Tuscan Kale Soup with White Beans and Sausage

Tuscan Kale Soup with White Beans and Sausage the warming and comforting soup you have been waiting for! Spicy Italian sausage, hearty kale leaves, canned tomatoes and white beans, all in a rich and savory broth. This fall soup is perfect to warm you right up, and there is minimal prep work involved. Just a little chopping and can opening and you are on your way to a delicious soup dinner in 30 minutes or less.

We are a soup family through and through. Some of our favorite soups are Spinach and Tortellini Soup and Chicken and Gnocchi Soup. I'll never stop creating new soups and stews because I just can’t get enough! I’m a saucy person (in more ways than one), and by its nature a soup or stew can never be dry-- it’s literally surrounded by liquid.

A bonus is that soups are often easy to put together, and guys, this soup can be made fast. I mean really fast. Even if you’re pokey like me, and that’s saying something.

I can tell you this because I knew I wanted to make this tuscan sausage bean soup, but I only had about 25 minutes to do so. Why I decided that it was a good idea to create a recipe in that short of a time, I’ll never know. But-- it worked out nonetheless!

Ingredients

• spicy italian sausage
• onion
• minced garlic
• Northern beans (otherwise known as cannellini beans or white beans)
• chopped kale
• chicken stock
• canned diced tomatoes
• fresh parmesan
• red pepper flakes (optional)

How to make Tuscan White Bean and Sausage soup

Begin by heating 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil in a large soup pot. Add sausage and cook over medium heat, crumbling it up as you go with a wooden spoon.

When the meat is about halfway cooked, add in onions and garlic and stir. Cook until the onions are translucent, about 5 minutes.

Add kale, chicken stock, drained beans, diced tomatoes, and salt. Stir to combine and let simmer for 10-15 minutes. Kale should be slightly wilted.

Top tuscan kale and white bean soup with freshly grated parmesan and red pepper flakes, if desired.

Is Tuscan Kale Soup the same as Zuppa Toscana?

Not quite. You are probably familiar with the classic Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana soup. You can obviously enjoy it at the restaurant, but it also seems like every food blogger out there as as sausage kale soup recipe. I know I do! Another recipe for soup with kale, Zuppa Toscana has similarities to this kale tuscan soup like kale and italian sausage, but it also has potatoes and cream, whereas this recipe has beans and tomatoes. This tuscan bean soup with kale recipe is also dairy free, whereas zuppa toscana is not.

If you are looking for more soups with kale recipes, try this Kale and Mushroom Soup. You can also add kale to this Minestrone Recipe.

Variations

Make it creamy tuscan kale soup by adding ½ cup of heavy cream as a last step, just after removing from the heat, before serving in bowls.

Make it vegetarian by removing the italian sausage. If you do, try adding in a teaspoon of italian seasoning for a little extra flavor.

How do you prepare kale?

If you are buy a whole bunch of kale you are going to have to chop it up to use it for soup. When doing so, you may also want to remove the kale stem, as it can be tough. To remove the stem, hold the end without the leaf with one hand and use your other hand to pull the leaf off of the stem. This method is similar to what you would do when stripping herbs, like rosemary, from their stem.

After the stem has been removed, chop the kale however large or fine you would like. The kale is then ready to use for recipes.

What is the best kind of kale?

It depends what your are using the kale for. For salads, I like baby kale because it's has more tender, smaller leaves. For soups, regular kale is great because it cooks down and it is ok that it is a little tough when raw. Lacinato kale is fun to add color to recipes with its red/purple hue.

Why use italian sausage vs. ground beef?

Ground beef is as simple as it sounds, it's ground up cuts of beef. The beef used in ground beef comes from various cuts of the cow, generally chuck, round, or sirloin, as these can be the tougher cuts. You may see different percentages in your ground beef such as 80/20 or 75/25. These numbers are in regards to the meat content versus the fat content found in the ground beef. The leaner beef can tend to be a little drier and less flavorful, but obviously less fat as well.

Using Italian sausage is a newbie cook’s best friend because so much flavor is already there. Both from its fat content and the herbs and spices, the sausage serves to flavor the whole soup! Italian sausage is a high fat content ground beef flavored with spices like fennel seed, italian seasoning, parsley, red pepper flakes, pepper, garlic powder, salt, and onion.

Tuscan kale soup slow cooker

You can easily adapt this to a slow cooker by browning your meat separately and then adding everything to the slow cooker on low for 4-6 hours.

Can you freeze Tuscan White Bean Kale Soup?

Sure can! I love freezing soups to use for later. This one freezes super well. Simply allow to cool and freeze in an airtight container that is either one serving or several. Thaw in the fridge and reheat on the stove or in the microwave.