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Home » Recipes » Dish Type » Soups, Stew & Chili Recipes

Easy Italian Wedding Soup Recipe (with frozen meatballs)

Published: Sep 8, 2019 by Terri Gilson · Modified: May 12, 2022 · As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. This post may contain affiliate links · 18 Comments

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bowl of Italian Wedding soup with meatball being held up on spoon
Bowl of Easy Italian Wedding soup with spoon and yellow napkin
Collage of 2 photos of Italian wedding soup

I fell in love with Italian Wedding soup when I was in University- at the cafeteria in U of C's Engineering building, of all places. I wasn't an engineering student, but my best friend was. And she let me in on one of the best kept secrets on campus- they had amazing soup and it was cheap! Those words were music to a starving student's ears. I have yet to come across a version that was as good as that one, until I created this Easy Italian Wedding Soup Recipe (with frozen meatballs)!

Easy Italian Wedding soup in beige bowl with yellow napkin

This delicious soup recipe is also Weight Watchers friendly @ 4 WW points on my plan. You can click HERE to find out how many WW points it is on your personal plan. If you are looking for easy Italian soups, you'll love this one!

Jump to:
  • 🥘 Ingredients
  • 📖 Variations & Substitutions
  • 💭Italian Wedding Soup History
  • 🥗 Side dishes
  • 🔢WW Points
  • 🌡️Storing
  • 👪 Serving Size
  • ⭐ Reviews
  • 📋 Easy Italian Wedding soup recipe (with frozen meatballs)
  • 🥣More Soup Recipes

I don't know about you, but I don't have time for making little homemade meatballs for soup.  That is definitely not happening in this girl's world. Making meatballs is time consuming. And if I'm making meatballs, I'm going to make my Slow Cooker Sweet & Sour Meatballs for a special or holiday dinner.

Slow Cooker Meatballs | sweet and sour - foodmeanderings.com

🥘 Ingredients

Because making meatballs for a special occasion dinner is one thing, it's an entirely different story for soup! And that's why I use frozen Italian meatballs. I buy a huge bag at Superstore for $10 and it will make a triple batch of this soup. It ends up being around $1.00 per serving for this healthy Italian Wedding soup. So, like the soup at the Engineering building cafeteria, this soup is also awesome and cheap!

For this easy recipe, you'll also need:

  • chicken bouillon
  • white onion
  • Italian parsley
  • minced garlic
  • Parmesan cheese
  • spinach
  • Acini de Pepe

*see recipe card for quantities

Bowl of Easy Italian Wedding Soup with meatball on spoon

And although you can make this easy soup recipe in advance, I still like to make it when I get home from work (when the craving hits) and that's why I created this shortcut version. This is THE BEST Italian Wedding Soup!

📖 Variations & Substitutions

Spinach: you can use frozen or fresh spinach or substitute other leafy green vegetables, such as kale.

Italian Parsley: you can use regular fresh parsley if you can't get Italian, but I do recommend Italian because it's flavor is stronger than regular parsley, similar to basil or oregano. It also holds up better to cooking and is ideal for hot dishes. It should be added towards the end of the cooking process so that it can best retain its taste, color and nutritional value.

Acini de Pepe pasta: is a tiny pasta that is round in shape (like tiny pasta balls). You can find it at your local Italian store, online and in some cases, at your grocery store. However, if you can't find it, orzo pasta, which is a small pasta (rice-sized), is a great substitute. Just keep in mind that the cooking time for orzo is a little longer. 

Meatballs: instead of ground beef meatballs, you could lighten this up even more by using ground chicken meatballs or turkey meatballs or use mini meatballs.

💭Italian Wedding Soup History

You may wonder where the name Italian Wedding soup comes from? The term "wedding soup" actually comes from the Italian phrase "minestra maritata", which means "married soup," in reference to the flavor produced by the combination or "marriage" of the greens and the meat or the marriage of flavors. Although, it's more accurately translated as “wedded broths.” Despite of the name, this soup is not served at Italian weddings. Instead, the name refers to the dish’s unique flavors, betrothed as they are blended and simmered, achieving a brothy, meaty tasty union. If you want to learn more about the origin of this soup, click HERE or HERE.

Bowl of Easy Italian Wedding soup with spoon and yellow napkin

🥗 Side dishes

This easy Italian Wedding soup is really meal in and of itself, especially if you serve it with bread. If you want to keep it very WW friendly, try it with my 0 (zero) point Everything Bagel Cloud Bread Recipe.

