Instant Pot Italian Wedding Soup Recipe

Let's be honest: There's nothing better than a cozy soup that can be made in an Instant Pot. Recipe developer and private practice registered dietician Kristen Carli curated this Italian wedding soup recipe, and it includes a ton of flavorful ingredients that are sure to make your taste buds dance. 

According to The Spruce Eats, this mouthwatering soup came from Naples, Italy, but its meaning was lost in translation. As it turns out, this soup wasn't even served at Italian weddings! This meal was actually eaten by peasants, and it was a combination of greens and meats. You learn something new every day, right? This soup does include meat, but there is a sub. "If you are a vegetarian, I would recommend subbing chickpeas for meat," Carli says. If you don't like beef, you can also make the meatballs using ground chicken.

Carli shares the best part about this soup is the fact that it's so incredibly comforting. We envision ourselves curling up by the fireplace with a hearty bowl of soup, reading our favorite book on a chilly evening. If that sounds like the ideal situation to you, keep scrolling to find out how to put together this famous Italian dish with ease. We promise you that the result is well-worth all of the slicing and dicing.

One of the main ingredients of this soup is ground beef for the meatballs. You can also use ground chicken instead, if that's more up your alley. Either way, you'll need 1 pound. You will also need grated cheese, an egg, breadcrumbs, salt, pepper, and olive oil. For the base of the soup, grab chicken broth and couscous. You will need a few produce items for chopping, including carrots, onion, celery, and one bunch of kale, too. Last but not least is the minced garlic, because let's be honest — what dish is complete without garlic?

Grab a medium bowl to prepare your meatball mixture. You'll add several ingredients in this first step, so be sure to have them at the ready. Grab your beef (or ground chicken), egg, Parmesan cheese, breadcrumbs, and some salt and pepper. Instead of using a spoon, you'll want to use your hands to mix these ingredients together, ensuring everything blends together nicely. Once you are finished, form 16 meatballs, and set them aside.

Get your Instant Pot out, and turn it to the sauté setting. Now, you'll want to add a few ingredients to the pot, including the olive oil, garlic, onion, celery, and carrots. Note that the onion and celery should already be diced and the carrots should be sliced. Use the photo as a guide! Stir everything together to combine. Keep cooking until the onions turn translucent (about five minutes). Once everything is well cooked, move on to the next step.

Keep that Instant Pot right where it is, because you are not done with it quite yet. Add your meatballs, couscous, and chicken broth on top of the veggies. Now, it should looking more like a soup and less like a pile of diced veggies. Close the lid, and turn the valve to sealing. Then, turn on the pressure cook setting, and set your timer for just three minutes. Allow the pot to release naturally.

The last step in the process is adding the chopped kale leaves to the soup. "The kale does not need a long cook time, so you can add this just at the end to avoid overcooking it," Carli says. Stir them around in the soup until they turn bright green in color (which usually takes about a minute). 

Now, you're ready to enjoy the soup! Carli recommends serving with "a big hunk of bread for dipping," and that sounds like the ultimate pairing to us. If you have leftovers, store them in the fridge in an airtight container and enjoy within three days.