Healthy Italian Wedding Soup has it all. Tender meatballs, made from chicken and flavored with old-world spicing and a touch of ricotta, make the soup. They’re nestled right into the rich broth brimming with hearty vegetables.

Healthy Italian Wedding Soup

This recipe was a long time coming; the chicken meatballs gave me some angst. Finally, I hit on the idea of using my Chicken & Ricotta Meatballs . They’re so good, sometimes they’re all gobbled up before the soup is made…try not to do that! Because you don’t want to miss out on this soup.

About Healthy Italian Wedding Soup:

Italian Wedding Soup is not only Italian American, but it couldn’t be more different than the Italian version, Minestra Maritata. The name literally comes from the fact that the soup is a marriage of the ingredients, and that holds true both in the old world and the new.

For the US version, once you have a great meatball for the soup, the rest is gravy. Ahem, the rest is soup? Honestly, when you look at the ingredients of this Healthy Italian Wedding Soup, you might think it looks a little mundane.

Don’t be fooled by that. With those meatballs, a good stock or broth, and a glug of wine, the soup is incredible. It’s one of my favorites of all the different Soup Recipes on my site.

Chicken & Ricotta Meatballs

The Best Ingredients for Healthy Italian Wedding Soup:

A homemade version of the stock would be a flex, but feel free to use a boxed or canned version or a paste or powder. Then you’ll fill the soup out with onions, celery, carrots, and a little kale or spinach, along with the meatballs. Tender baby spinach doesn’t fare well, so look for the regular old spinach.

The final touch is a bit of small pasta. We really like orzo the best, and I think it swells less in the soup without becoming mushy. Especially if there are leftovers, but you do you. Any tiny pasta will work.

If you want to, a can or about 1 1/2 cups of white beans can make your Italian Wedding Soup a little heartier and stretch the soup a bit. If you do decide to add canned beans, rinse them well.

The Meatballs:

You’ll use about 1/2 recipe of the Chicken (or Turkey) Ricotta Meatballs in this soup. You can cut the recipe in half or make the full recipe and use the rest for something else. There are suggestions on that post.

Then there are two ways the meatballs can be added to the soup, and details on both are in the recipe:

• They can be tossed in raw to gently simmer.
• They can be baked off and heated through in the soup.

In the baked version, the pan is deglazed, and the resulting liquid is a flavor bonus.

Serve with:

• A good sprinkle of Romano or Parmesan cheese.
• Italian bread, breadsticks, or Garlic bread are all great sides. If you’re feeling extra, mix up this Artisan Style no-knead bread the night before and bake it off before dinner.

Crusty Bread Easy Overnight No Knead

Leftover Italian Wedding Soup:

• This soup stores well for three to four days, but a little more liquid might be needed when reheating. Water is fine.
• Reheat in a pot if there is a larger amount; just bring it to a quick boil and turn off. A microwave is fine for a single serving.
• Italian Wedding Soup freezes well. Reheat as above after thawing overnight in the fridge.

If You Like this Soup, You Might Also Like:

Winter Minestrone

Creamy Tortellini Soup

Greek Meatball Soup

Winter Minestrone with Sausage & Beans

Saving Money on Groceries:

What you pay for groceries depends not only on WHERE you shop, but WHEN. Be strategic and stock up at rock-bottom prices.

• The best sales are before holidays; check out Win at the Grocers. Use these sales not just for your holiday, but to stock up at a low for the coming weeks to months.
• Take advantage of discount stores like Aldi or Lidl. The pricing at Buyer’s clubs is not always the lowest, but can trump in quality; be selective.

The best way to save money on this or any recipe is to have a well-stocked pantry, fridge, and freezer full of sale-priced items.

The Chicken Meatballs:

• The meatballs are the majority of the cost of the soup, so shop well for those ingredients.

Chicken Stock or Turkey Stock:

• The best flex is making Best Chicken or Turkey Stock.
• Cartons are the priciest option, followed by cans. Stock up before holiday sales, check your buyer’s club, and discount groceries. It should go w/o saying, but know your brands; some are awful.
• Pastes (like Better than Bullion) are next in price and better quality than powders.
• If budget is tight, go with powdered; check the Mexican aisle or market for best pricing.
• A box is 32 ounces or 4 cups. A standard can is 14.5 ounces, a little over 1 3/4 cup.

