I’m so excited to re-share one of my favorite high-protein soup recipes to warm your body and soul and kick off a new year.
I first perfected this Italian wedding soup recipe a couple of years back, and I can’t even count how many times I’ve made it since then. This recipe is everything you’ve ever wanted in a soup – nice and hearty thanks to the homemade meatballs and tender couscous, nutrient-dense thanks to all of those veggies, and absolutely delicious and cozy thanks to all of the herbs and spices.
This Italian wedding soup makes such a lovely lunch or dinner to meal prep for yourself or to make for your family. OH, and it would be the perfect cozy starter for Valentine’s Day, too! Nothing says “I love you” quite like a comforting meal made for your loved ones.
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What is Italian wedding soup?
Although it sounds like this soup is traditional at Italian weddings, the name “wedding soup” actually comes from the original Italian phrase, “minestra maritata,” which means “married broth” or “married soup.”
Basically, this soup gets its name from the beautiful “marriage” of flavors between the veggies, meat, and broth. AKA you know the flavors are amazing!
Ingredients in the best Italian wedding soup recipe
This soup is easier to make than you think and is has super simple ingredients. Here’s what you’ll need:
- For the meatballs: you’ll need some ground chicken (or turkey), an egg, some Parmigiano Reggiano, and panko bread crumbs to make the base of the meatballs for the soup.
- Herbs & spices: we’ll also be adding fresh parsley and basil, plus dried oregano, garlic powder, Italian seasoning, red pepper flakes, salt & pepper to the meatballs to give them the perfect flavor. You’ll add some of these seasonings to the broth as well.
- Veggies & produce: pack in some veggies with yellow onion, carrots, fresh garlic, and spinach or kale. Traditional Italian wedding soup recipes have escarole, another leafy green vegetable, but I’m keeping it simple with spinach or kale. See below for even more options!
- Broth: the soup simmers together with low-sodium chicken broth.
- Pearl couscous: you all know by now I love adding pearl couscous to soups and stews. The texture is like mini gnocchi that gets tender and delicious.
- For serving: I like to top my bowl with extra grated Parmigiano Reggiano, parsley, and lots of freshly ground black pepper. Don’t forget the crusty toasted bread on the side!
Can I make this Italian wedding soup vegetarian?
Absolutely! Feel free to omit the meatballs and add a can of rinsed, drained chickpeas instead. Then, be sure to use low sodium vegetable broth in place of the chicken broth.
Customize your soup
There are a few easy ways to really make this homemade Italian wedding soup your own! Here’s what I can recommend:
- Choose your grain. I love using pearl couscous in this soup, but feel free to use your favorite short pasta like orzo or ditalini.
- Go gluten-free. You can always use your favorite gluten-free small pasta shape, or even rice! Then be sure to use gluten-free panko bread crumbs as well.
- Pick your protein. I prefer using ground chicken or ground turkey because they’re nice and lean while still being protein-packed, but you can use ground beef, ground pork, or your favorite ground meat to make the meatballs! You could also cook some Italian sausage and drop it into the soup.
- Swap your veggies. As I mentioned, you can throw in spinach or kale in this soup, plus any other vegetables lurking in your fridge. Green beans, celery, zucchini, and even potatoes would be great!
How to make Italian wedding soup (in 5 easy steps)
- Shape the meatballs. Add all of the meatball ingredients to a large bowl and use clean hands to mix them all together until well combined. Shape the mixture into about 40-50 meatballs total.
- Cook the meatballs. Heat olive oil in a large soup pot or dutch oven and brown the meatballs in batches on all sides. No need to cook them all the way through – they’ll fully cook in the soup!
- Cook the soup. Heat more olive oil in the same pot and cook down the onions and carrots. Stir in the garlic and seasonings, then stir in the broth and couscous. Lastly, gently drop the meatballs into the soup, bring everything to a boil, and simmer uncovered until the meatballs are cooked through. Add the greens in the last few minutes of cooking!
