Slow Cooker Italian Wedding Soup is an easy and delicious soup filled with frozen meatballs, ancini de pepe pasta, carrots, and spinach. This is a hearty and comforting healthy soup that is made in the crock pot to make weeknight dinner a breeze! Bonus: It can be made into a freezer meal.
It's soup season and I am absolutely loving all of the soups we've been making! I've made SO many freezer meal soups (you can check them out here!) and this Slow Cooker Italian Wedding Soup is my newest and favorite. It's also a big hit at the dinner table and a family favorite of ours.
I've always wondered what Italian Wedding Soup was and why it was named that way. I've had it many times, but just didn't understand the name - is it served at Italian weddings? Does making it usually result in an upcoming wedding? Turns out neither of those hypotheses were right. The soup is named for an Italian phrase meaning "married soup" meaning the flavors came together so well, they were "married." Mystery: solved!
Many Italian Wedding Soup recipes call for homemade meatballs and while YES, meatballs from scratch are super delicious, I really wanted to embrace the ease of store-bought frozen meatballs. I make sure I buy a good brand of them (Simek's is my favorite and I use their mini meatballs in this soup) with wholesome ingredients and this brand makes super tender meatballs. There is definitely no flavor lacking in this Slow Cooker Italian Wedding Soup!
This recipe has very basic ingredients which all come together for spectacular flavor!
This Italian Wedding Soup recipe comes together very quickly in the slow cooker. It is a great recipe for a busy day, with minimal prep work.
Prep the vegetables. The only prep is chopping the onion and carrots, which go into the crockpot, along with the garlic, Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, broth, and meatballs.
Cook. The slow cooker soup is cooked for 3-4 hours on high or 6-7 on low.
For the last 20 minutes, add the pasta. If you use larger pasta than acini de pepe, you may need to cook 5-10 additional minutes. Lastly, stir in the chopped spinach immediately prior to serving and stir until wilted. It will be fast!
I like to serve this cozy soup topped with shredded Parmesan cheese and along with some garlic bread or dinner rolls - it is a delicious combination!
Storage. Store leftover soup in an airtight container for 3-4 days.
Slow Cooker - I have a very basic slow cooker and love it!
Good knife for chopping vegetables
Cutting Board - this is my go-to cutting board
Instant Pot Chicken Noodle Soup