Crockpot Italian wedding soup
Italian wedding soup is comfort food at its best, filled with tender pasta, juicy meatballs, and a flavorful broth. Making it in the slow cooker means you get all the flavor of a simmered-all-day soup with very little hands-on effort.
Equipment
- Large rimmed baking sheet
- 6-quart crockpot
Ingredients
Meatballs:
- ½ lb ground beef
- ½ lb ground pork
- ½ cup panko breadcrumbs
- ½ cup Parmesan cheese (finely grated )
- ¼ cup onion (grated)
- ¼ cup fresh parsley (finely chopped)
- 1 egg
- 3 garlic cloves (minced)
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
Soup:
- 3 celery stalks (diced)
- 2 medium carrots (diced)
- 1 medium onion (diced)
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 8 cups chicken broth
- ½ tablespoon Italian seasoning
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 cup acini de pepe (or orzo pasta)
- 4 cups baby spinach
Instructions
- Set the oven to 400°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, combine all the meatball ingredients, mixing just until everything is incorporated.
- Shape the mixture into 1.5-inch balls and arrange them on the baking sheet.
- Bake for 16–18 minutes, turning once halfway through, until nicely browned. The meatballs don’t need to be fully cooked as they’ll finish cooking in the crockpot.
- Place the meatballs in the crockpot. Add the celery, carrots, onion, garlic, chicken broth, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper.
- Cover and cook on low for 6–8 hours or high for 3–4 hours, until the meatballs are fully cooked (at least 145°F inside).
- About an hour before serving, stir in the pasta and let it cook until tender.
- Add the spinach at the end, letting it wilt into the soup.
Notes
- Use your favorite homemade meatball recipe or frozen store-bought ones.
- Frozen meatballs can go straight into the crockpot, just allow extra cook time.
- Try swapping the beef and pork for Italian sausage, turkey, or chicken.
- If you don’t have acini de pepe, orzo or ditalini pasta works well too.
- A squeeze of fresh lemon juice at the end adds brightness.
Nutrition
Calories: 361kcalCarbohydrates: 23gProtein: 23gFat: 20gSaturated Fat: 8gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 8gTrans Fat: 0.5gCholesterol: 93mgSodium: 2296mgPotassium: 548mgFiber: 3gSugar: 4gVitamin A: 5619IUVitamin C: 13mgCalcium: 191mgIron: 3mg
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