Slow Cooker Italian Wedding Soup–an easy version of a popular soup. A flavorful brothy soup with orzo and meatballs made in your slow cooker.
Get the INSTANT POT Italian Wedding Soup Recipe
Slow Cooker Italian Wedding Soup
Of all the soup recipes that I’ve made over the years in my slow cooker and Instant Pot I have never made Italian wedding soup. I decided that needed to change.
After looking over several different recipes for Italian wedding soup I decided that my best bet was to make this as simple and easy as possible. I know that’s how I like most of my recipes to be. And I’m sure you’re the same. So I decided to go with frozen meatballs instead of making them from scratch.
I usually buy my frozen meatballs in a big bag from Costco. They are Italian style meatballs and are tasty and inexpensive.
I went with orzo for the pasta choice in this soup. I know others have used couscous, stars or acini de pepe. I usually have a few cups of orzo hanging in my pantry so that’s what I chose. Plus I like the shape and size of it for this soup. It’s not overbearing (like penne would be) but not so small either (couscous).
My family and I enjoyed this soup very much and I will be making it often. I bet you’ll like it too!
More slow cooker soup recipes you’ll love…
Slow Cooker Green Chile Chicken Orzo Soup
Slow Cooker Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup
What Slow Cooker Did You Use?
To make Slow Cooker Italian Wedding Soup I used my Ninja Auto-iQ 6 Quart Slow Cooker.* My favorite feature of this slow cooker is that it has a stove top function. This is perfect for sauteing or browning before you slow cook. This slow cooker has four manual cooking functions: slow cook, stove top sear/Saute, steam, and bake.
Slow Cooker Italian Wedding Soup
- Prep Time: 15 mintues
- Cook Time: 7 hours
- Total Time: 2 minute
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
Description
An easy version of a popular soup. A flavorful brothy soup with orzo and meatballs made in your slow cooker.
Ingredients
- 1 small or medium yellow onion, diced
- 2 medium carrots, cut into 1/2 inch rounds
- 2 ribs of celery, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
- 1 pound frozen Italian-style meatballs
- 3 1/2 cups low sodium chicken broth
- 2 cups low sodium beef broth
- 2 tsp dried basil
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 2 Tbsp onion soup mix
- 1 Tbsp ketchup
- 1/4 tsp dried thyme
- 3/4 cup uncooked orzo pasta
- Optional: 2 cups chopped spinach or kale
Instructions
- Add onion, carrots, celery, meatballs, chicken broth, beef broth, basil, garlic powder, onion soup mix, ketchup and thyme into the slow cooker.
- Cover and cook on low for 5-7 hours.
- Add in the pasta and cover the slow cooker. Turn slow cooker to high. Let the pasta cook until tender, about 30 minutes.
- Add in spinach or kale, if desired. Ladle into bowls and serve.
- Category: Soup
- Method: Slow Cooker
- Cuisine: Italian
*Karen Petersen is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.
We loved this recipe. I thought the idea of the soup mix was clever and gave it excellent flavor. I don’t like foods over salted but this was quite nice in my opinion. I know this is an older recipe from 2019 but it will be in my new arsenal for sure!!! Note to self, eat right away because otherwise pasta sucked up a lot of broth!!!!!
★★★★★
It is so tasty! So glad you found it!
Pretty good. I found it salty though. The onion soup mix was prominent in the taste. I would cut the onion soup mix back to 1tbsp (instead of 2) and add some Italian seasoning instead.
★★★
Could I use Beef Stock instead of the broth? Wouldn’t it provide a richer flavor? Gonna make this regardless, just curious. It sounds amazing.
Yes that would be awesome!
Please provide instant pot instructions for this recipe.
here’s the instant pot version https://www.365daysofcrockpot.com/instant-pot-italian-wedding-soup/
I made this for the 2nd time tonight and I loved it just as much as the first!! I make my own meatballs and just throw them in towards the end, with the orzo. I love the flavours and the heartiness of it and the leftovers taste even better the next day! It will become a regular on my menu plans!! Thanks!!
Oh wow that sounds great! I bet your homemade meatballs are wonderful!
I made this recipe and my husband and I loved it! I made it in my crockpot and it was so easy. No more Canned Italian Wedding soup in this house anymore
★★★★★
Hooray!
Old man that loves wedding soup here. Glad to learn how to make it! Thank you for your time. And it’s dated on my birthday, too. Such a beautiful present.
Happy birthday!
Thank you for this labor of love. It is helping me transform my life. Good-bye McDonald’s and Taco Bell. I literally salivate thinking about the food at home!
haha!!! love it.
Re: Wedding soup (crockpot Instructions, Step 4): Add spinache or kale if desired.”
When, how much, and for how long please? Sorry, Karen, but I’m a rookie male novice who requires frequent re-training.🙄.
I like to add my spinach or kale at the end. I don’t let it cook in there. I just serve it up immediately. Sorry for my lack of instructions!!!