Italian Wedding Soup
A classic Italian wedding soup recipe, with little bits of pasta, shredded chicken, spinach and of course those little meatballs!
This wedding soup recipe is the very first one that I ever posted here on my little corner of the Internet. I grew up eating it at countless restaurants, at home and, of course, at weddings. My mom would make it occasionally, but it wasn’t until two summers ago that I fell in love with it again. I’m usually not one to devour soup during the summer months, but I was going through the first trimester of my pregnancy, and spent many days not very interested in food at all. Every Sunday, my mom would deliver me a fresh pot of homemade wedding soup, and I ate it for nearly every meal throughout the week (with oyster crackers – a must!). It absolutely hit the spot.
A few weeks ago, we were celebrating my father-in-law’s birthday so I asked him what he would like for dinner. Along with meatballs and rigatoni, he requested wedding soup. I hadn’t made it myself in years, so I was excited to have the opportunity to refresh my memory and do this fabulous recipe justice with new photos :)
While the most basic wedding soups include some type of meat, a green vegetable, pasta and clear broth, I’ve always loved how wonderfully hearty my mom’s recipe is.
Not only does she do the standard miniature meatballs, but she adds shredded chicken as well. I think it gives the soup so much more oomph and definitely makes it feel like more of a meal than just a bowl of soup.
When I’m not feeling well, it’s this wedding soup, and not your typical chicken noodle soup, that soothes my soul and makes me feel better.
Between the meatballs, chicken, little bits of pasta, carrots, celery and spinach, it’s extremely healthy, too!
Watch How to Make Italian Wedding Soup:
Save This Recipe
Enter your email address, and we'll send it straight to your inbox!
More Hearty Comfort Foods and Soups:
- Homestyle Chicken Noodle Soup
- Turkey Wild Rice Soup
- White Chicken Chili
- Homemade Chicken and Dumplings
If you make this wedding soup recipe and love it, remember to stop back and give it a 5-star rating - it helps others find the recipe! ❤️️
Italian Wedding Soup
Ingredients
For the Meatballs:
- 1 pound (453.59 g) ground beef
- 1 small onion, grated
- 4 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
- 2 tablespoons Italian bread crumbs
- 1½ teaspoons (1.5 teaspoons) dried parsley
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 egg whites
For the Chicken:
- 1 pound (453.59 g) boneless skinless chicken breasts
For the Soup:
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 small yellow onion, diced small
- 2 carrots, peeled and thinly sliced
- 2 ribs celery, trimmed and thinly sliced
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 12 cups (2820 ml) chicken broth
- Salt & pepper to taste
- ¾ cup (127.5 g) acini di pepi or other small pasta
- 8 ounces (226.8 g) fresh spinach, chopped
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients for the meatballs and shape into small (½-inch) balls. Place on a baking sheet, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
- Meanwhile, place the chicken breasts in a large stockpot and fill with water until it is covering the chicken by at least one inch. Bring to a boil and cook until the chicken is completely cooked through, about 15 minutes. Turn off the heat and use tongs to remove the chicken to a large plate. Shred the chicken and set aside. Empty water from stockpot.
- Melt butter in the now-empty stockpot over medium heat. Add onion, celery, carrot and garlic, and cook until the vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes.
- Add the chicken broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for approximately 30 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Gently add the meatballs to the soup and cook for 7 minutes. Add the pasta and cook for an additional 6 minutes. Add spinach and cook for an additional 3 minutes. Add the shredded chicken. Cover again and allow to simmer for another 30 minutes or so. You can eat as soon as the chicken is re-heated, but allowing it to simmer for a little longer allows all the new flavors to meld together.
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
Leave a review below, then snap a picture and tag @thebrowneyedbaker on Instagram so I can see it!
This recipe was originally published on February 11, 2007.
have made this soup many times! delicious!!!! last time I added a parmesan rind!
This reminds me of my 92 year old Nonna teaching me how to make this soup. She had arthritis in her hands so she was the Meatball Supervisor-she harassed us until they were just the right size! (very tiny)
Aww haha! So much better to have lots of tiny meatballs than just a few larger ones, in my opinion :)
I was so excited to see this recipe but not for the reasons you may think. Not that it doesn’t look really good and I’m going to save it for later. But, when I saw the pictures I recognized the pasta used in the recipe. I have been looking for this pasta for years! And I have lived in two different states during that time but still haven’t come across it. I need it for an old recipe called Frog Eye Salad. Its a fruity salad with a sweet creamy whipped dressing and that pasta makes it look like there are frog eyes in it! Kids love it. Can you tell me where you got your acini di pepi? I live in Texas now and have looked in most major markets. Thanks! Love your blog, recipes and your beautiful family.
This looks delicious! I could dive right in!