- Garnish & serve. Taste and add more salt and pepper as needed, then serve up the soup with Parmigiano Reggiano and fresh parsley!
What to serve with this soup
- Your favorite toasted bread for dipping (try my no knead artisan bread!)
- My famous garlic bread
- These easy grain free crackers
- Extra veggies from this brussels sprouts kale apple salad
Get more inspo for side dishes here!
Storing & freezing
- To store: store any leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Simply reheat in the microwave or on the stovetop.
- To freeze: I would suggest leaving out the couscous or pasta of choice if you’re planning to freeze this. Allow the soup to cool completely before placing it into airtight, freezer-friendly containers. Place in the freezer for up to 3 months. To reheat, simply allow the soup to thaw in the refrigerator before reheating on the stovetop or in the microwave. To add the couscous, cook it separately and add it to your reheated soup when you’re ready to serve.
Tools you’ll need
Check out all of my fav kitchen tools here!
More soup recipes you’ll love
- The Best Minestrone Soup
- Cheddar Buffalo Cauliflower Soup
- Creamy Tomato Orzo Soup with Mini Turkey Meatballs
- Classic French Onion Soup
- Healing Ginger Coconut Chicken Brown Rice Soup
Get all of my soup recipes here!
I hope you love this Italian wedding soup recipe! If you make it, be sure to leave a comment and a rating so I know how you liked it. Enjoy, xo!
Ambitious Kitchen
Cookbook
125 Ridiculously Good For You, Sometimes Indulgent, and Absolutely Never Boring Recipes for Every Meal of the Day
Italian Wedding Soup
Ingredients
- For the meatballs
- 1 pound ground chicken (or turkey)
- 1 large egg
- ½ cup freshly grated parmigiano reggiano (or sub parmesan cheese) (about 1.5 ounces)
- ⅓ cup panko breadcrumbs, gluten free if desired
- 3 tablespoon fresh finely chopped parsley
- 3 tablespoons fresh finely chopped basil
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil or avocado oil
- For the soup
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil or avocado oil
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 2 large carrots, thinly sliced on the diagonal
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- ¾ teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 8 cups low sodium chicken broth
- 1 cup pearl couscous (or sub a short pasta such as orzo or ditalini)
- 4 cups fresh spinach or kale, chopped
- For serving
- Extra freshly grated parmigiano reggiano
- Fresh chopped parsley
- Freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Make the meatballs: In a large bowl, add the ground chicken, egg, parmigiano reggiano (or parm), breadcrumbs, parsley, basil, dried oregano, garlic powder, italian seasoning, salt, black pepper, and red pepper flakes. Use clean hands to mix until well combined, but avoid over mixing the meatballs or they will become tough. Form the mixture into meatballs about the size of a marble; 40 to 50 meatballs total. Tip: Dip your hands in a bowl of water between each meatball to prevent sticking and to create nice round balls – trust me, it helps!
- Brown the meatballs: In a large pot over medium-high heat, warm 1 to 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Once oil is hot, add the meatballs in batches, spacing meatballs about ½ inch apart and brown on all sides, about 5 minutes total. Use a spoon or tongs to carefully transfer meatballs to a plate and set aside. Add more oil, if necessary, between batches, and repeat with the remaining meatballs. Meatballs will finish cooking in the soup, so do not worry if they aren’t fully cooked.
- Make the soup: In the same pot, warm 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium heat. Once oil is hot, add in the onions and carrots and saute, stirring occasionally, until softened, 3 to 5 minutes. Next, stir in the garlic, Italian seasoning, and salt, and sauté, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the broth and pearl couscous and stir until well-combined. Use a large spoon to gently drop in a few meatballs at a time until they are all in the pot. Bring the broth to a gentle boil, then reduce the heat and simmer uncovered until the meatballs are cooked through, about 10 to 15 minutes. During the last few minutes of cooking, stir in the chopped spinach and cook until wilted, then remove soup from the heat.
