Simple, yet delicious, this Pressure Cooker Americana Wedding Soup is colorful, with lots of round things that kids will love.
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Pressure Cooker Americana Wedding Soup
Pressure Cooker Americana Wedding Soup
There is an Italian Wedding Soup, so I thought it is high time we have a Pressure Cooker Americana Wedding Soup.
I wanted to create a fun and somewhat unusual recipe with a familiar taste, but different.
It also had to be a recipe that is naturally low in carbohydrates, but one that everyone will enjoy, not just those following a low carb diet.
It needed to be fun to make and cook up quickly in the Instant Pot Pressure Cooker.
Cast of Ingredients for Pressure Cooker Americana Wedding Soup
Colorful was important too!
For those following a Gluten Free diet, no worries, as subs are easily made for the Barley.
If you follow a Keto diet, sub or omit the Barley. Mushrooms will work well in place of Barley.
This Pressure Cooker Americana Wedding Soup is also full of fiber and heart smart too.
It is a delicious and satisfying soup, that also happens to be great for Weight Watchers and people on a low calorie diet!
But it is not a diet food! Nor does it taste diet or low calorie.
After months and month of testing, I finally achieved what I set out to achieve. A very full flavored, fun soup that is Low in Carbs, added Fiber, Round, Colorful, fun for kids and adults and naturally low in calories, without being considered a diet soup.
If you are Gluten Free, skip the Pearl Barley and use Rice, if you like!
Another delicious Low Carb, Keto, Gluten Free recipe to try is my Air Fryer Radish Hash Browns/Home Fries.
Prepare the Soup Meatballs
My Food Processor has been such a time saver!
I use it all the time. It was so useful in my Instant Pot Italian Meatballs in Red Wine Sauce recipe.
Check it out in my Pressure Cooker Salisbury Steak in Onion and Mushroom Gravy recipe.
My personal opinion is that this Food Processor is a must have in the kitchen to help cut down on preparation time.
Grinding up the ingredients first will ensure that each bite is the same.
Mixing the Meat with the veggies will ensure a nice and tight Mini Meatball.
Form Meat Mixture into Tiny Meatballs
Get the kids involved, as they might like to make up the Mini Meatballs.
For a reference of size, I do 37-39 meatballs.
If you would like to use a Small Cookie Scoop, it will help make the Balls more uniform.
Make sure the Meatballs are rolled very tight.
You can see the bits of the Pearl Barley in the balls, which will plump them up, but not make them like Porcupines. 🙂
If you prefer to use Farro, that works really well too and will give a little chew to the Meatballs, while upping the Protein!
Give a Drizzle of Oil to the Hot Pot
As always, wait until your Pressure Cooker is fully heated.
It will make a Stainless Steel cooking pot, non-stick.
Sauté the Onions and Celery
This Pressure Cooker Americana Wedding Soup has a short cook time.
The Onions and Celery are for flavor, not for texture, so you will want them to really caramelize and break down.
Therefore, Sauté until Onions soften and begin to brown.
Finely Minced Garlic
Make sure you use a good Spatula that can withstand a higher heat, so that it does not melt.
The veggie are getting nice and brown.
Don’t worry about the cooking pot. It is okay that it is during brown.
The cooking pot will deglaze very quickly, as you will see below.
Nicely Caramelized
All those brown bits are flavor baby!
It is called Fond.
Keep cooking until the Onions are brown.
Deglaze with White Wine
All it takes is a little White Wine.
Ask the person at the wine shop, which is a mildly priced White Wine that is nice for drinking.
Please do not use Wine labeled for cooking. It won’t be good.
The bits stuck on the cooking pot will jump off right away.
Lookie Here!!!
The Pressure Cooker cooking pot is once again, nice and clean.
Use your Spatula to scrape the bottom. Most of the bits will release on their own.
Simmer to Reduce the White Wine
Continue to Simmer, until the Wine has reduced.
This part of the cooking process is highly important as this is where much of the magic happens.
The deep flavors develop in this step.
You don’t have to be a wine drinker to love cooking with Wine. The reduction of the Wine changes the taste and becomes syrupy.
