Italian Wedding Soup with Spinach Meatballs

The stars of this Italian Wedding Soup are the bite-size spinach meatballs and cheese tortellini. All simmered in a delicious broth, this recipe is a spin on our mom’s classic “Italian Wedding Soup” as we knew it.

Make Italian Wedding Soup Special…

Our Italian wedding soup with spinach meatballs is big on flavor and very satisfying.  It makes the perfect meal for the whole family to enjoy. Serve it with some crusty bread or enjoy it with a side of our many salads, like apple bok choy salad to complete the meal.

So we took our mother’s recipe for Italian Wedding Soup and made a few minor changes. Eliminating a few steps in the cooking process makes it easier and less time-consuming.

We decided to make spinach-stuffed meatballs. These mini-meatballs are loaded with ground beef, eggs, Parmesan cheese, and spinach. Then, they are baked until fully cooked before being dropped into a simmering broth with cheese tortellini and fresh baby spinach.

The outcome turned out AMAZING!   … to say the least!

Our version of the Italian wedding soup with spinach meatballs is very flavorful and satisfying. It’s delicious! 😉

Reasons We LOVE This Italian Wedding Soup…

• It’s loaded with a ton of flavor.
• The cheese-filled tortellini is very filling and cooks up quickly. And, you can use any tortellini you prefer with this recipe.
• This recipe is loaded with spinach.
• It makes the perfect one-dish meal, containing carbs, protein, and veggies.

Why is this recipe called The Italian Wedding Soup?

Italian Wedding Soup, for as long as we could remember while growing up was always served as the first course at every Italian wedding we attended! It was a common dish to serve during the late ’60s, ’70s, and early ’80s, because it was very inexpensive to make, especially when feeding a big crowd.  

It was part of the Italian immigrant culture brought to the US, and this is how the name “Italian Wedding Soup” was born.

 

How to Make Italian Wedding Soup with Spinach Meatballs?

First: we need to make the mini meatballs. We decided to add some greens like chopped spinach into the mixture before baking them in the oven for about 10 to 15 minutes.

Second: The next step is to pour the broth or stock into a large soup pot. Once you get the soup started, and the meatballs are fully baked, the rest is easy. Plus, extra spinach is tossed into the soup. The good news is fresh baby spinach doesn’t require much cooking.

Final Step: Just before serving, the baked spinach meatballs are tossed into the soup at the end of the cooking time.

Ingredients You Will Need:

• For Spinach Meatballs:
• 1 (10-ounce) frozen chopped spinach, thawed, excess water squeezed out
• 1/2 pound chopped ground beef
• 1/4 cup breadcrumbs
• 1/4 tsp. garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 2 eggs
• 2 Tbsp. grated Parmesan cheese
• 4 Tbsp. grated Pecorino cheese
• olive oil cooking spray
• For The Soup:
• 32-ounce chicken stock
• 4 cups water
• dash of cayenne pepper
• 1 pound cheese tortellini
• 4 to 5 cups of fresh baby spinach
• fresh cracked pepper to taste

Directions to Making Spinach Meatballs: (Step-by-Step)

*You can follow along on how to make the mini meatballs or jump to the bottom of this post for our full recipe card.

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Lightly spray a large cooking sheet or Pyrex dish with cooking spray.  Set aside.

2.  In a food processor, or if mixing by hand, in a medium-sized mixing bowl.  Add chopped meat, breadcrumbs, chopped spinach, garlic powder, salt eggs, Parmesan, and Pecorino cheese.

3.  Mix the meat mixture until it’s well combined.  Use a small espresso spoon to scoop up a small amount and place it into the palm of your hand.  Shape into a small ball, smaller than a quarter size.

4.  Transfer to the prepared baking sheet. They can be placed close together, but not touching.

5.  Bake for 10 to 15 minutes, or until they are light brown and fully cooked.  Then transfer them into the soup, along with the rest of the ingredients.

Our Mom’s Recipe for This Soup

Growing up, our mom always made this soup with escarole and her famous mini meatballs, a recipe similar to Mom’s Sunday Meatballs, and served it as our first course at many holiday meals.

Best of all, this recipe will make plenty of leftovers for you to enjoy for another weeknight meal. Try this recipe, it won’t disappoint!

ENJOY!!

More Italian Recipes…

• Tuscan Escarole and Beans Soup
• Baby Lima Bean Soup
• White Bean Soup with Mini Meatballs
• Tuscan Tortellini Soup

Any questions?  … ask away!  Hey friends, are you cooking with us?  If you try this recipe, let us know and leave a comment! Have fun and snap a photo and hashtag it on Instagram @2sistersrecipes, and Pinterest.  

Happy Cooking and Baking! 🙂

Thanks for stopping by!

 xo Anna and Liz