Vegetarian Italian Wedding Soup
My vegetarian Italian Wedding Soup is made with fresh basil, bite-sized vegan sausage meatballs, pasta, and spinach. It’s a cozy weeknight meal that can easily be made vegan.
My vegetarian twist on hearty wedding soup features plant-based meatballs, acini de pepe pasta, and plenty of vegetables. With 31 g of protein and less than 400 calories per serving, this Italian wedding soup is filling and delicious.
Why I love this recipe
This vegetarian Italian wedding soup recipe is kid-friendly, affordable, and a healthy, weeknight dinner option.
I’ve taken my family recipe and made it vegetarian-friendly, thanks to vegan sausage! I have a similar recipe in my Italian cookbook, made with brown rice and mushroom meatballs.
This version is easier and faster to make using vegan sausage!
Wedding soup (minestra maritata) is so named because the greens and meat are said to go so well together. Well, in my wedding soup, greens and vegan sausage deliciously marry together.
Ingredient Notes
Instead of making homemade meatballs, I’m using a trick taking vegan sausage and making it into mini meatballs. This cuts down on prep time and ensures that the meatballs won’t fall apart when added to the soup.
I chose the vegan sausage from Impossible, but other brands like Beyond Meat will work. If you select a different sausage, then you’ll want to make sure it’s either savory or Italian flavored. Maple-flavored or breakfast sausage won’t work in this wedding soup recipe.
The basil, onion, carrot, celery and garlic act as both aromatics and texture for this soup. Instead of chopping and sauting them as you would in many other soup recipes, they are added to a food processor and chopped until very fine, then fried in oil until very tender.
For the best flavor, choose a well-seasoned vegetable broth or vegan chicken broth, like the kind from Orrington Farms.
Substitutions
Acini de pepe is the classic choice in Italian wedding soup, but any small pasta shape, such as orzo, ditalini, or stelline (little stars), will work.
Frozen and thawed spinach makes for an easy greens addition, though kale, swiss chard or other hearty green will work.
For a dairy-free option, there are many great vegan parmesan alternatives available now in most larger grocery stores (often in the refrigerated or health food sections).
Alternatively, you can sprinkle nutritional yeast for a cheesy, savory flavor, or simply enjoy the soup without the garnish.
How to Make
Step 1: Make the Mini Meatballs
Add your vegan sausage of choice to a bowl, then pinch off in small pieces and roll into meatballs. You can make these as small or large as you’d like, but I find that the mini meatball size is perfect in soup and makes them easier to eat.
Saute either in the same stock pot you will use for cooking the soup, or in a separate skillet until browned on all sides.
Step 2: Mince the Vegetables
Add the carrots, celery, onion, basil, and garlic to the base of a food processor and finely chop until minced. It should look like the photo below.
If you don’t have a food processor, then a blender will work, though you may have to work in batches and stop and scrape down the sides of the blender to incorporate all of the vegetables fully.
Step 3: Saute the Vegetables
Sauté the vegetables in olive oil until very tender and soft. I usually use the same large pot to cook the meatballs and then the vegetables to reduce clean-up!
Stir often to reduce burning at the bottom of your pan; this takes me about 10 minutes.
Step 4: Add the broth
Add the broth and bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer. Squeeze the thawed spinach thoroughly with your hands to remove the excess water.
You can also use a fine mesh sieve to remove as much water as possible. Add to the broth along with the pasta and meatballs and cook for 10 minutes until the pasta is al dente.
Step 5: Serve
Taste and season as desired. I often add a little squeeze of lemon juice at the end, along with finely grated parmesan cheese.
Chef Tips for Success
This version of vegetarian Italian wedding soup is made easy by creating vegan meatballs out of plant-based sausage. For even cooking, make the mini meatballs about the same size, a roughly 1-inch ball.
For extra flavor, make sure to brown the meatballs on all sides before adding to the soup pot as this will prevent them from falling apart in the soup and give extra color and flavor.
