My love for Italian Wedding Soup started in a can. Yep, a good ‘ol can of Progresso soup. I know that’s not the fancy, this-recipe-came-from-my-grandmother story, but not every story has to be that endearing.
When I was younger, my mom would stock the pantry with Progresso soups for my brother and I to make during the summer for our lunches at home while my parents were away at work. I remember going to the grocery store with my mom to pick out the soup flavors that I wanted, and I always remember feeling weird about getting a “wedding soup” when I was just a child, no wedding in sight. But the flavors were those that made me crave this light yet savory soup time and again. Fast forward to my years in college and grad school, where I would stock my cabinets with Progresso soup for days when I didn’t have access to a full kitchen or didn’t have time to cook. I suppose you can say that for me, Progresso is almost like a comfort food for me. Now that I am able to cook more often, I’ve decided it’s time I finally come up with a recipe for my own Italian Wedding Soup, made by hand with fresh ingredients. I’ve tested and tweaked this recipe for months, and I hope you love it as much as we do here in my household!
“The original name in Italian is minestra maritata and it was translated to “wedding soup”, when in fact, a more appropriate translation would be “married soup”—as in, green vegetables (minestra) blended very well (maritata) with meat. The marriage isn’t a marriage between two people, but between vegetables and meat.”
– nonna box
Italian Wedding Soup
Ingredients
For Soup Broth
- 9 cups Chicken Broth
- 1/2 Yellow Onion (diced)
- 2 Medium Carrots (or 1 large carrot, diced)
- 2 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 2 cups Fresh Spinach (roughly chopped or shredded)
- 1 cup Ditalini Pasta
- 2 tbsp Fresh Thym (leaves only, no stems)
- 1 tsp Garlic Powder
- 1 tsp Onion Powder
- 1/2 tsp Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt
- 1/4 tsp Black Pepper
- Shredded Parmesan Cheese (optional, for topping)
For Sausage Meatballs
- 8 oz Ground Beef
- 8 oz Ground Pork
- 1 large Whole Egg (whisked)
- 1/2 cup Yellow Onion (finely diced)
- 1/4 cup Fresh Italian Parsley (finely chopped)
- 3 tbsp Fresh Chives (finely chopped)
- 1/3 cup Seasoned Bread Crumbs
- 1/2 cup Shredded Parmesan
- 3 cloves Garlic
- 1/2 tsp Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt
- 1/4 tsp Black Pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Meanwhile, prepare the meatballs using the steps below.
- Add ground meat to a bowl with the rest of the meatball ingredients. Make sure to whisk the egg before placing it into the mixture.
- Gently fold meatball mixture together until well-combined. Then, roll into bite-sized pieces or larger, depending on your preference (I usually make around 30 small meatballs). Note: the mixture will make a sizable amount of meatballs, so you may want to cut the recipe in half, make larger meatballs, or save the mixture for another recipe such as pasta.
- Place meatballs on an ungreased a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil before placing it into the oven to cook for 15 minutes.
- While the meatballs are cooking, begin making the broth by adding diced yellow onions and diced carrots to a large pot with 2 tbso olive oil.
- Add garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and black pepper to the same pot and sauté onions and carrot on medium high heat for approximately 2 minutes, until onion is fragrant.
- Add broth and thyme to the pot and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Then, add the pasta, cover the pot with a lid, and let sit over medium heat until pasta is cooked al dente, approximately 10-15 minutes.
- Once pasta has cooked, add shredded spinach to the pot along with the meatballs. Stir the soup until the spinach has wilted, then serve with shredded parmesan on top.
Watch my video on how to make this recipe by clicking here.