If you love soup, like so many of us do, check out my Pressure Cooker Zuppa Toscana Soup and my Pressure Cooker Nordstrom Tomato Basil Soup. There are a bunch of other delicious Soup recipes on the Blog.
Add Rich Chicken Broth
This recipe went through many incantations.
You may wonder why I am using Chicken Broth instead of Beef Broth.
After all, the Meatballs are made with Beef.
IMO, the overall taste using Chicken Broth, is better for this recipe.
My Homemade Pressure Cooker Chicken Bone Broth, is perfect for this recipe.
The next best thing is to use Better Than Bouillon Chicken Base with Fresh Water. Just grab a Measuring Cup and add the Base with Fresh Water and Whisk away.
Drop in the Meatballs
Carefully drop in those cute little Meatballs.
The yummy and interesting flavors are housed in the Meatballs.
As they cook, they will release just the right amount of flavor into the Broth.
Scrub the Radish and Slice
Radishes can be quite dirty, so make sure to wash them well.
When you cut off the green tops, leave about 1/4 to 1/2 inch left.
It will look super cute.
The root can go! 🙂
Floating Radishes!
Are you now thinking I have lost my mind?
Presumably, if you are here reading this recipe, you already know my recipes and trust my cooking.
After all, with a name like “Pressure Cooker Americana Wedding Soup,” no one is searching on the web for this Title. I made it up.
Plus, I am not one to go find the most searched for recipe on line and then blog it; I mean, that’s no fun. I like uniqueness.
I’ve never been one to follow trends and I prefer to create my own yummy recipes. Then, I’ll give it a name I feel suits the recipe. Even if it is silly. But, then again, I am not like most. 🙂
How Pretty is This???
Maybe don’t tell the kids about the Radishes, just yet. I mean, don’t lie to them, but don’t bring it up, until later.
The Radishes look so pretty in the Soup. I love the pink color and the little green stems.
Cooked Radish tastes nothing like raw Radish.
There is no bitter taste. I’m not fond of raw Radish.
If I have to describe the taste, to me it is kind of a cross between a young turnip and a sweet carrot. The texture is light and delicate and juicy.
Must Have Greens!
Okay, so I couldn’t exactly get Red, White and Blue.
Green is right next to Blue on the Rainbow. Roy G. Biv, after all.
But, don’t you think the Soup looks seriously pretty?
Don’t you just want to dig in?
Everything is Bite-Sized.
But, one last thing………to tie it all in.
Whisk in Beaten Eggs
At the witching hour, it hit me.
Eggs.
There had to be ribbons of Eggs.
Gently Use a Fork to Incorporate Eggs
Make sure to go slowly when incorporating the Eggs.
Use a Fork and slowly go in a circular motion, in the surface of the Soup.
Instant Pot Americana Wedding Soup
And there it is, folks.
Beautiful and so much fun to eat.
Please let me know if you have enjoyed making this recipe.
For more Meatball recipes, try my Pressure Cooker Greek Keftedes and my Hungryman/Woman Barbecue Meatballs, which will appear in my new This Old Gal Pressure Cooker Book, as a Pressure Cooker recipe!
Kitchen Equipment and Essentials
- Instant Pot DUO Plus 60
- Instant Pot DUO80 (8 Quart)
- J.A. Henckels Classic 7-inch Hollow Edge Santoku Knife
- Amco Advanced Performance 18/10 Stainless Steel Measuring Spoons
- Simply Gourmet (Dry) Stainless Steel Measuring Cups
- Anchor Hocking Glass (Liquid) Measuring Cups
- Cilio Olivewood Spatula
- di Oro Living Silicone Spatulas Set
- Rachael Ray Stoneware EVOO Oil Dispensing Bottle
- Alton Brown Salt Box
- Electric Pepper Mill
- 6 oz Porcelain Ramekins
- My FANTASTIC Teak Cutting & Charcuterie Board & Compartments
- Small 1.5 Quart “Pot in Pot” Mixing Bowl
- Microplane Artisan Fine Cheese Grater
- Cuisinart Large Food Processor
- Pearl Barley
- Small Cookie Scoop
Caring is sharing! If you would like to support This Old Gal, please share this recipe on Social Media, so that I can continue to bring you more wonderful recipes!
