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Italian Wedding Soup
Packed with onions and carrots, spinach and pasta AND meatballs, this hearty soup is perfect for chilly winter nights. Serve a big bowl of wedding soup with crusty rolls for a satisfying meal.
Ingredients
Meatballs
- 2 hamburger rolls or 4 slices white bread
- 2/3 cup milk
- 1 large egg
- 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
- 1 1/2 pounds ground beef or meatloaf mix
- 1 medium onion, grated or very finely diced
- 3 tablespoons grated Parmesan or Asiago cheese
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley
Soup
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 medium onions, diced; about 2 cups
- 2 cups finely diced carrots, about 3 large carrots
- 2 large garlic cloves, peeled and minced
- 4 to 4 1/2 quarts (16 to 18 cups) chicken broth, homemade or purchased
- 1 1/2 teaspoons dried Italian herbs or 3/4 teaspoon each dried oregano and dried basil
- 10-ounce box frozen chopped spinach
- 1 teaspoon salt, to taste
- 1/2 to 1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper, to taste
- 2 2/3 cups uncooked orzo, ditalini, or other small, roundish pasta
Instructions
- To make the meatballs, combine the bread, egg, milk, and salt, stirring till everything is well moistened. Allow to sit for about 10 minutes to soften.
- Add the ground meat, onion, cheese, and herbs. Mix gently till thoroughly combined.
- Shape tiny meatballs, (about 1" diameter or less). Using a level teaspoon scoop (which volume-wise is actually 2 level measuring teaspoons) makes about the right size. Place the meatballs on a parchment-lined or lightly greased cookie sheet, and refrigerate them while you prepare the soup.
- Get out a large pot, at least 6-quart capacity. Pour the olive oil into the bottom of the pot, and add the onions and carrots. Sauté, stirring frequently, until the onions are translucent and beginning to brown, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic, and cook for another couple of minutes.
- Add the broth and herbs, bring to a simmer, and cook gently for 10 minutes.
- Add the frozen chopped spinach, and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, total; the soup will take awhile to come back to a simmer, due to the frozen spinach. Help it along by breaking it up with a fork as it cooks.
- Gently drop the meatballs into the soup. Simmer the soup for 30 minutes or so, then stir in the pasta, cooking till it's al dente. For orzo, this will take about 8 minutes or so.
- Add salt and pepper to taste; using reduced-salt canned chicken broth, we added 1 teaspoon salt; and 1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper.
- Serve the soup garnished with freshly grated Parmesan or Asiago cheese.
- Yield: 29 cups, about sixteen 12-ounce servings.
Nutrition Information
- Serving Size 1 serving (374g)
- Servings Per Batch 16
Amount Per Serving:
- Calories 230
- Calories from Fat 90
- Total Fat 3.5g
- Saturated Fat 3.5g
- Trans Fat 0g
- Cholesterol 40mg
- Sodium 840mg
- Total Carbohydrate 20g
- Dietary Fiber 2g
- Sugars 3g
- Protein 15g
* The nutrition information provided for this recipe is determined by the ESHA Genesis R&D software program. Substituting any ingredients may change the posted nutrition information.
Tips from our bakers
- As written, this makes a thick soup, almost a stew. Add more broth (or cut back on the meatballs and pasta) for a thinner soup.
- To reduce the amount of fat, simmer the meatballs in water till thoroughly cooked before adding them to the soup.
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Reviews
This soup is the best! I used homemade chicken broth. There was a suggestion to slightly boil the meatballs first if you want the fat reduced, but I didn't do that. I didn't want to lose that flavor of the meatballs. Take the time to make the meatballs small, mine were less than 1" diameter. Also important to chill the meatballs first for at least 1/2 hour before adding. They stay together with that step. It is so good! *one tip to save a little time, buy a rotisserie store bought chicken, and make your stock with it after you remove the thighs and breast for eating - and that way, you're not throwing out the legs, wings, bones, and skin! *
This was very good and did make a large quantity. I did lower the amount of pasta in here to 1 cup and upped the vegetables to include corn and green beans because I had a small amount leftover from previous meals. The broth was excellent and yes, made my own. Pork with beef gives the little meatballs a bit more flavor. Cooking the meatballs in the broth also gave it a really good taste. I also added a little Parmesan rind to add a little saltiness. Escarole and bean soup is just as good if not a hair better.
This recipe worked out very well for an office lunch. I used store bought meatballs instead and it was fast to make. Everyone commented on how nice the soup was (plus it was cold outside that day so warm soup at lunch was extra cozy).
Excellent and easy recipe. I baked the meatballs but will drop them into broth to cook next time to see if there is a noticable difference. This recipe makes a lot. Fed my husband and I and our two neighbors and still have enough for two more meals. I'm freezing one container for another time.
Taste was delicious. Only thing I would change would be to put the bread in food processor rather than torn. I like small pieces of bread in my meatballs. But you were spot on soaking the bread in milk, makes for very tender and moist meatballs.
Made this recipe yesterday and my husband and I really enjoyed it. I made it as written; it doesn't seem right to mess with a recipe until you know what it's supposed to be like! The only thing I'd caution other people about is: This makes a LOT of soup. If you're making it for a large family, you're in luck. If you're making it for two people, be prepared to live on it for many days, or else find room in your freezer for some of it. In spite of that, I'll definitely make it again!
This soup is the perfect foil for a chilly fall/winter evening. I made this for dinner last night and it was delicious. The meatballs were perfectly moist and delicious. I scooped them all out, placed them on parchment and kept them in the refrigerator until I added them to the soup. I kept a few on the side to toss into my vegetable soup later this week. I put the "extras" into the freezer and a few hours later slid them into a ziploc bag. The soup was very easy to prepare. I opted for fresh spinach over frozen - it looked particularly good yesterday at the market and I couldn't resist. I used about 10 cups or so of fresh, washed and cut spinach (I did a rough chiffonade). I've had this soup with escarole (as some others have commented) but enjoyed the spinach - it can go either way, to be sure - depending on your taste, preference and of course the "what looks good at the market" factor for that day. I also added a parm cheese rind to the soup which gave it a nice, creamy texture. As the other reviewers stated, it does yield quite a bit of soup but that's the good news. We love soup around here so I put most of it into containers for another night - I'm certain it won't last long.........
My daughter and I have made this 4 times now..it ALWAYS comes out AMAZING. .VERY EASY..;)..very YUMMY..;)
This recipe is awesome; even my 18 month old granddaughter loves this soup! I made this soup even quicker by using frozen pre-made mini meatballs found in our store's health food section. Really cuts down the prep time. This recipe makes so much I froze 2 quarts of it. Will definitely make it again.
I used to buy this in a can which they quit selling, this is by far way better tasting and more flavorful. Everyone loved it. I will definitely be putting this one in my recipe box.
