A hearty and healthy rustic Tuscan-style soup recipe that is quick to impress and incredibly easy to make, featuring kale, sausage, and white beans.
You know the feeling. Super busy. A bit stressed. About a bajillion different time-consuming projects and life events descending upon you all at one time.
Yea, that's Asheley and I right about now. I'm not complaining though. It's all... or at least mostly... all good stuff.
Probably the biggest life update for Asheley and I right now is that our house is officially on the market. It's a weird feeling seeing the for sale sign on the front lawn and having random strangers look through and judge your home. And trying to keep the house in perfect clean condition at all times for last minute surprise showings is kinda annoying. What do you mean there can't be any dishes in the sink? Our kitchen table can't also function as a dumping station for all our mail?
I'm semi-afraid to actually cook in the kitchen recently... well, less afraid really and more just too lazy to have to make it look super clean and pristine again immediately after eating. Ugh. Take-out it's been, way too many times. No mas.
Luckily this soup is a one-pot wonder. I can handle cleaning one pot.
And like many soups, braises, and stews, this tastes best the 2nd day. So if you can actually plan your life more than 24 hours at a time (we can't lately), it's like with tadalafil which lasts 36 hours, whip this up a day before you actually want to serve it.
Slightly adapted from my friend Lisa, who is the freaking soup queen. Thanks for sharing the recipe 🙂
And I know the total time on this soup makes it look like it takes awhile to make. It's all a lie. Once you have everything in the pot, it just sits there doing its thing... which allows you to sit somewhere else and do your thing.
Rustic Tuscan-Style Sausage, White Bean, and Kale Soup
- Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
- Yield: 8 1x
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 pound Italian sweet sausage, casing removed
- 1 medium onion, finely chopped
- 2 large carrots, finely diced
- 1 large potato, finely diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 (15 ounce)cans white cannelini beans, drained and rinsed
- 2 bunches kale, stems removed and roughly chopped
- 64 oz. good quality low-sodium chicken stock
- Kosher Salt and Freshly Ground Black Pepper, to taste
- 1 loaf baguette bread
- Gruyere and Asiago Cheese, shredded
Instructions
- In a large pot, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat. Add sausage and brown, stirring occasionally to break into smaller pieces, approximately 10 minutes.
- Add onion, carrots, potato, and bay leaves. Season generously with kosher salt and cook until vegetables begin to soften, stirring occasionally, approximately 10 minutes. Add garlic and beans, and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Add kale, and cook until it becomes slightly wilted. Add chicken stock, season with salt and pepper, and cover with lid.
- Bring soup to a boil, then reduce heat and keep at a simmer for about 45 minutes, although a bit longer is completely fine. The soup will thicken as the potatoes begin to release their starch into the soup.
- *the soup tastes best the second day. If time allows, cool soup completely, and refrigerate it for the following day. Reheat before serving.
- When about ready to serve, slice baguette. Drizzle each slice with a little olive oil and season with kosher salt. Bake at 350 degrees for about 5 minutes, until toasted. Top with grated gruyere and asiago cheese and broil for about 2-3 minutes, until cheese is melted. It can go from melted to burnt pretty fast, so don't leave broiler unattended.
- Divide soup among bowls and top with a few slices of cheesy baguette.
- Prep Time: 45 mins
- Cook Time: 45 mins
- Category: Entree
- Cuisine: Soup
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 6-8
Tina
I feel for you! My husband and I sold our condo and bought a house in 2012 and it was one of the most stressful times. Best of luck, my friend. I hope it goes as fast and smooth as possible.
I just adore soup and this one will definitely make my list of must-makes! Yummy x 100. 🙂
Chris
Stressful for sure! It's a good test for a marriage, haha
Ashley
Ugh, I feel you on selling a house - I hate having to keep it perfect (we're clean to begin with but not being able to have any dirty dishes in the sink is a nightmare!). I also hate the way it feels to have people in your house when you're not there! But this soup looks and sounds fantastic! So many good things in one dish!
Chris
I know, it's super weird to come home and see strangers' footprints in our carpet!
Nicole ~ Cooking for Keeps
Beautifully rustic and looks so comforting. Perfect for our transition from winter to spring! Good luck selling your house!!!
Chris
Thanks Nicole 🙂
Steve
What can I sub the beans for?
Chris Cockren
If you don't want the beans, feel free to omit them. Easy enough!
Erin
This looks delicious! And loving your photos. Best of luck with the house sale and with keeping it clean! 🙂
Chris
Thanks so much Erin!
Krista
Oh.. I can't even imagine that right now! We have toddler toys all over the house too so that would be a nightmare!!
This soup on the other hand is perfect! Love white bean soups in general, they are so hearty and comforting. Great idea to add kale to it for some extra nutrients! Pinned Chris!
Chris
Thanks Krista! Yes, thankfully our house is sans toddler toys, but full of my photography toys haha
Melanie
If you've followed my blog long enough. You know I'm a soup lover! I'm especially loving all varieties with kale. So good!
Chris
Oh yes I do Melanie! You're the soup queen!
