Italian Wedding Soup is one of the easiest and most delicious soup recipes there is. It has simple ingredients and is packed full of flavor. If you want a homemade soup in just over an hour, this is it!
Ingredients
This recipe uses ground pork sausage that are made into mini meatballs creating a tasty little meaty bite in the soup. I get about 16 mini meatballs from the pound of ground pork, and I brown them in a nonstick fry pan.
The traditional pasta for Italian Wedding soup is Acini Di Pepe pasta, you can substitute any other small pasta.
My family likes thick hearty soups. So, I used a full cup of Acini Di Pepe pasta. You can use less like a 1/2 cup if you prefer a thinner soup. Leftover soup will thicken too. If that happens and it’s too thick, you can add some more chicken stock.
Making It
I brown the meatballs and set them aside.
While the meatballs are cooking, I slice the carrots, onion, and garlic. Then get them sauteing in the heated olive oil in the soup pan. Once the onions are translucent, I add in the herbs, broth, and meatballs and bring that to a boil. The carrots will continue to cook during this process. Once boiling I add the pasta and cook until the pasta is al dente. You can use the pasta your package instructions to know how long the pasta should cook to get to al dente. Then add in the spinach. I don’t break up the spinach, but you can if you prefer smaller pieces. Stir and cook until the spinach is soft. You’re ready to serve your Italian wedding soup!
Some other Tips
Since this is a chicken broth soup it is a lighter soup than most cream-based soups. Using turkey sausage is a simple way to lighten it up and by using 1/2 cup of pasta rather than a full cup helps lighten it up too. Carrots, spinach, and onion are light vegetables so they’re perfect without any changes.
There are some meatball substitutions that you can do which will maintain the flavor yet help you prepare the soup a little quicker. A couple of these alternatives are great if have extra or leftover meat that you’d like to use up, too.
- You can brown ground sausage into large crumbles rather than make the meatballs.
- Brown breakfast sausage links and cut into bite sized pieces.
- Precook bratwurst or sausage and cut into bite sized pieces.
When I make this soup, we will have 1-2 meals of it and I will freeze half of it for another night. I do that with most soups. I like having a variety of soups in my freezer over the winter. We will have them eaten before summer.
I hope Italian Wedding Soup becomes one of your favorite soups, like it is for me.
Happy cooking!
Italian Wedding Soup
Equipment
- 1 Frying pan
- 1 Dutch oven pan or Stock pot
- 1 Cutting board
- 1 Knife
- 1 Spoon
- 1 Peeler
Ingredients
- 1 lb Ground sausage or pork
- 2 tbsp Olive oil
- ½ medium Onion, chopped
- 4 medium Carrots, chopped
- 2 cloves Garlic, minced
- 12 cups Chicken stock, low sodium
- ½ tsp Basil
- ½ tsp Italian seasoning
- ½ to 1 cup Acini di pepe pasta
- 2 handfuls Spinach, fresh
Instructions
- Form ground sausage into 16 meatballs. and brown in a frying pan. Drain and set aside.
- In the Dutch oven pan or stock pan put in olive oil and heat on medium heat. Add onions and carrots. Sauté until onions are translucent. Add garlic and heat for a couple more minutes.
- To the sautéed mix in the Dutch oven pan or stock pot add chicken stock, basil, and oregano. Bring to a boil.
- Once boiling add the Acini di pepe pasta. I used 1 cup of uncooked pasta. You can use between 1/2 cup to 1 cup depending on how thick you like your soup. Cook until the pasta is al dente.
- Add in the 2 handfuls of fresh spinach. Stir until the spinach is wilted.
- Serve immediately.
Notes
- Brown the ground pork into coarse crumbles.
- Brown breakfast sausage links and cut into bite sized pieces.
- Precook bratwurst or sausage and cut into bite sized pieces.