Basic Veggies: 

• Basic veggies like onions, celery, and carrots are some of the cheapest. For best pricing, try the discount stores. Bags are generally better deals than loose.
• Store onions in a cool, dark, well-ventilated place, away from potatoes.
• No need to wrap celery in pricy foil; if bagged, just slip a produce bag over the top, and if not, use two produce bags, and store in a drawer in the fridge away from vegetables and fruits that produce ethylene gas.
• Carrots need ventilation – poke a few extra holes in the bag, place them at right angles to any grooves in the produce drawer. Turn them now and then. Again, keep away from vegetables & fruits that produce ethylene gas, which will turn carrots bitter

Kale:

• If it can be found still fresh, the big bags can be a bargain, provided they don’t go to waste. Check the bags carefully for spoilage before buying.
• Check out this post, Freeze Kale the Right Way; even if you don’t plan on freezing, blanching (the process is in that post) makes the kale tender, sweeter, and makes it last longer. If you take the extra step and freeze in packets, you’ll always have kale on hand for recipes like this.

Orzo: 

• Orzo or other tiny pastas like pastini or stars are generally not included in most pasta sales, but this can vary by region.
• Discount stores like Aldi and Lidl have great prices, and so do buyer’s clubs.
• Freeze any item like pasta that contains flour for three days, and you’ll avoid any possible future issues with “peskies.”

Hello All! Healthy Italian Wedding Soup is truly a favorite recipe, and I think you’ll be surprised that a chicken meatball works so well. I’ve updated this post in 2026, and used ai to drop in the table setting. The soup itself is the original photo. I hope you enjoy!

Mollie

Healthy Italian Wedding Soup

Healthy Italian Wedding Soup with Chicken Meatballs

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So good you’d never guess it’s healthy.

• Author: mollie kirby
• Prep Time: 10 minutes + time to make meatballs
• Cook Time: 30 minutes
• Total Time: varies
• Yield: 8 servings 1x
• Category: soup
• Cuisine: Italian

Ingredients

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• 1/2 recipe of Chicken & Ricotta Meatballs *
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 finely chopped onion
• 3 carrots, if thin, cut into 1/4” slices, if thicker, cut the large area in half, then cut into slices
• 2 stalks celery cut into 1/4” slices
• 10 cups homemade chicken stock or a good, store-bought one
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 3/4 to 1 cup small pasta such as orzo
• several handfuls of chopped kale or spinach
• grated Romano or Parmesan for garnish

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Instructions

* Chicken & Ricotta Meatballs may be added to this soup in one of two ways:

• The meatballs may be baked as directed in the recipe, the pan deglazed with the wine and/or broth, and both the meatballs and the deglazing liquid can be added to the soup; the deglazed wine/broth is added when the soup mixture is brought to a boil, and the meatballs are added along with the pasta.
• Alternatively, the meatballs may be added in a raw state once the broth and wine are brought to a boil. Turn the soup down to a brisk simmer and add the meatballs. Simmer for a total of 10 to 12 minutes. That means you’ll add the meatballs to the simmering broth, and give the meatballs a five to six-minute head start before adding the pasta.

So on to the recipe:

Add olive oil to Dutch oven, heat to medium, and add onion, carrots, and celery, and cook until nearly tender, about 8 to 10 minutes, stirring as needed. Add stock and wine (or stock, wine, and drippings if your meatballs are already cooked) and bring to a simmer.

• If cooking meatballs from the raw state in the soup, add them as soon as the soup comes to a simmer. Once added, return the pot to a brisk simmer & cook for about five to six minutes. Then add the pasta and continue simmering for an additional five to seven minutes.
• If using cooked meatballs, simmer the broth for about five minutes, and then add the orzo. Simmer for about five to seven minutes, then add the meatballs.

For both methods, continue to simmer for five to seven more minutes, until pasta is nearly tender. Add the kale or spinah and simmer until the greens are tender and wilted, but still fresh, and the pasta is done to your liking.

Taste and adjust any seasonings.

Serve with grated Romano or Parmesan cheese.