Instant Pot Italian Wedding Soup with pressure cooker frozen meatballs and a few simple ingredients is a healthy pressure cooker family favorite meal you can make in a Ninja Foodi or homemade meatballs too.
If you’ve never made Instant Pot Italian wedding soup it’s really yummy! In years past we’ve made it in a slow cooker. Now we are adding it to our favorite list of Instant Pot recipes so you can make it in no time. (services llc associates program, affiliate links present)
Ninja Foodi Italian Wedding Soup Recipe
You can make this in any brand pressure cooker you have at home. We have a Mealthy, IP, Crockpot express and it makes a great easy Ninja Foodi recipe as well.
If you have leftover meatballs, those work just as well or this is how to cook frozen meatballs so they are as tender as homemade thrown into the mix. If you wanted a vegetarian version you could leave those out but for us they’re our favorite part. It saves so well to reheat the next day too so that’s a win win.
If you are new to pressure cooking we have a lot of easy one pot meal recipes for you here. To begin with let’s start with a few basic tips:
- Make sure to Bookmark our InstaPot recipes page. We add new ones each week!
- Then PRINT this —–> Instant Pot cooking times cheat sheet that will help you understand how long meat, vegetables and beans take to cook in your pressure cooker.
- I HIGHLY recommend you buy this non stick pot.
- You should know how to deglaze a pressure cooker after sautéing but it won’t have as many issues with this better liner.
For reference, this is the model I have (a 6 quart) and use for all recipe creations.
You just need 3 minutes to pressure cook this meal so it is really quick. Feel free to jump to recipe below or here are a few questions you might have before you get started;
We will show you right here. You only need a few ingredients and you can either use frozen meatballs or make them yourself.
Originally it’s name is really minestra maritata which means married soup in the fact that the ingredients are “married” to one another with flavors all together.
Of course it is better fresh on the first day but if you have leftovers you certainly can. Allow it to cool to room temperature and then transfer to freezer safe air tight containers or bags.
You can use any electric high pressure machine you have. As far as the noodles go if you cannot find this version use as small as you can find.
Ingredients
- Frozen meatballs or sausage to make meatballs
- or turkey meatballs with ground turkey
- frozen mini meatballs defrosted work too
- Carrots peeled and cut into dials, smaller will become softer
- Onion sliced or diced for flavor and texture
- Escarole (greenery inside)
- Tiny noodles (we use Pastina)
- or acini di pepe works
- Chicken broth or stock
It is much better with broth because as you can imagine it adds a lot more flavor than plain water. Use what you like, vegetable broth is quite good too.
Why We Love Italian Wedding Soup with Frozen Meatballs
- It tastes perfect with vegetables and these little noodles my kids love.
- We are always looking for simple recipes that not only taste good but are healthy too and this one surely fits the bill.
- It only takes a few minutes with a quick release at the end
- For super fast we use a bag of frozen meatballs but you could go all out with homemade meatballs too.
Serve it with the best garlic bread recipe and it is the perfect lunch or dinner, and great if there are any leftovers.
It’s a healthy Ninja Foodi soup recipes that tastes delicious. A lot of times I will just serve it as is. If you wanted to add vegetables into the mix just choose those that are firmer in nature. Carrots are a given which you can see but celery would work well too.
Tips
- I like to season when done to make sure I really want more salt. The other ingredients will add natural flavors and sodium into the dish so you don’t want to overdo it.
- You really don’t need any seasoning in it because the flavors from the sausage meatballs permeate throughout the soup and that is enough to make it delicious.
- I suggest making your own fresh meatballs if you do have the time
- I like using sausage meat like you see below, cutting the casing off and then creating a meatloaf type of mixture.
- Then forming them into meatballs.
- If you are in a hurry by all means use frozen meatballs (Italian sausage is best and usually available) and just defrost them before you add them to the soup.
It is quite inexpensive to make as well as healthy and since you are using your Instant Pot and not having to heat the oven or stovetop. You can make it year round and not heat up your house! Whether you live in a hot place and you’re looking for recipes where you don’t have to turn the oven/stove on. If it’s snowing outside and all you want is soup!
