Our White Bean and Sausage Soup will warm you from the inside out. A hearty soup with sausage, kale and white beans in a super flavorful broth. We like to finish this soup with grated parmesan cheese and a swirl of good olive oil, and don’t forget the bread for dipping!
Try serving this soup with our Homemade Garlic Bread on the side or a classic Caesar Salad!
Why You’ll Love This White Bean and Sausage Soup Recipe
The flavors going on in this White Bean and Sausage Soup are so complex and delicious, yet it’s a surprisingly easy recipe to make. Leftovers are as delicious (if not more) that when it’s first made, so plan on making a big pot, even if it’s just for you.
- Easy To Make/One Pot Recipe: From start to finish, this soup is ready in about 30 minutes. There’s no pasta to add separately or anything like that. Everything goes in one pot for easy clean up.
- Make Ahead Recipe: Since there isn’t any pasta in this recipe, it’s a wonderful soup to make ahead of time and enjoy throughout the week. Of course we love our soup recipes with pasta, but sometimes the noodles soak up all the broth and you have to add more as you reheat.
- Hearty and Nutritious: We’re using chicken sausage here to lighten things up a bit, but you can use any kind of sausage that you like. Then with the addition of vegetables like carrots and onions, along with white beans and kale, you can’t go wrong.
Ingredients You’ll Need
A photo of the primary ingredients you’ll need, minus the basics like salt and pepper. For a complete list of ingredients with amounts needed, head to the recipe card at the end of the post.
After the photo we’ll talk about a few of the noteworthy ingredients, why they work in this recipe and also substitutions if applicable.
A Few Ingredients We’d Like To Talk About
- Chicken Sausage: We like using chicken sausage for a bit of a lighter flavor, but you can use Italian sausage or pork sausage as well.
- White Wine: A dry white wine that you like drinking. If you don’t want to use wine you can substitute apple cider vinegar, but use half the amount.
- Kale: Make sure to remove the tough stems and chop the kale into bite sized pieces. Spinach can also be substituted.
- Parmesan Cheese: Try to use a good quality parmesan cheese and grate it yourself. Preferably no the kind in the can.
- White Beans: Or cannellini beans, again we like white beans for a lighter flavor but you can add whatever kind of bean you like or have on hand.
- Bay Leaf: Optional, but we do think it adds a nice flavor.
How To Make White Bean and Sausage Soup
We have step by step photos here along with brief instructions. For complete instructions with ingredient amounts head to the recipe card at the end of the post.
- Brown the sausage: Add oil to a soup pot or dutch oven over medium heat. Add the sausage and cook while breaking into crumbles.
- Add the vegetables and seasonings: After the sausage is cooked through, add carrots, onions and garlic and cook for 5 minutes until the vegetables soften. Season with salt, pepper and Italian seasoning and then stir in tomato paste.
- Add Beans and Kale: Chop the kale into smaller pieces and add to the pot along with 2 cans of white beans.
- Add Broth and Water: Pour in chicken broth along with 2 cups of water and stir. Bring to a simmer and then cook for 25 minutes. After the soup has simmered, stir in grated parmesan cheese to finish.
For Best Results
Even though this white bean and sausage soup is easy to make, we do have some tips for best results!
- Use good quality ingredients: If you start with high quality ingredients, you’re always going to get a better end result. Buy a good, nutty parmesan cheese, not the kind in the can, for instance. Try and use homemade chicken stock, or the best kind that you can find store bought. Our favorite is from Trader Joe’s, but there’s lots of good quality options at the grocery store.
- Remove the stems from the kale: Kale has some pretty thick stems, they will soften in the soup as it cooks but we like to remove them for easy eating.
- Try using the wine: Of course you can omit the wine from this recipe, but we urge you to try it because it adds a delicious flavor to the soup.
- Taste for seasonings at the end: Before serving, make sure to taste the soup and adjust the seasonings to your linking.
How About Some More Soup Recipes?
- Creamy Potato Soup with Sausage
- The BEST Clam Chowder Recipe
- Stuffed Pepper Soup
- Italian Wedding Soup
- Slow Cooker Pork Stew
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White Bean and Sausage Soup
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 35 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
Print Recipe
Pin RecipeOur White Bean and Sausage Soup will warm you from the inside out. A hearty soup made with sausage, kale and white beans in a flavorful broth made with a touch of white wine.
Scale
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 pound chicken sausage (can also use pork or Italian sausage)
- 1 cup diced onion
- 1 cup diced carrot
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt (plus more if needed at the end)
- Freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1/2 cup dry white wine (can also use 1/4 cup of apple cider vinegar)
- 3 ounces chopped kale, stems removed (weigh after removing stems, about 4 heaping cups)
- 2 cans (15.5 ounces) small white beans, drained and rinsed (reserve 1/2 cup of the beans and set aside)
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 2 cups water
- 1 bay leaf
- 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Add the oil to a large pot over medium heat. Add the sausage, breaking up into crumbles as it cooks. Once almost cooked through, add the onions, carrots and garlic to the pot. Stir and let cook for 5 minutes.
- Stir in the tomato paste, then deglaze the pot with white wine (or vinegar if using). Let the wine cook out for 1 minute.
- Chop the kale into small, bite sized pieces and remove any large pieces of stem. Add the kale to the pot along with the beans (don’t add the reserved 1/2 cup of the beans).
- Pour in the chicken broth and water, then add the bay leaf. Stir and bring to a simmer. Once the soup is simmering, partially cover with a lid and simmer for 25 minutes.
- Mash the reserved beans in a bowl with a spoon or a masher. Stir into the soup along with the grated parmesan cheese and let simmer for 5 minutes. Taste for seasonings, adding more salt and pepper if needed.
- We like to serve this soup with grated parmesan cheese and a drizzle of good olive oil.
Recipe Notes
- Make sure that you use at least a 5 quart pot for this recipe, it makes a lot of soup!
- You can buy sausage in bulk or in links (with casings) just remove the sausage from the casings before adding to the pot.
- While we do prefer the flavor of white wine in this soup, you can swap that out with 1/4 cup of apple cider vinegar or white wine vinegar, or just add another 1/2 cup of water or broth.
- To Store: Let the soup cool before adding to an air tight container. This soup will stay good in your refrigerator for 3-4 days. If you don’t finish the soup in that time frame, it freezes wonderfully!
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Stove Top
- Cuisine: American