6 pieces of everything cloud bread stacked up

It also goes well with salad, such as my Spinach Salad with Honey Lime Cilantro Dressing.

🔢WW Points

This Easy Italian Wedding Soup with frozen meatballs is only 4 WW points on my plan. You can click HERE to find out how many WW points it is on your personal plan.

🌡️Storing

Refrigeration: Store his homemade soup in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 3 days

Freezing: Once cooled, freeze for up to 3 months in a freezer friendly sealed container.

👪 Serving Size

This homemade Italian Wedding soup recipe makes 12 servings. However, you can half, double or triple the recipe by clicking on the blue serving number and selecting the number of servings you'd like. The ingredient quantities will automatically adjust.

If you are looking for a hearty soup that's quick, easy and healthy, you'll love this version of this classic Italian soup. And since it's always soup season, dig in because this soup is healthy and Weight Watchers friendly! And if don't think you have time for it, think again! This soup can be made in 30 minutes and tastes like it took hours.

⭐ Reviews

Did you make this recipe? Please RATE THE RECIPE below

"I am 67 years old and only started cooking in January after the passing of my wife in November. All my children and grandchildren visited me last week and I cooked your soup for them. Without exception they all loved it! My two daughters and two of my sisters have all requested the recipe. I shared with them both the recipe and your website. Again, thank you so much.⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

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Easy Italian wedding soup with frozen meatballs on a bluish wooden background with a yellow napkin and spoon
Food Meandering Logo

📋 Easy Italian Wedding soup recipe (with frozen meatballs)

This Easy Italian Wedding Soup recipe, made with frozen meatballs, is quick, easy healthy and Weight Watchers friendly!
5 from 6 votes
Print Pin Rate
Course: dinner, lunch
Cuisine: American, Italian
Keyword: easy, frozen meatballs, Italian wedding, soup
Special Diet: Weight Watchers
Servings: 12 servings
Calories: 158kcal
Author: Terri Gilson
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Prevent your screen from going dark

Ingredients

  • 12 cups water
  • ¼ cup + 2 tablespoon chicken bouillon powder (12 cups chicken stock)
  • 1 small onion finely chopped
  • ¼ cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
  • 1 teaspoon minced garlic
  • ¼ cup grated Parmesan
  • 1.5 pounds bag frozen, pre-cooked Italian meatballs * or ⅓ a 1.8 kg bag
  • 10 oz frozen chopped spinach * or fresh baby spinach
  • 1 cup Acini de Pepe

Garnish

  • parmesan cheese
  • Italian parsley
US Customary - Metric

Instructions

  • Bring the water, with chicken bouillon (to make chicken broth) powder, garlic, onion and frozen spinach to a boil in a large pot.
  • Add the meatballs (from frozen) and the pasta and continue cooking at a low boil until both the pasta and meatballs are cooked (approx 20-25 minutes). Pasta should be al dente. Add Italian parsley and parmesan cheese.
  • Serve immediately (ladle soup into bowls and garnish) or freeze for later.

Garnish

  • Sprinkle parmesan cheese as desired, as well as additional Italian parsley.

Notes

*See post content for important recipe information and tips!
Nutrition Facts
📋 Easy Italian Wedding soup recipe (with frozen meatballs)
Amount Per Serving
Calories 158 Calories from Fat 63
% Daily Value*
Fat 7g11%
Saturated Fat 1g6%
Trans Fat 1g
Cholesterol 42mg14%
Sodium 313mg14%
Potassium 150mg4%
Carbohydrates 12g4%
Fiber 2g8%
Sugar 1g1%
Protein 14g28%
Vitamin A 2233IU45%
Vitamin C 7mg8%
Calcium 56mg6%
Iron 1mg6%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Nutrition

Calories: 158kcal (8%) | Carbohydrates: 12g (4%) | Protein: 14g (28%) | Fat: 7g (11%) | Saturated Fat: 1g (6%) | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 42mg (14%) | Sodium: 313mg (14%) | Potassium: 150mg (4%) | Fiber: 2g (8%) | Sugar: 1g (1%) | Vitamin A: 2233IU (45%) | Vitamin C: 7mg (8%) | Calcium: 56mg (6%) | Iron: 1mg (6%)
Did you make this recipe? Please leave a star rating and review below!
Rate this Recipe

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Charla

    September 22, 2019 at 11:44 am

    Sounds and looks delicious. I love Italian food but have yet to make this recipe, bring it on!!

