Experience the warmth and tradition of Italian Wedding Soup (Minestra Maritata) — a beloved dish filled with tender homemade meatballs, fresh vegetables, tiny pasta, and rich broth. In this video, we share the authentic Italian recipe, deep culinary roots, and the heartwarming story behind this iconic comfort food.
Despite the name, Italian Wedding Soup is not just for weddings. The word “wedding” comes from the Italian phrase “minestra maritata,” meaning “married soup,” referring to the perfect marriage of flavors between meat and greens. This tradition dates back to Southern Italy, particularly Naples, where hearty broths with meat and bitter greens were enjoyed for centuries. Italian immigrants later introduced the soup to America, where it became the cozy classic we know today — especially popular during the holidays and cold winter nights.
When Italian immigrants arrived in the United States in the late 1800s and early 1900s, they brought the tradition with them. American grocery stores didn’t sell chicory in 1910 — but they did sell pasta and spinach. Italian-American cooks adapted, and the soup transformed into the cozy, delicate dish we know today.
Whether you’re recreating a nostalgic family recipe from Nonna or trying this soup for the first time, this bowl is comfort, culture, and tradition in every spoonful.
#ItalianWeddingSoup #MinestraMaritata #ItalianSoup #ItalianFood #ItalianRecipes #AuthenticItalian #NonnaStyleCooking #ComfortFood #SoupSeason #HomemadeSoup
If you enjoy our content and want to support the channel, check out our Amazon storefront! We’ve curated a collection of our favorite gear, tools, and must-haves — everything I actually use and recommend. As an Amazon Associate and Influencer, I earn from qualifying purchases, at no extra cost to you. Just click the link below and browse around. Every click helps me keep creating more great content for you!
Check out our full Amazon storefront for all our favorite gear: https://www.amazon.com/shop/tebosworldrecipes
Follow us for more recipe videos!
Subscribe to our channel for more videos on World Recipes and cultural explorations.
Thanks again for all your support.
Visit our online store!
Music: Happy Italian Song
Music Author: Vlzmusic
https://www.vecteezy.com/free-videos/subscribe
Subscribe Stock Videos by Vecteezy
Intro Music – Future Tech Logo
Author – Magiksolo
https://www.vecteezy.com/free-png/amazon
Amazon PNGs by Vecteezy
Hello friends, welcome to Temples War Recipes. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Winter is coming and we bring you the perfect dish for this weather. We’re going to make an Italian wedding soup. The name, it doesn’t refer that it’s a soup that is served in weddings. It was more a lost in translation moment as the original name is minestra maritata which translates to married soup and this refers to the marriage between the meat and the grains used in the soup that goes real well. It was born as kushina pa or poor people’s food and it was made to use up leftover ingredients. It originated in southern Italy and it was a way to make a nourishing and inexpensive meal. There are some regional variations depending on what meat and greens do you use. For example, for meats you can use uh beef, ve turkey. And for the greens you can use end dyes, kale, spinach, escarole, etc. When the Italian immigrants come to the US, they adapted the the recipe and it has become a staple in American uh Italian cassette. It’s a very easy soup, great for this cold weather, and I’m going to show you how to do it. So, let’s get cooking. The ingredients we’re going to need is olive oil, one onion, four carrots, four celery stocks, three garlic cloves, half cup of white wine, 5 cups of chicken broth, 5 cups of beefto, three bay leaves, 1 and 1/2 cups of ditalini pasta, and 1 1 and 12 lbs of spinach, salt and pepper to taste. For our meatballs, we’re going to use a pound of ground beef, a pound of Italian sausage, two eggs, 1/3 of a cup of chopped parsley, half a tablespoon of garlic powder, 1 cup of panco crumbs, 1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper to taste, [Music] We’re going to start preparing everything. We’re going to start by peeling our carrots. We’re going to chop off the carrot tops, cut them into halves, and chop them into small pieces. [Music] We’re going to do the same with our celery stocks. [Music] and our onion. Now we have our three components for our mirror paw. [Music] We’re also going to rough chop our spinach. [Music] And we’re going to chop our parsley finely. [Music] To prepare our meatballs, in a bowl, we’re going to add our ground beef. And for our Italian sausages, I’m going to