You won't find a better bowl of soup than this savory, spicy vegan kale soup. Both pleasing and filling, this delicious soup will have your entire family coming back for more. Nothing satisfies like a hearty bowl of homemade soup, warm from the pot with fresh bread!
How to Make Kale Soup
Many soups have significant prep time involved in chopping veggies. For this soup, you simply need to chop the kale, mince the garlic, and slice the sausage. That's it.
One of the reasons I love serving soup to my family on busy weeknights is that making soup is always incredibly simple. First, we heat olive oil in a large stockpot or Dutch oven and then add the sausage. Once the sausage is cooked, add the kale and garlic and saute for three minutes.
At this point, you can add all of the remaining ingredients, bring it to a boil, and then reduce to a simmer for fifteen to twenty minutes on medium heat. You want to keep a simmer without a boil. If the soup needs more liquid, you can add water. When the soup is ready to eat, add salt and pepper.
And the best part is -- since it is all cooked in one pot, clean up is a breeze!
Recipe Tips for the Best Results
For this kale soup recipe, we use a vegan meatless sausage, which, depending on the brand, can be gluten-free. Check your label if that's a concern. Some vegan sausages are made from pea protein (a great option for folks with sensitivities to gluten or soy), soy protein, or wheat gluten. You can use regular meat sausage if you are not vegan. The spice level of the sausage is your personal preference.
One of the ways to build flavor into a soup is to add new flavors a little at a time. This is one reason the sausage is cooked first for one minute, then the kale and garlic for three minutes, and then the remaining ingredients.
If you want to ensure most of the sausage flavor stays in the bits of sausage, remove it from the pan before adding the garlic and kale. Then, add it back in at the very end. If you prefer for all that sausage flavor to move into the broth, making it full of flavor, you can boil the sausage in the soup as the recipe describes. For the best of both worlds, remove half of the sausage during the cooking process.
Kale Soup Serving Suggestions
Serve our cannellini bean and kale soup with a freshly baked loaf of bread, crusty bread from your grocery bakery, or simple crackers. Vegan parmesan cheese and croutons are a nice way to finish off the soup at the table. One of the wonderful things about soup is that you have a one-pot meal! Don't overcomplicate it.
How to Store Kale Soup
Leftovers of this soup should be kept in the refrigerator in an airtight container and will remain viable in storage for four or five days.
If you don't think you will eat the entire or want to save it for later, simply freeze it. Place it in individually-portioned containers in the freezer, which will keep for up to six months. Frozen soup can be reheated in a saucepan on the stove or in the microwave. You can also freeze the entire soup in one container and then reheat it in your stockpot on the stovetop.
Frequently Asked Questions
How can I tell why my kale soup is done?
Serve the soup when the kale is tender, the beans are cooked through, and the flavors have melded. Feel free to start taste-testing the soup after fifteen minutes of simmer.
Can you overcook Kale in soup?
Yes and no. This is subjective. If you want tender, wilted kale, it needs to go into the soup early per our recipe. If you want the kale to be crunchier add the kale any time, right up to the point you remove the soup from the heat.
Can you use kale stems in soup?
I recommend removing most of the central stem when you chop kale. Thinner sections of the stem will cook fine. The thicker sections at the bottom of each leaf will be off-putting.
Kale Soup Variations
- Onions are typical for this soup and would be added to the pot with the sausage. A sweet onion, yellow onion, or white onion would work best.
- Diced potatoes are a common addition to kale soup, specifically Zuppa Toscana. Add the diced, raw potatoes with the bulk of the ingredients.
- Give the soup a little twist at the end with the addition of heavy cream or vegan cashew cream once you remove the soup from the heat.
- Substitute white beans, navy beans, great northern beans, or cranberry beans for the cannellini beans.
- Other veggie variations include the addition of carrots, celery, parsnips, or turnips.
- If you want to add heat, try a dash of red pepper flakes.
- The type of kale you use for this soup doesn't matter, and you can use curly kale, baby kale, Tuscan kale, or even dinosaur kale (lacinato kale). Buy rinsed and chopped kale to make my life easier.
- Vegan Chorizo sausage adds a distinctly different flavor to the soup.
