Italian Wedding Soup with Mini Meatballs

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Italian wedding soup is the bowl my kids will eat two helpings of without anyone asking them to, and the reason is the meatballs. They’re tiny, a level tablespoon of meat each, so every spoonful gets one. Around them: carrots, celery, and onion softened in olive oil, a clear chicken broth, a scoop of acini di pepe, and spinach stirred in at the very end.

Small is the whole point. A 1 1/4-inch meatball cooks through in minutes, fits on a soup spoon, and spreads the meat across the whole pot instead of giving three people a meatball and everyone else broth. Rolling forty of them sounds tedious, but with a tablespoon measure and damp hands it takes about ten minutes.

Baking the meatballs before they go in keeps the broth clear. Raw meatballs dropped straight into simmering stock shed fat and breadcrumbs, and you end up with a cloudy pot. Twelve minutes at 400°F firms them up, browns the outsides, and gives you a broth you can see the bottom of.

Why You’ll Love This Italian Wedding Soup Recipe

• A meatball in every spoonful. Forty tiny meatballs spread across eight bowls means nobody is fishing around for the meat.
• Light but genuinely filling. Clear broth with pasta, meat, and greens fills people up without sitting heavy like a cream soup.
• Kids eat the spinach. Chopped fine and wilted into the broth at the last minute, it disappears into the bowl.
• Everything comes from one grocery run. A pound of ground meat, a box of broth, a small bag of pasta, and a bag of spinach.

Italian Wedding Soup Ingredients

Half ground beef and half ground pork is what makes these meatballs taste right. Beef alone comes out dense and a little dry at this size, and pork brings the fat and the softer texture. If you can only get one, use 1 pound of ground beef at 85/15 and add an extra tablespoon of parmesan.

• 8 oz ground beef (85/15)
• 8 oz ground pork
• 1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan
• 1 large egg
• 1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced, for the meatballs
• 1 tsp Italian seasoning
• 1/2 tsp salt, for the meatballs
• 1/4 tsp black pepper, for the meatballs
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 medium carrots, diced (about 1 cup)
• 1 medium yellow onion, diced (about 1 cup)
• 2 ribs celery, diced (about 3/4 cup)
• 4 cloves garlic, minced, for the soup
• 10 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 cup acini di pepe pasta
• 6 oz baby spinach, roughly chopped
• 1 tsp salt, for the soup
• 1/2 tsp black pepper, for the soup
• Grated parmesan, for serving

Recipe Variations

• Use 1 pound of ground chicken or ground turkey for the meatballs. Poultry has to reach 165°F, not the 160°F beef and pork need, so bake them 2-3 minutes longer and check one with a thermometer before it goes in the pot.
• Swap the spinach for one head of escarole, which is what most Italian-American kitchens actually use. Chop it and add it with the pasta, since escarole needs 6-8 minutes to soften instead of one.
• Use orzo, ditalini, or stelline if acini di pepe isn’t on the shelf. Cook them for the time on the box and taste a piece before the meatballs go in.

How to Make Italian Wedding Soup

1. Mix the meatballs: Heat the oven to 400°F and line a sheet pan with parchment. Combine the ground beef, ground pork, panko, parmesan, egg, parsley, 2 cloves minced garlic, Italian seasoning, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper in a bowl. Mix with your hands just until it comes together, no more.
2. Roll them small: Scoop level tablespoons and roll them into 1 1/4-inch balls, about 40 total. Damp hands keep the mixture from sticking. Arrange them on the sheet pan with a little space between.
3. Bake the meatballs: Bake for 12 minutes, until browned on the outside and cooked through to an internal temperature of 160°F. Set them aside.
4. Start the soup: While the meatballs bake, heat the olive oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the carrots, onion, and celery and cook for 7-8 minutes, until the onion is soft and the carrots have lost their raw crunch. Stir in the 4 cloves minced garlic and cook 1 minute more.
5. Bring the broth to a boil: Pour in the chicken broth, add 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper, and bring it to a rolling boil over medium-high heat.
6. Cook the pasta: Stir in the acini di pepe and cook at a steady simmer for 8-9 minutes, or per the box, until the pasta is tender. Stir occasionally so it doesn’t settle and stick to the bottom.
7. Add the meatballs and spinach: Slide the meatballs in and simmer 3 minutes to heat them through. Stir in the spinach and cook 1-2 minutes more, just until it wilts into the broth.
8. Serve: Taste and adjust the salt, then ladle into bowls and finish each one with grated parmesan.

Recipe FAQs

Why Is It Called Italian Wedding Soup?

It’s a mistranslation. The Italian phrase minestra maritata means married soup, and it describes how well the greens and the meat go together. Nobody serves it at weddings in Italy.

Can I Make Italian Wedding Soup Ahead of Time?

Yes, with one change. Cook the pasta separately and add it to each bowl, because acini di pepe left sitting in broth swells and drinks the whole pot by the next day. The soup itself keeps 3-4 days.

Can I Use Frozen Meatballs?

