Crock pot soup is the fastest, easiest way to make sure you have a delicious dinner waiting for you when you get home after a hard day of work. In my house we like to make something we affectionately refer to as Refrigerator Soup, dumping everything that we can find in a pot together.
The most recent batch was made of some leftover kale and Italian sausage and was a HUGE hit with the ladies of the Amelia Branch Library. It was spectacularly simple, delicious and deserves its own recipe designation. After spending the night in the slow cooker the beans were buttery smooth and the sausage had infused everything with a smokey, delicious taste. I usually prefer spinach in Italian style soups, but kale holds up wonderfully under the hours of slow cooking, coming out still slightly firm and delicious.
White Bean, Sausage and Kale Soup
Ingredients
- 1 lb Italian Sausage- browned
- 1 medium white onion- finely chopped
- 4 cloves garlic – finely chopped garlic
- 1 can tomato paste
- 3-4 cans chicken broth
- 4 cans white beans- rinsed
- 3-4 handfuls Kale loosely chopped (enough to fill up any space left in your pot)
Instructions
- Brown and drain sausage, do not rinse. Set aside
- In same pan sauté onions and garlic until translucent, scrapping sides to get off all the delicious sausage bits that were left.
- In bowl of your slow cooker whisk together tomato paste and chicken broth.
- Add sausage, onion mixture, beans, tomatoes with juice and kale.
- Cook on low setting for 8+ hours.
Remember, you can assemble all the ingredients in the cooker and refrigerate overnight. Just pop the pot to your slow cooker in the base in the morning and let it simmer while you work!
Looking for more delicious slow cooker recipes? Try some of these great resources:
Slow Cooker Revolution: one test kitchen, 30 slow cookers, 200 amazing recipes by the editors at America’s Test Kitchen
The Italian Slow Cooker by Michele Scicolone
175 Essential Slow Cooker Classics by Judith Finlayson
