Italian Wedding Soup

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This soup is not actually served at weddings. It comes from an ancient Neapolitan soup called “Minestra Maritata” which means “Married Soup.” The name refers to the marriage of flavors between meats and leafy vegetables. Every family has their own version of this soup. This is just the way we like to make it! Some recipes fry the meatballs before adding them to the soup. Some recipes use beef, veal or even pork for the meatballs. There is no wrong way. Every version is quite delicious. Give my family’s version a try!

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Italian Wedding Soup

This is a delicious Italian soup with mini meatballs and escarole.
Course Main Course
Cuisine Italian
Keyword chicken soup, Italian wedding soup, soup

Ingredients

Meatballs

  • 1 lb Ground Chicken
  • 1/4 cup Grated Pecorino Romano
  • 1/4 cup Chopped Fresh Parsley
  • 1 Garlic Clove, minced
  • 1 Large Egg
  • 1 cup Stale Italian Bread, cubed
  • 1/3 cup Milk (just enough to soak the bread)
  • Salt and Pepper to taste

Soup

  • 1 Large Bunch of Escarole
  • 1 Small bunch of Dandelion (optional)
  • 1 Chicken Leg Quarter
  • 4 Beef Neck Bones
  • 1 Large Carrot, large chop
  • 2 Celery Stalks, large chop
  • 1 Onion, large chop
  • 1 Tomato, large chop
  • Fresh Parsley to taste with stems
  • 12-16 cups Water
  • Salt & Pepper to taste

Instructions

Mini Meatballs

  • Into a small bowl, add the stale cubed Italian bread and milk. Let the bread soak up the milk.
  • In a large bowl, mix all of the meatball ingredients. Add the bread by squeezing out most of the milk from it. If the mixture seems too wet, add some plain breadcrumbs to soak up the moisture. Do this before you start the soup so that the flavors marry. Cover and place in the refrigerator.

Soup

  • Into a large pot, add 1 chopped carrot , 2 chopped celery stalks, 1 chopped onion, 1 diced tomato, fresh parsley to taste. Add in a bone in chicken leg quarter and a few beef neck bones. Add in enough water to cover by a few inches. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
  • Bring the mixture to a boil and lower down to a simmer. Simmer for 2-3 hours.
  • Strain the vegetables out of the soup. Keep the carrots if you like them and you can add them back into the soup.
  • Wash the Escarole thoroughly (And the dandelion, if using). Fill a pot with water. Bring it to a boil and add the escarole. Cook until tender, about 15 mins. Drain and chop up with a knife or scissor. If using Dandelion, you can boil separately in the same water you used to boil the escarole.
  • Add the cooked escarole and dandelion, if using, to the soup. ****If using store bought broth, boil 1 diced carrot, 1 onion, diced and 2 celery stalks, diced, in the broth until tender and then proceed with the escarole.****
  • As the soup is simmering, roll the meatball and drop them directly into the soup. Watch my TikTok video below for a tiny meatball hack! The meatballs should be about the size of a grape. They should only take about 5 mins to cook.
  • At this point you can eat it just like this! OR you can add soup sized pasta to it! OR you can add a few whisked eggs to make stracciatella! Any way is delicious!
  • IF adding pasta, I like to boil it separately and then add it to the soup as I serve it.

 

View Comments

  • Luv the hack !!! Such a great time saver !!!! Thank you

    I also make the soup in same manner
    Nothing like Italian wedding soup .... comfort food
    Joan

  • I also grew up with this tradation on Holidays, I make it up for all special meals.
    Thank you for this recipes,

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