Italian Wedding Soup with Orzo and Mini Meatballs
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This Italian wedding soup has everything I love most — tender, bite-size meatballs, little pasta shapes, a broth that tastes like it’s been simmering all afternoon (when it’s really more like 20 minutes), and just-wilted greens that keep everything bright and alive in the bowl.
Wedding soup — it’s a meal that shows up in almost every Italian American family, yet somehow each version can be so different. In the small New England city where I grew up, each auntie, neighbor, and Sunday-dinner nonna had their spin. Bigger meatballs or tiny ones, escarole or spinach, pastina or orzo. I tasted them all. That’s why I’ve always loved this soup. It’s comfort, tradition, and personality all in one bowl.
And here’s the funny part: When I got married, I actually eloped. After attending what felt like hundreds of weddings growing up, I managed to skip the big event entirely! So, this recipe is a personal twist on a soup you’d be happy to devour at a big, fat Italian wedding — hearty, joyful, and meant for sharing.
The best pasta for Italian wedding soup
The pasta debate in my family could easily take up an entire wedding reception. My mother swore her broken egg pasta made the broth cling just right. My cousins argued for pastina because it reminded them of Sunday soup at Mama’s house. I love orzo or acini di pepe, but really, any type of tiny pasta shape works just fine. Choose your favorite.
Which greens work best
Traditional wedding soup has escarole that simmers for a lonnnnnng time — so long that it practically dissolves into sludge. As a kid, I could never get past the mushy texture. So in my version, the greens go in right at the end, just long enough to wilt. Unless you live somewhere with Italian markets, it can hard to find escarole. I use spinach for this recipe because it’s readily available, year round. Use other tender greens like baby kale or even chopped Swiss chard.
How to make Italian wedding soup
In my family, the size of the meatballs was practically a personality test. One aunt rolled them teeny-tiny, like marbles, “so they cook faster” — while another made hers big enough to require a giant spoon to eat. I land somewhere in the middle. I use ground beef or bulk sausage, like my go-to ground meat mixture for juicy Italian meatballs that has plenty of Parmesan and milk-soaked breadcrumbs. I make them bite-size and use a light hand when mixing and forming — that’s key to keeping them light.
1. Mix the meatball ingredients, then form into small balls. A cookie scoop keeps them uniform so they cook evenly. 
2. Par-poaching the meatballs in plain water before they go into the soup is key — it keeps the broth clean and golden instead of cloudy and fatty.
3. Add the meatballs, pasta and wilted greens to the broth. This soup is only as good as its base, so consider starting with my homemade chicken broth or the best store-bought one you can find. 4. A heavy hand with the Parmesan at the table isn’t optional — it melts into the hot broth and rounds out the whole bowl.
Italian Wedding Soup with Orzo and Mini Meatballs
Ingredients
For the meatballs
- ¼ cup dried breadcrumbs
- ¼ cup milk
- 1 pound ground beef
- ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 large beaten egg
- 1 teaspoon grated or finely chopped garlic
- ½ teaspoon granulated onion powder, optional
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the soup
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- ½ cup chopped onion
- ½ cup chopped carrot
- ½ cup chopped celery
- 1 teaspoon finely chopped garlic
- 8 cups chicken broth
- Kosher salt
- 1 cup dried soup pasta, such as orzo, acini de pepe or pastina
- 5 ounces baby spinach, or other greens like escarole, chopped Swiss chard or kale
- Freshly grated Parmesan cheese, for serving
Instructions
Prepare the meatballs
- Stir together ¼ cup dried breadcrumbs and ¼ cup milk in a small bowl – it will quickly form a paste.
- Put 1 pound ground beef, ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese, 1 large beaten egg, 1 teaspoon grated or finely chopped garlic, ½ teaspoon granulated onion powder, and 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley in a large bowl. Add the breadcrumb mixture and season with ¾ teaspoon kosher salt and a few good grinds of black pepper. Mix with a large fork or your hands until everything is evenly distributed.
- Form the meat mixture into 1-inch balls (I use a cookie scoop like this one) and arrange them on a lightly oiled tray. Bring a small pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Drop in the meatballs in batches, cooking for 3 minutes. Scoop them out to a clean tray. Drain off any liquid that exudes.The raw meatballs can be refrigerated up to 1 day before making the soup, and the par-cooked meatballs up to 2 days.
Make the soup
- Heat 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add ½ cup chopped onion, ½ cup chopped carrot, ½ cup chopped celery, and 1 teaspoon finely chopped garlic. Cook the vegetables until they're softened, stirring frequently, 5-7 minutes.
- Pour 8 cups chicken broth into the pot and season with 1 teaspoon kosher salt. Bring to a simmer and cook 15-20 minutes.In a separate pan, boil 1 cup dried soup pasta in lightly salted water 5 minutes, or half the time instructed on the package (it will finish cooking in the soup). Drain.
- Add the cooked pasta and the par-boiled meatballs to the pot. Cook 5 minutes at a simmer — keep your eye on the heat to be sure it doesn't boil. Stir in the spinach and cook on low heat just until they're wilted.
- Ladle the soup into bowls, and add some grated Parmesan over each serving.
Karen’s Notes and Tips
- Meat variation: You can use bulk Italian sausage or a half and half mixture with ground beef for the meatballs. Add a little less salt to compensate.
- You can toss a Parmesan rind to the simmering broth to give the soup extra flavor and body.
Nutrition per serving
Nutrition facts are calculated by third-party software. If you have specific dietary needs, please refer to your favorite calculator.
Hey, I’m Karen
Creator of Familystyle Food
Professionally trained cook, cookbook author, and the person behind every recipe here. I cook the way I was trained: Start with good ingredients, understand why they work, and don’t apologize for the salt. These are the recipes I actually make, for the people I love. Read more about me here.