Italian Wedding Soup with Chicken Meatballs
So… I always imagined that this was the soup Italians ate at weddings…..didn’t you? I’ve been married to an Italian for 6 years and have never seen Wedding Soup at any wedding or other celebration for that matter. Turns out the name is derived from the ingredients that meld and marry to create this sublime soup. While I usually use frozen spinach in this recipe because I always have it on hand, you can feel free to sub in other fresh greens such as spinach kale or chard.
For the pasta orzo, pastina or any small cut pasta like ditali will work well.
Let’s talk about the meatballs.
Lemon zest in the balls and juice in the broth make this recipe sing! Don’t leave them out. Beef or pork are completely acceptable in Wedding Soup, these mini chicken meatballs with a hint of lemon are perfection but wait until the end to add salt and pepper and then finish it off with a squeeze of that lemon juice.
Italian Wedding Soup with Chicken Meatballs
Ingredients
Chicken Meatballs
- 1 pound ground chicken
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup Seasoned Italian breadcrumbs
- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
- 1 clove garlic grated
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/3 cup Italianparsley (optional)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil for frying
Soup
- 6 cups chicken broth
- 1/4 teaspoon chilli flakes
- 1 carrot chopped
- 1 stalk celery chopped
- 1/2 onion finely chopped
- 2-3 cloves garlic cloves grated
- 300 gram frozen spinach thawed (or 1 bunch fresh spinach)
- 1/2 cup dry orzo pasta (or other small pasta)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- Salt & pepper to taste
- ½ Lemon juiced optional
Instructions
For the chicken meatballs:
- Combine all ingredients together well using your hands or a mixer using the paddle attachment. The meatballs should be about the size of a large gumball. Wetting your hands will make it easier to work with.
- Heat oil in a non stick frying pan
- Add meatballs in batches taking care to not over crowd your pan. Brown the meatballs for about 1 minute then turn them over. They don't have to be cooked through. Repeat with remaining balls adding more oil if needed. Set aside.
- *if you feel you have more meatballs then you need, you can cook them through and freeze them. Just add the frozen meatballs to your favourite soup or sauce.
For the soup:
- In a large pot add oil, onion, carrot, celery, garlic and chilli flakes. Sauté on medium heat for about 10 minutes until veggies are translucent. Stir frequently as you don't want them to burn
- Add chicken broth and bring to a boil then add the pasta and cook for about 8 minutes
- Add Chicken meatballs and spinach and simmer covered for 15 minutes
- Taste for salt and pepper and add lemon juice
One Comment
Bill
I’ve made this recipe several times and it is on my family’s list of favorites. We don’t vary too far from the recipe unless we are missing an ingredient and are in a hurry. The lemon makes the entire meal.