Italian Sausage Soup with Kale and White Beans
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If you’re looking for a cozy, hearty bowl of soup, this your recipe! We love this Italian Sausage Soup with Kale and White Beans.
It’s packed full of flavor and vegetables like white beans, kale/spinach, carrots, zucchini and more. It’s simple to make – on the stove in about 45 minutes or in the slow cooker.
Add it to your dinner rotation for a simple, hearty one-pot meal!
When it comes to making soup, I don’t mess around. I lean towards making filling, hearty soups, like my Creamy Slow Cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup, Healthy Cheeseburger Soup, or even Tomato Orzo Soup with Shrimp and Spinach.
When it comes to feeding my family, I’ve found that hearty one-pot meals just make life so much easier. Recipes like my Mushroom Orzo with Spinach and Meatballs are exactly the kind of cozy dinners that help busy nights feel a little less stressful.
Also, soup leftovers are where it’s at. They’re the best! Let’s dive into the details of yet another hearty soup recipe, Italian Sausage Soup with Kale and White Beans!
The Ingredients
Here’s the list of ingredients with a few notes on each!
- Italian sausage – I use mild, but you can use hot if you’d like. Just be prepared for spice. Feel free to substitute ground turkey or beef instead.
- Onion – any kind will work in this soup. Sweet, white, yellow. Your choice!
- Garlic – for obvious reasons. Love a garlic flavor.
- Carrots – for sweetness, color and nutrition.
- Celery – for nutrition and flavor. The bitter notes work with the other veggies.
- Zucchini – Zucchini – because why not? The more veggies, the better. I especially love zucchini paired with sausage in cozy meals like my Sausage and Peppers Pasta.
- Spinach/kale – The pictures show spinach, but I often make it with kale as well. Either works wonderfully.
- Cannellini beans – I use 2 cans in this recipe. One is blended and added to the soup to help thicken it. It’s a little trick I use!
- Beef broth – Beef broth goes well with sausage, but feel free to use vegetable or chicken broth, depending on what meat you choose.
- Italian seasoning, salt, pepper and bay leaf – to season and flavor the soup.
How to make the soup
There are two ways to make this Italian Sausage Soup. One way is on the stove – see the recipe for full instructions. It’s quite easy and requires just a few steps.
You simply cook the sausage, add the veggies, add the beef broth, simmer, then add beans and kale at the end. Takes about 45 minutes total.
The second is in your slow cooker. If you don’t have a slow cooker that has a cooking/sauté function, I recommend getting one for its convenience. This is the one I have, and I love it.
Serving suggestions and storage tips
I like to serve this soup topped with Parmesan cheese and crusty bread. The soup broth is so delicious, definitely great for soaking up bread.
A side salad would be wonderful as well. It would balance the salty, hearty soup. I suggest using a simple dinner salad like this one.
If you’re looking to feed a crowd, this is a great recipe. It’s hearty enough and makes quite a bit. You can add more sausage to bulk it up if you’d like.
As far as storage, this soup will last up to 3 days in the refrigerator. Soups like this and my Zuppa Toscana Soup are some of my favorite leftovers during colder months.
We enjoy it for lunch and dinner, especially during the Winter months. I hope you enjoy this soup recipe as much as I do.
As always, please reach out with questions or share your review. I love hearing from you!
Italian Sausage Soup with Kale and White Beans
This hearty Italian Sausage Soup is packed full of vegetables, spices and flavor. It can be made on the stove or in your slow cooker. It's great soup for a cozy night!
Ingredients
- 1.5 pounds mild or hot Italian sausage
- 1, 15 ounce can diced tomatoes
- 2, 15 ounce cans cannellini beans, one drained and one blended in a blender
- 1 cup diced carrots (about 3 carrots)
- 1 medium yellow onion, diced
- 1 cup diced celery (about 3 celery stalks)
- 3 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1 zucchini, diced
- 2 big handfuls fresh spinach or kale (chop kale)
- 6 cups beef broth (about 48 ounces)
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
- 1-2 teaspoons salt (the sausage and broth already have salt in them so taste before adding salt)
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- Olive oil
- Crusty bread for serving
- Parmesan cheese for serving
Instructions
Stove Top:
- Place a large soup pot over medium heat and add 2 tablespoons olive oil. Add sausage and cook until browned, breaking it up with a wooden spoon.
- To the sausage add the Italian seasoning, black pepper, diced onion, carrots, celery, and minced garlic. Cook for 5 minutes. Next, add the diced zucchini and cook for a few additional minutes. I prefer slightly cooking the zucchini, otherwise it can get mushy.
- To the soup, add beef broth, can of tomatoes, drained can of cannellini beans, the blended beans (blend one can of cannelinni beans with the liquid. This helps thicken the soup without needing flour) and the bay leaf. Bring to a simmer and simmer for 20 minutes.
- Lastly, add kale or spinach and stir until wilted. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese and serve with crusty bread. Enjoy!
Slow Cooker:
- If you have a slow cooker that has a sauté feature, brown the sausage right in the slow cooker. If not, brown it separately in a pan on your stove.
- To slow cooker, add all of the ingredients: onion, carrots, celery, garlic, Italian seasoning, black pepper, bay leaf, beef broth, and blended beans. Slow cook the soup on high for 3-4 hours or on low 6-8 hours.
- Add spinach/kale and the can of drained beans at the end. Stir until wilted. I prefer to add the beans at the end so they still hold their shape. Top with parmesan cheese and serve with crusty bread and enjoy!
Notes
Soup will last 3 days refrigerated.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
8Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving:Calories: 513Total Fat: 27gSaturated Fat: 9gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 20gCholesterol: 49mgSodium: 1966mgCarbohydrates: 39gFiber: 10gSugar: 5gProtein: 31g
Nutrition information is automatically calculated. Use as an approximation only.
Recipe was delicious! It calls for onion but doesn’t say how much to use (it doesn’t appear in the ingredients list). How much do you usually use? I used half a yellow onion because that is what I had on hand. Also, do you drain the beans that you blend, or keep in the liquid for ease of blending?
Hi Jen! Thank you! So glad you enjoyed it. Thank you for the feedback – I have updated the recipe. I typically use a medium size yellow onion. Blend the beans with the liquid is fine!
It was absolutely delicious. i probably only cooked it for 2 hours 15 minutes and forgot the parmesan..still great!
so glad you enjoyed! We love this recipe, too!
This soup looks perfect for this cold weather!! I love a hearty soup like this.
It is! It warms you right up.:) I don’t feel like we’ve even had Fall. 🙁