Minestra Maritata (Italian Wedding Soup)

Forget the marble-size meatballs you find in many versions of this Italian Wedding Soup. In this easy recipe, they’re full-size, full-flavored and plenty filling.

What Is Italian Wedding Soup?

Despite its name, Italian Wedding Soup is not related to actual weddings. Instead, Minestra Maritata, as it’s called in Italian, refers to marriages in ingredients and flavors. Italian Wedding Soup is a brothy soup typically featuring meat (most notably meatballs), greens like spinach or escarole, and small pasta like orzo or ditalini. The addition of other veggies like onions, carrots and celery results in a perfect “marriage” of ingredients in a soup that’s warm and comforting.

What Makes This Recipe Healthy?

This recipe is full of nutritious vegetables, including onion, carrots, celery, garlic and spinach. This soup is a great way to eat more vegetables for a varied and balanced diet. Chicken meatballs are also a good source of protein, which is an essential macronutrient.

How to Make Easy Italian Wedding Soup

Italian Wedding Soup is easy to make and we’ve streamlined it even further so it fits neatly into a weeknight meal plan. Meatballs in Italian Wedding Soup tend to be on the small side which can be a challenge to pull together if you’re in a hurry. Instead, we use larger meatballs in our soup to save on prep time. You can buy pre-cooked frozen meatballs to add to your soup or make a homemade batch ahead of time as we do here. We also use baby spinach which can be added right to the soup without having to do any chopping.

Ingredients For The Soup

• 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
• 1 ⅓ cups chopped yellow onion
• ⅔ cup chopped carrot
• ⅔ cup chopped celery
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic
• 6 cups unsalted chicken broth
• 6 ounces orzo, preferably whole-wheat
• 1 ½ tablespoons chopped fresh oregano
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• 24 cooked chicken meatballs (12 ounces), such as Easy Chicken Meatballs (see associated recipe)
• 4 cups baby spinach
• ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese

Ingredients For The Meatballs

• 1 pound ground beef
• 1/2 cup breadcrumbs
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 1 large egg
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• Salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat your oven to 375°F (190°C).
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine ground beef, breadcrumbs, Parmesan cheese, chopped parsley, minced garlic, egg, salt, and pepper.
3. Mix the ingredients until well combined.
4. Shape the mixture into small meatballs, about 1 inch in diameter.
5. Place the meatballs on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
6. Bake in the preheated oven for 15-20 minutes or until the meatballs are cooked through and browned on the outside.

Directions

1. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add onion, carrot, celery and garlic; cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is translucent, 4 to 5 minutes.
2. Add broth, cover and bring to a boil. Add orzo, oregano and salt; cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until the orzo is just tender, about 9 minutes.
3. Stir in meatballs and spinach; cook until the meatballs are heated through and the spinach is wilted, 2 to 4 minutes.
4. Serve sprinkled with cheese and drizzled with the remaining 3 tablespoons oil.