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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This soup is delicious – thank you! My husband is of Portuguese descent and LOVED it. Not quite like but a bit similar
to Calde Verde soup which I have learned to make. The broth is so clean and natural. I made garlic crostini to accompany the soup and topped it with a bit of fresh grated parmesan. The meal was so comforting, just what we needed tonight. We will check out your other recipes for sure. Sending best wishes!
Thank you so much, Julie, that makes me happy! So glad you enjoyed it! :)
You don’t have to have a wedding to make this delicious soup, this is a great recipe, very easy and sooooo good! Thank you Christina for sharing the recipe.
Italian Wedding Soup is such a classic and I love making it during the winter. My mom made it for me and I’ve been looking for a similar recipe, like hers. I’m going to give this one a try.
My family make this soup very much like you do, it has always been a soup course on Christmas Eve! Sometimes it is difficult to get chicory here, so I grow it. Yesterday my cousin said hers was already made for Christmas Eve. My Nona put veal in the meatballs along with beef or pork. Making mine today!
Yes, veal is the best, however, we just don’t buy veal in the US due to the farming practices :( So glad you love this soup, too, Barb! Merry Christmas!
Hi! So, my family was Italian and I love Italian food. Well I havent seen a single recipe online that is like this! I am going to follow it exactly, no basil, no garlic, no oregano. Here in america everyone thinks italian food has to have a ton of herbs but your recipe is so different. no “italian seasoning”. all the italian food here tastes the same cause they just put oregano, basil, wine, marjoram or savory if youre lucky. is that right, to not put garlic in? i am going to serve it with garlic bread to compensate, haha.
Yep, I agree, Julie. There’s no differentiating dishes when they all have the same flavor profile of “Italian seasoning”. I actually love garlic bread, but the Italian version is much different than ours in the US (I do love both)! Enjoy!
Hi! In my family meatballs are always made turn parsley- like these. Home Italian, and typical restaurant fair are always different. Checked this recipe out because I don’t have my moms and an trying it because the meatballs are similar to her regular polpette.
Did I miss where it specifies how much endive? One head, or what?
Thanks for catching that, Sylvia, I’ve added it in! Enjoy!
Wonderful recipe — look forward to trying it! My Italian family’s recipe had meatballs (any meat including chicken was acceptable) and lots of mint.
So the mint takes the place of the curly endive? Interesting!
Hi Christina,
I really enjoy your website, recipes, descriptions, stories, etc. With respect to the “Italian Wedding Soup”, I remember my parents and other relatives organizing weddings back in the ‘60s and ‘70s in Toronto and wanting “pastina” with the meatballs as a starter, as it was a more posh soup, or even let’s say a special soup. It seems back then at every wedding I remember attending well into the ‘80s, that they always started off with this soup. A variation of the soup was made with chicken meatballs. I love this soup regardless of which meat they use for the meatballs. As this soup was only made occasionally at home, I always thought the name came from the fact that it was the “posh” soup always served up at Italian weddings. Thought I’d share this with you. Thanks.
Hi Nat, given that it’s an authentic Italian soup, I’m not surprised. In Italy, the more standard “wedding soup” was a clear chicken soup with pastina, but clearly in the US and as you say, in Canada, this soup seems to have made a name for itself! Thanks for the insight, I’ll have to ask my relatives in Toronto, too as they left Italy for Canada in the 1960s.
My Italians tell me, as you say, that of course they are familiar with a similar soup but it wasn’t related to weddings there in any way. They are Siciliano, Calabrese, and Modenese, if that matters. Sometimes they used chicken broth. The caterer aunt says a little nutmeg in the meatballs. And any kind of greens will do. Cut tougher kale into smaller pieces than the escarole maybe. I’m making this soon! Thank you!
The soup is from the Lazio/Campania region where my family is from. Yes, kale could be used, as well. Any greens are better than no greens :) Hope you like it, Jennifer, let me know!
Christina- that is where my family is from too! Italian wedding soup is something my mom made but I have not found a written recipe for it since her passing. I tried a recipe I found online for minestra maritata. It had three types of greens and a variety of meats including sausages. I am trying your recipe as I think it might be closer to what I remember my mom making. She used different greens then endive I think- scarole. Never quite sure what greens are what by name though. Thank you for sharing. Out of curiosity how do you call the soup in English- “maritata” was translated to “wedding” so it was assumed to be served at weddings when it is a winter soup- served at the holidays.
Very cool! Yes, scarola can be used as well. From what I’ve read, the “maritata” refers to the marriage of flavors from the greens and the meat. Hope you like this recipe!