Estimated reading time: 10 minutes
Best Italian Wedding Soup! We’re not fans of eating soup from a can, but we have while renting a room after marriage.
Cooking was limited to getting in the kitchen and getting out, but we make homemade soups as homeowners now.
For many, a taste of home means Italian Wedding Soup with mini meatballs with or without acini de Pepe pasta.
The acini de Pepe pasta is a small ball that means “seeds of pepper” and is delicious.
This recipe is easy to transform: the traditional Italian wedding soup recipe into a keto Italian version.
Pasta is full of gluten, so this Italian Wedding Soup is perfect for Keto, low-carb, or gluten-free diets as long as the high-carb ingredients are substituted.
However, if you are keto or gluten-free and still want pasta, there are options for you, which I’ll discuss below.
Today, I will share how we make Italian Wedding Soup with and without acini de Pepe pasta.
Why Is It Called Italian Wedding Soup?
Today, a soup such as Italian Wedding Soup is inexpensive for a hungry group.
Italian Wedding Soup is also known as the married soup and is typically served at weddings or made just because it’s delicious.
You will always have meat, broth, pasta, and vegetables when making an Italian wedding soup.
For example, mini meatballs made from pork and beef are slowly simmered in chicken broth.
Married soup allows ingredients to bring out the best flavors, just as a married couple should.
Italian Wedding Soup Is Peasant Soup
Our family soup is easy to make and is known as a “peasant soup” in Italy for impoverished people.
In Italy, you never leave food on your plate, but it gets packaged up for the next meal if you do.
So much work goes into farming and bartering for food that waste is NOT an option.
We were told that many Italians were farmers or tradesmen in the 50s, likely before this.
This soup may not be part of your meal plan, depending on the influence of Italy’s people and family.
Growing Vegetables And Fruits In Italy
Growing massive gardens filled with vegetables and herbs was not uncommon and still thrives today.
In the early days, Mrs. CBB’s father grew up on such a farm and fed the pig’s figs that had fallen.
Figs in Canada cost a small fortune, so it’s hard to fathom feeding them to pigs.
However, figs and other fruits are in excess in Italy as the weather is perfect for growing.
There were no funky ways they would bulk out animals as it was organic.
As far as the eyes can see, you might find chickens running around cages for eggs and meat and fruit trees.
Many Italians would farm turkeys, cows, goats, pigs, ducks, pheasants, chickens, and sheep to produce milk, cheese, eggs, and meat.
Italy’s different parts grow foods such as olive oil, carrots, wheat, and broccoli for extra virgin olive oil.
If you love grapes, they are a staple in Italy for making wine and snacks, as are figs, cheese, and vegetables.
It’s common to find lemons, limes, walnuts, chestnuts, plums, oranges, prickly pears, and peach trees.
Herbs such as fennel greens, mint, parsley, basil, oregano, Rosemary, and many others are also grown.
There are many medicinal benefits of various herbs in your diet. I’ll write more about that in another post.
Foraging For Italian Wedding Soup Ingredients
Making soups from whatever ingredients they could find often meant foraging, growing, or bartering.
Foraging is one of our favorite things when taking walks in the forest.
Mrs. CBB and I were taught by her father how to forage, including what we should not pick.
- Asparagus
- Mushrooms
- Dandelion
- Leeks
- Garlic Greens or Scapes
- Berries
- Apples
- Fiddleheads
Our favorite finds are the asparagus, leeks, shaggy mane mushrooms, and chicken mushrooms, and yes, they taste like chicken.
How To Barter For Food In Italy
If you want to eat, you need to barter, and farmers in each part of Italy know each other and what they farm.
For example, if a farmer in Italy has eggs and another who produces durum wheat, they would swap eggs or the chicken for flour.
Pasta is widely made in Italy, and bartering for durum wheat milled into flour is a big deal.
Why Is Italian Wedding Soup Like A Marriage?
Italian Wedding Soup has Acini de Pepe pasta, celery, carrots, onions, and greens mixed in a homemade chicken broth with mini meatballs.
