Description
This Italian Wedding Soup features Mini Meatball Italian Wedding Soup and Homemade Italian Wedding Soup Acini Pepe for a comforting meal. Enjoy Easy Italian Wedding Soup Meatballs in a rich broth with fresh vegetables. It makes a perfect family favorite dinner.
Ingredients
Scale
- 1 slice soft bread about ¾ cup fluffed bread crumbs
- 2 tablespoons water
- ½ lb ground beef
- ½ lb ground pork
- ½ cup shredded Parmesan cheese fresh if possible
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- 2 large carrots peeled and chopped
- 2 ribs celery sliced
- 1 medium onion finely diced
- 1 tablespoon freshly minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 bay leaf
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes optional but add nice flavor
- 6 cups low-sodium chicken broth
- 1 Parmesan rind optional but delicious
- 1 cup small pasta I used ditalini but orzo or anything very small will work about 90 grams
- 2 cups fresh chopped spinach
Instructions
- Tear the bread into small pieces and blend into fine crumbs then mix with water and let soak for a few minutes.
- In a large bowl, combine ground beef, ground pork, Parmesan cheese, egg, Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, and the soaked bread until just mixed without overworking.
- Form the mixture into 1 inch meatballs and set on a plate.
- Heat oil in a large pot over medium-high heat and brown the meatballs about 2 minutes per side without cooking through fully, then set aside.
- In the same pot with leftover fat, cook chopped carrots, celery, and onion for about 5 minutes until softened.
- Add garlic, Italian seasoning, salt, bay leaf, and optional red pepper flakes and cook 1 minute.
- Pour in chicken broth and add Parmesan rind, scraping browned bits from the pot bottom, then bring to a simmer.
- Simmer the vegetables for 5 minutes until almost tender.
- Add uncooked pasta and browned meatballs to the pot, cover, reduce heat to medium, and cook 10 minutes until pasta is al dente.
- Stir in fresh spinach and serve immediately.
Notes
- To reduce fat in the soup, bake the meatballs at 400 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes until browned instead of browning in the pot
- You can double or triple the meatball recipe and freeze extras
- The soup keeps in the fridge for up to 4 days but pasta softens over time, so consider cooking pasta separately
- Freeze soup without pasta and add cooked pasta when reheating
- Prep meatballs and vegetables ahead to save time
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Category: Main Course, Soup
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Calories: 421cal
- Sugar: 3g
- Sodium: 720mg
- Fat: 21g
- Saturated Fat: 8g
- Unsaturated Fat: 2g + 8g
- Trans Fat: 0.5g
- Carbohydrates: 33g
- Fiber: 3g
- Protein: 26g
- Cholesterol: 89mg