My vegan Italian wedding soup recipe features little veggie sausage meatballs, toothsome pasta, and a light, but still incredibly savory, broth thatโs enriched with umami-loaded miso. In my typical style, I enhance this comforting and hearty pot of soup with extra veggiesโvery similar to my Vegan Minestrone! This wholesome and cozy take on the classic needs about 30 minutes to cook on the stove.
The flavor profile of Italian wedding soup is timeless and itโs also just fun to eat. The cute meatballs and teeny-tiny pasta bits mingle with vegetables in every spoonful. Whatโs not to love? I find that finely diced fennel, while not traditional, feels right at home in this combination. It has the same texture of the typical celery, but that bright anise flavor absolutely shines with our veggie sausage morsels. Iโll never say no to more veg.
You donโt have to make up a separate batch of vegan meatballs for this soup. A well-chosen vegan sausage gives you everything you need from a flavor and texture perspective! Just chop them up, form the bits into balls, and youโre good to go. The veggie sausage also contributes to the soupโs overall flavor, a move youโll recognize from my Vegan Butternut Squash Zuppa Tosacana.
Escarole makes itโs blog debut with this vegan Italian wedding soup! Itโs wild that after 10+ years of doing this, we still have veggies showing up for the first time. Youโll find this one near the leaf lettuce and other bunched greens at grocery stores. It belongs to the chicory family and has a sublimely silky texture when simmered in a soup like this.
I hope that you get a chance to enjoy this one on a chilly evening sometime soon! It is warming to the core.
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Vegan Italian Wedding Soup
Ingredients
- 400 grams vegan sausage (4 linksโsee notes)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 medium yellow onion, small dice
- 2 medium medium carrots, small dice
- 2 sticks celery, small dice
- 1 small fennel bulb, cored and diced small
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
- ยฝ teaspoon red pepper flakes, optional
- 6 cups vegetable stock
- โ cup very small pasta (see note)
- 1 tablespoon light miso
- 2 cups chopped escarole, packed
- 1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
- ยผ cup flat leaf parsley leaves, chopped
- salt and pepper, to taste (see note!!!)
Notes
- When selecting vegan sausage for this recipe, go for one that can be roughly rolled/formed into little balls. Beyond Meatโs Spicy Italian sausage links are a go-to for me as they are quite soft and the flavor is complimentary here.
- Very small pasta recommendations: acini de pepe, ditalini, orzo, or stellate.
- Super important: really watch it with the salt! Most veggie sausages are well-seasoned and boxed broth can be an absolute salt bomb. We also add miso at the end! This is one of those rare recipes where I recommend maybe seasoning with salt and pepper at the very end right before serving.
Instructions
- Cut the vegan sausages into small pieces and then roll those pieces into tiny meatballs. They donโt have to be perfect! Some rough edges are fine.
- Place a large Dutch oven on the stove over medium heat. Once hot, add 1 tablespoon of olive oil and swirl it around. Add the vegan sausage meatballs and let them brown. Depending on the size of your pot, you may have to do this in batches. Once brown on all sides, remove the meatballs and set them aside on a plate.
- There should be a good slick of oil left in the pot (if not, drizzle in a bit more). Add the onion, carrots, celery, and fennel. Sautรฉ the vegetables, stirring here and there, until very soft, about 10 minutes.
- Add the garlic, oregano, basil, nutritional yeast, and red pepper flakes (if using). Stir and cook for 1 minute.
- Return the vegan sausage meatballs to the pot. Add the vegetable stock and stir. Cover and bring to a boil. Once boiling, stir in the pasta. Simmer the soup, uncovered and stirring occasionally, until pasta is tender, about 10 minutes.
- Place the miso in a small bowl and ladle some of the hot stock on top. Use a small whisk or spoon, dissolve the miso in the hot stock before pouring it back into the soup pot. Add the escarole, vinegar and parsley. Simmer until escarole is wilted, about 2 minutes.
- Check the soup for seasoning and adjust with salt and pepper if necessary (see recipe note). Enjoy hot!
weโve been making this soup once a week since we discovered it. i was hesitant using escarole in a soup, but turns out itโs great. i now multiply the recipe by 3. our grown son comes by to get a portion for his family. and we have it 2 days in a row. why would i ever make another soup again? lol and it reheats perfectly, no falling apart of anything, even the tiny noodles. i like them even better the next day.
Made this last night and it was a hit! It was absolutely delicious and perfect as a cozy fall dinner.
ModificatIons:
โข Skipped out on onions and garlic (my partner follows a low-fodmap diet) โ instead added a bit of garlic oil.
โข Used spinach instead of escarole, gf pasta shells and skipped out on the miso as it already tasted well seasoned.
โข Everything else was exactly as the recipe called for.
Thank you for this! Your recipes continue to be winners time and again.
We really enjoyed this. We used the Beyond bratwurst to avoid heat for our kid and I subbed spinach for the escarole. Will for sure make again!
This was delicious!! Made it per the recipe except used Swiss chard instead of escarole because itโs what I had and doubled the amount.
The soup was so tasty, so well seasoned, and perfecT for fall.
Another great recipe, Laura!
So excited to make this! Iโm wondering about leftovers and reheating โ is there any issue with the pasta and/or the meatballs falling apart or getting soggy?
The pasta does get a little soft upon reheating! You could cook it separately, drain, toss with a bit of olive oil, and then store it in a separate container. Add a portion to your soup as you reheat! The veggie sausage that I used for the meatballs (Beyond Meat) stayed firm!
-L
Packed with flavor and belly warmer on a chilly evening. I used 5 Cups veggie broth since I prefer a more stew like consistency. Also unable to find Italian seasoned sausages and used Beyond Plain Sausages that made yummy crispy meatballs for the soup. Thanks, Laura, for another soup that will be a staple in my fall & winter menu planning.
Hi Laura! I never need to question whether your recipes will be keepers! This one is no exception. Due to a low sodium diet, I cut back by half on the sausage links but I did take your suggestion for Beyond Meatโs Spicy links. When sliced, they rolled up very easily and they did not fall apart in the pan! A winner. Thanks so much for your kindness and generosity in sharing!
Absolutely delicious! I used vegan Field Roast sausage links for the meatballs bc itโs my preferred vegan โmeatโ. I come from an Italian family and this was always a favorite. This version is equally as good if not better. Loved it!
wow this sounds sooo comforting! Iโm gluten free and wondering if you still recommend adding the pasta in to cook with the soup or if youโd recommend cooking separately and adding it in to each bowl? Iโve heard that GF pasta can fall apart easily in soup, I have both cassava orzo and brown rice stelline (jovial brand) on hand. Do you have a rec for which of those might hold up better in this soup? No worries if you donโt have a suggestion! Love your blog so much!
Hi Lindy!
Iโve had both of those pastas and would recommend the brown rice for sure. I do recommend cooking it separately because brown rice pasta can fall apart and become gluey in soup after too much simmering. After cooking the pasta, drain and rinse with cold water. Then portion it out for servings straight away (ladling the soup over it in the serving bowls) or store in a container tossed with a bit of olive oil if thereโs leftovers. Thanks for this thoughtful question! I know that it will help the GF folks a lot :)
-L