It’s a marriage of love in a pot of hard work, although today, we go to the grocery store to buy what we need.
Hunting and Fishing Food For The Table
Hunting is also typical around Italy and another way to put food on the table for needy families.
Many old-school Italians live in Canada and replicate their life in Italy before moving to Canada.
It’s phenomenal how invested they are in gardening, hunting, fishing, and wine-making.
Although I don’t hunt, I enjoy fishing and keeping the tradition of gardening, fruit trees, and herbs alive.
Related: Italy Hunting Season
Italian hunters fall into three groups: bird hunters, basic hunters and the specialised group.
Italy Hunting Season
How To Make Italian Wedding Soup With Mini Meatballs
If you don’t want to make homemade meatballs, you can buy pre-made in the freezer section of your grocery store.
- 1lb of medium minced beef
- 1/2 cup bread crumbs *replace with crushed pork rinds if keto)
- 1lb of minced pork
- 1 large egg
- 4 cloves of minced garlic (use less if you don’t like that much garlic or elminate)
- 2 teaspoons of each dried parsley and oregano
- 1 teaspoon of salt (add less or more as desired)
- 1 medium onion minced for mini meatballs
Tip: I always fry one meatball in extra virgin olive oil to taste and ensure I’ve added enough salt and herbs.
Instructions: Add the beef and pork mince to a bowl, followed by the rest of the ingredients.
Mix only until combined, or the meatballs can be tough, especially if you plan to fry them first.
Using a small melon ball scoop or your hands, make 3/4-inch to 1-inch meatballs and set them on a tray.
When the broth is ready, slowly add the raw meatballs into the soup pot and cook until tender, typically 1 hour.
If you have extra meatballs that won’t fit in your pot, set them aside and fry them with extra-virgin olive oil and a clove of minced garlic until browned and fully cooked.
We put the mini Italian meatballs in our soup raw and let them cook slowly so the flavours come together.
I used a Le Creuset Soup pot for this recipe that stands up to the quality the product line boasts.
You can use any soup pot, though.
Delicious.
Italian Wedding Soup Broth Ingredients
Tip: Always wash your vegetables with vinegar and water when you use them.
If you don’t want to make homemade chicken bone broth, you can buy it pre-made at the grocery store or the organic Pacific on Amazon.
- 1 medium white onion minced
- 3 ribs of celery diced, include any celery leaves into the pot
- 1 carrot peeled and diced * eliminate if keto
- 4-6 cups of Escarole or chopped spinach (use any green you’d like)
- 1 cup of cauliflower florets (optional, not traditional)
- 1 tsp fresh ground pepper
- 2 teaspoons of salt (adjust as needed). We use sea salt or pink Himalayan salt)
- 2 teaspoons of dry parsley and oregano
- Add some whole or chopped fresh basil leaves as desired
- 8 cups of chicken bone broth homemade or store-bought
Making Chicken Bone Broth Or Buying Bone Broth
Instructions:
Leave the greens closer to the end of preparing your soup unless you use pre-made bone broth.
If you plan to add cauliflower, add it from the start so it has time to soften, and again, this is an optional ingredient and not part of a traditional Italian Wedding Soup.
Put all broth items into a pot and boil; reduce the heat to medium, and add raw meatballs. – no carrots if Keto.
If you choose fried meatballs, the traditional soup will be ready far quicker, but homemade is best.
Additions For The Last Ten Minutes
Add your small soup pasta during the last 10 minutes to allow it to cook through.
The total time to make this recipe is 35 minutes with pre-made broth and fried homemade meatballs.
If you make homemade meatballs and bone broth, the total time is 4 hours; however, most of the time, it is the bone broth you can make the day before.
If you buy frozen pre-cooked meatballs and bone broth, the total time is 20-30 minutes, depending on whether you must fry the meatballs first.
I’m using homemade bone broth for this recipe I will make the day before in the crockpot.
I will make the raw meatballs the day of, taking about 30 minutes from start to finish.
The Wedding soup recipe is ready to serve when the meatballs and pasta are cooked.