remove the casing. And we’re just going to use the meat. [Music] We’re going to remove the tripe from all our Italian sausages. We’re going to premix our Italian sausage and ground beef. And then we’re going to add our eggs, our parsley. I’m going to reserve a little bit for garnish. [Music] Our parmesan cheese. our panko breadrumbs [Music] and our garlic powder. [Music] Now, using our hands, we’re going to mix everything until we get a homogeneous paste. Now, we’re going to season a little bit with salt. and some pepper. [Music] And we’ll keep on mixing. [Music] Now, for our soup, we’re going to prepare our meatballs. For this soup, we’re going to make them very small, probably like 3/4 of an inch. And we’re going to keep on rolling until we get all our meatballs. In my case, I got 120. [Music] Now, let’s start preparing our soup. In a pot, I’m going to add a little bit of olive oil. And when it’s hot, we’re going to add our onion. We’re going to cook our onion for a few minutes until it’s soft and translucent. We don’t want our onion to get brown. And once our onion is soft, I’m going to press the garlic cloves. [Music] We’re going to cook our garlic for a minute or two, just until everything is fragrant. This is smelling great. Once our garlic is fragrant, it’s time to add our carrots and our celery. [Music] We’re going to cook these for about 10 to 15 minutes until they’re soft and tender. [Music] Once our mirror is ready, we’re going to add our white wine. We’re going to cook the white wine for a minute or two until all the alcohol evaporates. [Music] At this point, it’s time to add our beef broth and our chicken broth. You can use only beef broth or only chicken broth. I just like the mix for this soup. [Music] Once it starts simmering, it is time to add A little bit of salt and pepper and our bay leaves. [Music] We’re going to incorporate everything together. Once it starts boiling, we’re going to reduce the heat. And now it’s time to start adding our meatballs. You can also prefer your meatballs in a pan with a little bit of olive oil. Just don’t cook them all the way. The traditional way is just to cook the meatballs inside the broth. I got 120 meatballs. I only used half. As our meatballs are cooking in the soup, it’s a perfect time for you to click on subscribe to our channel. If you don’t want to miss any videos, click on the bell to get notifications. Leave us your comments and request any recipe that you would like to see. And at the end of this video, don’t forget to give us a like. Also, don’t forget to visit our store in Amazon where you’re going to be finding specialty ingredients, pots, pans, recipe books, etc. or our Teivos World Recipe store through our YouTube channel where you can find t-shirts, hoodies, stickers, etc. supporting our channel. We appreciate all your help and support. Don’t forget to follow us on Facebook and Instagram. And now, let’s finish our Italian wedding suit. [Music] After 15 minutes, you can see the meatballs start to float, and that means they’re cooked. Look at that. This is looking delicious. Now, it’s time to add our spinach. We’re going to keep on cooking for another 10- 15 minutes until the spinach wilts and integrates to the soup. [Music] Now it’s time to cook our pasta. In another pot with boiling water, we’re going to cook our pasta. In this case, I’m using ditalini, but any small pasta will work on this dish. The reason we’re cooking it separately is in case you have any leftovers, the pasta is just going to soak all the broth. It’s easier just to add the pasta to the dish. [Music] And once our pasta’s cooked, we’re going to drain it. [Music] I’m going to cover it with a little bit of olive oil so the pasta doesn’t stick. And now it’s time to plate our Italian wedding soup. In a bowl, I’m going to add a little bit of the pasta first. And then we’re going to serve our wedding soup. Make sure to get a little bit of everything. Oh, I can’t wait to finish. We’re going to add a little bit of the grated Parmesan cheese and some parsley. We’re ready to eat. Our Italian wedding soup is ready and it smells incredible. Let’s try it. Get a little bit of everything. uh some pasta, the spinach. [Music] Such an incredible flavor. The meatballs with the beef and the Italian sausage are excellent and they’re cooked great. Remember, you can also pan fry them before adding them to the soup and it will give a little bit more flavor. The pasta, the spinach, and the veggies go together real well. And the marriage between both of them is excellent. Very comforting dish. Excellent for this winter weather. You should give it a try. And we’ll see you next time.
Dining and Cooking