Chilly weather calls for a nice big bowl of Italian Wedding Soup! This comforting recipe is made with cauliflower rice for a healthier low carb option. Only 3.7g net carbs per serving!
You know that damp cold that chills you to the bone? The temperature might not even be that low, but the dreary, drizzly cold just moves right through you. That’s the kind of weather that screams for this Keto Italian Wedding Soup!
It’s a rich warm broth full of succulent keto meatballs and sprinkled with plenty of Parmesan cheese. But skip the pasta and pop in some cauliflower rice instead. Now you’ve just amped up the nutrition and managed to warm yourself up at the same time.
The perfect meal for the sort of damp cold that chills you right to the bone!
Why you need this soup recipe
I have updated this recipe ever so slightly because I really wanted to include my make ahead meatballs. If you have some of these on hand, you can make this Italian Wedding Soup Recipe at a moment’s notice.
So I am giving you three options for making this delicious keto soup. You can make the meatballs at the time you make them soup, and allow them to cook in the broth. Or you can make the meatballs and pre-cook them, and then add them to the soup at the end.
Finally, you can make a big batch of the meatballs, freeze them, and add them to the soup in their frozen state. Just keep the soup simmering until the meatballs are warmed through!
That’s what I’ve been doing lately: making the full batch of keto meatballs, baking them, and then freezing them. That way, I have quick meal options on chilly days. I also love them in Keto Meatball Casserole!
Ingredients you need
- Keto meatballs: You can add them fresh, cooked, or frozen!
- Chicken broth: I like to get a good keto-friendly bone broth for the best flavor.
- Cauliflower rice: This takes the place of acini de pepe that is standard in Italian Wedding Soup. I swear you won’t taste any difference and it’s better for you!
- Spinach: You can use fresh or frozen spinach for this recipe.
- Parmesan: Sprinkle the top of your soup with plenty of Parmesan cheese for a real Italian meal.
- Aromatics: Onion, celery, garlic.
- Seasoning: Salt, pepper, oregano
Step by Step Directions
1. Prepare the meatballs: Prepare the meatball mixture according to the directions. You can make them as big or as small as you like. Refrigerate or pre-cook the meatballs before adding to the soup.
2. Sauté the aromatics: In a large saucepan or stock pot, heat the oil over medium heat until shimmering. Add the onion, celery, salt, and pepper and sauté until vegetables are tender, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook another minute.
3. Add the broth: Stir in the chicken broth and oregano and bring to a strong simmer. Add the cauliflower rice and the meatballs and cook until the meatballs are cooked or warmed through, 5 to 10 minutes.
4. Add the spinach: Add the spinach leaves and cook until wilted, 2 minutes more. Season to taste and sprinkle with additional Parmesan.
Expert Tips
I recommend making the meatballs on the smaller side for this soup. They will cook through faster and you can get more per serving. I like to make mine about 3/4 inches in diameter when uncooked. They will shrink as they cook.
Most Italian Wedding Soup recipes have you cooking the meatballs right in the broth. But I really prefer them pre-cooked. They have more flavor and better texture, in my opinion.
You can cook the meatballs from frozen right in the soup! Once you get the broth simmering, add them right in and let them thaw and warm through. They are pre-cooked so there’s no worry of undercooked meat.
Frequently Asked Questions
The name actually comes from a mistranslation of “minestra maritata”. This Italian phrase translates to “married soup” and refers to the marriage of ingredients, not to actual weddings. But isn’t it nice to imagine that it’s served at nuptial feasts to honor the bride and groom?
Italian Wedding Soup typically consists of meatballs, broth, spinach, and small, round pasta called Acini de Pepe. For this keto friendly version, I have replaced the pasta with cauliflower rice. And it’s just as tasty and even more nutritious!
This Keto Italian Wedding Soup has 5.2g of carbs and 1.5g of fiber per serving. So it has only 3.7g net carbs per yummy bowl of soup.
More delicious soup recipes
Keto Italian Wedding Soup Recipe
Ingredients
Meatballs
- 1/3 recipe Keto Meatballs
Italian Wedding Soup
- 2 tbsp avocado oil
- 1/4 cup (40 g) chopped onion
- 4 stalks celery, chopped
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp (0.5 tsp) pepper
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 6 cups (1.41 kg) chicken broth
- 2 cups (320 g) riced cauliflower
- 2 cups (60 g) packed spinach leaves, (or 1 cup frozen spinach)
- Additional salt and pepper
- Parmesan for sprinkling
Instructions
Meatballs
- Prepare the meatball mixture according to the directions. You can make them as big or as small as you like.
