Sausage and Bean Soup with Chard
(This is an old recipe that has been removed from my site. I am leaving the printer-friendly version of the recipe here for anyone who was a fan.)
Italian Sausage and Bean Soup with Chard
8 cups chicken stock, preferably homemade, but you could use canned
1 tsp. dried basil
1 tsp. ground fennel
3-5 links turkey Italian Sausage (hot or mild, but I prefer hot)
1-2 T olive oil (to brown sausage and saute onions)
1 medium onion, chopped in 1/2 inch pieces
1 tsp. garlic puree or finely chopped garlic
2 cans small white beans (with juice)
Swiss chard (or your favorite greens) – enough to make about 4 large handfuls of chard ribbons
freshly grated Parmesan cheese for servingInstructions:
In large soup pot, put chicken stock, dried basil, and ground fennel and bring to a low simmer. Simmer broth and herbs while you prepare other ingredients.
Squeeze sausage out of the casing and saute in small amount of olive oil until sausage is well browned, breaking up with the back of metal turner as it browns. Remove the browned sausage and add it to the simmering soup pot.
In the same pan saute onions until they are softened, adding more olive oil if needed. Scrape browned sausage bits off bottom of the pan as the onions cook. When onions are soft, add garlic and saute 1-2 minutes. Add onions and garlic to the soup pot, then deglaze the pan with about 1/2 cup water, scrape off browned bits in the bottom of the pan, and add that to the soup pot.
Add the beans with juice, rinsing out each can with about 1/4 cup water and continue to let the soup simmer.
Wash chard well, cut off stems, lay about six leaves on top of each other, fold in half lengthwise, and cut into ribbons about 1/2 inch wide. I like to cut the ribbons into smaller lengths so you don’t get long pieces of chard which are hard to get into the spoon.
When the soup has simmered at least 30 minutes, add chard ribbons and simmer about 10 minutes more, or until chard is softened and flavors are well blended. Serve soup hot, with freshly grated Parmesan cheese to add to each bowl.
If you happen to have a Parmesan rind in the fridge, add it to the soup when you first start simmering for added flavor.
This soup freezes well, although you may not have any left!
39 Comments on “Sausage and Bean Soup with Chard”
I make a soup like this. I use spinich a lot of times as a green. Also, the sausage drippings, along with a little added olive oil is great to make croutons from some stale bread to top the soup with. A little feta or salata ricotta on top goes really well too.
Just made and ate this wonderful soup, delicious!
The soup sounds delish! I’m going to put the ingredients on my next shopping list and try to put a pot together.
I love rustic Italian soups. This sounds perfect for this time of year.
And I’m not doing any cooking, either. Just hanging out here in the desert, looking forward to the New Year.
Health, peace and happiness to you in the New Year, Kalyn! xoxo
By just looking at the soup, I feel warm already (what a cold house I’m in). Merry Christmas Kalyn.
Wonderful recipe, Kalyn. It has so many of the things that I love. It would be just the thing to eat, with the cold weather we’re getting. Happy Holidays to you!
Comments after this one are from 2007 when I updated this as a recipe favorite.
Lucette, thanks for answering!! I am going to try growing it for sure next summer!!
Kale has been no harder to grow for me than swiss chard. It is a crucifer, I think, so it can get eaten by those little moths like cabbage and broccoli though.
Fall weather and soups are such a hearty combination.. Thanks. BTW,I did try ur steamed asparagus with olive oil and lemon juice nad really loved the flavors.
Looks marvellous! I can see that being a warm and hearty bowl that goes well with a night in front of the telly 😀
This is a nice fall weather soup…I love beans!
mmm! i love italian beans and greens as my noni callied it!
Yes! Bean soup with sausage. I’m in the mood for it, too. I like your addition of chard.
Hey – Wheresmymind; use vegan sausage. It’ll work. 😉
Alysha, I loved the combination of beans and greens.
Bill (WMM), if she’s a good wife otherwise, I think you should still keep her!
Christine, I discovered last winter how many types of greens I really do like, and chard is one of my favorite.
Hi Bruno, it’s really cold here today!
Lucette, I must try growing kale. Is it hard to grow?
Hmmm–I don’t have swiss chard, but there’s still some kale in my garden.
Sounds good Kalyn… especially w/ the cool weather on hand!
Umm, sounds like a wonderful soup, Kalyn — spicy and warming all the way to your toes. I love swiss chard — just found out that our winter market is going to have it this year!!
Great fall dish! I wish my wife wasn’t a veggie head…I’d so make this 😉
Mmmmm…I’m adding that soup to my “to try” list. We recently tried an Italian Soup recipe that was super easy and very tasty. This one is different though – I like that it has beans and it’s another way for us to try swiss chard.