Italian Wedding Soup Recipe (2024)

I bake the meatballs at 350 for 15 minutes. I use escarole instead of spinach. And I cook the pasta separately and add to each bowl while serving; this way the pasta doesn’t get mushy in the leftovers.

There's hardly any way this soup can be prepared in the 15 minutes the recipe indicates. It includes forming 80 small meatballs! And there's onion, celery, carrots, and garlic to peel/chop too. It is a great soup though.

To streamline the meatball making, I make a square or rectangle out of the entire meatball mixture about 1" thick. Then cut into 1" squares. To brown I broil watching carefully. My family isn't fussed if the meatball shape isn't round :)

To make it Diabetic friendly I substitute rinsed canned white Cannelloni beans instead of pasta. Yes, carbs present but much less and a good amount of fiber.

So I don't do 80 meatballs.. I do 30. But I have a round scoop with handle releaser (like ice cream) and I scoop them and lightly press. Then I roast them 15m in 375 oven. Then put in soup.Also before that, to make this much faster, I put all the meatball ingredients into bowl, and use a potato masher. Makes very fast work of mixing and is very even. Then scoop and shape. Roast on parchment for quick cleanup.

My Italian grandmother always made her version of this soup for the winter holidays. She used her tried and true meatball receipe and our job as children was to roll tiny tiny meatballs, which were much smaller than this. She used escarole instead of spinach and did not serve the aromatics used to flavor her homade chicken broth. Finally she beast an appropriate amount of eggs and stirred them into the simmering soup right before serving. It was delicious and I remember her each time I make

Been making this for yrs each winter - few suggestions:1 lb ground lamb insteadMix Breadcrumbs w/ 2-3 T of milkFinely chop ½c mixed herbs: italian flat parsley & 2T chopped rosemary, OR ½ & ½ mint & parsley OR marjoram, parsley & savory OR tarragon Sea Salt⅓ L sweet onion fine chop5-10 garlic confit cloves & T garlic olive oilSoup: 2/3 L sweet onion fine chopScuccuzzu pasta (italianharvest.com)Swiss chardShape meatballs w/ sm round scoop & lightly press. Roast 15min first.

This soup is Wonderful!! I added a Parmesan rind to broth

We’ve made this soup for generations for the holidays. Meatballs can be boiled in a separate pot and then added to the soup (so there’s less grease). Use escarole instead of spinach. Note - sometimes escarole is hard to find. When I find it, I wash it (very well) and freeze it in plastic bags until I’m making soup. I’ll even boil the pasta separately and then add to the soup later so it’s less starchy depending on the pasta.

We use escarole instead of spinach .

Delicious! My family and I simply adored the tiny meatballs. To respond to other commenters, you may bake the meatballs to brown them prior to simmering them in the broth. However, you are missing out on the delicious fond (i.e., tasty browned bits) that will form at the bottom of the pot upon frying and give your sauteed veggies that extra savory oomph. I also highly recommend making your own chicken broth (I follow instructions by NYT's very own Melissa Clark). Wonderful cozy soup for Autumn!

Has anyone tried baking the meatballs instead of frying them?

I buy pre-made meatballs at my local Italian store. That is the biggest part of the prep. I boil chicken thighs to form the base and put chicken in. To me it needs both meatballs and chicken. I add escarole not spinach. I use pastina (not always easy to find) but acini di pepe is the second choice. Ditalini or orzo would be too thick. I like to put some beat up egg in at the end and pecorino romano cheese, not parmesean.

Escarole. Has to be escarole.

Yes.. works really well. See my complete notes.

To make the meatballs gluten-free, I used crushed almond flour rosemary crackers (Simple Mills) instead of breadcrumbs/panko and omitted the oregano. Turned out great.

Make tiny meat meatballs

Add a splash of lemon juice at the end to brighten the flavor. A quarter-teaspoon of MSG is a flavorful addition as well.

This was delicious. Simple and easy to make, and so nutritious. I had leftover rice that needed eating, so I used that instead of the suggested pasta. This will be a regular rotation item in our kitchen!

I made this as shown for the second time and it is wonderful. One tip is to reduce the fat after browning the meatballs to 2 Tbls or so. Less greasy and enough to sauté the veggies. Also a shake or two of crushed red pepper at serving is nice.

Used ground turkey for the meatballs, got 65 rolling as small as I could manage, and baked them at 350 for 12 minutes. Otherwise followed the recipe exactly (used orzo) but added a little lemon zest with the parm to each bowl. Really delicious.

I find it works best if you make it a few hours in advance and let it sit for the flavors to infuse the stock - otherwise the liquid can be a little weak and bland (requiring then a lot more seasoning)

I have made this soup several times, always absolutely a crowd pleaser. No way I ever get 80 meatballs, maybe because I use a small ice cream scooper. I also add parm rind to amp the flavor. I use gluten free pasta, which turns out fine. Preparation time is long, just put on Italian opera and enjoy the ride!

Wonderful with turkey meatballs, too.

So nice. But the meatballs were hard.

Delicious recipe! I used kale instead of spinach and also added leeks and cabbage because I had them lying around. I chose not to add any additional salt and using just the chicken stock made it plenty salty for me.

I love this recipe! I have made it several times. One twist I put on it is I use ground chicken to make the meatballs lighter, and I also put the rind of fresh Parmesan cheese in the broth to give it a rich flavor.

Make sure meatballs don’t fall apart

I grew up on wedding soup brought from Italy in my nana's head. We make homemade chicken broth. For a large pot of soup, use a whole chicken. For a smaller pot, use 2 breasts, or a combo of abreast & a thigh, must be BONE-IN for fuller flavor. We shred the chicken into the soup. Store-bought broth works, but chicken pieces must be simmered. We use escarole; spinach works in a pinch. Stir in 2-3 eggs! Fry the meatballs for the frond! Nourishing & inexpensive. No more restaurant wedding soup!

Can someone tell me more about the egg additions? Seems very popular in the comments, but I'm not sure if I just beat it and then stir in so it would be "stringy" cooked in the soup or if I do something else.