My grandmother made this every Easter Sunday and now I finally have her secret

This Oven-Baked 4-Ingredient Wedding Soup Pasta is a “dry-to-tender” casserole that reimagines the classic Italian-American soup as a hearty, baked meal. By using a brothy soup base to poach dry small pasta and frozen mini meatballs simultaneously, you create a dish where the pasta absorbs the savory chicken essence directly as it hydrates. The fresh baby spinach wilts into the sauce during the final minutes of baking, providing that signature “wedding soup” greenery and a silky texture that brings the whole dish together in one pan.

Oven-Baked 4-Ingredient Wedding Soup Pasta

Ingredients:

Step-by-Step Directions:

Step 1: The Dry Layering: Preheat your oven to 375°F. Lightly grease a 9×13-inch baking dish. Scatter the dry pasta across the bottom in an even layer.

Tip: Using dry pasta is a vital mechanical step. Because the chicken-broth base is thin, the pasta acts as the primary thickener for the dish. As the noodles hydrate, they release starch into the broth, transforming it into a light, savory sauce that clings to the meatballs.

Step 2: The Broth Infusion: Pour the brothy soup base over the pasta, ensuring every piece is moistened. Tuck the frozen mini meatballs into the liquid so they are partially submerged.

Step 3: The Spinach Cap: Scatter the chopped spinach over the top.

Tip: This is a “volume” necessity. Four cups of raw spinach will initially cover the entire dish like a blanket, but the steam trapped under the foil will cause it to shrink by 75% during the bake, eventually becoming thin, tender ribbons throughout the pasta.

Step 4: The Sealed Steam: Cover the dish tightly with aluminum foil. Bake for 35/40 minutes.

The Visual Cue: The dish is ready for the final step when a fork can easily pierce a pasta shell in the center of the pan and the meatballs are steaming hot.

Step 5: The Final Bubble: Remove the foil and give the casserole a gentle stir to incorporate the spinach. Bake uncovered for another 5/10 minutes until the edges are bubbling and the top looks lightly golden.