How to save leftovers
How to save leftover soup is quite easy. You just want to allow it to completely cool off and get to be room temperature first. Then use a ladle to transfer it into a sealed container and store in your fridge for up to 3 days. When reheating transfer to a microwave safe bowl first. Heat for 1 minute, stir and 30 seconds more until warmed.
- Instant Pot chicken noodle soup is great if you’re looking for short cook times
- Easy Instant Pot lasagna soup is easy with browning your meat with the saute function. Sprinkle parmesan cheese on top when done and you’re set.
- Healthy and homemade Instant Pot barley soup is another pressure cooker soup
Like I said, we’ve made this Crockpot Italian Wedding Soup in the slow cooker too. If you haven’t made the jump to Instant Pot yet I suggest you make this version.
How to Make Instant Pot Italian Wedding soup with Escarole
- If making homemade meatballs then create those first. Add olive oil and set pot to saute. Brown outsides.
- Add onions so they soften alongside of them if you like. Remove and deglaze Instant Pot.
- Put browned meatballs back into pot (or use defrosted instead). Add any vegetables cut up that you’d like with acini de pepe, and broth.
- Close lid and steam valve and cook on high pressure for 3 minutes. Do a quick release.
- Lift lid and submerge leave on top. Set pot to saute for 2 minutes and allow that to wilt. Serve!
We eat soup for dinner a lot. I guess I was brought up that way a bit because it was an inexpensive way to get you full. At that time it was all canned but now I can make homemade meals in a snap with my 7 in 1 kitchen appliance with no problems.
Instant Pot Italian Wedding Soup
Equipment
Ingredients
- 12 frozen meatballs, or make your own
- 40 oz chicken broth
- 1 onion
- 3 carrots
- 1 bunch escarole, (use 2 c. leaves)
- 1/2 c Pastina
- 1/4 tsp basil, dried
Instructions
- Make your meatballs or buy them pre-made at the store. If using frozen, skip the next 2 steps.
- Add a few tbsp of olive oil into your Instant Pot, set to saute, low, and add your meatballs.
- Brown the outsides if you’re cooking using your own fresh meatballs, if using frozen just defrost them ahead of time and add to pot just to warm them slightly, then add your diced onions. Cook for a minute or two just to soften onions slightly. Turn pot off/cancel.
- Pour in your chicken stock, diced carrots, basil, and Pastini noodles. (if you want your noodles to be really al dente then add them with your escarole later)
- Put on the lid and close the steam valve on your pressure cooker and set to pressure, high, for 3 minutes.
- When done do a quick release.
- Add escarole if you choose to add it (cut into spoon size pcs., use about 2 c. of leaves) and stir gently so leaves are submerged. Set Instant Pot to saute, low, and allow to bubble for 2-3 minutes so escarole can soften. Serve!
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This is 1 of our favourite soup recipe. It’s the only 1 I use! Turns out so yummy every time! I do occasionally sub beef meatballs, just as yummy!
So glad
good fast soup but if you aren’t using spinach and acini di pepe pasta you aren’t making Italian wedding soup
I use a combination of sweet and hot italian chicken sausage! I remove the casing and cut the sausage into small pieces. It’s cheating but so worth it!
I love it with hot sausage!
What is the recipe for the sausage meatballs? Thanks!
We made very small turkey meatballs made with glutton free bread crumbs and added the pasta after soup cooked. I used cauliflower rice instead of a noodle so it was totally healthy but my hubby put orso in his. We also used fresh baby spinach and kale. Delicious -cooking time 10mins total.
We made very small turkey meatballs made with glutton free bread crumbs and added the pasta after soup cooked. I used cauliflower rice instead of a noodle so it was totally healthy but my hubby put orso in his bowl. We also used fresh baby spinach and kale. Delicious -cooking time 10mins total.
Awesome
Love this tip…Thank you?