I fell in love with Italian Wedding soup when I was going to 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 until I created this Easy Italian Wedding Soup Recipe (with frozen meatballs)!
This delicious soup recipe is most popular during the fall and winter, but great any time of the year. It's also Weight Watchers friendly @ 4 WW points. If you're looking for more comforting healthy fall soups, check out this collection of the Best Falls Soups (that are also healthy!)
🍒Reader Review
"It's a comforting cold weather soup that's not chili or stew. I never would have known mixing meatballs with chicken broth would be so delicious!" ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Jump to:
- 🍒Reader Review
- 🥘 Ingredients in Easy Italian Wedding Soup
- Ingredient Notes
- 📖 Variations & Substitutions
- 🔪How to Make Italian Wedding Soup (with Frozen Meatballs)
- 💭Italian Wedding Soup History
- 🥗 Side dishes
- 🔢WW Points
- 🌡️Storing
- 👪 Serving Size
- ❔Frequently Asked Questions
- 🥣More Soup Recipes
- ⭐ Comments & Reviews
- 📋 Easy Italian Wedding soup recipe (with frozen meatballs)
I don't know about you, but I don't have time to make 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.
🥘 Ingredients in Easy Italian Wedding Soup
So I keep it fast and simple and use frozen Italian meatballs and frozen spinach. I don't even ask you to chop up carrots for this soup, just an onion. I think that's enough chopping for one meal. Wouldn't you agree?
However, if you want to chop carrots, go for it. Personally, if I really wanted to add carrots to this soup, I'd buy a bag of grated carrots and add some of those. But keep in mind, that it will take a little longer to cook.
Here's what you'll need if you want to make this delicious and FAST Italian Wedding Soup:
Ingredient Notes
- Meatballs. 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!
- Chicken bouillon. I use chicken and not beef because although it has a distinct flavor, it has a milder taste than beef and adds depth to a soup because it extracts the flavors from the other ingredients.
- White onion or yellow onion (whatever you have on hand). White onions tend to be milder, sweeter, and more tender than yellow onions, but both work in this soup.
- Italian parsley. Because its flavor is stronger than regular parsley, (similar to basil or oregano) it holds up better to cooking and is ideal for hot dishes. It should be added toward the end of the cooking process so that it can best retain its taste, color, and nutritional value.
- Minced garlic. Fresh garlic adds flavor, depth, and nutrition to soup!
- Parmesan cheese. Parmesan cheese infuses the broth with a powerful kick of umami, giving your soup a rich robust flavor.
- Spinach. I use frozen spinach because I always have it on hand, so it's convenient.
- Acini de Pepe. Ancini de Pepe is actually 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.
*see recipe card for quantities
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 spinach (in 10 oz blocks or 1 oz nuggets) or fresh spinach or substitute other leafy green vegetables, such as kale.
- Parmesan Cheese: you can use regular, light, or fat-free.
- Italian Parsley: you can use regular fresh parsley if you can't get Italian parsley, but use a little more because
- Acini de Pepe pasta: If you can't find acini de pepe, you can use 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, turkey meatballs, or mini meatballs.
- Add-ins : you could add in some shredded carrots (or diced carrots) for a veggie boost and some color!
🔪How to Make Italian Wedding Soup (with Frozen Meatballs)
- Step 1: Bring the water, with chicken bouillon (to make chicken broth) powder, garlic, onion and frozen spinach to a boil in a large pot.
- Step 2: 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.
- Step 3: Add Italian parsley and parmesan cheese.
- Step 4: Serve immediately (ladle soup into bowls and garnish) or freeze for later. Garnish: Sprinkle parmesan cheese as desired, as well as additional Italian parsley.
💭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 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.
🥗 Side dishes
This easy Italian Wedding soup recipe is really a 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.
It also goes well with salad, such as my Strawberry Spinach Pecan Salad.
🔢WW Points
This Easy Italian Wedding Soup with frozen meatballs is only 4 WW points.
🌡️Storing
Refrigeration: Store leftover soup in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Freezing: Once cooled, freeze this homemade soup for up to 3 months in a freezer-friendly sealed container.
Reheating: This soup reheats nicely (about 1 ½ minutes in the microwave) or on med-low on the stovetop. But since the noodles will continue to soak up the liquid the longer it sits, I usually add a little water or chicken broth to the leftovers.
👪 Serving Size
This homemade Italian Wedding soup recipe makes 12 servings. However, you can half, double, or triple the recipe by clicking on the serving number and selecting the number of servings you'd like. The ingredient quantities will automatically adjust.
❔Frequently Asked Questions
Most meatballs in Italian wedding soups use ground beef, bread crumbs, egg, parmesan cheese and spices. But you can buy frozen Italian meatballs as I do for this recipes.
If you're using frozen meatballs, you can add them right into the soup (still frozen).
Minestrone generally has more vegetables and also has beans and/or chickpeas. It also has no meatballs and is generally vegetarian.
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.
🥣More Soup Recipes
⭐ Comments & Reviews
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📋 Easy Italian Wedding soup recipe (with frozen meatballs)
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
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.
Pati
Great basic recipe. I like to sauté the garlic, onion with celery, and carrots before adding to the broth. Then add the meatballs and spinach. I let this cook and last of all add the pasta. The pasta will grow in size absorbing the broth. Just add water and bouillon if needed. Yumm. Bake bread add salad, good to go.
Terri Gilson
Glad to hear you enjoyed it, Pati!
Lorena
My family loves this recipe! It is the perfect soup for a cold, on the go, busy family night! I can make it in 30 minutes or less and when everyone is coming and going on different schedules, everyone has a hot meal waiting for them. It’s become one of our staple meals!