Italian Sausage Soup
Italian Sausage Soup is loaded with flavor, easy to make, and a healthy option for a cozy meal. In only 30 minutes you can be sitting down to dinner with a smile on your face. Bonus: leftovers taste amazing!
I'm so excited to share this recipe with you. It's my mom's recipe, and the one I always ask her to make whenever I go home. She almost always has homemade soup in her fridge, and of all the delicious ones she makes, this is my favorite.
Why this Italian sausage soup is my favorite soup recipe
- The delicious, slightly spicy flavor of Italian sausage works its way into the broth and every bite you take.
- Bite-sized sausage pieces make this soup feel like a real meal.
- Tender potatoes help thicken the soup just a little bit so the consistency is just right.
- Kale (or swiss chard in my mom's recipe) adds a pretty color and a boost of veggies.
- The flavor is amazing. It's rich, a tiny bit spicy, and always puts a smile on my face.
- Start to finish, this sausage soup takes only 30 minutes to make. Give it up for quick, easy, and delicious recipes!
How to make sausage soup
This soup is crazy quick and easy to make. In just 30 minutes, you'll be sitting down to a bowl of delicious sausage soup!
- Slice the sausages and brown them in your soup pot. While they're cooking, chop the onion, potatoes, and garlic.
- Now take the sausages out of the pot and put in the veggies and spices. When the onions are soft, put the sausages and broth into the pot and let it simmer for a few minutes to cook the potatoes.
- All that you have to do now is put the kale into the pot and let it wilt. So easy!
Tips for making the best sausage kale soup
The best soup always starts out with homemade broth. While this recipe calls for beef broth, if you have homemade chicken broth, use that instead of store-bought beef broth.
- If you don't have homemade stock, I recommend adding Better Than Bouillion to store-bought stock so that the soup will have better flavor.
- Spicy Italian sausage has the best flavor. If you're quite sensitive to heat, you can use mild Italian sausage instead. Or you can add a spoonful of plain yogurt or sour cream to your bowl of soup to dial down the heat.
- Leaving the skins on the potatoes helps them to stay together, rather than disintegrating into the soup. If you don't love the thicker skin on russet potatoes, you can use red or white potatoes that have thinner skin.
While we normally eat this soup on its own, a thick slice of Easy Whole Wheat Irish Soda Bread turns this into a real treat.
READ MORE: Favorite Italian Seasoning
How long does this Italian sausage soup last?
This soup is a great option for meal prep as it will last 5 days in your fridge. Make the recipe for dinner on Monday then take it for lunch throughout the week!
Can I freeze sausage soup?
This sausage soup recipe contains potatoes, which never freeze well. The potatoes will turn mushy and watery, so I don't recommend freezing it.
A suggestion from my mom: if you want to freeze the soup, skip the potatoes and add cooked noodles instead!
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More great soup recipes
- Lemon Chicken Soup
- Crockpot Vegetable Beef Soup
- Curried Chicken Cauliflower Rice Soup
- Kale Minestrone Soup with Pesto
- Best Chicken Tortilla Soup
Italian Sausage Soup Recipe
If you love this recipe as much as we do, let us know with a 5-star rating!
Ingredients
- 1 lb hot Italian sausage, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 small russet potatoes, cubed (about 3 cups)
- ½ teaspoon Italian seasoning
- ¼ teaspoon dried chili flakes
- 6 cups beef bone broth, see notes
- 2 cups chopped kale or swiss chard leaves, packed
- Sea salt, to taste (see notes)
Instructions
- Add the sausage to a soup pot on medium-high heat. Cook until the sausages have released some oil and have started to brown. Remove them from the pot.1 lb hot Italian sausage
- Add the onion, garlic, potatoes, Italian seasoning, and chili flakes to the pot and cook until the onion is soft, about 5 minutes. Add the broth, return the sausages to the pot, and bring the pot to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer until the potatoes are soft, about 7 minutes.1 medium onion, 3 small russet potatoes, ½ teaspoon Italian seasoning, ¼ teaspoon dried chili flakes, 6 cups beef bone broth, 2 cloves garlic
- Add the kale or swiss chard to the pot and let it wilt. Season to taste with sea salt.2 cups chopped kale or swiss chard leaves
Notes
- For the best flavor, use homemade beef bone broth. Homemade chicken broth is a good alternative. If using store-bought broth, I recommend adding some Better Than Boullion to boost the flavor of the broth.
- The amount of salt will vary depending on how much salt is in the broth you use. I use unsalted homemade beef broth and like to add about 1 teaspoon of salt.
- For an extra special treat, add a small handful of parmesan or asiago cheese to each bowl of soup.
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I made this soup with some spicy Italian sausage that I needed to use up and I’m so glad that I chose this recipe. The family all enjoyed it and we agreed we’ll make it again.
It sounded simple and interesting, it was also very tasty. I don’t even remember how I ended up finding this recipe but I will be trying some others from here.
Thank you
Instead of kale, could spinach be used in this soup recipe?
Spinach works great! Swiss chard, too.
Hi! love your recipes. When do you add the sausage back into the soup? with the broth?
Yes, with the broth! Sorry for that confusion. I’ll update the recipe now. 🙂
Good morning Kristen,
Can this soup be made in an instant pot?
Just cooked this and it was amazing!!! Used spinach instead of kale and used sweet Italian Sausage. Best soup I made in a while thanks for the recipe.
You’re very welcome, Ben!
Just made this soup, tastes wonderful but would like to tone down the spiceiness. Any suggestions.
If you have some sour cream or yogurt you could try adding some to your bowl. I do that to tone down the spiciness of meals I make for my daughter. Next time, mild Italian sausage might be a better option. It’s still very delicious!
I made this last night and my whole family loved it. Thank you for the great recipe.
That’s wonderful to hear. You’re very welcome!
I made this soup yesterday and brought some to my boyfriend! He just kept raving about how good it was!
Thank you so much for your recipes! I’ve made about 20 from your site so far and they have all been amazing!
That’s so amazing to hear! I’m really happy that you have found so many recipes here that you like!
I gave this a try last night and the family went nuts! They loved the flavor and richness of the broth and it gave them another way of eating sausages, that they enjoyed. Instead of using chicken or beef broth, I used Vegetable broth(low sodium version) and put a tablespoon and a half of Vegetable Better than Boullion in, to give the broth a little more flavor.
So happy to hear that your family loves it as much as mine does!
This looks delicious I’m anxious to try it. Do you cook the sausages whole or sliced and when do you add them back in to the soup?
I slice the sausages raw and brown as little chunks. 🙂
I want to make this tonight, but have a question first… The ingredients call for “2 chops” of chopped kale. I’m assuming that’s supposed to be cups, but you know what happens when we assume. Help!
Yes! Thank you for catching that. It’s 2 cups of kale. 🙂