The best recipe for Instant Pot Italian Wedding Soup, made with turkey meatballs, acini de pepe pasta, and spinach! This is a homemade healthy and comforting dinner recipe that is easy to make in a pressure cooker!
This is my favorite Instant Pot Italian Wedding Soup, made with delicious turkey meatballs, acini de pepe pasta, and spinach that tastes just like classic grandma’s homemade soup. The only difference is, because we make it in a pressure cooker, it takes only 30-40 minutes from start to finish.
Among all different Pressure Cooker Soups I’ve posted this year (Instant Pot Minestrone Soup, Instant Pot Beef Barley Soup, Instant Pot Taco Soup, Instant Pot Chicken Soup), this dish is one of my most favorites. Also, you can check my post for Instant Pot Recipes for Beginners for more dinner ideas.
Table of contents
How to make this recipe
In a large mixing bowl, mix together 1 lb ground turkey, an egg, ½ cup breadcrumbs, ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese, 2 minced garlic cloves, ⅓ cup chopped parsley, salt, and pepper.
Using a 1 tsp cookie scoop or a regular spoon, make 1-inch balls. You will have about 30 meatballs.
Set the Instant Pot to “SAUTE” function.
Add 2 tbsp olive oil. When the oil is hot add half of the meatballs in a single layer.
NOTE: I like to brown the meatballs in 2-3 batches, so they get perfect brown color outside. We don’t need to cook them through, just get the color.
Brown them for about 2-3 minutes, then scoop them out into a separate plate and set aside. Continue the same with the rest of the meatballs.
After the meatballs are done and out of the pot, add a chopped onion and celery to the pot and cook for about 8-10 minutes, until they are softened and translucent.
Press the “CANCEL” button.
When done, add the browned meatballs and chopped carrots.
Pour in 8 cups chicken stock and stir everything together.
Close the lid and make sure that the venting knob is set to “SEAL”.
Cook the soup on manual high pressure for 5 minutes. When done, do a quick pressure release.
Open the lid and stir the soup.
Press “SAUTE” button again.
Bring the liquid to boil and add ½ cup acini de pepe pasta. Let it cook for about 8 minutes.
When the pasta is almost done, add 4 cups spinach and let it cook for another 2-3 minutes.
Tips for best results
Meatballs. These delicious turkey meatballs are the best part of this soup! Please don’t skip the browning part as it brings the most flavor to this dish!
Serving. I love serving this dish topped with some extra grated Parmesan and freshly baked Easy Dinner Rolls or Potato Rolls Recipe.
Additions and Substitutions
Meatballs. I prefer to make the meatballs with ground turkey. Although, you can easily substitute it with chicken, beef, or pork.
Pasta. Classic Italian Wedding Soup is made with acini de pepe pasta. If for some reason you cannot find it in the store, you can use orzo or small shell pasta.
Spinach. Sometimes I like to substitute spinach with kale or Swiss chard.
How to store and reheat
Storage. After the soup is cooled off, transfer is to an air-tight container. It will last fresh in the fridge for 3-4 days. I think it tastes even better on the 2nd-3rd day, as the flavors blend together.
Reheat. You can reheat it in a pot or a sauce pan over medium heat.
Freezing. This recipe is great for meal prepping and freezing. You can transfer it to an air-tight freezer safe bag or container and freeze for up to 3 months. To defrost, just leave it in the fridge overnight, then reheat as mentioned above.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! I love making and precooking a big batch of small turkey meatballs, freeze, and use them later in the soup. It significantly reduces the cooking time and makes this recipe perfect for a busy weeknight dinner.
I always like to make my own homemade meatballs, as they taste so much better! Although, you can use store-bought ones too.
Yes. By browning them, it will get an additional flavor to make the soup extra tasty.
It comes from Italian phrase “minestra maritata” or “married soup”, which means that cooking the greens and the meat together makes a good marriage.
Yes! A pressure cooker cuts the cooking time in half, but you can easily make in on stove top. All the steps will be the same, the only difference is instead of using a manual pressure cooking option, just simmer the soup over low/medium heat for about 20-30 minutes.
