This easy chicken sausage soup is a lifesaver on busy nights. It’s hearty, packed with healthy greens, and tastes incredible. This soup recipe is ready in about 30 minutes, thanks to minimal prep and cooking time!
We devour this chicken sausage soup every time we make it. I think I’ve even caught Adam with the ladle and not a regular-size spoon. I’m not judging (I did the same thing when he wasn’t looking).
Store-bought cooked chicken sausage is the trick to this soup. Since the sausage is already cooked, it’s just about getting everything into your soup pot and heating through. In addition to the sausage, we add hearty potatoes, making this soup recipe more satisfying. For another soup like this one, see our sausage potato soup inspired by Zuppa Toscana!
Key Ingredients
- Chicken Sausage: I use cooked chicken sausage with something sweet added (like maple syrup or apples), but use your favorite! I love the sweet sausage with the savory base of the soup.
- Onion, Garlic, and Potatoes: Onion and garlic make our base, and potatoes turn this into a hearty, satisfying soup. Any variety of potato works, but I especially love Yukon Gold as they hold their shape in the soup after cooking (Russet potatoes break down a little more).
- Tomato: I love chopping one tomato and adding it to this soup. It adds color, a little extra flavor, and some sweetness.
- Chicken Broth: Use store-bought or homemade chicken stock. Or, to bump up the protein content of this soup, use bone broth.
- Greens: We stir kale and spinach into our soup. I love the combination of textures but feel free to use just one or substitute your favorite greens.
- Cream or Coconut Milk: I love adding a splash of something creamy just before serving. Cream is great, or for a dairy-free option, try coconut milk, which adds a lovely faint coconut flavor, too.
How to Make Chicken Sausage Soup
This chicken sausage soup comes together in no time. First, we cook onions in a bit of oil, then add garlic and a pinch of red pepper flakes. After slicing the sauce, we stir it in. It’s already cooked, so it makes things extra easy. From there, we follow up with chicken stock, kale, potatoes, and tomatoes.
Finally, when the potatoes are tender, we turn off the heat and stir in some spinach and a splash of cream (or coconut milk). And that’s it! Hearty, simple sausage soup with potatoes and greens. It’s one of our favorites.
Quick Chicken Sausage Soup
- PREP
- COOK
- TOTAL
We love this quick and easy chicken sausage soup. Cooked sausage makes this fast. I love using sausage with maple or apple, which works nicely with this soup’s savory base. I add kale and spinach to this soup, but you can use one or the other (4 cups is perfect).
You Will Need
1 ½ tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, thinly sliced into half-moons
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 (8oz) package cooked chicken sausage, cut into bite-size pieces
4 medium Yukon Gold potatoes, cut into 1/4-inch slices
1 large tomato, roughly chopped
4 cups (946ml) chicken stock
2 cups torn kale leaves, rinsed with ribs and stems removed
2 cups packed fresh spinach leaves
1/4 cup (60ml) cream or coconut milk
Salt and fresh ground black pepper
Directions
1Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add onions and cook until translucent, about 3 minutes.
2Stir in the garlic, red pepper flakes, and chicken sausage, then cook until the sausage begins to brown, about 2 minutes.
3Add the potatoes, tomatoes, and chicken stock. Bring to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes, then add the kale and cook another 10 minutes until wilted and the potatoes are tender.
4Turn the heat off, then stir the spinach leaves and cream. Cover with a lid for 5 minutes, stir again, and then season to taste with salt and pepper.
Adam and Joanne's Tips
- Storing: Refrigerate in an airtight container for 3 to 4 days. Or freeze for up to 3 months. As the soup sits, the potatoes soak up the broth. When you reheat, add a splash of extra broth or water.
- Seasoning the soup: If you feel the soup is missing some zing, add a bit more salt. You can also add a pop of flavor with a dash of fish sauce (we often use this trick for store-bought stocks and broths) or Worcestershire sauce.
- Using raw sausage: Before cooking the onions, cook the sausage in the olive oil, breaking it up with a spoon until it’s browned. Remove the cooked sausage from the pan, set it aside, and cook the onions in the rendered fat left at the bottom of the pan. Add the sausage back with the garlic.
- The nutrition facts provided below are estimates.
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I discovered this soup recipe a while back and have made it a number of times. Am making it again today for me and my husband. We both really enjoy it. It tastes good and is not difficult to make. Thanks for sharing this wonderful recipe.
This was absolutely delicious. I am glad my friend shared it with me. Any hints on how to print it out
So good!
I already tried several of your recipes and they all turned out great. I just love your blog!!!
Thanks so much!
So delicious!
I forgot to buy the onion, added one more garlic clove, 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper and a handful of mushrooms. This was really easy to make and did not to take too long either. Very tasty!!
This soup was surprisingly flavorful! I doubled the recipe so the cooking time was a lot longer, but other than that, it was easy. Love the hint of heat that the red pepper flakes add. I will definitely make this again!
I just made this for dinner today (empty bowl in front of me as I type) and it was amazing! My family loved it. Even my picky three year old ate every bite! This is a must keep recipe that will stay in our meal rotation.
Also I have the Apple crisp in the oven right now, Sunday I made the pho soup recipe-amazing!
Yay! So glad you’ve enjoyed everything so far 🙂
Like you I love soup and often make it but forget to blog it LOL. so I’ve started a new food blog event.
You would be most welcome to join in The Soup Kitchen, here in fact everybody is welcome to participate, hope to see you there.
UH-MAIZ-IN. I love love love this soup and might have a freak attack if I don’t make it this week. OR NOW.
Print, print, print! Mr. G, honey is gonna love this because of the chicken sausage. I’m going to love it because of the kale. 😀 Win. Win.
I make soup every Monday. A huge pot for lunches.
Yum.
Awesome! win-win!