Here is the handy printable recipe:
Pressure Cooker Americana Wedding Soup
Ingredients
Meatballs
- 1 pound Ground Beef (or Pork)
- 1/2 cup Pearl Barley (not instant)
- 1/4 cup Fresh Flat Leaf Parsley
- 1 Egg
- 1 teaspoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil (if beef is super lean)
- 1 clove Fresh Garlic minced
- 1/2 cup (1.5oz) Asiago or Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese grated
- 1 teaspoon Kosher Salt
- 1/2 teaspoon Dried Basil
- 1/2 teaspoon Freshly Ground Black Pepper
- 1/8 teaspoon Fennel Seeds finely crushed
Soup
- 1 Tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 1 medium Yellow/Brown Onion finely diced
- 1 stalk Fresh Celery finely diced
- 1 pound Red Radishes (small) sliced lengthwise
- 1/2 pound Carrots peeled and sliced
- 1 cloves Fresh Garlic minced
- 1/4 cup Dry White Wine
- 2 teaspoons Kosher Salt (or 1 tsp Sea Salt)
- 2.5 quarts (10cups) Chicken Stock/Broth
- 1/2-1 cup Fresh Escarole or Swiss Chard or Arugula sliced into thick strips
- 1 Egg well beaten
Instructions
- Trim Radish, leaving ¼ - ½ inch of green stem. Wash thoroughly to remove dirt. Cut in half lengthwise from stem to end, so that each piece has a bit of green stem on top. Set aside.
- Place all Meatball ingredients, except Beef into bowl of food processor and process until well combined. Add Meat and pulse a couple of times to combine.
- Form into 38 Meatballs.
- Select Sauté/Browning on Pressure cooker and allow to fully heat.
- Add Oil, Onions and Celery. Sauté until Onions soften and begin to brown.
- Add Garlic and Sauté another 30 seconds.
- Pour in White Wine and deglaze cooking pot, loosening any stuck on bits. Simmer until Wine evaporates and vegetables are brown.
- Add Broth and mix through. Add Meatballs, Carrots and Radish.
- Lock on lid and close Pressure Valve. Cook at High Pressure for 5 minutes. When Beep sounds, wait 15 minutes and then manually release the rest of the pressure.
- Open Lid, add sliced Greens and stir until tender.
- With a fork, stir the soup in a circular motion. Slowly drizzle beaten Egg into middle moving broth, while stirring slowly to form thin strands of Egg.
- Taste broth and adjust seasonings, if needed.
PIN this Pressure Cooker Americana Wedding Soup!
Good read, thanks for sharing this wonderful recipe.
Thank you, Su. Jill
Love your recipes.
Thanks for sharing them with our family. I stumbled across your cook book via our library. And as an avid home cook for 20 years whose is always trying new recipes, so much so, that I rarely see a recipe that feels completely new…but cooked radishes? New to me, and happy to say loved it, loved it. Husband could not get enough. Kiddos, well, 2 out of 3 liked it, and that’s not bad for a new flavor & texture, lol!
I was so pleased I came online just to leave a response!
Thank you so much, Marti. Jill
I have coeliac disease. What would you replace the barley with? Looks great. Ev
Am I missing the amount of chicken broth??
I can’t find amounts of ingredients and time?
All of that is clearly listed in the post. Try reading again without skipping over sections.
Just curious.. have you calculated the net carbs per serving on this recipe? You mentioned ketogenic, but I’m concerned about the carrots and barley since those seem like they’d be a bit carby?
Barley is not gluten free
That is correct and why I suggest options for a GF version. Jill
“For those following a Gluten Free diet, no worries, as subs are easily made for the Barley.” And, “If you are Gluten Free, skip the Pearl Barley and use Rice, if you like!”
Just wanted to let you know that this soup is not gluten free. Barley has gluten! I think I’d switch it out for gluten free oatmeal or gluten free bread crumbs..
That is correct and why I suggest options for a GF version. Jill
Sara, Jill covered that: “For those following a Gluten Free diet, no worries, as subs are easily made for the Barley.” And, “If you are Gluten Free, skip the Pearl Barley and use Rice, if you like!” Thanks for an interesting recipe, Jill. I’m eager to try it.
You must not have read the entire post because I clearly saw a way to make it gluten free.