Little Italy Wedding Soup Recipe

You Will Also Need

Little Italy Wedding Soup Mix
1 tbsp Olive oil
1 Medium onion, chopped (optional)
1 lb Turkey Italian sausage, about 4-5 links
2 Egg whites, or 1 egg, beaten
10 cups Chicken broth
4 cups Escarole, or 1 head, chopped (may substitute 1 box frozen spinach)
Optional: Shredded parmesan cheese

Here's What You Do

Preparing the meatballs:

To form meatballs easily, keep a bowl of cold water nearby and dip fingers between rolling meatballs.
Push the turkey sausage out of the casings into mixing bowl. Discard casings.
Add contents of smaller packet of breadcrumb mixture and egg to the bowl with the turkey. Combine mixture well.
Form small meatballs by hand, about 60. Set aside in refrigerator, or freezer, until ready to add to the soup.

Preparing the soup:

In a 6 quart pot, heat oil over medium low heat. Add onion and sauté for 3-5 minutes, then add the contents of the larger vegetable seasoning packet. (If omitting onion, add the contents of the larger vegetable seasoning packet to the oil, stir for 30 seconds.)
Add broth, stir and bring to a boil.
Add meatballs, cover and simmer 20 minutes.
Uncover, bring soup to a boil. Stir in tiny pasta and escarole (or spinach).
Return to a simmer, cover and cook 10-15 minutes. If soup is too thick, add 1-3 cups of water, as needed.
Serve with Parmesan cheese and crusty bread for a fine family dinner.

Recipe Adaptations

Vegan

Tiny meatballs are the essential ingredient of any Italian wedding soup, so use a plant-based meat substitute to prepare the “meat” balls. We find this soup is delicious with plenty of escarole and leaving out the meatballs as well.

You Will Also Need:

14 oz. Package non-meat Italian sausage
1 Tbsp. Water
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
8 cups vegetable broth (64 oz.)
½ head escarole, chopped (4 cups) or 5 oz. fresh Spinach, chopped

Here’s What You Do:

Preparing the non-meat Meatballs:

To form meatballs easily, keep a small bowl of cold water nearby and dip fingers between rolling meatballs.
In a medium sized bowl, mix contents of smaller packet of breadcrumb seasoning mixture, meat substitute and water. Form 60-70 small “meat” balls. Set aside in refrigerator, or freezer, until ready to add to the soup.

Preparing the Soup:

In a 6-quart pot, heat oil over medium low heat. Add onion and saute for 5 minutes and stir in the contents of the vegetable seasoning packet.
Add broth, stir, and bring to boil.
Add Plant-based meatballs, cover, and simmer 20 minutes.
Uncover, bring soup to a boil. Stir in tiny pasta from soup mix and escarole or spinach.
Return to simmer, cover, and cook 10 minutes. If soup is too thick, add 1-3 cups water, if needed and serve.

Slow Cooker

Recommended slow cooker size: 4 quart

Here’s What You Do:

Preparing the Meatballs:

Follow directions for preparing the meatballs.

Preparing the Soup:

Place broth, chopped onion, meatballs, and contents of the larger seasoning packet into the bowl of 4-6 quart slow cooker.
Set the heat on low and let simmer 6 to 7 hours covered.
Add pasta packet, cover and continue to cook for 45 minutes longer and serve.
Additional Tips:
If prefer not to add the escarole, may use 8 cups of broth instead of 10 cups.

Pressure Cooker

We do not have a specific Pressure Cooker recipe for this soup at this time.

Recipe Variations

We don’t currently have a recipe variation for this soup, please send us yours!

Cooking & Nutrition Tips

Remember these are soup-starter mixes, you can’t go wrong! Feel free to omit any of our recommended additions and/or add any of your favorites!

To boost vegetables, add 1 1/2 cups chopped squash with escarole. To vary vegetables, substitute 1 bulb chopped fennel for onion.
To reduce sodium: use a low-sodium broth, bone broth, or stock.
For added protein: add a can of your favorite bean (black, chickpea, navy, etc), chicken breast, or other plant-based protein option.
For added nutrition: look in your fridge/garden and add any vegetables you have on hand!