This recipe for minestrone soup with sausage always brings a happy sight to our table. It’s loaded with vegetables and made with a light and comforting tomato and parmesan soup. It’s really good.
This minestrone is my love language. It’s hearty and made with lots of vegetables, golden sausage crumbles, and the simplest Parmesan tomato soup (thanks to the Parmesan rind). It’s almost guaranteed to put a smile on my face.
This recipe makes a large pot of soup. Minestrone is perfect the next day as it tastes even better. Make it today and enjoy it all week! For more soup ideas, check out Chicken and Vegetable Soup , Italian Wedding Soup , and Classic Minestrone (coming soon).
main ingredients
Vegetables: Minestrone is centered around lots of vegetables. You can use whatever you have on hand or what’s in season, but we love using fennel, onions, carrots, celery, potatoes, and zucchini (or yellow squash). Sausage: Some minestrone recipes call for pancetta, but we love substituting Italian sausage. It adds more volume to the soup and more flavor. I always choose mild, but if you like a little spiciness, spicy sausages are perfect. You can use bulk sausage or simply remove the casing from fresh links. Canned Tomatoes: I love canned flame-roasted tomatoes for this soup. It has a little more flavor than regular tomatoes. White kidney beans: Use your favorite white beans. You can use either canned or cooked food. We usually choose cannellini, navy, or great northern beans. Stock: I used chicken stock in the photo, but vegetable stock would be just as delicious. If you want to make your own, check out our chicken stock and vegetable soup recipes. Garlic, Italian seasoning, Parmesan cheese: these are what make soup so delicious. Use fresh garlic if possible. If you have a parmesan rind, toss it directly into the pot and let it work its magic as the soup boils. If you don’t have a rind, add grated Parmesan cheese at the end and mix.
See the complete recipe with measurements below.
How to make minestrone soup with sausage
Tip 1: Brown the sausage. The first step in making this soup is to cook the sausage in a little olive oil until it browns and releases its fat. Once browned, remove the sausage and stir it into the soup later, but leave the rendered fat in the pot to cook the vegetables.
See all the little brown bits? This step makes the sausage taste better in the soup and adds a rich flavor to the vegetables and soup.
Tip 2: Sweat the vegetables. To remove the raw flavor of the onions and fennel, cook them briefly in rendered sausage fat. After a few minutes, the raw flavor will disappear and a sweet aroma will emerge.
Tip 3: Roast the garlic. Just before pouring in the canned tomatoes, add the garlic, Italian seasoning, potatoes, and zucchini to the pot. Stir in the pot for about a minute to sauté the garlic and bring out the flavor of the seasonings. Add the potatoes and zucchini at this point, as they will fully cook when you add the soup.
Tip 4: Boil the vegetables until they are soft. This soup does not take very long to cook. Add the soup and simmer until the potatoes and zucchini are tender, about 20 minutes.
After pouring in the stock, add the Parmesan rind. As it simmers, a light parmesan flavor will infuse the soup. It’s lovely and one of the biggest secrets of great minestrone soup.
offer suggestions
I would like to call it a day with a cup of this soup, but if you are interested in learning more, I would like to make some suggestions. To start, sourdough slices or garlic bread with butter would be delicious. If you want something lighter, try adding a salad. A fresh Capri or Caesar salad is also a great choice. If you have some leftover fennel in your fridge, you’ll also love this Shaved Fennel Salad with Parmesan.
See more of my favorite soup recipes
Minestrone soup with sausage
preparation
15 minutes
cook
35 minutes
total
50 minutes
This minestrone is truly comfort food. It’s loaded with Italian sausage, beans, and potatoes, and comes together in no time. Plus, the flavor gets better the longer you let it sit, so you can enjoy it all week long.
6 doses
will be needed
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
8oz Bulk Italian Pork Sausage, See Tips (226g)
1 medium-sized fennel bulb, trimmed and finely chopped
1 small onion (finely chopped)
3 medium carrots (peeled and finely chopped)
3 celery ribs (finely chopped)
1 large russet potato, peeled and cut into 3/4-inch pieces
2 medium zucchini or yellow summer squash, cut into 3/4-inch pieces
2 cloves of garlic (chopped)
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1 can (15 oz) fire-roasted diced tomatoes
1 can (15 oz) cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
6 cups (1.4L) low-sodium chicken stock or vegetable broth
1 to 2 ounce pieces of Parmesan-Reggiano cheese rind
direction
1Brown the sausage: Heat the olive oil in a large, heavy soup pot or Dutch oven over medium-low heat, add the sausage and cook until it begins to brown, breaking it up with a spoon as it cooks. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the sausage to a bowl, but leave the rendered fat in the pot.
2Cook vegetables. Add the fennel, onion, carrots, and celery and cook until softened and beginning to smell sweet, about 6 minutes. Add potatoes, zucchini, garlic, and Italian seasoning, stir and cook for about 1 minute.
3Make the soup: Add the tomato juice to the vegetables and use a wooden spoon to scrape up any brown bits stuck to the bottom of the pot. Add beans and stock and stir.
4Simmer: Stir in the browned sausage, taste, and season the soup with salt and pepper. Add the bay leaf and press the cheese rind into the soup, completely submerging it in the soup. Simmer, partially covered, until vegetables are tender, 15 to 20 minutes.
5To serve: Remove any remaining cheese rind and taste the soup, seasoning with salt and pepper as needed. Serve with grated Parmigiano-Reggiano sprinkled on top.
Adam and Joan’s Tips
Storage: Store leftover soup in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Reheat in a saucepan over medium heat. Sausage: Use bulk sausage or purchase sausage formed into links and remove the casing. To do this, make a cut in the raw sausage and pull the casing away from the meat.
Parmesan rind: Be careful as the Parmesan rind will not completely melt. It softens, melts a little, and mostly “steeps” like a tea bag. It adds a light flavor to the soup, but may need to be removed before serving. If you don’t have the rind, grate some Parmesan cheese and stir it into the soup before serving (1/4 cup to 1/3 cup is best).
The nutritional information provided is an estimate.
Nutritional information per serving
Serving size
1/6 of the recipe
/
calorie
539
/
total fat
31.6g
/
saturated fat
10.5g
/
cholesterol
60.4mg
/
sodium
1140.2mg
/
carbohydrates
40.6g
/
dietary fiber
8g
/
Total sugar content
7.3g
/
protein
25.2g
author:
We’re Adam and Joanne Gallagher, the creators of Inspired Taste. Founded in 2009, Inspired Taste has grown from a childhood dream to one of the internet’s most trusted recipe sites, with hundreds of trusted recipes, step-by-step videos, and expert tips.
