Bean and Sausage Soup
Bean and Sausage Soup is both nutritious and simple to make. This hearty soup is made with two kinds of canned beans as well as smoked sausage and healthy vegetables. The leftovers are just as delicious, if not better.
Ingredients
- 1 pound smoked sausage, cut into slices (See Tip 1)
- 2 cups diced onions
- 1 cup diced carrots
- 1 cup diced celery
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 sprigs rosemary (See Tip 2)
- 2 sprigs thyme (See Tip 3)
- ¼ teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 14.5-ounce can petit diced tomatoes
- 2 quarts (8 cups) chicken broth, divided (See Tip 4)
- 2 15.5-ounce cans cannellini beans, rinsed well and drained
- 1 15.5-ounce can chickpeas or garbanzo beans, rinsed well and drained
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Freshly grated Parmesan cheese for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Cook sausage in a large Dutch oven over medium heat until fully cooked. Drain well.
- Pour grease from Dutch oven, but do not wipe down. Add onions, carrots and celery. Cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes. Add garlic; cook for 30 seconds or until fragrant.
- Tie the rosemary, thyme and oregano in a piece of cheesecloth secured with kitchen twine.
- Add Petit Diced Tomatoes, 6 ½ cups of the chicken broth, cooked sausage and herb packet to Dutch oven. Stir to combine ingredients. Cover Dutch oven and simmer the soup over medium-low heat for 30 minutes.
- While soup is cooking, purée one can of cannellini beans and remaining 1 ½ cups of chicken broth in a blender until smooth.
- After 30 minutes, add cannellini beans, chickpeas and puréed cannellini beans to soup. Cover and simmer for an additional 20 minutes over medium-low heat.
- Remove herd packet from soup. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Add spinach and cook until wilted, about 5 minutes.
- Yield: 8 servings.
Tips/Notes
- My favorite smoked sausage is Conecuh sausage. However, feel free to use whatever smoked sausage is available in your area.
- Rather than fresh rosemary, you can use ¼ teaspoon of dried rosemary.
- Substitute ¼ teaspoon of dried thyme for the fresh thyme.
- I used low sodium chicken broth in this recipe but use whatever chicken broth you have on hand.
Nutrition
Calories: 233kcalCarbohydrates: 10gProtein: 12gFat: 17gSaturated Fat: 6gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gMonounsaturated Fat: 8gCholesterol: 40mgSodium: 577mgPotassium: 452mgFiber: 1gSugar: 3gVitamin A: 2744IUVitamin C: 4mgCalcium: 37mgIron: 1mg
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