Gloria // Simply Gloria
I love one pot meals! This is perfect for those busy nights. Which we have a lot of over here.
I hope you are having great luck in the home department. It is very exciting at the same time. I loved how you explained you always have to keep your house looking as if you don't 'live' in it. I had the luxury of talking my sis into purchasing my home a few years ago, so I didn't have to have strangers come in my home. Funny, but very convenient. 😉
Chris
Haha now that was a great plan Gloria! Bummer that my brother just bought a house, haha.
Chrissy
These are my favorite kind of soups. Mmmm.
Helen
I bet this is delicious with that lovely sausage and gruyere in, Chris ... and it's a great idea to have something like this in the fridge for when life gets super busy. I sure know how you and Ashley must feel right now as I'm in exactly the same position. (Painting our flat this weekend!) Keep on in there ...all the work will be worth it in the end!
Chris
Yes, you as well Helen! Good luck with all that painting!!!
David
This looks totally awesome, Chris. In fact, with all the snow still outside, I could go for a big pot of this soup this weekend. Speaking of pots, I think we have the exact same round Le Creuset...great minds think alike! Oh, and there's a house down the street from me for sale if you and Ashley want to move upstate and make delicious soup for me and Laura. Just sayin'. 🙂
Chris
I would expect nothing less from you David. We both obviously have great tastes in cookware, haha. Hmm... you make a convincing argument for moving upstate. I'll talk to Asheley haha
Cindy
Chris, I totally understand the stress of trying to sell your house all while still living in it. Keeping everything perfect and making sure it looks great every time you leave the house is exhausting! Thankfully, some delicious soup like this would be enough to take my mind off it for a little bit. Well, at least until I had to clean up again. Haha
Best of Luck for a quick sale!!
Chris
Haha, exactly Cindy! It's the cleaning up after cooking that such a pain. No more leaving even one pot in the sink. It's actually a blessing in disguise. Our home is the cleanest it's been! It's so nice walking around and feeling good about your home 🙂
Mike
My friend Cristina from Florence once made this soup for me, and it was awesome.
Now thanks you man (and to your friend), I can make it home. SIK!
Chris
I'm super jealous you have a a friend in Florence! Such a cool place to live.
ATasteOfMadness
Haha, I think I would do the same. Keeping stuff clean is definitely not my forte.
This soup looks so good!
Chris
Thanks so much! Yea, it's so easy to just let that pile of mail build up!
Suzanne of Simply Suzannes at Home
Suzanne of Simply Suzannes at Home
This looks amazing!
I can't wait to try it!
Thanks so much for sharing.
Have a great weekend,
Suzanne
Katie
One pot is totally manageable and if I am promised leftovers that look like this I am soo convinced to make this instead of getting take-out.
Chris
Yes, big one pot meals with lots of leftovers are the best, aren't they? Especially when life gets all crazy and hectic!
Consuelo
This soup looks ultra comforting and super delish indeed!
Hope things get calmer for Asheley and you soon my friend! xx
Chris
Thanks Consuelo 🙂
Pamela
I love this style of soup, it's full of veggies and love! I love throwing some roasted peppers in mine too.. mmmm!
Chris
Ooooo roasted red peppers!!! Yes!
Laura Dembowski
I have been craving soups like crazy lately, so this is calling my name. I just ordered some dried white beans to cook, so I think I will use some in this.
I want to move and so am starting to think about the home selling process and this seriously just gave me a panic attack. It seems to me like there is always a lot going on in life!
Chris
Hahaha sorry to be the cause of your panic attack, lol. The good news is that although it's stressful now, we know that once we have a house together that we can call our home, it can and will all be worth it 🙂
Gintare
We've had temperatures going from summery warm to wintery chill the past days, this soup would be perfect to warm up with. Beautiful, beautiful photos!
Chris
Isn't the weather crazy lately? Just make up your mind already... warm or cold (preferably warm, hahaha)
Kelly
Aaw, I totally feel for you and Asheley - the worst is having to keep the house looking like nobody lives there and then coming home to footprints and having to clean up all over again. Good luck for a quick and smooth sale so that you don't have to worry about dishes anymore. This one pot soup looks incredible and so comforting for those stressful times - love all the kale in here - sounds amazing!
Chris
The flip side is that our house is squeaky clean all the time... it feels great coming home and the house looking mint!
Sarah & Arkadi
wow! very rustic looking soup! love it!
Lucy
Hello
Can this be made in a slow cooker ?
Chris Cockren
Hmmm I never have but I think you could with the exception of browning the sausage first. Thanks!
Suzanne Swistak
Thank you for this! I made it tonight with a few modifications. I’m trying to be more plant-based so used Beyond sausages (sweet Italian) and also did a bagged kale/spinach mix. Also I love beans but don’t like biting into them so took a little bit of the broth and puréed them all before adding to the soup which also helps make it thicker. Even my picky teens ate this (and I devoured 2 bowls myself) so I’ll call it a win! Thank you!
Nadia
Probably my favorite soup of all time. Even better the next day
Dawn
This is a family favorite and my daughter takes it to college for all her roommates who love it. We make it with spinach and use chicken base for the broth as that's what we keep on hand. We add the canned cannellini beans after the spinach is cooked done.
