pasta separately from the soup. I then add some to each bowl when I serve it. I find it keeps the pasta from bloating as there’s only 2 of us. Go ahead and try the recipe, you won’t be disappointed!
A family member recently turned 93 and I made this soup for his birthday present. He loves beef and soup and completely loved this gift! I made it exactly as written with the exception of subbing scallions for chives, and included the dry wine. My husband went crazy for this too. Thanks again for another great recipe!!
He is turning 96 tomorrow and this will be his gift–again!!
96 – WOW! And what a nice tradition. Wishing him a very happy birthday! 🥳
We loved this soup!
Homemade meatballs are always the best and I really liked your addition of sage.
I added beans to make it heartier as other reviewers said, which was fine but completely unnecessary.
This is a really nice light soup that I will be making again.
Thank you!
Another winner of a recipe — although not as hearty as other of Jenn’s soup selections — felt like we needed a sandwich to round this out for dinner. Fabulous flavors though.
The recipe sounds great, but I have to ask about adjustments. My daughter has celiac so I plan on using GF pasta. But I was wondering if I could use anything to replace the wine?
Thank you!
I can’t rate it yet, b/c I haven’t made it
Hi Stephany, it should be fine to use gluten-free pasta and if you choose not to use the wine, no need to replace it with anything else. Hope you enjoy!
Can I make this without pork?
Yes – just replace the pork sausage with turkey sausage. Enjoy!
This weekend I made this Italian wedding soup, the Beef bourguignon and the apple cake! The soup has always been a restaurant favorite for my two girls and it was fun to try and replicate – and it was PERFECT!!! I was told- this is better than in the restaurant! Yay. Loved it. Soup was delicious. It was enough of a meal for four with salad and we were able to freeze half for the next soup night.
Can red wine be used instead of white wine?
Hi Nicolas, I’ve only made it with white; red wine will give it a slightly different flavor and a darker color, but it should work. Please LMK how it turns out if you try it!
I happened to have Merlot opened from another recipe. It definitely works! I used a bit less than the recipe calls for, just because I was not certain it would be ok. The only other sub was stock instead of broth. Another wonderful recipe; thank you!
Made this tonight for the first time and it is Ab-So-LUTE-Ly outstanding. Such a very “fresh”-tasting soup, with those mini-meatballs adding an amazingly richt flavour pop – they deserve to be in a food group of their own! We really love us a lot of veggies, so I put in a good bit more celery, carrots and spinach than called for, but otherwise followed the recipe to the letter. This one is a keeper and a half.
We loved this soup so much, that I am already planning to make it again this week. The balance of flavors between the delicate broth, hearty veggies, zesty meatballs is just perfect for a weeknight meal! It is delicious re-heated as well, and I am typically not a fan of leftovers. Thank you for yet another proven recipe to add to my favorites.
I LOVE this soup ! Thanks a lot for it!
I’ve been experimenting! This is a great, if slightly labor-intensive (mini meatballs) soup. Everyone loved it, it was homey, comforting, and tasty. I would make a double batch as Jen suggests at the bottom of the recipe and freeze for future use. The meatballs were tender and tasty, and I subbed the pasta for acini d’ pepe (sp). Will make again on a cold day, Thanks, Jen!
Just wondered if I don’t have chives could I use freeze-dried chives and if so, how much? Thank you so much!
Hi Donna, freeze-dried chives may work, but I’d substitute 1 tablespoon minced onion or shallots if you have either of those on hand. Hope you enjoy the soup!
Have made this soup a few times now – it’s one of my all time favorites. The meatballs are amazingly tender and the soup overall is hearty and flavorful.
my kids just cannot get enough of this soup!
Making soup is one of my favorite things to do. I just made Ina Garten’s Italian Wedding Soup recipe, and it was divine. Her meatballs are chicken-based, and I really want to try your version. The meatballs are definitely the most time consuming part of the prep, and I love your idea to make a double batch and freeze. Do you think escarole would work well in place of the spinach? The baby spinach was perfect for the first serving, but for next day reheating was super flat. The version I made included some fresh dill added with the spinach. It added a beautiful aromatic note to the soup. (If it’s ok, I will come back with my star rating when I have actually made yours).