- At this point, you can either refrigerate them and add to the soup to be cooked in the broth. Or you can pre-cook them and add to the soup at the end. You can even freeze them and add them straight to the broth from frozen.
Italian Wedding Soup
- In a large saucepan or stock pot, heat the oil over medium heat until shimmering. Add the onion, celery, salt, and pepper and sauté until vegetables are tender, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook another minute.
- Stir in the chicken broth and oregano and bring to a strong simmer. Add the cauliflower rice and the meatballs and cook until the meatballs are cooked or warmed through, 5 to 10 minutes.
- Add the spinach leaves and cook until wilted, 2 minutes more. Season to taste and sprinkle with additional Parmesan.
Notes
Nutrition
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It seems like this soup shouldn’t have almost 4net carbs in it? Are they coming from the cauliflower?
Cauliflower, onion, spinach…
I love a new soup recipe! Perfect for fall.
This is, by far, my favorite soup recipe….and bonus that it’s low carb!
Love this version of Italian soup! It’s so good!
That pot is almost as lovely as the soup (which is my favorite kind of soup)!
This is everything that a gourmet soup should be, and then some! Looking forward to enjoying this for dinner tonight!
Hi Carolyn, as someone who is not a fan of Parmesan cheese at all, what can I replace it with in your recipe? I really want to make this soup!
Replace it with whatever cheese you like best!
Thank you!!
Rich, delicious, filling AND low carb. It can’t get much better than that. Thank you for the great recipe. This is now on our list for favorite soups. The addition of cauliflower rice instead of the traditional acini di pepe worked brilliantly. I used chard instead of spinach and 8 cups of homemade broth. We are looking forward to leftovers.
This is the first recipe of yours that I have made…..came across it accidentally, and I was so excited when I found it because even though its Texas temp was 38 this morning, and just called for soup…..and I so love when I have all the ingredients on hand…it came out so tasty…..made as written except through in a parm rind in …hubby and I have been doing keto for 4 months now….I love cooking I just struggle with technology and no matter what app I have tried to use to figure out a nutritional chart for what I cook I just cant figure out how to do….so I am so happy I found you and after this flavorful first recipe and all the nutritional info at my finger tips ….I went straight to Amazon and ordered your book…I am so excited about this…I have a cookbook addiction…unfortunately most are unusable with this. WOE so I am happy to find you…
Thanks, Donna! And while most of the recipes in my book are new…this one happens to be in there too!
Made this soup last night and loved it! Next time I’ll add more cauliflower and spinach because I like a more stew-ish consistency.
This was delicious. My Italian grandmother prepared Wedding Soup for us every Christmas Eve until she passed away a few years ago. This was very similar to hers…I think the celery is the key. Will make every year from now on! I did make one minor switch…I used Miracle Rice instead of the cauliflower, but I am sure it is equally delicious either way. Leftovers were even better the next day! Hope you have a blessed holiday and new year!
Carolyn,
This was amazing! I used ground pork and pork rinds for the meatballs. Sooo gooood!!!! Thanks so much for all you do for us!
This is SO good. My non-paleo/primal/low carb hubs loved it. He helped with the meatballs … kept saying he didn’t feel it was going to be good because of the almond flour. Uh huh. Nonetheless. He’s a good sport. He tried the soup and had seconds. This soup is perfect. Thanks for hitting another one outta the park.
Yay, glad we won him over!
This soup is delicious! The meatballs were light and fluffy with the cheese and ground pork rinds. Perfect for surviving the polar vortex!
This soup was wonderful, of course! All your recipes work out so well for me. My family loved it, and the generous portion of meatballs even allowed for leftovers with a little extra broth added.This one will be a “regular” in our home.
I made this soup this past weekend. It is delicious! Thank you so much for an excellent recipe! I also tried your gingerbread pancakes this weekend. They are great, too!
Split pea soup
I love a good, rich chicken broth!
Excellent soup! Do you think it would be fine to freeze ??
I think so.
this is my favorite soup.