Venison Italian Wedding Soup: tender venison meatballs floating in a light, savory broth, packed with fresh vegetables, tiny pasta, and tons of flavor. This venison soup recipe is a great way to enjoy the tail ends of soup season. It's comforting but light and fresh at the same time. Give this delicious soup a try today!
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Featured Comment:
This was a crowd pleaser at my house! I've made other versions of this recipe however, this one takes the cake, the fennel is a delicious addition. The leftovers were just as good if not better than the original.
- Kait
Why You'll Love This Recipe
Light and Fresh: This venison version of the classic Italian wedding soup recipe is a light and fresh alternative to the classic venison vegetable soup or venison stew recipe. Soup is the ultimate comfort food but sometimes you want something on the lighter side. This is the soup you need! If you're looking for more Italian recipes, try this venison Italian sausage or skillet venison lasagna.
Meal Prep Friendly: All the ingredients in this recipe can be prepped in advance to make dinner time a breeze. Also, this recipe makes a big batch of soup so you can freeze the leftovers or have lunch for the week!
Simple Ingredients: The best wild game recipes are made of simple ingredients and this soup is no exception. This soup is one of my favorite healthy recipes because it's packed with fresh veggies and healthy protein from lean deer meat.
Ingredients
- Ground Venison: Any ground meat (elk, moose, beef, pork, etc.) can be used in place of ground venison. For extra flavor, you can use mild Italian sausage as well.
- Pheasant Stock: Traditionally, Italian wedding soup uses a light-colored broth like chicken broth or chicken stock. Pheasant stock has a rich flavor that works great for this recipe. You can use any light-colored broth or stock you have on hand. Don't use a dark-colored broth like beef stock, beef broth, venison stock, or venison broth. It's meant to be light in flavor and color!
- Seasoning: This recipe uses simple seasonings of salt and black pepper. But, you can add extra flavor with fresh herbs, red pepper flakes, Italian seasoning, etc.
- Vegetables: Most venison soup recipes use mixed vegetables (carrots, corn, green beans, etc.) but what makes this recipe great is the abundance of fresh, crisp-tender vegetables. Traditionally, Italian wedding soup calls for celery. I like to use fennel instead for extra flavor.
- Acini de Pepe Pasta: Acini de pepe translates to "seeds of pepper" in Italian. They are tiny, round pasta slightly larger than cous cous. You can use other small pasta like orzo or pastina.
See the recipe card below for a full ingredients list and amounts needed.
Equipment
- Dutch Oven: A large Dutch oven is the perfect size for this recipe. But you can use a large stockpot, heavy pot, or other large pot instead. A slow cooker is not a good option for this recipe because it cooks in only 30 minutes!
How to Make Venison Meatballs
Venison meatballs are one of my favorite things to make with ground venison and they work perfectly in this soup!
Step 1: Preheat oven to 425°F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper. To a medium bowl add egg, milk, bread crumbs, and olive oil.
Step 2: Mix together with a whisk. Let the mixture sit while you prepare other ingredients (onions, garlic, parsley, etc.), about 5 minutes. The breadcrumbs will absorb the wet ingredients which helps the meatballs stick together.
Step 3: Add meat, onion, parsley, garlic, salt, and pepper to the bowl.
Step 4: Gently mix the meat mixture together with your hands until well combined.
Step 5: Use a cookie scoop or measuring spoon to divide the meatball mixture into 48 equal portions, about 1 tablespoon each.
Step 6: Gently form each portion into a ball.
Step 7: Place meatballs on a parchment paper-lined pan, evenly spaced in a single layer. Place in preheated oven.
Step 8: Bake for 12-15 minutes or until internal temperature reaches 165°F and the outsides are golden brown.
Step 9: If you'd like to brown your meatballs a little more, you can broil them on high for 3-5 minutes after the initial cooking time.
Step 10: Set aside until ready to use.
Pro Tip: Letting the breadcrumbs soak in the milk and eggs is essential to making the meatballs stick together. If the breadcrumbs don't fully soak up the liquid before adding the rest of the ingredients, the meatball mixture can be a little soupy.
How to Make Italian Wedding Soup
Once the ingredients are prepped, this soup cooks in just 30 minutes! Read below for how to make it.
Step 1: Heat a Dutch oven over low heat. Add butter to the pot and let it melt.
Step 2: Add diced onion, sliced carrots, sliced fennel, and minced garlic. Season with salt and black pepper. Stir to combine and cook for 7-8 minutes, or until softened.
Step 3: Add wine to the pot and bring it to a simmer. Simmer for 7-8 minutes or until the wine is reduced by half.
Step 4: Add the pheasant stock to the pot and bring it to a simmer over medium-high heat.
Step 5: Add the dry pasta to the broth. Simmer for 8 minutes, or 1-2 minutes less than the package instructions state for al dente pasta.
Step 6: Add the meatballs to the broth and simmer for 2-3 minutes, or until heated through.
Step 7: Add spinach to the pot and gently stir to combine. Cook for 1-2 minutes or until the spinach is slightly wilted.
Step 8: Remove the pot from the heat and stir in lemon juice. Taste and season with salt and pepper, if needed.
Pro Tip: Prep the meatballs and vegetables in the morning to make cooking a breeze at dinner time!
What to Serve with Italian Wedding Soup
Italian wedding soup is a meal on its own with the perfect mixture of protein, carbs, and vegetables. But, it's also pretty delicious with a side of fluffy sourdough bread for dipping.
