Italian Wedding Soup
This easy Italian Wedding Soup is full of flavorful mini meatballs, vegetables, spinach, and pasta in chicken broth. It makes a delicious one-pot dinner or lunch that everyone will love!
Servings: 6
Estimated Calories: 358
Ingredients
Meatballs:
- 1 pound ground meat with 10 to 20% fat content, beef, meatloaf mix, turkey, or chicken
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- ¼ cup finely diced onion
- 1 large egg
- ¼ cup Italian seasoned Panko bread crumbs
- ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 tablespoon dried parsley flakes
- 2 tablespoons milk
- salt and pepper, to taste
Soup:
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 cup diced celery
- 1 cup diced onions
- 1 cup diced carrots
- 8 cups chicken broth or stock
- ½ cup acini di pepe pasta, or pastina
- salt and pepper, to taste
- 1 (5-ounce) bag baby spinach, roughly chopped
Instructions
Make the Meatballs:
- Place all of the meatball ingredients in a large bowl. Gently mix until everything is well combined (hands are best for this, just be sure to wash them well when you're done rolling the meatballs). Note: Try not to overwork the meat, as this can make the meatballs tough. If the mixture is too wet and won't hold the shape of a meatball, add more breadcrumbs. If the mixture is too dry, add more milk.
- Roll into mini meatballs (I use a teaspoon measuring spoon to measure them out and get about 54 meatballs). Place the meatballs on a large tray or baking sheet; set aside.
Make the Soup:
- In a large pot, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the celery, onions, and carrots and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables begin to soften, about 3 to 4 minutes.
- Add the chicken broth to the pot; bring to a boil.
- Once the broth has come to a boil, gently add the meatballs, one at a time, then give them a gentle stir to make sure they don't stick together.
- Add the acini de pepe; stir for a few seconds to prevent the pasta from sticking together.
- Cover partially with a lid and cook at a low boil for 20 minutes or until the pasta is tender and the meatballs are cooked through (internal temperature of at least 160°F for beef, pork, veal and lamb; 165°F for turkey or chicken).
- Turn off the heat. Taste and adjust seasoning if needed.
- Add the spinach; stir until wilted.
Recipe Notes
- Serve with grated Parmesan cheese for topping the soup, if desired.
- If you have leftovers, the pasta will likely soak up some of the broth while it is in the refrigerator, so you may need to add more broth when you reheat the soup.
- I don't recommend freezing this soup, as the pasta can become mushy.
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