Easy Sausage Potato Soup

You will love this easy potato soup recipe with Italian sausage, potatoes, garlic, and kale. The soup is comforting and ultra-flavorful. Jump to the Easy Sausage Potato Soup Recipe

Easy Sausage Potato Soup

There are lots of ways to make potato soup, but this recipe with sausage and kale is our favorite. It’s rustic and full of flavor. Nobody wants a flavorless soup, right?

How to Make the Best Potato Soup

Our potato and sausage soup is savory, comforting, and keeps well in the fridge. If you’ve ever had Olive Garden’s Zuppa Toscana soup, this potato soup is similar (although, I’d wager it’s better). We’ve been making a version of it for years.

A pot of potato soup with sausage and kale

This potato soup recipe is simple so the ingredients you use matter. Here’s the rundown for you:

Potatoes: You can use any type of potato, but we highly recommend using Yukon Gold potatoes. There’s no need to peel them, and when cooked, they are buttery and almost melt in your mouth. We use Yukon Gold potatoes to make mashed potatoes, too. If you cannot find them, baby red or white potatoes, as well as russet potatoes, will work.

Italian Sausage: Depending on your spice preference, you can use sweet Italian sausage or hot (spicy) Italian sausage. We use sweet Italian sausage and then adjust the soup spice level with crushed red pepper flakes.

Stock/Broth: For the most flavor, use a good quality chicken stock from the store or use homemade. When reaching for store-bought broth, we go for low-sodium. We also look for a store-bought broth that’s darker in color (usually means more flavor) and since it usually has more of a backbone, we like to buy boxed bone broth (we use homemade bone broth sometimes, too).

Making potato and sausage soup

Cream or Milk: We combine chicken stock with cream for the soup broth. The chicken stock adds flavor, and the cream makes the broth silky and more luxurious — like in this creamy chicken noodle soup. We prefer to use cream when making soups, but if milk is all you have, be sure to read through our tips on using milk to prevent curdling. If you’re dairy-free, leave the cream/milk out. The soup will still taste great.

Herbs and spices: The Italian sausage already provides a lot of flavor, but adding garlic, dried oregano, nutmeg, and a bay leaf make the soup taste amazing. If you have some, a few sprigs of fresh thyme is a nice touch, too. For some heat, we love adding crushed red pepper flakes, but that’s up to your tastes.

Kale: For color and texture, we stir in chopped kale towards to end of cooking. To prepare kale, strip the leaves from the stalks (the stalks are too tough for this soup). Then chop or tear into bite-size pieces. Baby kale leaves work, too and don’t require any chopping. You can also use spinach, Swiss chard or other greens as a substitute.

Parmesan cheese: Parmesan is an optional ingredient, but if you have some on hand, it adds a lovely richness to the potato soup.

Easy Sausage Potato Soup

Making sausage and potato soup is simple, and it all happens in one pot! Here’s an overview of how to make it (the full potato soup recipe is below).

  1. Brown the sausage.
  2. Add the onions to the sausage and cook until soft.
  3. Stir in the garlic, herbs, and spices.
  4. Add the stock then bring to a low simmer.
  5. Add the potatoes and cook, partially covered, until tender.
  6. Stir in the kale and parmesan cheese. Taste for seasoning, and then serve!
Easy Sausage Potato Soup

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Easy Sausage Potato Soup Recipe

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You will love this easy sausage and potato soup recipe with Italian sausage, potatoes, garlic, and kale. The soup is comforting and ultra-flavorful. For the best potato soup, use Yukon Gold potatoes. They have thin skins, so it is not necessary to peel them. They also become buttery and soft when cooked. The red pepper flakes add heat to the soup. If you are using hot (spicy) Italian sausage to make the soup, you may want to eliminate the red pepper flakes.

Makes about 8 cups of soup or 4 to 6 servings

You Will Need

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 pound fresh Italian sausage links, casings removed

2 cups chopped onion (8 ounces or 1 medium onion)

1 tablespoon minced garlic (3 cloves)

1/4 teaspoon dried oregano

1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, depending on spice preference

Salt and fresh ground black pepper

1 bay leaf

2 sprigs thyme

1 1/2 pounds potatoes, cubed (2 to 3 large)

5 cups chicken stock or broth, see our chicken stock recipe

1/4 cup to 1/2 cup heavy cream or half and half

4 cups chopped kale leaves with ribs removed or use baby kale

1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese, optional (2 ounces)

Pinch freshly grated nutmeg

Directions

    1Heat the olive oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the sausage. Cook, breaking up the sausage with a wooden spoon until crispy; about 10 minutes.

    2Add the onions and cook, stirring every few minutes until they begin to soften; 5 to 6 minutes. Stir in the garlic, oregano, crushed red pepper flakes, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and 1/4 teaspoon of fresh ground black pepper. Cook, while stirring the garlic and spices around the pan, for about 1 minute.

    3Add the bay leaf, thyme, and potatoes. Pour in the stock. Increase the heat to medium-high and cook until the broth just reaches a simmer, but before it begins to boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low, partially cover the pot with a lid, and simmer until the potatoes are cooked through; about 15 minutes. While the soup cooks, stir every once and a while. If the soup begins to simmer more aggressively, turn down the heat a bit.

    4Uncover the soup and remove the bay leaf and thyme sprigs. Stir in the cream, kale, and parmesan cheese. Add a small pinch of nutmeg, and then taste the soup for seasoning. Adjust with more salt and pepper, as needed.

