This sausage, white bean and kale soup is loaded with vegetables, including onions, carrots, celery and tomatoes. It gets a ton of flavor from the Italian sausage and the creamy cannellini beans make this soup a meal!
The prep work on this soup is really simple. We’re using canned beans and Italian sausage, which is prepared and seasoned. The rest of the ingredients can be prepped in a snap so this white bean soup is easy to make.
It doesn’t take a long time to get a delicious, nourishing bowl of soup. It’s perfect for weeknights, cold nights, well… any night and these 10 comfort soup recipes make great meals.
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What type of sausage to use?
We used mild Italian sausage in this white bean soup, but if you like things spicy use hot Italian sausage instead. You can typically get sausage, either in links or bulk. Sausage links will come with a casing, make sure you remove it. Bulk sausage will come in a tray or a roll and there are no casings.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon Olive Oil
- 1 pound Mild Italian Sausage, casing removed and torn into small pieces, or use bulk sausage
- 1 Medium Onion, finely diced
- 2 Medium Carrots, diced
- 1 Celery Rib, diced
- 3-4 Garlic Cloves, minced
- ½ teaspoon Dried Oregano
- 1 can (14.5 ounce) Fire Roasted Diced Tomatoes (use regular diced tomatoes if you can’t find fire roasted)
- 6 cups Chicken Broth
- 2 (15.5 ounce) can Cannellini Beans, drained and rinsed
- 4 ounces Fresh Kale – we used prewashed baby kale
- Salt, to taste if needed
Prep Work
Before we get to the prep work I want to mention to go easy on the salt. When you’re making a dish with prepared/prepackaged ingredients like, sausage, canned tomatoes, beans, broth, etc. wait until the dish is finished to add salt. At the very least, use salt sparingly until you’re able to taste it and decide if more is needed.
If you’re sensitive to salt you can use low-sodium alternatives for the pantry ingredients. You can find pretty good low-sodium chicken broth, canned tomatoes and beans. Then you can adjust the salt at the end if needed.
Alright, we’ll start the prep.
- If you’re not using bulk, remove the sausage from its casing and tear it into small pieces. It will make it much easier to break up once it hits the hot pan.
- Dice the onion, carrot and celery. They will all be going in at the same time, so keep them in the same bowl. I like using glass nesting bowls to keep my prep ingredients.
- Mince the garlic.
- Measure out the dried oregano and gather the canned tomatoes, chicken broth and cannellini beans.
- Drain and rinse the cannellini beans. The easiest way to do this is to add them to a colander or a large mesh strainer and rinse them gently with cold water.
- The kale doesn’t go in until the end so keep it in the refrigerator. If you need to rinse it, do it now or later, it’s up to you.
Brown the sausage
Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. When the oil is hot, but not smoking, add the sausage. Cook the sausage for 4-5 minutes until browned. Stir frequently while breaking up any large pieces with a wooden spoon or spatula.
Make the soup
Instead of adding the vegetables in with broth we’ll create a flavor base by sautéing them with the sausage first. It’s an extra step, but only takes about 5 minutes and makes the difference between a good soup and a great soup!
Add the onions, carrots and celery to the pot and cook for 3 minutes, stirring frequently.
Next, add the garlic and dried oregano. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring frequently.
Add the diced tomatoes and stir well while gently scraping any bits off the bottom of the pot.
Add the chicken broth and stir well. Raise the heat to high and bring the broth to a boil (this will take about 5 minutes). Once boiling, lower heat to medium-low and cover the pot. Cook the soup at a simmer for 15-20 minutes to let all those delicious flavors meld together. Give it a stir occasionally and make sure it’s not boiling too vigorously. If it is, lower the heat a little bit.
Add the cannellini beans, stir and cover. Continue cooking the soup for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally to make sure it’s not sticking to the bottom of the pot.
Finally, add the kale, stir and cook 3-5 minutes until it’s wilted.
Taste the sausage and white bean soup and add salt if needed. As a reference we did not add any extra to ours. Serve and enjoy!
Here are a few more bean recipes you may like:
- Cuban White Bean Soup
- Three Bean Salad
- Navy Bean Soup
- Cuban Style Red Beans
- Chickpea Soup
- Chicken Lentil Soup
Sausage White Bean and Kale Soup
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon Olive Oil
- 1 pound Mild Italian Sausage casing removed and torn into small pieces, or use bulk sausage
- 1 Medium Onion finely diced
- 2 Medium Carrots diced
- 1 Celery Rib diced
- 3-4 Garlic Cloves minced
- ½ teaspoon Dried Oregano
- 1 (14.5 ounce) can Fire Roasted Diced Tomatoes (use regular diced tomatoes if you can’t find fire roasted)
- 6 cups Chicken Broth
- 2 (15.5 ounce) can Cannellini Beans, drained and rinsed
- 4 ounces Fresh Kale – we used prewashed baby kale
- Salt to taste if needed
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the sausage, cook for 4-5 minutes until browned, stirring frequently and breaking up any large pieces.
- Add the onions, carrots and celery to the pot and cook for 3 minutes, stirring frequently.
- Add the garlic and dried oregano. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring frequently.
- Add the diced tomatoes and stir well while gently scraping any bits off the bottom of the pot.
- Add the chicken broth and stir well. Raise the heat to high and bring the broth to a boil. Lower the heat to medium-low and cover.
- Cook the soup at a simmer for 15-20 minutes. Stir occasionally and make sure it’s not boiling too vigorously, lower the heat if needed.
- Add the cannellini beans, stir and cover. Continue cooking for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add the kale, stir and cook 3-5 minutes until it’s wilted.
- Taste the sausage and white bean soup and add salt if needed. As a reference we did not add any extra to ours.