Instant Pot Italian Wedding Soup is a comforting, flavorful soup with meatballs, spinach (or other greens), pasta, and a clear broth. The flavor of this pressure cooker Italian wedding soup is so good, you might be surprised! A family favorite soup recipe.
Instant Pot Italian Wedding Soup
There's nothing like a delicious bowl of soup. Especially when it has wonderful flavor, and is somehow light and hearty at the same time! That's what Instant Pot Italian Wedding Soup is.
Why is it called Italian Wedding Soup?
The term "wedding soup" comes from the Italian phrase "minestra maritata" or "married soup", which means that the meat and greens cooked together make a good marriage of flavors.
Can I use frozen pre-cooked meatballs?
Yes you can, though try to find small, or mini meatballs if you can. That way they can be eaten one bite. You can use larger meatballs, you'll just need to cut them in half as you eat the soup.
When making them, the amount of meat mixture that yields a good size meatball for this soup is 1 ounce. You can use a Tablespoon to measure the meat if you don't happen to have a 1 oz scoop.
My favorite meatballs are made from half ground turkey and half turkey sausage. If you don't have turkey sausage you can easily make a tasty substitute.
Ground Turkey Sausage Substitute
Divide your pound of ground turkey in half. To one half add and mix in:
½ tsp salt, ¼ tsp pepper, ¼ tsp marjoram, ¼ tsp ginger powder, ¼ tsp dried sage, ¼ tsp dried thyme leaves, 3 tsp brown sugar, ¼ tsp red pepper flakes, ½ tsp garlic powder.
Then mix the "sausage" half and the regular ground turkey half together. Continue on to make the recipe.
Can I make Instant Pot Italian Wedding Soup with beef or pork?
Yes! You can use half beef + half sausage to make the meatballs, or use all sausage if you like. The sausage adds an important flavor to the soup.
For the broth you can use beef broth with beef/pork meatballs, and use chicken broth with turkey or chicken meatballs.
Do I need to brown the meatballs first?
Nope. I don't bother. The flavor is excellent and the meatballs come out very tender without browning. Plus it's easier and faster not to!
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Pin This Instant Pot Italian Wedding Soup Recipe
Instant Pot Italian Wedding Soup is a comforting, flavorful soup with meatballs, spinach (or other greens), pasta pearls, and a clear broth. The flavor of this pressure cooker Italian wedding soup is excellent.
- ½ lb Ground Turkey or Chicken (85% lean)
- ½ lb Ground Turkey or Chicken Sausage (85% lean)
- 1 Egg
- 1 slice White Bread, torn into pieces
- ¼ cup Milk
- 3 tsp Italian Seasoning
- ½ tsp Salt
- ½ tsp Pepper
- ½ cup Grated Parmesan Cheese
- ½ tsp Garlic Powder
- 2 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 1 med Onion, chopped
- 3 Carrots, chopped
- 2 ribs Celery, chopped
- 3 cloves Garlic, finely minced
- 9 cups Low Sodium Chicken Broth
- 1 tsp Dill, dried
- 1 tsp Kosher Salt (or ¾ tsp table salt)
- ¼ tsp Pepper
- 1 sm Bay Leaf
- ¾ cup Acini di Pepe (or stars, "pastina")
- 10 oz Fresh Baby Spinach
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Mix the ground meat and sausage together well. Place in a mixing bowl, pushing it to one side.
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Add the egg to the side of the bowl without the meat and beat it.
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Add the torn bread and the milk, making sure the bread soaks up the liquid.
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Add the Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, parmesan, and garlic powder. Mix everything together well.
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Form meat mixture into small, 1-inch meatballs. A 1-oz scoop works very well for this! Set meatballs aside, on a plate or baking sheet.
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Turn on the Sauté setting. When hot, add the oil and the onion, carrots, and celery. Cook, stirring occasionally, for a few minutes, until softened.
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Add the garlic and stir.
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Add the chicken broth, dill, salt, pepper, and bay leaf. Stir.
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Carefully add the meatballs, then the acini di pepe.
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Close the lid and set the steam release knob to the Sealing position.
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Press the Pressure Cook/Manual button or dial, then the +/- button or dial to select 3 minutes. High Pressure. The pot will take several minutes to come to pressure.
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When the cook cycle has finished, turn off the pot and let it sit undisturbed for 15 minutes (15 minute natural release). Then turn the steam release knob to the Venting position to release the remaining steam/pressure.
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When the pin in the lid drops back down, open the lid.
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Add the spinach in handfuls and carefully stir the soup. Let the soup sit for a couple of minutes so the spinach can wilt.
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Serve with some nice crusty bread!
*Can be made with store bought meatballs
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Linda
Sandy I want to use frozen precooked meatballs. Do they need to be defrosted first?
Sandy
Frozen will work just fine!