Italian Sausage White Bean Soup
One pot. 30 minutes. So much deliciousness.
Even if I was forced to, I don’t think I ever could pick a favorite kind of soup. There are just too many great ones out there, but when you’re craving one that’s plenty hearty but not so much that it’s a stew, this Italian Sausage White Bean Soup is the place to turn. The flavor is amazing — thanks to savory sausage and creamy white beans — and it comes together in one pot in just thirty minutes. It’s a great “throw together” kind of dinner, but I also like to make it on a Sunday to eat for lunches throughout the week. It’s super simple. Here’s how you do it:
First, you’ll start by browning your sausage. You can go with sweet Italian sausage or spicy, it just depends on what you like! Brown it up and break it apart as it cooks, though I like to leave mine pretty chunky so you get nice substantial bites of it as you eat. You’ll remove the sausage from the pot and then cook some onion and garlic in the residual fat from the sausage. It’s totally fine to add another glug of oil if you need to.
Once those have softened, you’ll add the cannellini beans, chicken broth, and some thyme, rosemary, oregano, and basil. (So things get very nice and fragrant!) Here, I like to blend a bit of the soup to thicken it up. You can do this by using an immersion blender and pureeing about half of it or you can simply transfer a few ladlefulls to a blender and then add it back to the pot once it’s smooth.
All that’s left to add is some carrots for sweetness and some kale or spinach for earthiness. It’s such a lovely, rustic soup that’s filling and so tasty, and so easy to make.
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Italian Sausage White Bean Soup
Ingredients
- 1 lb bulk Italian sausage
- 1/2 white or yellow onion, chopped
- 3-4 cloves garlic, minced
- 4 (14 oz each) cans cannellini beans
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
- 2 small carrots, peeled and chopped
- 2 cups baby kale or spinach
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flake (optional)
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Preparation
- In a large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat, brown the sausage, breaking it apart with a wooden spoon as it cooks. Remove sausage to a late and set aside.
- Add the onion to the pot and cook until starting to soften, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook 1 minute more. (If there isn't enough residual fat from the sausage, add 1-2 tablespoons olive oil.)
- Stir in the beans, chicken broth, thyme, rosemary, oregano, and basil and scrape up any stuck on bits on the bottom of the pot.
- Remove pot from heat and using an immersion blender, puree about half of the soup. (If you don't have an immersion blender, you can transfer a few ladlefuls of soup to a regular blender and blend, then return puree to pot.)
- Add sausage back to pot and stir in carrots. Increase temperature to high, bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and let cook until carrots are tender and soup has thickened. 15-20 minutes.
- Stir in kale or spinach, red pepper flake, if using, and season to taste with salt and pepper. Enjoy!
Recipe adapted from Salt and Lavender.