Don't forget to top your bowls with freshly grated parmesan cheese, chopped parsley, and fennel fronds for extra color and flavor! Finish it off with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice and enjoy!
Recipe FAQ's:
Italian wedding soup, or "minestra maritata" is a classic Italian soup that consists of tiny meatballs, fresh vegetables, and small pasta (typically acini de pepe, orzo, or pastina). Minestra maritata translates to "wedded broths." Despite what its Americanized name suggests, it's not a soup to celebrate weddings.
Moisture from milk, eggs, and olive oil helps keep meatballs tender. Also, not overmixing the meat and not smashing them together when shaping meatballs helps keep them tender.
Breadcrumbs mixed with milk and egg create a kind of glue that helps hold meatballs together.
Did you try this recipe?
Let us know what you thought by leaving a comment below and sharing it on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest!
Thank you!
Annie
📖 Recipe
Venison Italian Wedding Soup
Equipment
Ingredients
Meatballs:
- 1 lb ground venison (or other lean ground meat)
- 1 large egg
- ½ cup milk
- ½ cup breadcrumbs
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ cup grated yellow onion (or 1 teaspoon onion powder)
- 2 tablespoon fresh parsley, finely chopped (or 1 tablespoon dried parsley)
- 1 tablespoon garlic, minced (or 1 teaspoon garlic powder)
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
Soup:
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 cup yellow onion, diced
- 1 ½ cup carrots, sliced at an angle
- 2 cups fennel, sliced
- 1 tablespoon garlic, minced
- salt and black pepper, to taste
- ¾ cup white wine
- 8 cups pheasant stock (or chicken, turkey, etc.)
- 1 ¼ cup acini de pepe pasta, dry
- 8 oz spinach, roughly chopped
- 2 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- chopped parsley, optional, for garnish
- fennel fronds, optional, for garnish
- freshly grated parmesan, optional, for garnish
- lemon wedges, optional, for garnish
Instructions
Meatballs:
- Preheat oven to 425°F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.
- To a medium bowl add egg, milk, bread crumbs, and olive oil. Mix together with a whisk. Let mixture sit while you prepare other ingredients (onions, garlic, parsley, etc.), about 5 minutes. The breadcrumbs will absorb the wet ingredients which helps the meatballs stick together.
- Add meat, onion, parsley, garlic, salt, and pepper to the bowl. Gently mix together with your hands until well combined.
- Use a cookie scoop or measuring spoon to divide the meat into 48 equal portions, about 1 tablespoon each.
- Gently form each portion into a ball. Place meatballs on a parchment paper-lined pan, evenly spaced. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until internal temperature reaches 165°F and the outsides are golden brown.
- If you'd like to brown your meatballs a little more, you can broil them on high for 3-5 minutes after the initial cooking time.
- Set aside until ready to use.
Soup:
- Heat a Dutch oven over low heat. Add butter to the pot and let it melt.
- Add diced onion, sliced carrots, sliced fennel, and minced garlic. Season with salt and black pepper. Stir to combine and cook for 7-8 minutes, or until softened.
- Add wine to the pot and bring it to a simmer. Simmer for 7-8 minutes or until the wine is reduced by half.
- Add the pheasant stock to the pot and bring it to a simmer over medium-high heat.
- Add the dry pasta to the broth. Simmer for 8 minutes, or 1-2 minutes less than the package instructions state for al dente pasta.
- Add the meatballs to the broth and simmer for 2-3 minutes, or until heated through.
- Add spinach to the pot and gently stir to combine. Cook for 1-2 minutes or until the spinach is slightly wilted.
- Remove the pot from the heat and stir in lemon juice. Taste and season with salt and pepper, if needed.
- Top bowls with parsley, fennel fronds, a squeeze of fresh lemon juice, and grated parmesan, if desired. Serve with crusty bread. Enjoy!
Notes
- One of the secrets to tender meatballs is to gently mix the ingredients. If you overmix the ingredients or compact the meat mixture too much, you'll end up with tough meatballs.
- Letting the breadcrumbs soak in the milk and eggs is essential to making the meatballs stick together. If the breadcrumbs don't fully soak up the liquid before adding the rest of the ingredients, the meatball mixture can be a little soupy.
- Any ground meat, whether it's wild game meat, ground beef, ground pork, etc. can be substituted for ground venison.
- A cookie scoop is a handy tool to make evenly-sized meatballs. But, you can also portion them by hand.
- Meatballs can be prepared and cooked up to 1 day in advance before preparing the soup.
- Prep the meatballs and vegetables in the morning to make cooking a breeze at dinner time!
- Traditionally, Italian wedding soup uses a light-colored broth like chicken broth or chicken stock. Pheasant stock has a rich flavor that works great for this recipe. You can use any light-colored broth or stock you have on hand. Don't use a dark-colored broth like beef stock, beef broth, venison stock, or venison broth.
- This recipe uses simple seasonings of salt and black pepper. But, you can add extra flavor with fresh herbs, red pepper flakes, Italian seasoning, etc.
- Acini de pepe translates to "seeds of pepper" in Italian. They are tiny, round pasta slightly larger than cous cous. You can use other small pasta like orzo or pastina.
- A large Dutch oven is the perfect size for this recipe. But you can use a large stockpot, heavy pot, or other large pot instead. A slow cooker is not a good option for this recipe because it cooks in only 30 minutes!
Kait West says
This was a crowd pleaser at my house! I've made other versions of this recipe however, this one takes the cake, the fennel is a delicious addition. The leftovers were just as good if not better than the original.
Annie Weisz says
Thanks Kait! I'm so glad your family loved the soup!