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 of these Italian Romano 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 meatballs and the soup recipes 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.
Italian Wedding Soup
Ingredients
- 1 frying chicken
- 5 quarts water
- 2 cups yellow onions, chopped
- 2 cups celery, chopped
- 1 package frozen chopped spinach (10-oz.)
- 1 lb. mini Italian Romano meatballs
- 1 1/2 tablespoons dried basil
- 1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic
- 1/2 lb. acini de pepe pasta
- 1/4 cup Romano cheese + 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
Thursday 30th of January 2014
There is no recipe for the meatballs.
Tara @ Unsophisticook
Friday 31st of January 2014
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
Tuesday 9th of October 2012
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
Tuesday 9th of October 2012
my moms recipe has escarole tops/dark part only chopped mini meatballs in chicken soup and pastina ,star shaped pasta.
Renee
Thursday 6th of January 2011
No problem. ^_^
Renee
Thursday 6th of January 2011
# 1 10-oz. pkg. frozen chopped spinach # 1 lb.
In the recipe, you didn't say 1lb of what.
Tara
Thursday 6th of January 2011
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!