    Reply
    • Terri Gilson

      September 23, 2019 at 5:45 am

      Thanks, Charla - if you love Italian food, you'll love this recipe!

      Reply
  2. Raia Todd

    September 22, 2019 at 1:48 pm

    Wedding soup is one of my favorites! This is such an easy recipe and so delicious!

    Reply
    • Terri Gilson

      September 23, 2019 at 5:45 am

      I hope you enjoy it, Raia!

      Reply
  3. Suzy

    September 22, 2019 at 4:14 pm

    It's such a delicious soup to make! We love the flavors of meatballs and spinach with the broth! It's so good!

    Reply
    • Terri Gilson

      September 23, 2019 at 5:46 am

      Thanks, Suzy. So glad you loved it!

      Reply
  4. Andrea Metlika

    September 22, 2019 at 4:21 pm

    Wow, I can't believe this didn't take hours to make. It looks super yummy and the flavors sound marvelous.

    Reply
    • Terri Gilson

      September 23, 2019 at 5:46 am

      Thanks, Andrea! Yes, that's what I love most about it - how quick it is to make 🙂

      Reply
  5. Farah

    September 22, 2019 at 11:15 pm

    I'm all for a recipe that takes 30 minutes from start to finish, especially one that looks this delicious! Can't wait to try this out!

    Reply
    • Terri Gilson

      September 23, 2019 at 5:47 am

      Thank you, Farah - enjoy!

      Reply
  6. Alfred Marquez

    August 16, 2021 at 10:08 pm

    This recipe calls for ¼ cup + 2 tablespoon chicken bouillon. Is there a liquid form of chicken bouillon or are we supposed to use the paste. This may be a silly question but I am only now beginning to cook.

    Thank you.

    Reply
    • Terri Gilson

      August 17, 2021 at 3:48 am

      Hi! Not a silly question at all! I am referring to chicken bouillon powder. You mix it in with the boiling water. Thanks for asking-I will update the recipe to reflect that. I hope you enjoy the soup!!
      Terri

      Reply
      • Alfred Marquez

        August 19, 2021 at 4:38 pm

        Hi Terri,
        Thank you so much for your kind reply. But now I have another question. I made this recipe in a vegetarian form and it was GREAT! The trouble I had was figuring out how much Better-Than-Bouillon paste to use. Do you know if it converts 1/1 with the powder?

        Kind regards,
        Alfred

        Reply
        • Terri Gilson

          August 20, 2021 at 5:35 am

          Hi Alfred,
          No problem! I’m so glad you enjoyed the soup! I have never used that product myself, but it looks like it’s a cup of broth/stock is equal to a teaspoon of Better than Bouillon. Since this is 12 cups of broth (when you add the powder to the water), you’d need 4 tablespoons of Better than Bouillon. I still think you’d have to do it by taste, to some degree though.
          I found a calculator for you for future reference!Better than Bouillon converter

          Hope that helps!

          Reply
  7. Alfred Marquez

    August 24, 2021 at 10:40 am

    Hi again Terry,
    I am 67 years old and only started cooking in January after the passing of my wife in November. All my children and grandchildren visited me last week and I cooked your soup for them. Without exception they all loved it. My two daughters and two of my sisters have all requested the recipe. I shared with them both the recipe and your website.

    Again, thank you so much.
    Alfred

    Reply
    • Terri Gilson

      August 25, 2021 at 6:32 am

      Hi Alfred,
      I'm so sorry to hear about the loss of your Wife in January - my heart goes out to you....
      That's wonderful that you're taking up cooking though 🙂 I'm so glad you, as well as you family loved the soup! It's also one of our faves. I hope you find many more recipes to enjoy on the site- I do have a lot of easy ones. I've been cooking a long time so sometimes I forget that others are just starting and may miss basic steps. So, if you have anymore questions, please don't hesitate to drop me a line and ask! I'd be happy to help.
      Take care,
      Terri

      Reply
  8. Terry Markward

    October 12, 2022 at 2:46 pm

    Can I just use cans of low sodium chicken broth instead of boullian powder?

    Reply
    • Terri Gilson

      October 12, 2022 at 4:49 pm

      yes of course!

      Reply

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I'm Terri, a passionate home cook and baker, an award-winning recipe developer and a busy working mom that is trying to eat healthy and fit everything into not enough hours in a day! My mission is to share not only my recipes, cooking hacks and tips with you, but also my secrets to successful weight maintenance.

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