Slow Cooker Sausage White Bean Soup
3 Comments Dec 08, 2022
Updated Apr 15, 2023
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Slow Cooker Sausage White Bean Soup is a winter soup that’s just as flavorful as it is colorful. The delicious flavor of beef smoked sausage combined with veggie broth, beans, select vegetables, and seasonings is sure to make this soup a new family favorite.
If you’re looking for another winter soup classic, you’ll love Slow Cooker Chicken Noodle Soup, Zuppa Toscana or Black Bean and Kielbasa Soup.
Table of Contents
Why you’ll love sausage soup
The best part about cooking soup is how the flavors marinate together, especially when you use a crock pot. I totally forgot the delicious flavor smoked sausage can add to a soup recipe. In this particular classic, white beans, chopped carrots, and red potatoes add heartiness, while broth, celery, onion, and spinach add more flavor and color.
This is a great recipe to try when you’re looking for something with a runnier base versus something that’s thick. The prep time consists of chopping the veggies and the cooking time ensures a great soup everyone will enjoy.
Recipe Ingredients
- Beef Smoked Sausage: You can find this near the kielbasa in most grocery stores. Slice the sausage thin to make sure there’s a piece in every bite.
- Vegetable Broth: A healthy soup base that compliments the other ingredients perfectly.
- Red Potatoes: This type of potato holds up very well when being cooked in the crockpot. They will be cooked to a soft, but not mushy, perfection.
- Beans: You can use any canned beans such as cannellini beans, white kidney beans, or navy beans.
- Vegetables: Celery, carrots, red onion, and spinach (or kale) offer a healthy touch to this winter soup. You can use swiss chard instead of kale, but discard the stems.
- Seasonings: Salt, pepper, oregano, and garlic top off the flavor in this soup.
Step-by-Step Directions
Step One – Add sausage, cannellini beans, potatoes, carrots, celery, red onion, minced garlic, salt, black pepper, oregano and vegetable broth into the slow cooker and mix to combine.
Step Two – Mix the ingredients together to combine. Cover and cook on HIGH for 4 hours or LOW for 7 hours.
Step Three – Stir in kale.
Step Four – Cover and cook on HIGH for an additional 10 minutes or until the kale is hot, but still bright green. Ladle soup into a bowl and serve with crusty bread.
Variations
- More Vegetables – You can add more vegetables such as zucchini, butternut squash, parsnips, radishes, corn, green beans, black beans, diced tomatoes, or cauliflower. I love to add any extra vegetables that I have hanging out in my fridge and enjoy the unique soup that I get. Keep in mind that you may need to add 1-2 more cups of vegetable broth so that everything cooks evenly, and some vegetables may not need as long to cook, so you may want to add them closer to the end of the cooking time.
- Vegetarian – If you want to go as far as making a fully vegetarian dish, you can simply omit the sausage and instantly have the perfect option. You can also go the other way and add more sausage, either smoked and sliced or cooked and crumbled, for some extra meat and spice.
Recipe FAQs
This soup should be cooled to room temperature before being stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator. It will keep for about 3-5 days if properly stored. You can also freeze this soup in a freezer safe container or bag for up to 5 months. Be sure to store it in something with extra room to allow for expansion. It can be thawed overnight in the refrigerator or reheated directly from a frozen state. Be aware that the texture of the vegetables and beans may change.
It can be reheated on the stovetop or in the microwave in individual portions.
Italian sausage, smoked sausage (kielbasa), spicy sausage, hot Italian sausage, andouille sausage, or ground beef are perfect substitutions. If you choose to use a different kind of sausage, also consider swapping the broth for beef broth or chicken broth.
Sure! Garlic powder, onion powder, red pepper flakes, and a bay leaf are great choices for adding additional flavor.
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Slow Cooker Sausage White Bean Soup
Ingredients
- 4 cups vegetable broth
- 12 oz. beef smoked sausage, sliced (find this near the kielbasa)
- 30 oz. cannellini beans , drained (two 15-oz. cans)
- 2 cups cubed red potatoes
- 1 cup chopped carrots
- 1 cup chopped celery
- ¾ cup chopped red onion, chopped
- 2 tsp. minced garlic
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. black pepper
- 1 tsp. oregano
- 1 cup frozen kale, chopped (or two cups chopped fresh kale)
Instructions
- Place the sausage, cannellini beans, potatoes, carrots, celery, red onion, minced garlic, salt, black pepper, oregano, and vegetable broth in a 6 quart or larger slow cooker and mix to combine.
- Cook on HIGH for 3-4 hours or LOW for 7 hours or until the vegetables are cooked through.
- Stir in the kale and cook on high for an additional 10 minutes or until the kale is hot but still bright green.
- Serve and enjoy.
How to Video
Sarah’s Notes
- This soup should be cooled to room temperature before being stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator. It will keep for about 3-5 days if properly stored. You can also freeze this soup in a freezer safe container or bag for up to 5 months. Be sure to store it in something with extra room to allow for expansion. It can be thawed overnight in the refrigerator or reheated directly from a frozen state. Be aware that the texture of the vegetables and beans may change.
- Italian sausage, Polska Kielbasa, spicy Italian sausage, hot Italian sausage, andouille sausage, or ground beef are perfect substitutions for the smoked sausage. If you choose to use a different kind of sausage, also consider swapping the broth for beef broth or chicken broth.
Nutrition
Nutrition info is auto-generated. This information is an estimate; if you are on a special diet, please use your own calculations.
Should the frozen kale be thawed before adding it to the crockpot? Also, would turkey sausage work?
Turkey sausage would work well. And you can add the kale in frozen, just may need a little longer to cook.
I made this soup tonight exactly as it was suggested. It was delicious on a cold winter night with some crusty bread. Easy and quick to throw together was a real bonus! Thank you.