Today I want to share with you a very simple recipe for a very comforting, delightful dish – Creamy Sausage and Potato Soup. I planned on calling it “Creamy Sausage and Vegetable Soup” as it also has onion, garlic, carrots, and spinach in it. But Creamy Sausage and Potato just has a nicer sound to it and truth be told – that’s what makes it so delicious.
To go straight to the recipe for Creamy Sausage and Potato Soup, click here.
I feel as if though I am transitioning from my pureed soup fascination towards more of a stew-style soups. It probably started with my Borscht recipe development.
And much like my borscht recipe, this soup can definitely be a part of your intuitive cooking. Quantities indicated are only suggestions – you don’t have to be exact.
Listed below are ingredients with their acceptable substitutions.
Ingredients
Fat
Most great recipes begin with sautéing onion and garlic in butter, or olive oil. Usually I prefer a mixture of both, but lately I have been using ghee, which is butter clarified of milk’s sugars. It has a much higher smoking point (485F). You can substitute ghee 1 for 1 with butter, olive oil, or a mixture of equal amounts of both. Be sure to watch the temperature and not let it burn, if you replace it with butter.
Onion
I prefer sweet onions purely because they don’t make me cry. However, you can substitute with an onion of your choice including red onion. I had to do that at some point while testing this recipe.
Sausage
When I first created this recipe, I used mild Italian sausage that was leftover from grilling. I declare my love for it in several recipes because it adds so much flavor and it’s so inexpensive. You can also use Kielbasa. Basically, whatever sausage you like will work in this recipe as long as it’s pre-cooked.
Spinach
StEMMing (not stEAMing) the spinach definitely adds a few minutes to the total cooking time but it is worth every second! Unless you’re in a rush to get food on a table – do it. Spinach adds a lovely pop of color in a lot of dishes where it’s not a main ingredient. But I used to hate it so much – until I cooked it according a recipe Daniel Boulud shares in his “Letters to a young chef” book. Taking the stem out makes it a lot nicer to eat and to look at and from then on, it is the only way I cook with it.
What is your favorite soup? Is there one that you make annually to welcome fall season? Let me know in the comment section. If you have any questions or feedback on this or any of my other recipes, you can find me on Instagram (@babushkacooking), Facebook (Babushka Cooking), or e-mail me at yana@babushkacooking.com
From Kitchen, with Love –
Yana
Creamy Sausage and Potato Soup
Ingredients
- 2 Tb ghee or 1 Tb butter + 1 Tb olive oil
- 4 garlic cloves, peeled and pressed
- 1/2 C onion, peeled and cut into thin strips
- 2 carrots, peeled and cut into thin discs
- 2 Russet potatoes, peeled, rinsed and cut into 1/2 in pieces
- 12-16 oz Italian sausage, cooked and cut into pieces or Kielbasa (pre-cooked), peeled if needed and cut in pieces
- 2-3 C stemmed spinach loosely packed
- 4 C beef, chicken, or vegetable stock
- 2 Tb cream cheese
- 1/2-1 tsp salt
- freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat ghee (or butter & olive oil mix) over medium low heat in a pot or Dutch oven that is big enough to easily fit all ingredients including the stock.
- Add onion and garlic.
- Stir and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 3-4 minutes, until garlic is aromatic and the onion starts browning around the edges.
- Add carrots, stir and cook for 3-4 more minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add sausage, potatoes, stir and cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add stock, cover and raise heat to medium.
- Cook until potatoes are soft and pierced easily with a knife.
- Add cream cheese, cover and turn heat to lowest setting.
- Once cream cheese melted, remove from heat and taste. If you need salt – start with 1/4 tsp and add more, if needed.*Depending on the sausage you use, you may need more or less seasoning. That is why you should taste it on its own first – it may not need any.
- Remove from heat, stir in spinach.
- Serve topped with freshly ground black pepper. Enjoy!