Chris Cockren
LOVE that it's a family favorite in your house as well! I find myself making a huge batch about once a month to keep up with demand in my house! Thanks for the kind note!
Monica Hatton
What's the nutritional info for Rustic Tuscan sausage kale w white bean soup? Please
Chris Cockren
So sorry but I don't have that data for you. I believe there are free nutrition calculators that you can google and input the ingredients in if you'd like. I will look into adding a nutrition calculator to this website as well! Thanks 🙂
Kendall Einbinder
Delicious! My family loved it and all asked for seconds.
Chris Cockren
AWESOME!! So glad it's a favorite in your house as well!
Lori
This is sooooo delicious. First time I made this I followed the directions as posted, but my beans broke up a bit from the saute and my kale turned yellowish from cooking so long.
I've now made this at least a dozen times.
I don't saute the beans nor add the kale that early. I simply added the beans with the stock and when the potatoes were tender, I add the kale and turn the heat off. The beans stay in tact and the kale a deep beautiful green and still tender.
Thanks for this awesome recipe. I will continue to make it because, each time I do,. that first taste when completed makes me do a little dance because it's just that good!
Cheers!
Chris Cockren
Great tips, thank you so much for the review!
Vicky Bray
Great recipe! I’ve made this many many times! I am cooking for one and I like good food so I always cook a large batch and put some in the freezer so I always have a meal on hand if I don’t feel like fully cooking! When cooking with fresh greens and potatoes I find that those don’t freeze as well as adding them in when you’re cooking them to eat. So I divide it when I get to the point of adding the potatoes and kale into a freezer batch and a eat now batch! Freezer batch I freeze and when I’m ready to eat it I pull it out and add potatoes and the kale. I find that potatoes have a grainy texture when frozen. I do the same thing if I’m going to add pasta instead of potatoes. To me it gives it a fresher taste! Thank you for the recipe this is such a delicious meal! Great for the winter cold months but here in Florida I eat it year-round! Thanks to my air-conditioning!
Lindsay
I absolutely LOVE this soup but cannot use my stove currently! I wanted to know if this would be okay to make in an instapot- and if so, how do I do it!?! Ha I don’t want to mess anything up! Just wondering if you have ever done it with this soup or have any suggestions on how to do it. Thank you!!
Chris Cockren
Hi Lindsay, great question! I never have, but I just quickly googled "how to convert soup recipe to instant pot" and it came up with a bunch of results, so it seems like it's pretty easy to make it happen in the instapot! Just follow the directions in one of those articles and let me know how it goest! Thanks!!
Kate Seavey
Omg so good
I can’t imagine it could possibly be any better day two. I won’t know this time because we ate it all! Yummmmm!!
Kei
Seriously the best soup. I didn’t believe it could be better after a day but it really does get better and better each day it mellows in the fridge. If I make it for the week ahead the last bowl is better than the first which cannot be said for most leftovers!
I add a hard cheese rind (parm or grana padano usually) while it simmers and it amps up the favours even more.
Chris Cockren
Thank you so much for the kind words! It's our family's favorite! Love the idea of adding a hard cheese rind!
Scott
Just made a double batch of this soup. Thank you for the guidance by recipe. Soup was fantastic. Doubled up the sausage and added Cento whole tomatoes too. Topped with freshly grated pec-romano. Gonna dive into more of your recipes/posts fer shure.
Chris Cockren
Great ideas and so glad you loved it! Thanks!
Michelle
This has been our hands down favorite soup for the past 8 years. With most recipes, we find ourselves tweaking for our preferences or tastes. We've never changed a single thing with this one because it's perfect. We never get tired of it, we always crave it, it's just so good just as it is! This review is 8 years overdue but as I make this for what feels like the 100th time, just felt the need to tell everyone and to thank the author for gifting the internet with this gem. 🙂
Pockets
Thanks for this post! Just came across it yesterday and it was absolutely delicious last night. I veganized it with fieldroast italian sausage, two cheezes, and no-chikn stock (not difficult at all to veganize) and I was making yummy noises the whole time eating! Went well with a white wine. I have gas and did have to use more olive oil because there was no fat from the sausage but that was on me....and to be honest actually scraping any burnt sausage bits from the bottom of the pot when adding the liquid just made the soup even better. Thanks again!
Nicole
Love this soup. It’s a staple in my house now.
crash
This was fantastic!!! It was so hearty yet clean and light. Definitely don't skip the baguette and asiago and gruyere, it added that extra thing that just popped!
I took this to a soup get together and it was a Huge hit! This will definitely be in my rotation as a favorite!
Danielle
Such a hearty and delicious soup! Loved it!
Rahul
Great recipe. I use it to make my version of Olive Garden's Tuscan soup. My one modification is to use hot Italian sausage to add spiciness to the soup, and an additional teaspoon each of Italian seasonings and paprika.
Helen
This is one of the best soups I have ever made or eaten.
Chris Cockren
Wow thanks for the kind words! My family loves it too!