Italian Wedding Soup (Authentic Italian Meatball Soup Recipe)
Italian wedding soup is an Italian soup that has morphed into many different recipes in the US. Try this authentic Italian meatball soup recipe and enjoy a flavor loved by many.
I can’t tell you exactly how Italian wedding soup became so popular in the United States, but it did.
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Many of the Italian wedding soup recipes I have seen have confused me, because they are not Italian at all. In fact, if you served these bowls of soups in Italy, they’d wonder what you’ve given them. The recipes are also filled with misinformation, like wrong translations and written by people who have never even had the original soup. I’m not saying these soups are bad, they’re just not Italian. We wouldn’t call a daisy a rose, so why is it okay to do so with food?
Why is it Called Italian Wedding Soup?
Italians would also wonder about the name of the soup. You see, there is no “wedding soup” in Italy. It’s not a traditional soup served at weddings in Italy. It seems that the misnomer happened as it was lost in translation from a “marriage of flavors”, describing the meat and greens “marrying” together in this recipe.
Do They eat Italian Wedding Soup in Italy?
The answer is yes, because this meatball and greens dish absolutely exists in Southern Italy, it’s just been translated into a lighter soup on this side of the ocean, and not called “wedding soup”. It’s also not a tradition at weddings. If you’ve always wanted to try Italian wedding soup, give this recipe a go. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.
The tiny meatballs give flavor to the broth, then chopped greens are added, and pastina finishes off the soup.
Love meatballs? Make these to cook in your tomato sauce next time.
It’s basically a mini meatball soup and kids especially love it! (If you start your children eating greens and real food from an early age, you will avoid the picky eater problem for the most part!)
Just follow my easy step by step directions for making this simple, nutritious and super tasty Italian meatball soup below (and if you have children, have them help make the “baby meatballs”).
Notes: if you can’t find curly endive, escarole is a good choice, too. You can see I used orzo-type pasta, semi di melone (melon seeds) which is a type of pastina.
Another time I used acini de pepe.
Pastina just means “little pasta”, so feel free to use acini di pepe, stelline or any other tiny pasta shape.
Italian Wedding Soup
(Authentic Italian Meatball Soup Recipe)
Recipe passed down from my Nonna Chiarina serves 6
FULL PRINTABLE RECIPE BELOW
Make the Tiny Meatballs
Put the meatball ingredients into a bowl (pour the milk over the breadcrumbs when adding it). Mix together well with a fork.
When it all is mixed thoroughly, use a teaspoon measure to make mini meatballs.
You will need to use your hands to form them into round balls. Put them on a plate or tray.
They don’t take long to make, if you’ve never done this before.
You can also make these exact same mini meatballs and cook them in tomato sauce in place of ground beef when you make my lasagna recipe.
Make the Broth
Put the water, vegetables and extra virgin olive oil in a large pot over medium high heat.
Bring to a boil, then lower the heat to have the vegetables simmer. Add a teaspoonful of Kosher salt or sea salt (these are less salty than table salt). You can also add a little beef bouillon (I only use Better than Bouillon).
Begin carefully adding the meatballs to the broth. Do not stir as they will float to the top once they are a little cooked, then you can stir gently.
Continue to simmer gently for about 20 minutes. About half way through, start cooking the pastina. You can also make the soup ahead of time, then finish the rest of the recipe just before you want to serve it.
Cook the Pastina and Remove the Vegetables
Cook the pastina in salted water according to the instructions on the package. Do not overcook the pastina, if anything, undercook it.
Remove the cooked vegetables from the broth. These are totally edible (especially the carrots), but if you don’t eat them, be sure to compost them.
Add the Greens
Wash the endive well (don’t worry about drying it). Remove the bottom parts of the endive, and chop the rest into about 1″ (2.5 cm) pieces. Toss it into the soup and stir.
Add the Pastina
Drain the water from the pastina and add to the soup. Stir well and cook longer if it’s needed. Taste and add salt to taste as it probably will need more (i.e. if it tastes bland, it needs more salt). Add some black pepper too, if you like.
Serve the Italian Wedding Soup
Ladle into bowls and serve hot. Contrary to what you may read, nothing is served alongside or with this meatball soup. It is its own course. Serve an antipasto beforehand and a pasta dish afterwards, but it is traditionally not eaten with anything else.
Buon appetito!
