Creamy Sausage, Sweet Potato & Kale Soup
This hearty, flavorful soup is a delicious combination of Italian sausage, sweet potato and Tuscan kale. Golden-brown onions and red bell pepper round it out to create a bowl of pure delicious comfort. The best part is that the sweet potatoes and kale pack a great nutritious punch, and it’s sturdy enough to make ahead and reheat throughout the week.
Tuscan kale is also known as lacinato or dinosaur kale, and in Italian as cavolo nero. It’s a variety with sturdy, crinkled leaves but a mild flavor, making it perfect for soups and stews. It’s ridiculously easy to grow across a variety of zones, which makes it great for beginning gardeners. While it’s known as a cool-season crop, mine keep going well into the summer and allow me to “cut and come again” throughout a super long growing season. Like most dark leafy greens, kale is packed with vitamins A and K, so it adds a nice nutritional punch, too.
But if you don’t have Tuscan kale on hand, regular curly kale or other sturdy leafy greens would work too. Just keep in mind that some bitter greens, like mustard, beet, or turnip, might benefit from blanching in salt water beforehand to remove bitterness before adding them to the soup.
If you’re using a high-sodium broth, you might want to cut down or eliminate the added salt. And if you’re in the mood for a little more heat, feel free to use hot Italian sausage or up the chili flakes.
Creamy Sausage, Sweet Potato & Kale Soup
Print Recipe Pin RecipeIngredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 medium onions, diced
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- 1 tsp fine sea salt (adjusted to taste depending on the saltiness of your broth)
- 1 tsp ground black peppercorn
- 12 oz raw sweet Italian sausage, casing removed and roughly chopped (about four links)
- 4 cloves garlic, crushed or minced
- ¼ tsp Aleppo pepper flakes (or other fragrant, moderately hot chili flakes)
- 2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and diced to half-inch cubes
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 3½ oz lacinato kale, de-stemmed and roughly chopped (about half a bunch)
- 3 tbsp chopped fresh herbs (such as sage, oregano, thyme, and parsley)
- ⅔ cup half and half
Instructions
- Dice the onions and bell pepper and sautee them in the olive oil over medium heat until they start to turn golden brown, about 10 minutes.
- Add salt, black pepper, and sausage. Mix thoroughly with the onions and peppers. Continue sauteeing, breaking up any large chunks, until the sausage is cooked through and golden brown, another 15-20 minutes.
- Add the Aleppo pepper flakes and garlic, stirring to combine. Let it sautee for another minute or two, just long enough for the garlic to start to get some color but before it burns.
- Add the diced sweet potato and a little bit of the chicken broth. Scrape any brown bits (fond) off the pan to ensure the flavor is incorporated, and add the rest of the chicken broth. Bring to a low simmer.
- Simmer at least an hour, until the sweet potato is very soft and all the flavors are well-incorporated. Near the end of the simmering stage, do a quick taste test and add extra salt, black pepper, or Aleppo pepper as needed.
- A few minutes before serving, add the chopped kale and fresh herbs to the simmering pot. Leave it just long enough to wilt and get tender, about three minutes.
- Just before serving, stir through the half and half and heat just long enough to bring it back to gently bubbling.
