Easy Vegan Italian Wedding Soup (gluten-free!)

This Easy Vegan Italian Wedding Soup is a meat-free and gluten-free rendition of a traditional Italian recipe favorite. Sweet yellow onion, celery, and carrots are sautéed until tender, then combined with garlic, Italian spices, vegetable broth, and chopped kale. Juicy vegan meatballs and gluten-free stelline pasta are added to this cozy, flavorful soup for the most comforting cold weather lunch or dinner.

From the moment I tasted my first spoonful of this soup I had a flashback of when my Sicilian grandmother used to make this for my sister and I when we had a sleepover at her place. And while my recipe is vegan and gluten-free, the flavors are still there and it’s a fantastic alternative to traditional Italian Wedding Soup!

What Is Italian Wedding Soup?

Italian wedding soup is a flavorful and delicious soup made with a variety of vegetables, chicken broth, and usually meatballs made from a variety of different meats. You will commonly find this soup on the menu in many Italian restaurants. The name “wedding soup” comes from the Italian phrase minestra maritata, which actually translates to “married soup”. Contrary to what is commonly thought when you think of wedding soup, it’s actually not traditionally served at weddings in Italy, although it certainly can be. It’s more about the flavors of the soup marrying together to create a delicious, flavorful soup.

The Ingredients

Olive oil. Olive oil is used to sauté the meatballs and vegetables.

Sweet yellow onion. I like sweet yellow onions the best. You’ll need half of a medium sweet yellow onion- enough for 1 cup of chopped onion.

Celery. I like to finely chop the celery. You’ll need about 2 small stalks or 1 large stalk of celery- enough for 1/2 cup of chopped celery.

Carrots. For this soup I chose to slice baby/petit cut carrots. You can certainly use a regular sized carrot, but smaller carrots cook faster and in my opinion for the soup better. You will need enough carrot slices or chopped carrots to equal 1/3 cup.

Kale. I used frozen pre-chopped kale, but you may also use fresh kale that you chop yourself. Kale cooks down quite a bit so I used 2 cups of chopped kale.

Garlic. I like to buy pre-minced garlic to cut back on meal prep time, but feel free to mince your own garlic from a fresh clove. You will need 1 tablespoon of minced garlic.

Italian seasoning. I use Italian seasoning in a lot of recipes and always have it stocked in my spice drawer. For this recipe you will need 1 teaspoon of dried Italian seasoning, or you may use a partially dried Italian seasoning herb mix.

Salt & pepper. I used 2 teaspoons of salt for this recipe because the vegetable broth I used did not contain salt. If your vegetable broth is salted, you may omit 1 teaspoon of salt or just salt to taste.

Nutritional yeast. I love the added flavor nutritional yeast brings to this soup recipe. I used 1/2 tablespoon.

Vegetable broth. You can use whatever vegetable broth you want for this recipe. You will need 64 ounces.

Stelline pasta. Traditionally Italian Wedding Soup is made with tiny pasta balls know as Acini de Pepe. But I haven’t been able to find it gluten-free, so I am using gluten-free stelline pasta instead. They’re just as tasty and cute! ☺️

Vegan Meatballs. You can certainly make your own homemade vegan meatballs, but for quicker meal prep I used my favorite frozen vegan meatballs! They’re so good and they were perfect in this Italian Wedding soup. (not sponsored)

How To Make Italian Wedding Soup

Cook the meatballs in a skillet with 1 tablespoon of olive oil over low heat, flipping to all sides to ensure they get fully cooked.

While the meatballs are cooking chop the veggies then heat a large stock pot to medium heat. Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil and add the chopped onions, celery, sliced carrots, and chopped kale. Add the minced garlic, 1 teaspoon of the salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning. Allow the veggies to sauté for 7-10 minutes until they are soft and tender and the onion is translucent.

Next, turn the heat up to medium-high and add the nutritional yeast and vegetable broth. Bring the soup to a boil and add the cup of dry stelline pasta. Cover the soup and boil until the pasta is soft. Remove from heat, cut the meatballs if desired and add them to the soup along with the remaining teaspoon of salt, if needed to taste.** Alternatively, you can serve the soup into bowls and then add the meatballs to each bowl. Garnish with vegan parmesan cheese and fresh Italian herbs, such as parsley.

How To Store Leftover Soup

Store this Easy Vegan Italian Wedding Soup in an airtight container in the refrigerator and enjoy leftover soup within a few days.

It is normal for the pasta to soak up the broth as it sits. You could either strain some of the broth out and save it in a separate container or you can add water or more vegetable broth to the soup when reheating the next day.

Italian Wedding Soup Variations & Ingredient Swaps

Greens. I decided to use kale in this wedding soup because I had it on hand, but you may also use spinach- which is delicious too. Originally wedding soup is made with escarole (lettuce-like bitter greens in the chicory family, like endive and radicchio). Escarole is the most traditional green used in wedding soup, but it can be hard to find at grocery stores so it can be replaced with kale, spinach, mustard greens, swiss chard, or turnip greens. Fresh or frozen greens will both work.

Pasta. I used gluten-free stelline pasta to remain somewhat traditional to Italian Wedding Soup, using cute and tiny noodles. You can use whatever smaller noodles you’d like. Gluten-free orzo would also work nicely in this soup recipe. You could even swap the noodles for rice!

Meatballs. I used my favorite frozen vegan meatballs! They’re so good and they were perfect in this Italian Wedding soup. (not sponsored) but you can use another brand of pre-made vegan meatballs or make your own favorite plant-based meatball recipe if you prefer. Just remember to add some time onto the recipe if making your own.

Broth. Vegetable broth is my go-to, and it is readily available in most grocery stores. You can also use a no-chicken broth also, although maybe harder to find.

Let me know what you think about this Easy Vegan Italian Wedding Soup down below in the comments section as well as giving it a five rating  ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ so that others can discover this cozy soup recipe! Be sure to tag me on Instagram, Facebook, or Pinterest if you make it.

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