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Italian Wedding Soup (Authentic Italian Meatball Soup Recipe)
Ingredients
Meatballs:
- 4 oz ground beef organic, preferably
- 3 Tbsp dried breadcrumbs
- 2 Tbsp milk
- 1 egg
- 1 Tbsp Parmigiano Reggiano
- 1 Tbsp Italian parsley roughly chopped
- 1 tsp Kosher salt or sea salt
- ⅛ tsp black pepper (a pinch, freshly ground - optional)
Broth:
- 65 oz beef broth (or water with 1 Tbsp or less beef Better Than Bouillon)
- 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 2 stalks celery (with the leaves if possible, cut into quarters)
- 1 large carrot (cut in half lengthwise and cut into large pieces)
- 2 shallots (or 1 medium onion, peeled and cut into quarters)
- ¼ tsp salt more to taste
- 4 Tbsp pastina your choice
- ½ small head curly endive (chopped into 1"/ 2.5 cm lengths - remove the stem)
Instructions
Make the Tiny Meatballs:
- Put the meatball ingredients into a bowl (pour the milk over the breadcrumbs when adding it). Mix together well with a fork.
- When it all is mixed thoroughly, use a teaspoon measure to make mini meatballs.
- You will need to use your hands to form them into round balls. Put them on a plate or tray. They don't take long to make, if you've never done this before.
Make the Broth:
- Put the water, vegetables and extra virgin olive oil in a large pot over medium high heat.
- Bring to a boil, then lower the heat to have the vegetables simmer. Add a teaspoonful of Kosher or sea salt (these are less salty than table salt). You can also add a little beef bouillon (I only use Better than Bouillon).
- Begin carefully adding the meatballs to the broth. Do not stir as they will float to the top once they are a little cooked, then you can stir gently.
- Continue to simmer gently for about 20 minutes. About half way through, start cooking the pastina. You can also make the soup ahead of time, then finish the rest of the recipe just before you want to serve it.
Cook the Pastina and Remove the Vegetables:
- Cook the pastina in salted water according to the instructions on the package. Do not overcook the pastina, if anything, undercook it.
- Remove the cooked vegetables from the broth. These are totally edible (especially the carrots), but if you don't eat them, be sure to compost them.
Add the Greens and the Pastina
- Wash the endive well (don't worry about drying it). Remove the bottom parts of the endive, and chop the rest into about 1" (2.5 cm) pieces.
- Toss it into the soup and stir.
- Drain the water from the pastina and add to the soup. Stir well and cook longer if it's needed.
- Taste and add salt to taste as it probably will need more (i.e. if it tastes bland, it needs more salt). Add some black pepper too, if you like.
Serve the Italian Wedding Soup:
- Ladle into bowls and serve hot. Contrary to what you may read, nothing is served alongside or with this meatball soup. It is its own course.
- Serve an antipasto beforehand and a pasta dish afterwards, but it is traditionally not eaten with anything else.
Notes
- If you can't find curly endive, escarole is a good choice, too. You can see I used orzo-type pasta, semi di melone (melon seeds) which is a type of pastina. Use any type of pastina you like.
Nutrition
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I love anything with meatballs in it and this soup is one of my favorites. We use Acini di Pepe to make ours.
Moka coffee Set.
Just made a batch for myself and two of my senior clients.. perfect soup.
I do use the spinach for them as they prefer it. But for myself I follow it exactly as you have here. When my youngest was growing up this is all he would eat. I love this recipe!
Endive sounds really nice in your soup, I usually use spinach and know that it will freeze and thaw well. have you ever frozen yours with endive? Does it get too wilted once thawed? I am making a big bath for a soup share party, so if endive isn’t a good green for freezing do you have another suggestion other than spinach? Great site I know I will be back for more recipes.
Hi Lorrie, as a matter of fact, we have a batch of meatball soup with endive in the freezer right now! It freezes well in the soup :) Thank you and glad you like my site. I think you’ll be very pleased with the results of my recipes (all are made by me, all photos are of real food and not “doctored” up). :)
Hi! I usually use escarole in my wedding soup, but I used to use both escarole and endive. I just bought endive and will try with just the endive. Do I boil the endive first to soften it? I always boil my escarole first. It’s too tough and difficult for me to digest otherwise.
Sure, if you find you need to, but it does boil in the soup.