For the best texture, use a food processor to mince the vegetables except for the spinach as this allows them to almost melt into the broth, adding a nice textured broth and letting the meatballs, pasta, and spinach shine.
What to serve with
This vegetarian Italian wedding soup pairs well with a nice load of crusty bread, like my no-knead bread made in the Instant Pot.
I also like to add in an extra serving of vegetables by serving soup with salad, like my easy kale caesar salad.
Frequently Asked Questions
My vegan sausage is really soft/crumbly and hard to roll into meatballs. What can I do?
Vegan sausage textures vary a lot; I recommend the brands Impossible or Beyond Meat for best results. If your mixture is too soft, then you can chill the sausage mixture in the fridge for 15-20 minutes before rolling, which will help it firm up. Or, you can crumble the vegan sausage and brown it like you would ground meat. It will still taste great in the soup.
I don’t have a food processor for the vegetable paste. Can I still make the recipe?
Yes! A food processor makes this vegetarian Italian wedding soup come together faster, but you can absolutely mince the basil, onion, celery, carrot, and garlic very finely with a sharp knife. It will take more time and effort, and the texture might be slightly less “paste-like,” but it will still create a delicious flavor base for your soup. Just chop everything as small as you possibly can.
How much do I really need to squeeze the thawed spinach?
Squeeze it very thoroughly! Thawed frozen spinach holds a surprising amount of water. Take handfuls and squeeze firmly over the sink until you can’t get much more water out. Excess water left in the spinach will dilute the flavor of your soup broth.
Storing and Reheating Notes
Allow the vegetarian Italian wedding soup to cool completely before transferring it to an airtight container. Store it in the fridge for 3-4 days, though the pasta will continue to absorb liquid and become softer as it sits.
For this reason, I don’t recommend making this soup ahead of time. If you want to prep for meal prep then you can brown the meatballs and make the broth ahead of time and then combine right before eating.
To reheat, add the soup to a pot and cook over medium-low heat until warmed through, stirring occasionally. You can also reheat individual portions in the microwave. If the soup has thickened too much, add a splash of vegetable broth or water to thin it.
More Vegetarian Soups
- Slow Cooker Vegetable Soup
- Instant Pot Lentil Soup
- Chickpea Noodle Soup
- Vegetable Chowder with Potatoes
- Vegan Black Bean Soup
If you try this vegetarian Italian wedding soup, make sure to come back to leave a comment and a rating. Your feedback helps other readers and seeing you make my recipes makes my day!
Vegetarian Italian Wedding Soup
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 14 ounce package vegan sausage, like Impossible Sausage
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 cup loosley packed basil leaves
- 1 medium white or yellow onion, chopped into chunks
- 2 stalks celery, chopped into chunks
- 1 large carrot, chopped into chunks
- 5 cloves garlic
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 8 cups vegetable broth
- 10 ounces frozen chopped spinach, thawed
- 2/3 cup acini de pepe pasta
Instructions
- Roll the sausage into mini meatball size balls. I pinched off about 1-inch size pieces and roll into balls. Alternitevely, you can just brown the sausage but I like making them into mini meatball sizes like traditional wedding soup.
- Heat the olive oil in a soup pot or dutch oven over medium heat. Add the meatballs and brown on all sides, about 5 minutes. Remove and place on a plate.
- Place the basil, onion, celery, carrot and garlic in a food processor and mince into a smooth paste. Add the vegetable mixer into the pot along with 1/2 teaspoon of salt and cook for 10 minutes, stirring oten, until the vegetables start to lose moisture.
- Add the vegetable broth and bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer.
- Squeeze the thawed spinach thoroughly with your hands to remove the excess water. Add the spinach, pasta and meatballs back to the pot and cook for 10 minutes., until the pasta is tender.
- Season to taste, adding more salt and pepper as desired. I sometimes add in a little squeeze of lemon at the end, but that's optional.
- Divide into bowls and garnish with freshly ground parmesan cheese, if desired.