MORE SOUP RECIPES YOU MIGHT LIKE:
- Borscht Soup with Beef
- Instant Pot Chicken Soup
- Instant Pot Barley Soup
- Instant Pot Minestrone Soup
- Pasta e Fagioli Soup
- Chili Soup
MORE INSTANT POT RECIPES YOU MIGHT LIKE:
- Instant Pot Turkey Chili
- Instant Pot Pot Roast
- Instant Pot Turkey Meatballs
- Instant Pot Chicken Wings
- Instant Pot Boneless Short Ribs
- Instant Pot Pulled Pork
- Instant Pot Pulled Chicken
- Instant Pot Chicken and Rice Pilaf
- Instant Pot Brown Rice Pilaf
- Instant Pot Chicken Tacos
- Instant Pot Lamb Shanks
- Instant Pot Bolognese
Instant Pot Italian Wedding Soup
Ingredients
Ingredients for Meatballs:
- 1 pound ground turkey
- 1 large egg
- ½ cup breadcrumbs I prefer seasoned
- ½ cup parmesan cheese grated
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- ⅓ cup parsley finely chopped
- Salt pepper to taste
Ingredients for Soup:
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 small onion chopped
- 1 stalk celery chopped
- 2 medium carrots chopped
- 8 cups chicken stock I prefer to use Homemade Chicken Stock
- ½ cup acini de pepe pasta
- 4 cups spinach
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, mix together ground turkey, an egg, breadcrumbs, grated parmesan cheese, minced garlic, chopped parsley, salt, and pepper.
- Using a 1 teaspoon cookie scoop, make 1-inch balls. You will have about 30 meatballs.
- Set the Instant Pot to “SAUTE” function.
- Add some olive oil. When the oil is hot add half of the meatballs in a single layer.
- NOTE: I like to brown the meatballs in 2-3 batches, so they get perfect brown color outside.
- Brown them for about 2-3 minutes, then scoop them out into a separate plate and set aside. Continue the same with the rest of the meatballs.
- After the meatballs are done, add the chopped onions and celery to the pot and cook for about 8-10 minutes, until they are softened and translucent.
- Press the “CANCEL” button.
- When done, add the browned meatballs and chopped carrots.
- Pour in chicken broth and stir everything together.
- Close the lid and make sure that the venting knob is set to “SEAL”.
- Cook the soup on manual high pressure for 5 minutes. When done, do a quick pressure release.
- Open the lid and stir the soup.
- Press “SAUTE” button again.
- Bring the liquid to boil and add acini de pepe pasta. Let it cook for about 8 minutes.
- When the pasta is almost done, add spinach and let it cook for another 2-3 minutes.
I made exactly as described and it was delicious. The only remark I have is I’m not sure what I did wrong but my meatballs were sticking tremendously to the bottom of the instapot when browning and a few of them broke apart so I did the other half of the batch in a non-stick frying pan with some olive oil. It also sped things up a little. Other than that it was fantastic!
This was a great recipe! I used frozen spinach because that’s what we had on hand.
Thank you so much, Cynthia!
I love this soup! Very comforting! To help cut down on the prep/cook time, I’ve cooked the meatballs in the oven while I prep and sauté the veggies in the instant pot.
Thank you, Carrie! I love the idea of baking the meatballs to cut down the cooking time!
I made this recipe just as it is written. Wow. I meant WOW. The flavor is fabulous. I have a busy season at work where I work non stop for 2 months, and I try to have meals planned and brought to work so I do not eat the donuts and chocolate others bring out of famishment. This week I brough this soup and it will definately be on my remake list. In addition, being able to make it all in my instapot was so convenient. Thank you for the recipe!
Thank you so much, Alisa! So glad you liked it 😉
I LOVE this soup! I use a half pound of ground beef and a half lb. of ground pork. It’s one soup I can’t get sick of. So happy to have found this recipe and my instant pot:)
Thank you so much, Carrie! This is a great idea to use both beef and pork for the meatballs.
My husband and I absolutely love this soup along with my 3 year old Granddaughter. I wasn’t sure if we would like the turkey,but we do actually like it better!
The ease of making it also helps with living this recipe even more.
Today is my 4th time making it.
Thank you so much, Aileen! I’m so happy that your whole family loved the recipe 😉
I’ve made this a few times. It was my maiden instapot voyage, and it’s been great every time .
Thank you so much, Wendy! Glad you enjoyed it!