Drew and I love this Italian sausage soup so much! Each bite is filled with hearty vegetables, spicy Italian sausage, and a robustly flavored broth. It’s a winter soup that warms you from the inside out!

This Italian sausage soup has quickly become one of my favorite soups to make lately! Each spoonful has bites of spicy Italian sausage and hearty vegetables, all in a richly flavored broth.

The ingredients might seem humble at first glance, but the depth of flavor in every bite is surprising, given the use of white wine and a Parmigiano Reggiano rind to infuse as much flavor into the soup as possible.

Drew and I have been enjoying this soup so much lately. Drew even said it’s one of his favorite soups that I’ve made, and I have to agree! It’s so delicious and warms you from the inside out.

Ingredients

Spicy Italian sausage—I like to use spicy Italian sausage to give the soup a kick. If you use a mild or sweet Italian sausage, just be sure to add a pinch of red pepper flakes to flavor the soup without making it spicy.
Soffritto (vegetables): I use yellow onion, celery, and carrots as aromatic vegetables to flavor the soup. In Italian, this is known as a “soffritto“.
Garlic – to add a depth of flavor you’ll need 5-6 fresh garlic cloves.
Chickpeas – for more protein and heartiness, I add chickpeas for bites of texture and then also use a part of one of the cans to puree in with the soup to add more creaminess and structure to the broth.
White wine – Pinot grigio or your favorite dry white wine is used to create a robust flavor in the soup.
Parmigiano Reggiano cheese rind – the hard rind from a block of Parmigiano Reggiano is the secret ingredient to so many of my Italian soups, sauces, and stews. It softens and releases a ton of flavor into the whole dish!
Chicken stock – for the broth.
Rosemary – either a whole fresh rosemary sprig or dried rosemary works too.
Kale – at the end, I add kale to this soup for more greens and a nice bite of texture. If you’re not a kale fan, you could swap for spinach too!

How to Make It

1

Cook the sausage. In a large pot or Dutch Oven, brown the pieces of sausage in the tablespoon of olive oil on medium heat. Cook until most of the sausage is mostly cooked (it will cook fully in the soup, so it’s okay if it’s not fully cooked). Then, use a slotted spoon to remove the browned sausage from the pot and place it on a clean plate or in a bowl.
2

Cook the soffritto/vegetables. In the same pot the sausage cooked in, add the diced onion, carrots, and celery with a generous pinch of salt. Add a little drizzle of olive oil if the pan is dry, and cook the vegetables until they’re soft but not browned (about 3-4 minutes). Once they’re cooked, add the minced garlic and the rosemary spring for 30-60 seconds.
3

Deglaze the pan: Then add the white wine to deglaze the bottom of the pan and cook with the vegetables for about 2 minutes. Add the cooked sausage back to the pot for this step to flavor the sausage with the wine.

A collage of three photos showing steps four through six for how to make Italian sausage soup.

4

Puree some of the chickpeas. In a blender, puree 3/4 of one of the cans of chickpeas with some chicken stock/broth until it’s creamy.
5

Add the remaining ingredients (minus the kale) and simmer. Then add the chickpeas, the Parmigiano cheese rind, the pureed chickpeas, and the remaining stock with 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper. Stir everything together. Partially cover the pot and let it simmer for 35-40 minutes on a low heat, stirring occasionally.
6

Add the kale, then serve. After the soup has cooked, add the chopped kale and cover the pot. Let the kale cook for about 5-10 minutes until it’s nicely wilted. Then taste the broth and season with more salt if needed. Carefully remove the cheese rind and rosemary sprigs before serving the soup with freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano. Enjoy!

Tips for Success

Finely dice and chop the veggies. A soup is always more enjoyable to eat when the pieces of vegetables are cut into smaller pieces. I like to make sure the soffritto (onions, celery, and carrots) are diced small so they can fit into each spoonful. And don’t forget to chop the kale into bite-size pieces as well!

Infuse the herbs or add them whole. As mentioned in my recipe video, you don’t have to add whole herbs to the soup; you can infuse the flavors into the soup by placing the rosemary sprig or dried rosemary in a tea bag or cheesecloth tied up. This will add the rosemary flavor without bites of the herbs. You can also add the dried rosemary or fresh rosemary sprigs whole or chopped up small.

A hand holding a spoon in a bowl of Italian sausage soup. The bowl of soup is arranged on a wooden board with slices of bread and a dark gray napkin around it.

Recipe Variations

Instead of kale. You can swap the kale for spinach! The spinach cooks faster and should only need about 2-3 minutes in the hot soup to fully cook.

Types of beans to use. Instead of chickpeas, you can use any white beans you like such as cannellini, navy, or northern beans!

Instead of rosemary. You can also use fresh thyme sprigs instead.

Types of sausage to use. I personally think this soup shines with spicy Italian sausage, but if you prefer to use a sweet or mild Italian sausage, that will work great, too! I recommend adding a pinch of red pepper flakes just to add a little more flavor. If you’d prefer to use a chicken or turkey sausage instead of pork you can do that as well!

What to Serve it With

Drew and I love serving this soup with our Rosemary Garlic Bread, homemade pizza, or Drew’s homemade sourdough. Or any crusty bread will do just fine!