Kale Sausage Soup

The cold, dreary  months are all about soups at our house.  Nothing better than the slow simmer of a giant pot of soup on the stove, letting the smell drift around the house as the flavors meld together.  This kale sausage soup is easy to make and so, so good!  This soup has become another one of our staple recipes.   I know it’s now officially spring, but Idaho is still cold, and I’m still craving winter soups.   I love warming up to a steaming hot bowl of soup when the weather outside is not so inviting.

Since I just can’t seem to make a recipe that only has two servings, I like to do my soup-making early in the week so we have delicious leftovers for a few lunches and dinners.  Soup-making is a form of therapy for me when it’s cold outside.  I’m not a big fan of the cold and seem to move a little slower when there’s no sunshine.  My brain doesn’t always function at full capacity.  I’m definitely more of a summer girl so I turn to soup-making to cope with my winter blues.

This soup is easy, versatile, and only has seven ingredients. Sausage, Onions, Garlic, Cauliflower, Kale, Broth, and Seasonings.  The soup can be served alone or paired with a salad.  Top with cheese and sour cream or just leave it plain.  You can use chicken, beef, or vegetable broth.  Substitute potatoes for cauliflower if you want a heartier soup or even try frozen cauliflower instead of fresh (I think fresh cauliflower can be a bit expensive if it’s not on sale… I usually keep a bag or two of frozen cauliflower on hand).  Use chicken or pork sausage, mild to spicy.  I used some homemade pork sausage in this batch of soup but have used both chicken and turkey sausage in the past with great results.  You can let your creative juices flow with the endless ingredient variations.

I make all my soups, well almost all my meals for that matter, in my beloved dutch oven.  My favorite go-to cooking pot for everything!  For this soup, I start by heating the dutch oven over medium heat and brown the sausage, throw in the onions, cauliflower, garlic, and seasonings.  Let the veggies cook down a little bit, add the broth, bring to boil, add the kale, and let simmer for about 15-20 minutes.  I love the kale in this soup, it holds up so well, even when reheating leftovers.

This soups packs a lot of awesome fiber from the onions, cauliflower, and kale, just an FYI!   To serve the soup, I love to top it with cheese and sour cream as shown in the picture below.  Not the prettiest…. but oh so good.  Cheese and sour cream add a nice creaminess to the soup.  This is a low carb soup; if you opt for potatoes instead of cauliflower, just know you’ll be adding carbs.

Enjoy!  Hopefully you have warmer weather than Idaho!

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Kale Sausage Soup

Prep Time

15 mins

Cook Time

30 mins

Total Time

45 mins

 

Great basic soup-making staple recipe. An adaptable and versatile soup recipe.

Course: Dinner

Servings: 6

Author: Emily

Ingredients

• 1 pound of sausage - pork chicken, or turkey
• 1 medium onion chopped
• 1 head of cauliflower chopped and rinsed or 1 pkg of frozen cauliflower
• 2-3 garlic cloves diced
• 8 cups of broth - chicken vegetable, or beef
• 1-2 bunches of kale washed, stems removed, torn into one-inch pieces
• Salt pepper, red pepper flakes to taste
• Optional - shredded cheese sour cream

Instructions

1. Heat a large saucepan or dutch oven over medium - high heat.
2. Brown sausage, breaking into small pieces.
3. When sausage is almost browned, about 8-10 minutes, add onions and cook for 2-3 minutes.
4. Next add cauliflower and cook for another 5 minutes, stirring every few minutes.
5. Add garlic and let cook another few minutes, until fragrant.
6. Add salt, pepper, red pepper flakes to preference.
7. Add broth and bring to a boil
8. Add kale, stirring to incorporate.
9. Bring soup to a boil, reduce heat and let simmer for 15-20 minutes to let flavors develop.
10. Serve in soup bowls, top with shredded cheese and sour cream as desired.