Kari
http://www.sweetteasweetie.com
When you add the meatballs & then the pasta, do you still leave the heat on low, or do you turn it back up to high to cook those items? Thx! Would love to try this recipe.
Hi Julie, I keep the heat on a low simmer.
I love Italian wedding soup and make regularly. This recipe looks awesome! Nothing like a big bowl of hot, hearty comforting soup! YUM!
My Dad (chef) use to make this – it was my favorite. He did not add chicken to it, he added eggs (like egg drop soup). Yummy
Hi Lois, My grandma often made a simpler version of this with egg as well!
Could this be converted to a Freezer Meal? I guess, mix everything except the pasta and add it after sitting in crock pot for 4 hours on low.
Hi Geni, I don’t see why not!
I love the look of this soup and I agree that adding shredded chicken would make it more hearty – adding it to my try out list
Recipe looks great, I love soups but why throw away the water you cooked the chicken? Much tastier to use your broth!
Hi Jan, They are skinless, boneless chicken breasts and are simmered just long enough for the chicken to be cooked through. The water they are cooked in does not have much flavor – a true homemade stock (simmered for hours with bones and aromatics) or store bought broth/stock is much more flavorful!
this must be good!!
I only wonder why it’s called Italian Wedding Soup as we don’t have anything like that in Italy… especially for weddings!! :)
would like to know the calories and fat info on this recipe
Perfect recipe for a cold windy day. I substituted sweet italian susage for the ground beef & just eliminated the dry basil. Also, my meat mix was pretty wet so I just sprinkled some more parmesan into the mix. Thanks for another yummy recipe!
Oh my lands, this soup is heavenly. Have tried other recipes and found them to be lacking in flavor so I quit looking for one. Now I can truly quit trying to replicate the one at our wedding reception.
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe.
What a delicious soup!The combination of ingredients – Veggies,Chicken,Garlic,Beef Meatballs,Parmesan Cheese – add to it Spinach – even better!
I am going to note down/bookmark this;Thank you for sharing!:-)
Love this soup! Second time I’ve made it now, and it’s so good. I do half italian sausage and half beef though for the meat balls, as I like the taste of the sausage. Thanks for sharing the recipe!!!
I spotted this recipe almost a year ago and made it once during the winter season. It was a hit. So incredibly tasty. I am finally making it again today and wanted to both thank you for such a great website and all the inspiration as well as share that I use the Cooks Illustrated method for making the chicken from their Chicken and Dumplings recipe, which really enhances the broth flavor.
Thank you so much for this recipe. My whole family enjoyed it. I had to alter it slightly to be gluten free, but it was still wonderful.
This was a wonderful recipe! Thanks!
I would love to make this but I am the only soup eater at my house. Do you know if this freezes well?
Yes, it freezes wonderfully, I do that often!
I just made this and IT IS SOOOOOOO GOOD!~ Thanks so much for this awesome recipe~
Oh WOW! I can’t wait to try this!!!
Soup was delicious! Love it when the temperature is warm. I can taste all of the flavors then. I love making soup! Thank you once again for sharing a good soup recipe. :)
I’m in the process of making this soup and I’m at a stand still b/c I need acini de pepi. thought about using thin egg noodles but just a thought. Can’t do it. Almost messed up the broth. I had three containers of frozen stock. thought it was chicken. It was a pork stock. I was saving to use for a bean soup. Thank *** I’m a taster. I put that back in cotainers with the addition of the veggies. my kids thing the little meatballs are cute and delicious. will let you know the final outcome. Oh yeah, when I go to the store, I’m also picking up the chocolate to make the brownie cookies :)
Hi!! I just finished reading the entire blog (in 3 days hehe) and I loved the recipes and the way you write..got linked to this through Annie’s blog which I also love. Great going!! I am a beginner baker (only plain cakes and an apple pie to my credit) but would love to try all these wonderful things.
Wanted to let you know that I made a big pot of this soup yesterday and it was delicious! It is some of the best soup I’ve ever had. Seriously! Yum! Thanks so much for sharing the recipe!
Yum! I’m printing this out right now. I’ve been looking for some tasty soup recipes to try. Thank you! : )
Hey chicka! This is amazing soup! GREAT recipe. Thanks for sharing. My sick hubby says “Thank you” too!
Looks good!
I saw your blog in your siggy on the nest, and I wanted to add you to my friends list on my food blog if that’s ok. :) My food blog is http://getinmyface.blogspot.com
My username on the nest is blondewithabug. :)
looks good! :)
Looks stellar actually! When I was sick, someone brought me soup that looked exactly like this and it was wonderful. I actually think it was party of the healing process. I asked for the recipe though and my friend said no!!!! I was crushed. Didn’t ask again but thanks for sharing this.