Creamy sausage, potato and kale soup
Browned Italian sausage, tender potatoes and kale in a creamy, peppery broth, the restaurant soup everyone orders, made at home.
- 45 min total
- 20 min hands-on
- Anyone can make this
- Serves 4
- About $3.44 a serving
- 670 calories
- Good the next day
- Gluten-free
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 1 yellow onion
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1½ lb russet potatoes
- 1 lb italian sausage, mild or hot
- 5 cups chicken broth
- 4 cups kale, stems removed, chopped
- ½ cup heavy cream
From your pantry
- ¼ tsp red pepper flakes (optional)
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
Each serving has about 670 calories, 24 g protein, 40 g carbs and 47 g fat, and costs about $3.44 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No yellow onions? White onions or red onions work.
- No russet potatoes? Yukon gold potatoes work.
- No chicken broth? Vegetable broth or bone broth works.
- No kale? Baby spinach works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
the onion, the garlic, and cut the potatoes in half , then into ¼-inch slices.
Dice. Dicing means cutting food into small, even cubes, usually a quarter to half an inch across. Pieces the same size cook at the same speed, so nothing burns while the rest catches up.
How you’ll know: Your pieces are little cubes about the size of a chickpea, and they all look close to the same.
Mince. Mincing means chopping something into the tiniest pieces you can, smaller than a grain of rice. Tiny pieces melt into the dish, so you get the flavor without biting into a chunk of garlic.
How you’ll know: Every piece is tiny and about the same size, and the pile starts to look almost like a paste.
Lengthwise. Lengthwise means cutting along the long side, from stem to tip, which gives long pieces. Crosswise is the other way, straight across the middle, which gives short, round ones.
How you’ll know: Lengthwise halves of a zucchini look like two little canoes; crosswise pieces look like coins.
Squeeze the sausage out of its casings into a large pot and cook over medium-high heat for 6 to 8 minutes, breaking it into , until with no pink left.
Crumble. Crumbling means breaking food into small, rough bits with your fingers or a spoon, like feta or ground meat in the pan. Small bits spread through the dish, so there’s some in every bite.
How you’ll know: The pieces are small and uneven, about pea-size, with no big clumps left.
Brown. Browning means cooking until the outside turns brown, which is where a lot of savory flavor comes from. Give food room and time without stirring, or it steams and stays gray.
How you’ll know: The food looks brown rather than gray, and the kitchen smells toasty and savory.
Medium-high heatTimer: 7 min
Dolly’s tip: Slit each casing with a knife and peel it off like a sleeve. The meat comes right out.Food safety: Raw pork sausage is done at 160°F and raw chicken or turkey sausage at 165°F. Precooked sausage just needs heating until hot all the way through.
Spoon out all but about 1 tbsp of the fat, then add the onion and cook for 4 minutes, , until .
Stir. Stirring means moving food around with a spoon or spatula so it cooks evenly and doesn’t stick. Unless the recipe says constantly, every so often is plenty, and it gives food time to brown.
How you’ll know: When you drag the spoon across the bottom, nothing is sticking or scorching.
Softened. For vegetables it means cooked until they bend and lose their crunch; for butter, left out until it dents easily. Soft onions taste sweet, and soft butter mixes in smoothly.
How you’ll know: Onions squash easily against the pan with your spoon, and butter dents under a finger without looking greasy.
Medium heatTimer: 4 min
in the garlic and pepper flakes for 30 seconds, .
Stir. Stirring means moving food around with a spoon or spatula so it cooks evenly and doesn’t stick. Unless the recipe says constantly, every so often is plenty, and it gives food time to brown.
How you’ll know: When you drag the spoon across the bottom, nothing is sticking or scorching.
Fragrant. Fragrant means cooking until you can clearly smell it, usually garlic or spices, often in about 30 seconds. That’s the moment the flavor is ready, just before it can burn.
How you’ll know: You can smell it from a step back, and garlic is pale gold, not brown.
Medium heatTimer: 30 sec
Add the broth and potatoes, , and over high heat.
Scrape up the browned bits. It means loosening the brown bits stuck to the pan with a wooden spoon, usually right after adding liquid. Those bits are concentrated flavor, and they melt into the sauce.
How you’ll know: The bottom of the pan looks clean again, and the liquid turns darker and richer.
Bring to a boil. It means heating a liquid on high until it’s fully boiling before you move on. A lid on the pot gets it there faster, which makes it a good moment to chop something.
How you’ll know: Big bubbles break all over the surface, and they keep coming when you lift the lid.
High heat
to low and with the for 15 minutes, until the potatoes are .
Reduce the heat. It means turning the burner down, usually to medium-low or low, so food cooks gently instead of hard. Electric burners cool slowly, so lift the pan off for a moment if it’s bubbling hard.
How you’ll know: Within a minute the bubbling calms to a gentle simmer, or the sizzle turns quiet.
Simmer. Simmering means keeping a liquid just below a boil, with small bubbles rising gently. It cooks food evenly and lets a sauce thicken without scorching on the bottom.
How you’ll know: Small, lazy bubbles break the surface every second or so, and nothing is churning.
Lid ajar. Lid ajar means resting the lid on the pot slightly off-center, leaving a small gap. Some steam escapes, so the sauce thickens and doesn’t boil over, while most of the heat stays in.
How you’ll know: A thin wisp of steam drifts out of the gap, and the pot bubbles gently without spilling.
Fork-tender. Fork-tender means cooked until a fork slides in with almost no push. It’s how you know potatoes, carrots or slow-cooked meat are soft all the way through.
How you’ll know: The fork slides in and out easily, and meat pulls apart with very little effort.
Low heatTimer: 15 min
in the kale and cream and for 3 to 4 minutes, until the kale is soft and bright green.
Stir. Stirring means moving food around with a spoon or spatula so it cooks evenly and doesn’t stick. Unless the recipe says constantly, every so often is plenty, and it gives food time to brown.
How you’ll know: When you drag the spoon across the bottom, nothing is sticking or scorching.
Simmer. Simmering means keeping a liquid just below a boil, with small bubbles rising gently. It cooks food evenly and lets a sauce thicken without scorching on the bottom.
How you’ll know: Small, lazy bubbles break the surface every second or so, and nothing is churning.
Low heatTimer: 3 min 30 sec
Taste, then add the salt and pepper a little at a time until it tastes rich and savory, and ladle into bowls.
Dolly’s tip: Sausage brings a lot of salt, which is why the salt goes in last. Always taste before you add more.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
