How to Make the Olive Garden Wedding Soup Recipe at Home

Olive Garden is famous for its delicious, hearty soups. The endless soup and salad is a classic Olive Garden combination, but you might not always want to visit Olive Garden to enjoy the delightful taste of wedding soup.

Furthermore, Olive Garden doesn’t always serve this soup, so if you crave its taste, you might have to make it yourself. For those wondering how to make the Olive Garden wedding soup recipe at home, you’ve come to the right place. This recipe isn’t too challenging to make, so if you’re eager to try this delicious soup, read on and get it on the table for dinner tonight.

What Makes Wedding Soup So Good?

Italian wedding soup has a long and fascinating history. Although the name might suggest that it is served at weddings, that’s not the case. In fact, the translation of the soup more closely means “married soup,” and it’s not about two people in love. The magic of this soup is the marriage between vegetables and meat!

While this soup typically uses meatballs, it originated as a soup that peasants would make. They would throw together whatever leftover meat they had into the dish with greens they had growing around them. As a result, this soup is incredibly versatile, and everyone can enjoy their own version of this soup. The recipe provided here is just one of many options.

Endlessly Tasty Olive Garden Wedding Soup Recipe

There’s no doubt that you’ll want to have bowl after bowl of this soup. It’s a great dish to serve with your loved ones, but you might not want to share it! This soup is versatile as both a main course and a side or appetizer. From a fancy dinner to a casual dinner by yourself, this soup can fulfill your needs. It’s great served as leftovers, and you can make it without investing too much time.

Ingredients

For meatballs:

• ½ pound ground beef
• ½ pound ground pork
• 1/3 cup breadcrumbs
• ¼ cup parmesan cheese, grated
• 1 yellow onion, minced
• 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
• 2 eggs
• Pinch of salt
• Sprinkle of freshly ground pepper
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil

For soup:

• 4 tablespoon olive oil
• 8 cups beef broth
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 16 ounces spinach
• 8 ounces orzo
• 1/3 cup sherry or white wine
• 2 medium-sized onions, minced
• 3 tablespoons flour
• ½ teaspoon chili flakes
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• ½ grated parmesan cheese for garnish

Instructions

1. Begin by preparing your meatballs. Mix together the meats, onions, eggs, nutmeg, breadcrumbs, cheese, salt, and pepper. Make sure they are thoroughly combined. Cover and then chill for about 15 minutes. Shape the meatballs into the size of your choice. I suggest making them small. Heat olive oil in a skillet. Sauté meatballs for about ten minutes until they are cooked completely. Drain on a paper towel. Set aside.
2. Heat olive oil for the soup in a pot on medium heat. Add the onions for the soup when the olive oil is heated and cook for about 5 minutes until the onions are translucent. Add the garlic and cook for 3 minutes more.
3. Sprinkle the flour and whisk thoroughly to avoid clumps. Cook until the flour starts to brown, which takes around 5 minutes.
4. Use the sherry or wine to deglaze the pot, scraping everything from the bottom of the pot.
5. Add the broth, orzo, chili flakes, salt, and pepper. Cook for about 10 minutes.
6. Add the spinach, and cook for 5 minutes more.
7. Add the meatballs to the soup, and cook for around 10 minutes.
8. Serve and sprinkle on cheese as a garnish.
9. Enjoy your soup!

How to Serve This Soup

You can serve this soup on its own, but you can also give it the full Olive Garden treatment. Pair it with an Italian salad with a creamy Italian dressing, onions, tomatoes, and pepperoncini. This soup is great for a starter when you are having pasta dishes or other Italian main courses. Of course, grate some cheese on it all for extra richness. Don’t forget the breadsticks, either! Whether you want a simple meal or an elaborate one, this soup can deliver irresistible flavor.

Storing and Reheating This Soup

This soup is great saved for later, and I love to make a big batch to have for weekday lunches. To store this soup, place it in an airtight container. It will keep in the fridge for up to a week. You can freeze it for several months, but it generally tastes best if eaten within a couple of months, though it will be safe to eat for up to six months. All you have to do to reheat this soup is to heat it up. You may have to add more liquid because the orzo can absorb a lot. If you are planning to make leftovers, it can be useful to cook the orzo separately and then add it to the portion you want to eat when you eat it. Otherwise, the orzo may soak in a lot of liquid.

How to Substitute Ingredients in This Recipe

The history of Italian wedding soup shows that substitutions are common with this kind of soup, and playing with what you have available to you or what foods you want to prioritize in your diet is a great option. To get the Olive Garden flavors, you’ll want to stick as closely as you can to the original recipe, but if you are open to unique flavors or want something a little different, I encourage you to make substitutions.

Peasants and working-class people would often swap meats based on whatever leftovers they had! Some common meats that have been used include:

• Pork
• Sausage
• Meatballs
• Chicken

You can even use plant-based meat choices like Impossible meat, tofu, or whatever other protein you may prefer. You can also swap out your broth or stock choice however you see fit. Thus, you can totally make this recipe vegan or vegetarian.

Green veggies are a big staple in this recipe. Some options that would often be used are:

• Endive
• Spinach
• Chard
• Escarole
• Cabbage
• Chicory
• Lettuce

If there are certain nutrients you want to get into your diet, try adding other veggies. For example, I love to add carrots to get more Vitamin A into my diet, among other health benefits like balanced blood sugar and blood pressure regulation. I add them about 10 minutes before the soup is ready because I like them to be on the firmer side rather than mushy, but you can add them based on your preference!

This recipe helps you make your own meatballs, but if you want to buy store-bought meatballs, that’s okay too, and I’ve used them myself when I’m in a rush.

Is This Soup Good for You?

Wedding soup has many good nutritional components. Not only is this soup fairly low-calorie and filling, but it also has a lot of nutrients. The meat in this soup adds protein, which your body needs for muscle strength and healthy skin and hair. Ingredients like orzo provide carbohydrates, which is the only macronutrient your brain can use directly, so it powers your brain. A final powerful component is spinach. Spinach is known for a wide range of benefits like improved blood pressure.

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