- Taste and add more salt and pepper, if needed, then ladle soup into bowls and top with fresh grated parmigiano reggiano and a little fresh chopped parsley. Serve warm with crusty bread or toasted bread for dipping.
- To store: Let the soup cool completely, then store it in an airtight glass container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
Recipe by: Monique Volz // Ambitious Kitchen | Photography by: Eat Love Eats
This post was originally published on February 6th, 2024, republished with new photos on January 2nd, 2025, and republished on January 10th, 2026.
My 9 year old requested this for her birthday meal! Definitely a well-loved recipe around here!
Aw love that! One of our favs, too!
Wow wow wow this is delicious. Will definitely be making again. Three year old approved too!
So happy to hear that!
So delicious! So flavorful! I would say seasoned perfectly! I didn’t have fresh herbs so I substituted about 2 tsp of dried parsley and 2 tsp of dried basil for the meatballs (for those who may need to do that too).
This soup is definitely a keeper for our family. My 4 year old ate the whole bowl and kept telling me how yummy it was! Grateful for another delicious healthy recipe from AK!
Amazing! Glad it was a hit!
I have made this soup recipe 4? 5? times this winter! It’s so cozy and delicious I cannot get enough.
Amazing! One of my forever favorites 🙂
This soup is one of the best I’ve ever had! The meatballs are DELICIOUS!! I make this in my crockpot, cook the meatballs in the oven at about 400 degrees for 10 minutes before adding crockpot and make the noodles separate to add when we’re ready to eat. I’ll be coming back to this one time and again!
Perfect! So glad you loved it!
One of my favorite AK soups! I’ve used veggie broth and impossible meat to make it vegetarian for my husband, turns out great every time.
Perfect! Glad you love it!
This is a great recipe and a super nourishing and filling dinner (we didn’t even feel the need for bread). I would also say that it’s almost better the next day giving that couscous time to soak it all in. My only note is that I would make the meatballs bigger than a marble next time – it took me a long time to brown them and I had more than 50.
Absolutely! And yes, feel free to make them a bit bigger to save time on browning 🙂 I just like to scoop up the super mini ones!
This soup is SO GOOD! I was skeptical about the effort required to make and brown all of the mini meatballs but it’s worth it I promise (maybe just make on a weekend though if you have little kids like I do and don’t have a ton of time to cook on week nights). Just made a batch to take to my sister who just had a baby and book marking this for future meal trains I do.
A labor of love but so worth it! And perfect for a meal train 🙂
I’ve made this soup several times, including for entertaining dinner guests, and it is always delicious. The only change I made was to bake raw meatballs on sheet pan in oven (400 for 10-15) and they were perfect.
So happy to hear you’re a fan of this one, Claire!
This soup is so good!! I love the pearl couscous in it, and it’s super versatile. I had a bunch of Italian sausage I needed to use so I just made balls out of that for the soup and it turned out incredible. Very flavourful, hearty and easy to make.
Will definitely be making this often!
Happy to hear this one was a winner for you!
Delish!
Happy to hear you were a fan!
This was our snowed-in comfort meal! Made sure to grab all the ingredients before the grocery store got slammed and bought out and so grateful I did! The inly thing I had to sub was fresh collard greens for kale. This one is going on my soup rotation!
So glad you made it, Candace! It definitely is the perfect snow day soup 🙂
This was delicious! I used frozen vegetables as well as frozen Italian sausage. I thawed all of them slightly in the microwave before cooking although probably could have just used from frozen and extended the time a bit more. Definitely going into our family’s dinner rotation!
Love that!
Hi! Looks amazing do you think I could make and brown the meatballs and then throw everything into crock pot for a few hours on low? The couscous should cook in time and be ok right? Thank you for your time 🙂
That should work! I’d cook the couscous separately or add it in the last 15 minutes or so if you’re cooking everything on high.
This recipe is delicious!! My go-to for sick days as well!
