zuppa toscana is my favorite cozy-season soup and this version has a couple of upgrades 🍲🥬 spicy italian sausage, tender potatoes, kale, and creamy butter beans, with sweet leeks melting into the broth. nutritional yeast and a splash of milk keep it rich and creamy without the heavy cream. 🫶
Ingredients
1 lb hot italian sausage, casings removed
1 leek, sliced
1 medium yellow onion, diced
5 cloves garlic, minced
3 yellow potatoes, cubed
8 cups chicken stock
1 can butter beans, drained
3-4 cups kale, chopped
½ cup milk
¼ cup nutritional yeast
1 tbsp italian seasoning
1 tsp oregano
salt, to taste
Serves 4
Prep time ~15 mins
Cook time ~35 mins
Cooking Instructions
WASH YOUR VEGGIES
Wash and prep your veggies and herbs before getting started.
Brown the sausage
Heat a large pot or dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the sausage, breaking it into bite sized pieces, and cook for 6-8 minutes until browned.
Build the soup base
In the same pot, add the leek and onion and cook for 5-6 minutes until softened.
Add garlic, italian seasoning, and oregano, cooking for 30 seconds until fragrant.
Pour in the chicken stock, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pot. Add the potatoes and bring to a boil.
Simmer
Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 12-15 minutes, until the potatoes are fork tender.
Finish the soup
Stir in the butter beans, kale, milk, and nutritional yeast. Simmer for 5-7 minutes, until the kale is wilted and everything is heated through.
Season with salt to taste. Serve hot.
Tips & Notes
Leeks hide a lot of grit between their layers — i like to slice them first, and wash and dry with my salad spinner.
Nutritional yeast adds a cheesy, savory depth to the broth without any dairy, so it's doing a lot of work here.
Swap hot sausage for mild if you want less heat.
Add the kale at the end so it stays bright green and doesn't turn mushy.
Keeps in the fridge for up to 4 days and tastes even better the next day. Freezes well too, just skip the milk and stir it in when reheating.