I leave the soup on the stovetop for about 45 minutes to 1-hour, stirring often.
Serve hot with homemade baps bread or homemade keto bread or buns.
Types Of Italian Pasta and Keto Pasta
- 1 cup of Orzo or Acini Di Pepe noodles *eliminate if keto or substitute keto pasta.
- Freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese can be found at the grocery store, Costco Canada, or a local Italian grocer. It’s worth paying the extra for the best cheese, especially since a little goes a long way.
I hope you enjoyed a bit of Italian history, but now it’s time to make Italian Wedding Soup.
Let me show you how to make this Italian Wedding Soup recipe.
How To Make Italian Wedding Soup (Keto and Non-Keto)
Italian Wedding Soup
A simple, delicious Italian recipe, traditional Italian Wedding Soup, plus a Keto version is known as a peasant meal in Italy.
Ingredients
- Non-Keto Mini Meatballs + Keto Mini-Meatball Ingredients
- 1lb of medium minced beef
- 1/2 cup bread crumbs *replace with crushed pork rinds if keto)
- 1lb of minced pork
- 1 large egg
- 4 cloves of minced garlic (use less if you don't like that much garlic or eliminate)
- 2 teaspoons of each dried parsley and oregano
- 1 teaspoon of salt (add less or more as desired)
- 1 medium onion minced for mini meatballs
- Chicken Bone Broth Ingredients with homemade bone broth or store-bought
- 1 medium white onion minced
- 3 ribs of celery diced include any celery leaves into the pot as-is
- 1 carrot peeled and diced * eliminate if keto
- 4-6 cups of Escarole or Spinach chopped (use any green you'd like)
- 1 cup of cauliflower florets (optional, not traditional)
- 1 tsp fresh ground pepper
- 2 teaspoons of salt (adjust as needed) We use sea salt or pink Himalayan salt)
- 1 teaspoons of dry parsley and oregano
- Add some whole fresh basil leaves as desired
- 8 cups of chicken bone broth homemade or store-bought
Instructions
- Leave the greens closer to the end of preparing your soup unless you use pre-made bone broth.
- If you plan to add cauliflower, add it from the start, so it has time tosoften and again, this is an optional ingredient and not part of a traditionalItalian Wedding Soup
- Put all broth ingredients into a pot and bring to a boil, reduce the heat tomedium, and add raw meatballs. - no carrots if Keto.
- If you choose to use fried meatballs, the traditional soup will be readyquicker.
- During the last 10 minutes, add your small soup pasta to allow it to cookthrough. (Keto adds the keto rice noodles)
- The total time to make this recipe is 35 minutes with pre-made broth and fried homemade meatballs. Keep in mind we all work faster or slower than each other, so don't get upset if it takes longer.
- If you make the homemade meatballs and bone broth, the total time is 4 hours; however, it's easier to make the bone broth the day before.
- If you buy frozen pre-cooked meatballs and bone broth, the total time is 20-30 minutes, depending on if you have to fry the meatballs first.
- I'm using homemade bone broth for this recipe that I will make the day before in the crockpot.
- How to Make Mini-Meatballs
- Tip: I always fry one meatball in extra virgin olive oil to taste to ensure I've added enough salt and herbs.
- Instructions: Add the beef and pork mince to a bowl, followed by the rest of the ingredients. (bread crumbs or crushed pork rinds for Keto)
- Mix only until combined, or the meatballs can turn out tough, especially if you plan to fry them first.
- Using a small melon ball scoop or your hands, make 3/4 inch to 1-inch meatballs and set them on a tray.
- When the broth is ready, slowly add the raw meatballs into the soup pot and cook until tender, typically 1 hour.
- Serve hot with bread, buns and top the soup with freshly grated cheese.
Notes
Don't let the recipe fool you that this will take a long time as it's effortless. I've added two versions of this recipe with different timings. Find the one that works best for you. If you have any questions, please message me. MR.CBB
Discussion: Do you make Italian Wedding Soup a different way? Will you give this recipe a try?
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