Next time you're craving the comfort of homemade chicken noodle soup, give this Italian Wedding Soup a whirl. It does require a bit of a time commitment to produce a flavorful broth, but I promise you, it's definitely worth the time and effort.
Whip up some Italian Romano mini meatballs while you're simmering the chicken initially and you'll end up with a freezer filled with dinners for nights to come, as both the mini meatballs recipe and the soup recipe are plentiful enough to have quantities left over for freezing.
Paired with a crusty loaf of bread, this soup is delicious when you're feeling under the weather or even at a dinner gathering. It always gets rave reviews for me.
Souper Cubes 2-Cup Freezer Trays with Lids
If you like to freeze leftover soup for later, you NEED these sturdy silicone trays with lids!! These are the perfect size for freezing and reheating individual servings. AND they're easy to use and clean like a dream, with no residual odors!
Printable Recipe ↓
Italian Wedding Soup
Ingredients
- 1 frying chicken
- 5 quarts water
- 2 medium onions - chopped
- 4 medium celery stalks - chopped
- 1 (10-ounce) package frozen chopped spinach
- 1 pound mini Italian Romano meatballs
- 1 ½ tablespoons dried basil
- 1 tablespoon fresh Italian parsley - chopped
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2 garlic cloves - minced
- 8 ounces acini de pepe pasta
- ¼ cup Romano cheese - plust extra for garnish
Instructions
- Simmer chicken in water for one hour.
- Remove from heat. Let the chicken cool for about 20 minutes, and then debone and return the meat to the broth. Do not strain the broth; however, you can skim any foam off the top.
- Add onions, celery, spinach, meatballs, basil, parsley, salt, pepper, and garlic, and simmer for another hour.
- Add acini de pepe and Romano cheese, and simmer for an additional 15 minutes.
- Serve with additional Romano cheese on top for garnish.
I've successfully substituted the large packages of bone-in chicken breasts, thighs and legs for the whole frying chicken in a pinch. Don't be afraid to change the type of chicken to taste.
Janet Parker says
There is no recipe for the meatballs.
Tara @ Unsophisticook says
Hi Janet! The meatballs recipe is linked in the post and in the recipe. You can find it here: https://unsophisticook.com/italian-meatballs-recipe/
Diane Crowley says
I have found that endive is sometimes hard to find in my area so as of this summer I have used swiss chard. We grew some in our garden this year and we had a bumper crop. I have so much of it I had to freeze quite a bit. I made some "copy cat" Chicken & Gnocchi soup like that at Olive Garden. The recipe called for spinach so I used some of my frozen swiss chard and it was very good. Not exactly like the Olive Garden but darn close. I made the gnocchi with instant mashed potatoes. Quick and easy.
layla says
my moms recipe has escarole tops/dark part only chopped mini meatballs in chicken soup and pastina ,star shaped pasta.
Renee says
No problem. ^_^
Renee says
# 1 10-oz. pkg. frozen chopped spinach
# 1 lb.
In the recipe, you didn't say 1lb of what.
Tara says
Oops, how did I do that?!? It's 1 lb. of the mini Italian Romano Meatballs that I mentioned earlier in the post. Thanks so much for pointing that out!
Shaina says
I love Italian wedding soup. It's always been one of my favorites, but I've never made it at home. I can't wait to try yours.
Diane Crowley says
Oh, I almost forgot this step that is left out in the above recipe. Just before serving, while soup is still hot - mix a raw egg as you would for making scrambled eggs, add some grated parmesean cheese to the beaten egg and drop into the hot soup - stir until the egg is cooked and blended throughout the soup - mmm, mmm, mmm. Can hardly wait to make some for this Christmas.
Diane Crowley says
I grew up eating Italian Wedding Soup. My mother and now I always used endive greens for this soup and in addition to the little meatballs, my mother also made her own croutons. She used stale Italian bread, dipped in beaten egg batter with a little salt and pepper, fried until golden. We then cut into cubes and they are gooooood in this soup. This soup is a traditional part of our Christmas meal as well as year round.
Tara says
Oh, I will definitely try making some of those croutons next time we have this. That sounds delicious!