Ours, too! Glad you love it!
So yummy! I made a double batch to freeze. Will certainly make this in the future
Perfect! Glad you enjoyed!
Absolutely loved this soup and family asked that I add to our ‘rotation’ 😄. This is the first time I’ve made chicken meatballs and they were so flavorful!!
So happy to hear that!
Really yummy – even without adding cheese at the end. Thank you. Next time I will cut down the amount of pasta because it soaked up so much of the broth.
So glad you enjoyed! Feel free to cook the pasta separately, too, and adding it to your portions 🙂
The soup was delicious. However, the recipe says to roll the meatballs to the size of a marble. Well, I was half way through the mixture and already had 50 meatballs, so went back and made all of them bigger. Browning them on the stovetop really makes a mess and leaves that smell in the house. Could you tell me how long and at what temperature I could bake them for? Or I assume I could toss them right into the broth and cook them that way? Regardless, the meatballs had great flavor and I would make it again.
Feel free to bake them instead (and yes, make them larger so you only get 40-50!) I’d suggest baking them at 375 degrees F for about 12-15 minutes or until they’re nice and golden on the outside. I think it’s key to brown them before adding them to the soup so they get their nice flavor 🙂
The flavor is good, I used chicken bone broth instead of boxed. Did not add salt to the soup. I think tho – once cup of cous cous is too much. It takes over and feels like you’re eating pasta rather than drinking soup. So, in my case, I’ll halve the cous cous, next time.
Bone broth sounds delicious in here! Yes, feel free to use less couscous or cook it separately if you like a more broth-y soup.
Our all time favorite recipe! Something has finally dethroned pumpkin lasagna 😁😉 This was a bit of a labor of love but I felt so proud putting all the pieces together. Put on a relaxing show in the background and enjoy the process! Will be making this one over and over.
Such a fun cooking project 🙂 Glad you loved this one!!
Super easy and delicious. Only change was small elbows cooked separately and added at the end. Will add this to my collection of soups.
Yummy thanks
Perfect! So happy you enjoyed 🙂
Can you just boil the meatballs in a little broth to cook them and then add to the soup? I do that with beef and pork meatballs and wondered why that wouldn’t be possible in this recipe.
Sure feel free to cook them all the way first and then add them!
I made this last week and it is so tasty. Making the meatballs is a bit fussy, but ultimately worth it. Definitely taste for salt. I ended up adding about .5 tsp. I don’t like too much salt, but you need a little to enhance the flavors. You won’t regret making this!
Absolutely! Glad you loved it!
This soup is so delicious. The family loved it. I didn’t change anything in the recipe because it is perfect. I also love, love the new cookbook and have made a few recipes already! ❤️
So happy to hear that! I hope you keep finding new recipes to try 🙂
This was delicious!
So glad you enjoyed!
Made this last night for dinner. I did half chicken broth and half vegetable broth since that’s what I had on hand. I also substituted ground turkey instead of chicken, regular couscous (didn’t have pearl), and added about 1-2 cups of green beans. Even with the substitutions it turned out great! I think the only thing I’d change was that I would add more broth next time since the couscous absorbed a lot of it and I like my soups with more broth. I’ll definitely make this again!
Perfect! So glad you enjoyed!
SO love Italian Wedding Soup and this one was wonderful and full of flavor. I did however make the meatballs into quarter sized balls. Then to save on time I coated them with a spritz of olive oil and baked them on parchment paper till lightly browned. They were perfect! Definitely a keeper and sending this recipe on. Thanks for sharing!
Amazing! Glad you loved it!
I’m making this for a soup swap party and need to take four quarts – would doubling the recipe do this or should I triple it? Sounds delicious and excited to be a little meatball making queen 😂
Great question! I think doubling it should be fine!