Escarole has a slightly different taste but it should work here. Please LMK how it turns out!
Perfection. Follow it to the tee and serve with a grilled cheese. 4th recipe I’ve tried from this site and I’m now a total convert. My family is thrilled.
I have looked at several of your recipes and can’t seem to find the amount each recipe makes. Am I blind? Help, please. I am particularly interested in the Italian Wedding Soup. Thanks
Hi Julia, It sounds like you are just looking at the portion of the page that has the pictures with some instructions underneath. If you scroll down a bit to under the pictures, you’ll find the full recipe. Alternatively, at the very top of the page, under the recipe name, you’ll see an orange/red button that says Jump to Recipe – if you click on that, it will take you directly to the recipe. Hope that clarifies!
This soup is awesome! It’s even better the next day – my wife even had it for breakfast the next morning!
5 stars with a couple changes- did 4 cups chicken stock & 4 cups beef stock, 3/4 cups wine, the rest water, used frozen gluten free Italian style meatballs (Colameco’s – Whole Foods), 5 ounces chopped baby spinach, 1.5 bay leaves….. SOOOOO GOOD!!!
I followed the recipe pretty closely but did not enjoy the end result. The flavor was bland and the soup didn’t look appetizing. I don’t want to be a negative nelly but it was not good and I wonder if the brand of broth I used could be the culprit. The meatballs were okay; they turned out hard which might be because I handled the meat a bit too much. Overall a disappointment but I don’t blame the recipe I just had a bad outing in the kitchen and otherwise have loved all of Jenn’s recipes. I look forward to making the meatballs again, maybe replacing sage with a different herb.
Sorry this was a bit disappointing for you! If you want to give it another try, I really like Swanson broth.
I really like Kirkland (Costco) organic chicken stock. It is inexpensive, and has a lovely flavor.
I made this soup last weekend and it was delicious! I used kale and loved it. Thank you!
I used this recipe as a base to build a soup using my own beef&pork meatballs (I make big batches and freeze some for soups). My modifications: 1tbsp tomato paste, 2 minced cloves of garlic, tbsp each chopped fresh rosemary & thyme to the sweated veggies and then deglazed with the wine; omitted the water, added a can of cannellini beans with their liquid towards the end. I like the soup to have a decent body, which adding the bean liquid does. Excellent as a base – normally I would not have used beef stock, but it def added to the soup.
Question 🙂 : you said: “ is traditionally made from a rich, long-cooked homemade chicken stock. In a perfect world, we’d all make our own stock but who has time? To mimic the same flavor, I use a combination of high-quality store-bought chicken and beef broth fortified with wine and lots of veggies.”
So what if I do have my own long-cooked stock? I make a super rich chicken bone broth/stock in my pressure cooker.
Would you still use the beef broth with wine?
Thank so much!!
Hi Andrew, I think you could get away with using your homemade chicken stock in place of the beef broth but would still use the wine. Hope that helps and that you enjoy!
Thank you so much!!
Excellent soup…loved the step-by-step directions by Jenn! I made the meatballs (used a small scooper, which worked well to get consistent size) in the morning and then whipped the other steps together about 30 minutes before card club showed up. Big success 🙂
Delicious! I did use kale rather than spinach (I am not fond of cooked spinach!) and would have used escarole if it was available because that seems more Italian. I also just cooked half because there are only two of us (half makes two meals for us) and I only have a tiny freezer. This is not my mother’s and grandmother’s Italian Wedding Soup but it is so good!
This soup is incredibly delicious! I have yet to try a recipe from Jenn I haven’t enjoyed. I might try turkey or chicken next time as I’m not a big beef and pork fan. Thank you Jenn!