Rachael Rachael, a mom of two daughters, is a freelance editor and writer who enjoys gardening and dreams of keeping chickens in her suburban St. Louis backyard. In her spare time, she helps to edit her husband’s science fiction books. Read more of Rachael's work at www.rachaelsjohnston.com or contact her by emailing rachael@mumblingmommy.com.

This Italian Wedding Soup is a fantastic, easy dinner that cooks in your Crock Pot. It will warm you up on a cold winter night and pairs well with crusty bread or a salad.

One ingredient in this soup — the escarole — was a little hard for me to find. I ended up purchasing it at a regular grocery store that is considered more upscale and often carries hard-to-find items. Escarole is a type of lettuce with leaves that are thicker or chewier than your average iceberg or leaf lettuce. If you can’t find escarole, you might experiment with using a package of cooked spinach, but I’ve never made this soup that way before, so I can’t speak to what the results would taste like.

I found this recipe at New Leaf Wellness.

Slow Cooker Italian Wedding Soup Ingredients:

  • 12-oz. bag of frozen mini meatballs (You also can use cooked homemade meatballs or make a “deconstructed wedding soup” with 1 pound of ground turkey or ground beef)
  • 1 small onion, diced (one cup)
  • 1/2 pound carrots (about 4 large carrots), peeled and thinly sliced
  • 1 head of escarole, thinly sliced
  • 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 teaspoon onion powder
  • 1 teaspoon garlic salt
  • 1 teaspoon Montreal steak seasoning (I used a Weber Grill powdered steak seasoning I had in my pantry)
  • 8 teaspoons of chicken bullion granules
  • 8 cups of water *not needed until day of cooking
  • 1/2 cup uncooked pasta *not needed until day of cooking (I use acini de pepe, or you can use ditallini or small shells)

Slow Cooker Italian Wedding Soup Directions:

  1. Add all ingredients to your slow cooker except for the pasta. Cook on low for 5-6 hours or until carrots are tender.
  2. Cook pasta on the stove top, drain, and add to the soup in the slow cooker.

You also have the option of preparing this soup, freezing it in a plastic gallon freezer bag, and cooking it later. I add all ingredients to the freezer bag except the water and pasta. When I’m ready to cook the soup, I let it thaw in the fridge overnight, dump the contents of the bag in my slow cooker with the 8 cups of water, and cook as directed, adding pasta at the end. The escarole does fine freezing and thawing, and this soup tastes good whether you cook it the same day or freeze it.

Bon appetit!

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Category: Food

Tags: food