The soup turned out amazing! I use ground turkey, I baked the meatballs instead of frying them. I guess I’m just lazy like that. I added a little bit of leftover finally chopped cauliflower and used frozen kale from my gardens abundance for the greens. I also only have a half a cup of pearl couscous. So used a half a cup of mixed quick cooking grains. Everything else, flavors and ingredients the same. So good on a cold winter afternoon! So good!
Baking them is perfect! That all sounds delicious – glad you enjoyed!
This is our absolute favorite soup! The meatballs are perfectly seasoned and all the flavors meld beautifully. Thanks for the great recipe!
So happy to hear that!
This soup is a staple in our house! When I’m making it as a quick weeknight meal we sub store bought meatballs. It is such a cozy delicious soup! My kids eat it too!! We are big Ambitious Kitchen fans in our house!!
So happy to hear that!!
One of our familiy’s top fav’s! Soo delicious and a win for both adults and kids. I always make a triple batch so i can freeze some without the pasta for an emergency meal.
So happy to hear that!
Can I bake the meatballs instead? If so what temperature and for how long?
Thanks
Jenn
Yes! You can bake these mini meatballs at 400 degrees F for about 15-20 minutes or until a meat thermometer reads 165 degrees F.
This was so good, my three kids all 3 and under ate it up! Loved the texture of the couscous, meat balls were flavorful even though I used turkey. The meatballs stuck to my stainless steal pot so I washed it before adding carrots and onions. Also next time I’ll be chopping my parsley and basil as fine as I can to hide from my kiddos
Perfect! So glad it was a hit!
Wow this soup is SO GOOD!!! My husband and I tried this recipe for the first time and love it. Definitely going into our rotation!
So happy to hear that!
Made this tonight on a super cold wintry night and was so perfect! My seven and 18 year old both loved it. I thought the crushed red pepper may be too spicy for my little one but she ate it right up. Only had frozen spinach so used that instead of fresh and it worked great. Definitely a recipe for the soup rotation.
#AKRecipeoftheMonth
Amazing! Glad it was a hit!
Adding this one into my regular rotation alongside AK’s best ever chicken soup! I added a pecorino romano rind to the broth during cooking for extra flavor and it was perfection.
Love it! Great idea with the rind 🙂
My husband and I loved this soup. The meatballs were very flavorful. I used about a cup of acine de pepe pasta but next time will increase the broth or reduce the pasta as it absorbed a lot of the broth. More carrots might also be nice. Kale worked great. #AKRecipeoftheMonth
Perfect – this one’s super flexible! You can also cook the pasta on the side and add it to your bowls if you’re finding that it’s absorbing too much broth 🙂
This soup was delicious and very satisfying! The meatballs were our favorite part as they added extra flavor to the overall dish. The fun is that you can use different types of the pasta each time you make this soup. This will give you a different texture every time! This was a perfect comfort meal. #AKRecipeOfTheMonth
Love it! Yes, this one’s great for customizing!
#AKRecipeoftheMonth So good! Tastes even better the next day – it’s a perfect recipe for meal prep.
Absolutely! Glad you enjoyed!
10/10 This soup was comforting & flavorful yet easy to make! I made it on Sunday and enjoyed for lunch all week- flavors got better throughout the week too. I like my food extra spicy so I added a little bit of Trader Joe’s Bamba sauce and a squirt of lemon. so good. Thank you for the recipe!!! 🙂 #AKRecipeoftheMonth
Love that!! Glad you enjoyed!
10/10 This soup was comforting & flavorful yet easy to make! I made it on Sunday and enjoyed for lunch all week- flavors got better throughout the week too. I like my food extra spicy so I added a little bit of Trader Joe’s Bamba sauce and a squirt of lemon. so good. Thank you for the recipe!!! 🙂
Delicious! I was intimidated by the meatballs but they were easy and came together quickly. I used ground turkey, and they were so flavorful! I subbed out orzo because that’s what I had on hand. I didn’t have any onion, but threw in some celery for some extra veggies.
#AKRecipeoftheMonth
Perfect! So glad you enjoyed!