What Is Italian Wedding Soup?
Despite its name, Italian Wedding Soup is not related to actual weddings. Instead, Minestra Maritata, as it's called in Italian, refers to marriages in ingredients and flavors. Italian Wedding Soup is a brothy soup typically featuring meat (most notably meatballs), greens like spinach or escarole, and small pasta like orzo or ditalini. The addition of other veggies like onions, carrots and celery results in a perfect "marriage" of ingredients in a soup that's warm and comforting.
What Makes This Recipe Healthy?
This recipe is full of nutritious vegetables, including onion, carrots, celery, garlic and spinach. This soup is a great way to eat more vegetables for a varied and balanced diet. Chicken meatballs are also a good source of protein, which is an essential macronutrient.
How to Make Easy Italian Wedding Soup
Italian Wedding Soup is easy to make and we've streamlined it even further so it fits neatly into a weeknight meal plan. Meatballs in Italian Wedding Soup tend to be on the small side which can be a challenge to pull together if you're in a hurry. Instead, we use larger meatballs in our soup to save on prep time. You can buy pre-cooked frozen meatballs to add to your soup or make a homemade batch ahead of time as we do here. We also use baby spinach which can be added right to the soup without having to do any chopping.
Additional reporting by Hilary Meyer and Jan Valdez
Ingredients
-
4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
-
1 ⅓ cups chopped yellow onion
-
⅔ cup chopped carrot
-
⅔ cup chopped celery
-
2 tablespoons minced garlic
-
6 cups unsalted chicken broth
-
6 ounces orzo, preferably whole-wheat
-
1 ½ tablespoons chopped fresh oregano
-
½ teaspoon kosher salt
-
24 cooked chicken meatballs (12 ounces), such as Easy Chicken Meatballs (see associated recipe)
-
4 cups baby spinach
-
¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
Directions
-
Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add onion, carrot, celery and garlic; cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is translucent, 4 to 5 minutes.
-
Add broth, cover and bring to a boil. Add orzo, oregano and salt; cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until the orzo is just tender, about 9 minutes.
-
Stir in meatballs and spinach; cook until the meatballs are heated through and the spinach is wilted, 2 to 4 minutes.
-
Serve sprinkled with cheese and drizzled with the remaining 3 tablespoons oil.
Equipment
Large pot or Dutch oven
Associated Recipes
Originally appeared: EatingWell Magazine, January/February 2019
Nutrition Facts (per serving)
415 | Calories |
19g | Fat |
36g | Carbs |
26g | Protein |
Nutrition Facts | |
---|---|
Servings Per Recipe 6 | |
Serving Size 1 1/2 cups | |
Calories 415 | |
% Daily Value * | |
Total Carbohydrate 36g | 13% |
Dietary Fiber 4g | 13% |
Total Sugars 5g | |
Protein 26g | 52% |
Total Fat 19g | 24% |
Saturated Fat 5g | 24% |
Cholesterol 101mg | 34% |
Vitamin A 5270IU | 105% |
Vitamin C 20mg | 23% |
Folate 23mcg | 6% |
Sodium 728mg | 32% |
Calcium 165mg | 13% |
Iron 3mg | 19% |
Magnesium 68mg | 16% |
Potassium 681mg | 14% |
Nutrition information is calculated by a registered dietitian using an ingredient database but should be considered an estimate.
* Daily Values (DVs) are the recommended amounts of nutrients to consume each day. Percent Daily Value (%DV) found on nutrition labels tells you how much a serving of a particular food or recipe contributes to each of those total recommended amounts. Per the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the daily value is based on a standard 2,000 calorie diet. Depending on your calorie needs or if you have a health condition, you may need more or less of particular nutrients. (For example, it’s recommended that people following a heart-healthy diet eat less sodium on a daily basis compared to those following a standard diet.)
(-) Information is not currently available for this nutrient. If you are following a special diet for medical reasons, be sure to consult with your primary care provider or a registered dietitian to better understand your personal nutrition needs.
Powered by the ESHA Research Database © 2018, ESHA Research, Inc. All Rights Reserved