Sausage Kale and White Bean Soup (stovetop)
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This sausage, white bean and kale soup is one of my favorite soups for winter. It’s incredibly easy to throw together and takes less than an hour from start to finish making it the perfect weeknight warm you up meal.
The fattiness from the pork brings so much flavor and the white beans melt into the soup to create a thick, rich broth. The cottage cheese gives it a silky texture (and protein) while the veggies add texture, color and fiber. Basically, this is soup perfection.
Serve this bowl of hot soup with a side salad and garlic bread for the perfect cold weather remedy. For more homemade soups, try chicken gnocchi soup, roasted garlic and butternut squash soup and chicken enchilada soup.
Why you’ll love this recipe
- 35 grams of protein.
- Great for meal prep.
Ingredients and Substitutions:
These are the main ingredients and substitutions for this white bean soup recipe. See the recipe card below for the full list of ingredients and instructions.
- Italian Sausage Links: any kind of sausage is great. Hot Italian ground sausage is great if you like some heat. You can use chicken sausage but it won’t be as rich as a fattier pork sausage.
- Fresh Garlic
- Yellow Onion
- Chicken Bone Broth: any chicken broth or chicken stock. Vegetable broth will also work.
- Great Northern White Beans: or cannellini beans. I prefer white beans for this soup but you can use navy beans or lima beans.
- Low Fat Cottage Cheese: this makes the broth rich and creamy.
- Fresh Kale: Swiss chard or fresh spinach.
- Zucchini
Variations
- Add your favorite fresh herbs: fresh thyme leaves or a bay leaf are great.
- Add a sprinkle of parmesan cheese prior to serving. You can also throw a parmesan rind in the soup while it cooks for extra flavor. Remove before serving.
Dietary Modifications
- This recipe is gluten-free, as is.
- To make dairy-free, omit the cottage cheese.
How to make this Italian sausage soup (a visual step-by-step guide)
Step 1: brown sausage & onions
Heat a large dutch oven or large pot over medium-high heat and spray with cooking spray or add a tsp. of olive oil. Add the sausages by removing from the casings (image 1). I like to squeeze it out of the ends directly into the pot. Break the sausage into small pieces and let it brown before stirring. Stir until cooked through, approximately 5 minutes (image 2).
Once browned remove the sausage from the pot and set aside using a slotted wooden spoon. Scrape the browned bits from the bottom of the pot so they don’t burn, leaving them in the pan. Add the garlic, onion and a splash of the bone broth and cook (image 3), stirring often, until the onions are translucent (image 4).
Step 2: return sausage and simmer
Add the sausage back to the pot along with the remaining broth, beans, Italian seasoning, salt and chipotle powder (image 5). Bring the soup to a boil and then lower the heat to simmer. Simmer uncovered for 30 minutes to allow the flavors to meld together (image 6). Add the cottage cheese directly to the hot soup (image 7) and stir or whisk to combine. Don’t worry about the chunks. they’ll eventually melt away. This helps the soup thicken some. Stir in the kale and zucchini and simmer until heated through and the kale has wilted, approximately 3-5 minutes (image 8).
Expert Tip!
The cottage cheese will melt into the hot soup as it sits. Don’t be alarmed if you see any chunks right when you add it into the pot.
Recipe FAQs
Reheat over the stove top or the microwave. I prefer the stovetop for even heat.
Store leftover soup in the refrigerator, covered, for up to 5 days.
I serve my soups with a small side green salad and homemade garlic bread.
Yes. I like the fattiness of pork because it has such rich flavor but you can make this with any ground meat. If using ground chicken or ground turkey, add extra seasoning.
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Sausage and White Bean Soup
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Ingredients
- 5 mild Italian Sausage Links, casings removed Johnsonville
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1 small yellow onion chopped
- 6 cups chicken bone broth
- 2 cans Northern White Beans, rinsed and drained 14.5 oz. each
- 1 tsp. Italian seasoning
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. chipotle powder
- 1/2 cup low fat cottage cheese 110g
- 2 cups chopped kale packed cups
- 1 cup shredded zucchini 100g
Instructions
- Heat a large dutch oven or large soup pot over medium high heat and spray with cooking spray. Add the sausages by removing from the casings. I like to squeeze it out of the ends directly into the pot. Break the sausage into bite size pieces and let it brown before stirring. Stir until cooked through, approximately 5 minutes.
- Once browned, remove the sausage from the pot and set aside using a slotted spoon. Add the garlic, onion and a splash of the bone broth and cook, stirring often, until the onions are translucent.
- Add the sausage back to the pot along with the remaining broth, beans, Italian seasoning, salt and chipotle powder. Bring the soup to a boil and then lower the heat to simmer. Simmer uncovered for 30 minutes to allow the flavors to meld together.
- Add the cottage cheese directly to the hot soup and stir or whisk to combine. Don't worry about the chunks, they'll eventually melt away. This helps the soup thicken some.
- Finally, stir in the kale and zucchini and simmer until heated through and the kale has wilted, approximately 3-5 minutes.
- Serve topped with grated parmesan or red pepper flakes for some added heat and enjoy!
Notes
- Nutritional information is an estimate and will vary with substitutions.
