Italian Wedding Supper Skillet

One of my favorite places to eat in college was Olive Garden.

That’s a weird statement, I know. But listen, my small little town didn’t have much to choose from. And as a broke college student, you couldn’t get a much better deal than OG’s unlimited soup, salad and breadsticks.

My go-to was the Zuppa Toscano. That soup had a stranglehold on me in my college years. It’s creamy, salty, and incredibly filling. Devour a few bowls with some salad and a metric ton of breadsticks and you won’t need to eat for the rest of the day.

There is one soup I always hoped Olive Garden would start selling, though: Italian Wedding Soup. It’s one of the best soups you can eat and it checks all the boxes: protein, veggies, and carbs. I’m surprised Olive Garden never added it on the menu.

This skillet supper is like the classic soup but, well, in skillet supper form. I had a craving for Italian Wedding Soup but it’s already far too warm in Oklahoma to keep cooking soups so I converted it into a skillet meal.

This really hit the spot.

It takes all the best parts of the soup (meatballs, pasta and veg) and adds just a few ingredients (pasta water, cream of chicken soup) to create a sauce-based dinner instead of a broth-based soup.

Enjoy this skillet supper recipe. It will likely fill you up more than Olive Garden’s soup, salad and breadsticks deal!

Italian Wedding Supper Skillet

Servings: 4-6
Time: 40 mins
Difficulty: Easy
Print

A hearty one-pan skillet meal with meatballs, pasta, peas, carrots and spinach.

Ingredients

1 yellow onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 TBS. olive oil

1/2 of a 26 oz. bag of frozen Italian meatballs

1/2 a 12 oz. bag of peas and carrots

1 (12 oz) bag frozen spinach

1 (10.5 oz) can cream of chicken soup

2 cups chicken broth

1 (16 oz) bag of shell pasta

2 tsp. oregano

Salt and pepper

1 cup pasta water

Freshly grated parmesan, for topping

Directions

In a large skillet (cast iron preferable) heat oil over medium high heat. Add onion and garlic and saute until tender, about 4-5 minutes.
Stir in frozen meatballs, peas and carrots, and spinach. Let frozen meat and veggies cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occassionally.
Meanwhile, cook past according to package instructions. Drain, reserving 1 cup of past water.
In meatball skillet, stir in soup, chicken broth, oregano, salt and pepper. Let mixture simmer, uncovered, for about 10-15 minutes or until meatballs and veggies are cooked through.
Stir in pasta and pasta water. Let cook for an additional 3-4 minutes. Top with freshly grated parmesan.