Slow cooker Italian wedding soup is a hearty soup you can serve year-round. This meatball soup can also be made in the Instant Pot.
PIN FOR LATER
Updated 2019 with Instant Pot
Italian Wedding Soup
I always assumed Italian wedding soup was a soup served at Italian weddings. It wasn’t until a few years ago that I learned this was not the case, it’s just a play on words. The term “wedding soup” comes from the Italian language phrase “minestra maritata” (“married soup”), which is a reference to the flavor produced by the combination/”marriage” of greens and the meat. The meat in this case being the meatballs with the greens referring to the spinach.
Fresh or Frozen Meatballs
The good news is that you can use either fresh or frozen meatballs in this Italian wedding soup recipe. When I use frozen meatballs they are always meatballs that I previously baked myself and froze but you can use store-bought frozen meatballs if that’s your fancy.
Ground Meat Of Your Choice
I left the ingredients for the ground meat vague on purpose. Another great thing about this slow cooker Italian wedding soup is recipe is that you can use the ground meat of your choice without changing the cook time. I tend to make this using ground beef (what you see here in the pics) but it’s also good with ground turkey. Trust me, they both cook for the same amount of time. If you have another meatball recipe you want to swap in here, go ahead. If you’re looking for an alternative meatball recipe check out my herb meatballs.
add orzo & spinach
Other meatball recipes you might enjoy:
FREEZING & STORING LEFTOVER SOUP
If you have leftover Italian wedding soup, you can store or freeze it for later use. Store leftover soup an air-tight container in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. To freeze leftover soup, let the soup cool completely. Once cooled, add the soup to an air tight container, freezer-friendly plastic bag, or souper cubes. Store the soup in your freezer for up to 2 months. To reheat frozen Italian wedding soup you have two options. You can either thaw the soup overnight in the refrigerator OR add the soup directly to the slow cooker or Instant Pot & thaw on the warm setting!
Tips For This Recipe
- Pre-make your meatballs. Bake them, freeze them and add them to the soup frozen when you’re ready.
- Italian wedding soup can also contain pasta in which I used orzo pasta but you can absolutely use a different shape pasta if that’s what you have. This is another recipe that you can modify to make work for you. Other suggestions include fusilli or pastina.
I used a 6-quart slow cooker or Instant Pot for this recipe.
Like this recipe? A low-sodium version of this recipe appeared in my second cookbook, The Low Sodium Slow Cooker Cookbook.
PrintItalian Wedding Soup
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 4 hours
- Total Time: 4 hours 10 minutes
- Yield: Serves 4
Ingredients
Meatballs
- 1 pound lean ground meat of your choice
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1 egg
- 1/4 cup onion, finely chopped
- 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
- 1 teaspoon parsley
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
Soup
- 4 cups low-sodium broth of your choice
- 3 cups water
- 2 small carrots, peeled & chopped
- 1/3 cup onion, diced
- 1 tablespoon dried parsley
- 1 teaspoon salt (or more)
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 cup uncooked orzo pasta
- 3 ounces fresh spinach, chopped
- 1 tablespoon oil (for Instant Pot)
Instructions
Prepare The Meatballs
In a large bowl, mix together all the MEATBALLS ingredients until well combined. Shape into into 1 1/2-inch balls.
- Add all the SOUP ingredients to the slow cooker. Stir to mix well.
- Add the prepared meatballs to the soup. Stir gently.
- Cook high 3-4 hours or low 6-8.
- Stir in the orzo pasta & spinach and cook an additional 15-30 minutes or until the pasta is tender.
- Turn on the Instant Pot and select sauté. Once hot add oil to the pot.
- Add the prepared meatballs and cook until they are browned evenly on all sides. You may need to do this in batches depending on how large your meatballs are. Remove the meatballs.
- Add carrots and onions and cook for a 3-5 minutes or until vegetables are soft. Add garlic and cook an additional minute. Turn off pressure cooker.
- Add broth and water and deglaze the bottom of the pressure cooker by scraping all the bits off with a wooden spoon. Stir in parsley, salt, oregano, and pepper.
- Add the meatballs back into the soup and stir.
- Close lid and seal valve. Set HIGH pressure for 20 minutes. When cook time is done, natural release pressure for 5 minutes then manually the remaining pressure. Open lid.
- Stir in orzo and spinach. Turn pressure cooker to sauté. Cook approximately 5-10 minutes, stirring frequently until pasta is tender.
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 425
- Sugar: 6.2 g
- Sodium: 631.2 mg
- Fat: 9.3 g
- Saturated Fat: 4.6 g
- Carbohydrates: 45.2 g
- Fiber: 4.3 g
- Protein: 38.8 g
- Cholesterol: 133.4 mg
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Amy Cairns
Wednesday 20th of November 2019
Tried it when you posted the slow cooker version and it's now one of my as my favorite soup! I plan on getting a Instant Pot for black Friday so I will try that way soon.
Allen S
Monday 7th of May 2018
I've never heard of Italian Wedding soup before, but these pictures have me hooked! Looks amazing, can't wait to try it.