- In non-vegan soups, chicken Broth is typically used for Kale soup, but we love to use vegan no-chicken broth as a great substitute.
Why You Will Love Making Soup
Let’s talk about one-pot dinners, shall we? We embrace the pleasure of cooking, but even we can’t deny that the dreaded CLEANUP can sometimes cast a shadow. But with this quick, easy, and delicious kale soup, you’ll only use - and have to clean! - one pot. Nutritionally balanced, (thank you, meatless sausage), serve this soup without sides but with a delicious slice (or two) of crunchy sourdough bread or country breas
If you're looking for more one-pot meal recipes, we have you covered. Check these out!
One-Pot Meals You'll Love
- One Pot Chickpea & Butternut Pasta
- Lentil & Sweet Potato Vegan Chili
- Protein Packed Minestrone
- Moroccan Vegetable Stew
- Wild Rice Soup with Mushrooms
Some Fabulous Kale Recipes to Try Today
- Cannellini Bean, Quinoa & Kale Soup
- Purple Kale Farro Bowl
- Meatless sausage and kale soup
- Braised Kale with Spiced Chickpeas
- Penne Pasta with Cauliflower and Kale Pesto
- Kale Salad with Chickpeas and Tempeh Bacon Bits
- Vegan Garlicky Kale Pizza Hand Pies
- how to cook kale guide.
If you enjoyed this recipe, it would help us tremendously if you left us a star rating in the comments below or on the recipe card. Do you have any questions about the recipe? Do you need a swap for any of the ingredients? We are here to help, just leave us a question in the comments below.
PrintMeatless Sausage And Kale Soup
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
- Diet: Vegan
Description
A one-two punch of savory spicy goodness, this one-pot meal kale soup will please your senses and keep you satisfied for hours.
Ingredients
- 2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
- 2 meatless sausages, sliced
- 1 large bunch of kale, thoroughly washed and chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1-15.5oz can cannellini beans, water included
- 1-15.5oz chickpeas, water included
- 4 cups vegetable broth or vegan no chicken broth
- 2 tbsp coconut aminos or soy sauce
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- Salt and black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a large soup pot. Add the sausage and sautee over medium heat for about a minute, stirring often. Add the chopped kale and garlic and cook for another 3 minutes, tossing often
- Add the beans, chickpeas, broth, coconut aminos and soy sauce. Reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes (you can add extra water if you like the soup more brothy) . Add salt and pepper to taste
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Category: soup
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 2 cups
- Calories: 262
- Sugar: 3.5
- Sodium: 1045.5
- Fat: 11.6
- Saturated Fat: 2.2
- Trans Fat: 0
- Carbohydrates: 32.2
- Fiber: 10.7
- Protein: 17.5
- Cholesterol: 0
Alocasia
Making this tonight for dinner. Sounds delicious. I picked up the Beyond Sausage, and just wondering if you sliced them before sautéing. Thanks.
Vicky & Ruth
Hi! Yes, slice them before sauteeing.Enjoy!
Alocasia
What a great recipe. We loved it. My husband inhaled it all. 🙂
Vicky & Ruth
So happy to hear that!! 🙂
Yashoda
Sounds delish! Will make soon
Vicky & Ruth
It really is!! Hope you like it 🙂
Lynette Gerbe
I have made sausage and kale soup before but I am not a fan of chickpeas so is there another veggie or bean I could sub for the chickpeas?
Vicky & Ruth
Hi Lynette,
If you like white beans, they work great with the kale. You could also use lentils, but take into consideration that the cooking time will increase significantly. Hope this helps!
Haley
This soup was delicious! One thing I will note, I waited to add the soy sauce and the coconut aminos at the end, and once I tasted it I realized it was already very salty so I omitted both. I’m sure it was due to my brand of veggie broth and beans, but just something for others to consider so they don’t accidentally make it too salty.
Dorie Kosche
Thank you Haley, this is one big reason I like vegan meals. I can check the saltiness along the way without worrying about the meat being cooked to a safe temperature. I make my own salt free vegetable broth and beans mainly cause a lot of recipes call for soy sauce and that is usually enough salt for me.