    5Reduce the heat to low, cover with the lid and cook until the kale is wilted and soft; about 5 minutes more.

Adam and Joanne's Tips

  • Cream is best, but if milk is all you have, here are our tips for using milk in soup while preventing it from curdling: Use warm milk and don’t boil the soup. Before adding the milk, warm it slightly in the microwave or on the stove. Adding the milk warm prevents it from curdling when hitting the hot pan. It’s also important to not let the soup boil aggressively. You want it to cook at a low simmer, which also prevents the milk from curdling.
  • For a creamier and thicker soup, grab a potato masher and just before adding the kale, mash some of the potatoes in the pot.
  • The kale softens in the soup over time. If you like extra soft and tender kale, leave the lid on the pot and keep warm for 10 to 15 minutes more.
  • For a lightened up version, replace the pork sausage with chicken or turkey sausage and substitute the cream/milk for additional stock.
  • Nutrition facts: The nutrition facts provided below are estimates. We have used the USDA database to calculate approximate values.

If you make this recipe, snap a photo and hashtag it #inspiredtaste — We love to see your creations on Instagram and Facebook! Find us: @inspiredtaste

Nutrition Per Serving Serving Size 1 cup of soup / Calories 268 / Total Fat 11.5g / Saturated Fat 3.9g / Cholesterol 33.9mg / Sodium 639.4mg / Carbohydrate 26.2g / Dietary Fiber 2.9g / Sugars 9g / Protein 15.2g
AUTHOR:  Adam and Joanne Gallagher
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13 comments… Leave a Comment
  • Carrie April 30, 2023, 7:16 pm

    This soup is delicious! I omitted the red pepper (at least this time) because my son is still coming around to spicy foods. I panicked when I realized my Parmesan went bad, but it ended up being so delicious without the cheese. Thank you for the recipe!!

    Reply
  • carolyn July 28, 2022, 11:47 pm

    this is a great recipe. i’ve printed it for the book!

    Reply
  • Tamara March 29, 2022, 9:23 am

    This was amazing! Best of all, it’s one of those recipes that is very easy to make your own. I added carrots and celery and used homemade seasoned ground pork along with homemade broth and it was DEVINE! Thank you for this recipe! It’s definitely a KEEPER for many years to come. Love your blog. So many tasty recipes.

    Reply
  • Stacy February 6, 2022, 9:12 pm

    Seen this recipe and it looked so yummy. I made it this weekend and my family and I love it. I am going to keep this one for soup making season for years to come. You can bet on that.

    Reply
  • Michele April 24, 2021, 11:15 pm

    Just made this for 2 extremely picky eaters, along with your soft flat bread and they loved it. I followed the recipe exactly. So delicious!

    Reply
  • kimlree August 4, 2020, 4:54 pm

    i used this recipe as cited. it was easy to make, delicious and filling. my family loved it!

    Reply
  • Ann Greene May 4, 2020, 11:25 pm

    Just found this site keen to try these soups

    Reply
  • Regan January 22, 2020, 9:12 pm

    I had some breakfast sausage in the refrigerator that I needed to use up, and also some potatoes, so I went searching on Google for a recipe that combined sausage and potatoes in a soup and lo and behold I stumbled upon your recipe. It sounded so good I got out in the snowy weather just to buy kale! The only addition I made was adding smoked paprika to the spices. For some reason it just sounded good to me so I threw it in there. This soup is so delicious I will be making it again for sure! Thanks!!

    Reply
  • Bill and Linda Hicks January 15, 2020, 7:14 pm

    I just wanted to thank you both for the great spare rib recipe, we just love it. Always turns out. Thanks so much
    Linda, Bill

    Reply
  • Katie September 28, 2019, 10:39 pm

    I had some potatoes on hand and was craving soup! This was so easy to put together, love one pot meals. I try to be dairy free so I swapped out 3/4c lite coconut milk with .5 c water for the milk. Came out perfect !

    Reply
  • Bonnie November 11, 2018, 11:21 pm

    I just made this soup yesterday for dinner. We loved it! I used everything in recipe as written. It’s going to be my new “keeper”soup. Thanks again for another great recipe. Your recipes have never ever failed me. Always delish.

    Reply
  • Marie October 27, 2018, 11:21 am

    Hi. I love your recipes!! I’m not a big food blog person but I stumbled upon you guys a year or so ago and just found everything you make to be delicious, simple and just what the doctor ordered haha. I’ve made several of your dishes and made this soup last night and it was KILLER. So delicious and so flavorful. The only thing I added was a little bit more sausage (one more link). This is such a fantastic recipe and seems well suited for having guests over. The women will be satisfied with the kale and the men with the sausage haha. Thank you for the recipes! Keep ‘me coming!

    Reply
  • Trudith October 17, 2018, 6:40 pm

    I love easy recipes that are nutritious! I will be making this tonight. I plan to use Louisiana Andouille uncured All Natural Smoked Sausage, and all the ingredients as noted in the recipe. This is a similar recipe from “Recipes for A Small Planet”- ‘Luscious Potato Soup’; which my daughter Holly adored, it was a Vegan recipe made with Non-Instant, Instant Milk, Brewer’s Yeast, Spring Onions, & Celery; all other ingredients remain the same, minus the Kale. Thank you for this perfect Fall recipe.

    Reply

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