This Italian Wedding Soup is a comforting and nourishing meal made gluten and dairy-free! It’s made in one pot with homemade meatballs, vegetables, grain-free orzo, and herbs.

A pot of Italian wedding soup.

What is Italian Wedding Soup?

Italian wedding soup  didn’t actually get its name from being served at weddings! Rather, it roughly translates to being a “marriage” of the meat from the meatballs and vegetables and greens in the spinach, carrots, and onions.

This soup is traditionally made with standard meatballs with flour and egg as a binder, spinach, carrots, onions, a small pasta, and is often finished with cheese! This version is made with a gluten-free meatball, grain-free orzo, and is totally dairy-free.

The Ingredients for Italian Wedding Soup

  • Ground pork & ground beef. The meatballs are made with a blend of pork and beef for an extra hearty flavor.
  • Almond flour & egg yolk. This is used as a binder in the meatballs. If you don’t do eggs or almonds, you can actually skip these, but it does change the texture just a bit.
  • Chicken broth.
  • Carrots, onions, garlic & herbs.
  • Cassava orzo. You can also use any other orzo of your choice, but the cassava orzo keeps this recipe grain and gluten-free.
  • Spinach. The hallmark of an Italian wedding soup!

The ingredients for Italian Wedding Soup.

 

How to make Italian Wedding Soup

  • Form the meatballs. In a large bowl, combine the ground beef and pork, egg yolk, almond flour, parsley, garlic, oregano, onion powder, and salt and pepper. Stir to thoroughly combine. Form the meat mixture into small meatballs.

Meatballs on a baking sheet.

  • Cook the meatballs. Working in batches, add half the meatballs and cook until browned on all sides. Repeat with the second half of the meatballs and set aside.

A dutch oven with meatballs.

  • Cook the vegetables. Add the onion and garlic and sauté for 5 minutes, or until the onion is translucent. Add the carrot and celery and cook for another 4-5 minutes or until the vegetables are slightly fork-tender.

Vegetables ready to be sauted.

  • Combine the soup. Add the broth and bring to a boil. Add the orzo and meatballs and reduce to a simmer and cover. Stir occasionally for 10 minutes or until the orzo is soft.  Stir the spinach in and allow to wilt. Serve warm!

 

A bowl of Italian wedding soup.

Can you make this recipe without the orzo?

You definitely want some sort of pasta for this recipe, so you can use another pasta of your choice. I have a recipe in my cookbook that uses cauliflower rice instead, but you would want to use less broth.

Can you make this recipe without the pork?

You can also make this recipe with just ground beef.

How do you make this recipe AIP?

  • Omit the black pepper
  • Omit the almond flour and egg from the meatballs. This will still work, but they’ll be more delicate.

A bowl of Italian Wedding Soup.

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Italian Wedding Soup {Gluten-free, Dairy-free}


  • Author: Michelle
  • Total Time: 50 minutes
  • Yield: 4 servings 1x
  • Diet: Gluten Free

Description

This Italian Wedding Soup is a comforting and nourishing meal made gluten and dairy-free! It’s made in one pot with homemade meatballs, vegetables, grain-free orzo, and herbs.


Ingredients

Scale

For the meatballs

  • 1/2 pound ground beef
  • 1/2 pound  ground pork
  • 1 egg yolk, whisked (see notes for AIP)
  • 3 tbsp almond flour (see notes for AIP)
  • 2 tsp chopped parsley
  • 1/2 tsp oregano
  • 1 garlic clove, finely minced
  • Salt & pepper to taste
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil

For the soup

  • 1 yellow onion, diced
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 cup carrots, diced
  • 1/2 cup chopped celery
  • 3/4 cup cassava orzo, dry (or another GF orzo)
  • 6 cups chicken broth
  • Salt & pepper to taste
  • 3 cups fresh spinach, chopped

Instructions

  1. To make the meatballs: In a large bowl, combine the ground beef and pork, egg yolk, almond flour, parsley, garlic, oregano, onion powder, and salt and pepper. Stir to thoroughly combine. Form the meat mixture into small (3/4”-1”) meatballs.
  2. Heat the oil over medium heat in a large pot. Working in batches, add half the meatballs and cook until browned on all sides. Repeat with the second half of the meatballs and set aside.
  3. Add the onion and garlic and sauté for 5 minutes, or until the onion is translucent. Add the carrot and celery and cook for another 4-5 minutes or  until the vegetables are slightly fork-tender.
  4. Add the broth and bring to a boil. Add the orzo and meatballs and reduce to a simmer and cover. Stir occasionally for 10 minutes or until the orzo is soft. 
  5. Stir the spinach in and allow it to wilt. Serve warm topped ith parsley. 

Notes

To make this recipe AIP, omit the pepper, egg yolk, and almond flour. The meatballs will still work, but will be more delicate to work with!

All nutrition facts are estimated and will vary.

  • Prep Time: 20
  • Cook Time: 30

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 1
  • Calories: 417
  • Fat: 20.6g
  • Carbohydrates: 24.3g
  • Fiber: 29.7g

Recipe by Michelle, Unbound Wellness. Photos by Ashleigh Scott