You can. Use about 40 small precooked frozen meatballs, add them with the pasta so they have longer to thaw, and make sure they’re heated through to 165°F before serving.

What Greens Work Best?

Escarole is traditional and holds its texture. Baby spinach is the easy grocery-store swap and wilts in about a minute. Curly kale works too, but chop it fine and give it 8-10 minutes.

Can I Freeze It?

Freeze the broth, vegetables, and meatballs for up to 3 months, but leave the pasta out. Cooked acini di pepe turns to mush after freezing. Add fresh pasta when you reheat.

Cooking Tips

• Use a measuring tablespoon to portion the meat. Eyeballing gets you meatballs of six different sizes, and the big ones are still raw inside when the small ones are dry.
• Mix the meat with a light hand. Working ground meat past the point where it holds together makes the meatballs bouncy and tight instead of tender.
• Taste the broth after the pasta comes up to tender. Pasta absorbs a surprising amount of salt out of the pot, and the soup almost always needs a little more at the end.

Storage and Freezing

To store: Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 4 days. The pasta keeps swelling, so expect a thicker soup on day two and thin it with a splash of broth.

To freeze: Freeze the soup for up to 3 months without the pasta, which turns mushy. Thaw overnight in the fridge and cook fresh pasta when you reheat.

To reheat: Warm on the stove over medium until it reaches 165°F and steams, about 8-10 minutes. Add broth as needed to loosen it.

How to Serve Italian Wedding Soup

Italian Wedding Soup wants crusty bread for dipping more than it wants a side dish, so a warm baguette or a pan of garlic bread does most of the work. A simple Caesar or a chopped salad with vinaigrette turns it into a full dinner. Put the parmesan on the table and let everyone snow their own bowl.

Loved This Recipe?

Italian Wedding Soup takes about 55 minutes and makes eight bowls, which is why it shows up on our table any time the weather turns.

Leave a star rating in the comments below, it helps other people find this recipe. Made it? Tag @allwellfed on Instagram, I love seeing this one in other people’s kitchens.

Italian Wedding Soup with Mini Meatballs

Italian wedding soup with tiny baked beef and pork meatballs, acini di pepe pasta, carrots, and spinach in a light chicken broth.

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Prep Time:25 minutes mins

Cook Time:30 minutes mins

Total Time:55 minutes mins

Course: Dinner

Cuisine: Italian-American

Servings: 8 servings

Equipment

• Dutch Oven
• Sheet Pan

Ingredients

• 8 oz ground beef 85/15
• 8 oz ground pork
• 1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan
• 1 large egg
• 1/4 cup fresh parsley chopped
• 2 cloves garlic minced, for the meatballs
• 1 tsp Italian seasoning
• 1/2 tsp salt for the meatballs
• 1/4 tsp black pepper for the meatballs
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 medium carrots diced, about 1 cup
• 1 medium yellow onion diced, about 1 cup
• 2 ribs celery diced, about 3/4 cup
• 4 cloves garlic minced, for the soup
• 10 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 cup acini di pepe pasta
• 6 oz baby spinach roughly chopped
• 1 tsp salt for the soup
• 1/2 tsp black pepper for the soup
• grated parmesan for serving

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Instructions

• Mix the meatballs: Heat the oven to 400°F and line a sheet pan with parchment. Combine the ground beef, ground pork, panko, parmesan, egg, parsley, 2 cloves minced garlic, Italian seasoning, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper in a bowl. Mix with your hands just until it comes together, no more.
• Roll them small: Scoop level tablespoons and roll them into 1 1/4-inch balls, about 40 total. Damp hands keep the mixture from sticking. Arrange them on the sheet pan with a little space between.
• Bake the meatballs: Bake for 12 minutes, until browned on the outside and cooked through to an internal temperature of 160°F. Set them aside.
• Start the soup: While the meatballs bake, heat the olive oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the carrots, onion, and celery and cook for 7-8 minutes, until the onion is soft and the carrots have lost their raw crunch. Stir in the 4 cloves minced garlic and cook 1 minute more.
• Bring the broth to a boil: Pour in the chicken broth, add 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper, and bring it to a rolling boil over medium-high heat.
• Cook the pasta: Stir in the acini di pepe and cook at a steady simmer for 8-9 minutes, or per the box, until the pasta is tender. Stir occasionally so it doesn’t settle and stick to the bottom.
• Add the meatballs and spinach: Slide the meatballs in and simmer 3 minutes to heat them through. Stir in the spinach and cook 1-2 minutes more, just until it wilts into the broth.
• Serve: Taste and adjust the salt, then ladle into bowls and finish each one with grated parmesan.

Notes

Roll the meatballs about 1 1/4 inches, a level tablespoon each, so one lands on every spoon, and bake them before they go in the pot so the broth stays clear. The meatballs are ground beef and ground pork, so cook them to an internal temperature of 160°F. If you plan to have leftovers, cook the acini di pepe separately and add it to each bowl, because pasta left in the broth swells and drinks the pot.

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