Italian Wedding Soup

Italian wedding soup has always been one of my favourites in the fall and winter seasons.

Despite it being “just soup,” it really does fill you up with all its ingredients — mini meatballs, acini di pepe (very small pasta), carrots, spinach, and the broth itself. Plus, we baked a loaf of garlic bread to enjoy on the side.

Needless to say, it was a very hearty meal. Best of all, it’s a super easy dinner to whip up. The most time-consuming part is rolling the mini meatballs and sautéing them before adding to the soup.

Still, this recipe only takes under an hour — a quick, delicious go-to meal on a cold winter’s day.

Prep time | 20 mins.
Cook time | 30 mins.
Yields | 4 bowls

INGREDIENTS

Mini Meatballs:

  • 1 package of ground turkey
  • 1 egg
  • 2 tbsp breadcrumbs
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp pepper
  • 1/2 tsp paprika

Soup:

  • 1 large carrot, diced
  • 1/2 onion, diced
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp pepper
  • 2L chicken broth
  • 1 cup acini di pepe
  • 25-30 mini meatballs
  • 1/2 container of baby spinach

INSTRUCTIONS

Mini Meatballs:

  1. In a large bowl, mix together the ground turkey, egg, breadcrumbs, salt, pepper, and paprika until it’s well-combined and a bit sticky.
  2. Start rolling the mini meatballs, no larger than the size of a marble.
  3. In a large pan drizzled with olive oil set to medium-high, start placing as many meatballs as you can in the pan. Let cook for about 5 minutes, or until the outside of the meatballs are brown. They will continue to cook in the soup later.
  4. Set aside all the browned meatballs in a bowl.

Soup:

  1. In a large pot on high, sauté the diced carrot and onion in some olive oil for about 5 minutes.
  2. Add your broth to the pot and let it simmer together for another 5 minutes. Keep on high heat.
  3. Add the acini di pepe and the meatballs. Let cook for about 10 minutes on high to let the pasta and meatballs cook fully.
  4. While this is cooking, drizzle a small pan with olive oil and cook the spinach on medium-hight. This should take about 3-5 minutes.
  5. Add the cooked spinach to the broth in the last 2-3 minutes of the soup cooking. If you think it’s needed, add a pinch more salt and pepper.
  6. Serve your soup and add a sprinkle of parmesan cheese to each bowl.
  7. Enjoy while hot!