Sausage, Potato, and Kale Soup
This hearty, nutrient-dense soup does double duty as comfort food and an immune-boosting one-pot meal. This recipe makes a big batch and keeps well. Serve it at a small dinner party, for two family dinners during the week, or for a week's worth of not-sad desk lunches. You can freeze half the batch if you like, too.
Servings: 8
Calories: 483kcal
Ingredients
- 2 pounds (907 grams) bulk sweet Italian sausage
- 1 large yellow onion diced small
- 2 ribs celery diced small
- 1 whole head garlic cloves peeled and minced
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh rosemary
- ½ teaspoon red chili flakes
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 2 pounds (907 grams) Yukon gold potatoes, diced (no need to peel)
- 8 cups 1(900 ml) chicken broth
- 2 bunches curly kale stripped from stems and cut int bite-sized pieces
- 2 15- ounce 425-gram cans navy beans, rinsed and drained
- 2 tablespoons (30 ml) balsamic vinegar
- Grated pecorino or parmesan cheese for serving optional
Instructions
- Set a very large pot over medium-high heat. (I use a 9-quart Dutch oven.)
- When the pot is hot, add sausage and break up into small pieces. This will get easier as the sausage cooks.
- Cook, stirring and breaking up frequently, until browned.
- If there's a lot of grease in the pot, carefully remove and discard all but about a tablespoon or two with a spoon. (There may not be.)
- Add onion, celery, garlic, rosemary, chili flakes, salt, and pepper.
- Cook, stirring frequently, until vegetables are softened, about 5 minutes.
- Stir in potatoes and broth.
- Cover pot and bring to a boil, then lower heat to maintain a brisk simmer and cook until potatoes are just tender, 5 to 10 minutes depending on size.
- Stir in kale and beans. Cover pot again and simmer until kale is tender, about 5 minutes.
- Off the heat, stir in balsamic vinegar.
- Ladle into bowls and serve with grated cheese and freshly ground black pepper to pass at the table, if you like.
Video
Notes
- If you can, buy sausage without a lot of additives (other than spices and seasonings). Some less-fabulous grocery store sausage may release a lot of moisture from the nonsense that's been added to it and be harder to brown. If this happens, just cook the sausage until it's about opaque throughout, don't expect browning, and don't worry about it.
- Heating the pot before adding the meat prevents the sausage from sticking, without the need for additional cooking fat. Sausage has plenty of fat in it, which will start to release right away in a hot pot.
- Like most soups, this one only gets better as it sits in the fridge for a couple of days. It will keep well in an airtight container in the fridge for a week, and you can freeze it for up to a year.
- When you reheat it, you may want to add some more broth — though if it gets more stew-like, you're welcome to just think of it as a delicious stew.
Nutrition
Serving: 1 | Calories: 483kcal | Carbohydrates: 61g | Protein: 34g | Fat: 12g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 6g | Cholesterol: 43mg | Fiber: 15g | Sugar: 5g