Kiwi and I have a longstanding debate about whether or not soup is a suitable dinner food.
And since I’m posting this recipe for “Dinner Soup” you can probably guess who won this argument.
I will admit that some lighter brothy soups don’t quite stand up to the end-of-day hungers. But this is hungry man (and woman and child) soup, packed with flavourful sausage (nod to Kiwi), lotsa veg, filling white beans, and wholesome greens. It’s homemade “soup that eats like a meal“.
If even a hearty soup isn’t enough to fuel the hungriest members of your family, you can round out the meal with a filling side: garlic bread, tortilla chips and guacamole, a caesar salad, or a meat/cheese/cracker/veg plate.
This soup can absolutely be made in advance if you like to do things that way. I will often make it on a Sunday afternoon and tuck it into the fridge for a super quick Monday or Tuesday dinner. It also freezes really well.
- 2 tablespoons cooking oil (avocado, grapeseed or olive oil)
- 1 pound spicy Italian sausage, cut into one-inch chunks (see note below)
- 1 large onion, diced
- 4 carrots, peeled and chopped
- 1 green or red pepper, chopped
- 3-4 ribs celery, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 4 cups chicken stock (see note below)
- 1 small 398 ml (14 oz) can whole tomatoes in juices
- ½ tablespoon herbes de Provence
- 1 small 398 ml (14 oz) can white kidney (cannellini) beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 small bunch of kale or swiss chard, removed from the stem and coarsely chopped
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- Freshly grated parmesan cheese, for serving
- Heat the oil in a large pot or dutch oven set over medium-high heat.
- Add the sausage pieces; cook for about two minutes or until it starts to brown, then flip the pieces over and let them brown on the other side.
- Remove the sausage to a bowl and set aside.
- Add the onion, carrots, red or green pepper, celery and garlic and cook, stirring regularly, until they begin to soften.
- Add the chicken stock, the sausage (along with any accumulated juices), the tomatoes (squeezing the whole tomatoes between your fingers to break them up) and the herbes de Provence.
- Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer until the vegetables are soft and the sausages are cooked through.
- Add the cannellini beans and kale or swiss chard and cook until beans are warmed through and the greens are wilted.
- Add salt and pepper to taste and serve with freshly grated parmesan cheese sprinkled over top.
I like to use homemade chicken stock (see here for instructions to make your own from a roast chicken carcass), but low sodium stock from a box will work just fine in this recipe.
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