Rustic Vegan Potato Kale Soup with Sausage

October 25, 2023

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This can be a cozy, hearty vegan potato kale soup that options plant-based sausage for protein. It’s a one-pot recipe that’s as comforting as it’s nutritious!

That is my first new soup recipe of the autumn, and it’s an awesome one to start out with.

I made the hearty potato kale soup a month or so in the past, simply because the climate was beginning to flip cool. I beloved the entire plant-based goodness in my pot: creamy items of yellow potato, tomatoes, onions, and my favourite darkish leafy inexperienced, kale.

When the recipe was coming collectively in my head, nevertheless, I needed it to be an influence plate—that’s, a supply of vegan protein, together with healthful carbohydrates and a few healthful fats.

What protein wouldn’t it be?

I thought of including beans. However I’ve a ton of soups that function legumes and greens on rotation in my residence already, like my hearty butternut squash kale and lentil soup or my spicy black bean kale soup.

As a substitute, I made a decision to attempt a vegan meat within the soup, and I’m so glad that I did. Plant-based sausage slices not solely add tons of protein to the recipe; in addition they contribute meat-like texture and deep, smoky taste.

Under, I’ll describe a number of the store-bought vegan sausage choices that you could select from to make the soup recipe. I’ll additionally stroll you thru by way of the method of constructing it; fortunately, that’s a simple course of!

Inspirations for this rustic soup

This potato kale soup is in the identical household as lots of my favourite, rustic, wintery soups that function tomatoes, broth, alliums, and different greens.

For instance, it’s a relative of minestrone. If there have been cabbage included, it might be paying homage to ribollita (certainly one of my favourite soups ever—there’s a recipe in Energy Plates!).

The soup additionally jogs my memory of my cozy vegan tortellini soup, which was a favourite final spring.

And, whereas the flavour profile is totally different, the elements remind me slightly of my potato corn chowder, during which vegan sausage is an optionally available ingredient.

I’m not breaking any molds with this recipe, in different phrases. However when there’s a kind of meals that one loves, it may be worthwhile to attempt infinite variations. I don’t know that I’ll ever cease loving bowls of goodness like this one.

What’s the take care of vegan sausage?

Let me say slightly extra concerning the protein right here.

Each personally and professionally, I’m a giant fan of vegan meats. They’re accessible and handy, versatile, they usually make it very easy to meet protein wants as a 100% plant-based eater.

Vegan meats existed once I first turned vegan, however the manufacturers and varieties have been considerably restricted. These days, there are such a lot of choices that I can barely preserve observe of them.

I like exploring the entire cool new merchandise and improvements; they make this a really enjoyable, thrilling time to be vegan.

Fact be informed, nevertheless, a variety of my favourite vegan meats are the old-timey merchandise that existed in my early days of plant-based exploration.

These embrace Tofurky deli slices and chick’n, Yves Veggie Floor Spherical, and Lightlife Good Canines.

It additionally contains vegan sausages. Particularly, Discipline Roast sausages and Tofurky sausages.

Via the years, these sausages have discovered their method into many a pasta dish and soup. They’ve accompanied tofu scrambles for savory breakfast, they’ve been piled on heat bowls of creamy polenta, they usually’ve been sautéed with peppers and onions.

My favourite store-bought vegan sausages

To this present day, my favourite plant-based sausage choices are Discipline Roast (I just like the Italian Garlic & Fennel and Smoked Apple & Sage flavors) and Tofurky (I just like the Italian selection and the beer brats).

After I really feel like branching out, although, I get pleasure from Past Sausage, which has a really genuine texture. I am going for the Unique taste, because the Scorching Italian is slightly too scorching for me.

I’ve additionally been eager to attempt bratwurst from The Very Good Butchers and Unattainable manufacturers.

No matter vegan sausage you select so as to add will impart its personal seasonings and flavors to the soup.

Can I exploit do-it-yourself vegan sausage?

After all you possibly can!

After I attain for vegan meat, I’m often reaching for one thing that may make my life simpler and spare me effort within the kitchen. So it’s my private choice to make use of a store-bought vegan sausage on this recipe.

That mentioned, I’m a giant fan of do-it-yourself staples, and I feel it’s nice to arrange vegan sausage from scratch.

My solely advice is to arrange a sausage that has a very agency texture.

The sausage slices want to carry their form twice on this potato kale soup recipe. First, they need to face up to sticking or breaking whereas they’re being browned earlier than they go within the soup.

As soon as the slices go within the soup, they need to be agency sufficient to not collapse in scorching liquid.

Seitan is a very good base for vegan sausage. I even have a seitan sausage recipe in The Vegan Week that I like, and yow will discover many recipes on-line.

The Vegan Week

Embrace the enjoyment of consuming do-it-yourself meals daily with the hearty and healthful recipes in The Vegan Week.

Whether or not you may have three, two, and even only one hour of time to spare, The Vegan Week will present you the way to batch prepare dinner various, colourful, and comforting dishes over the weekend.

Vegan sausage isn’t for me. What can I substitute?

At the beginning, should you like vegan meats typically, however not sausage particularly, you would brown some vegan beef-style items, vegan rooster, or vegan grounds and add them to the soup as a substitute.

If not, I’d recommend cooked cannellini beans, kidney beans, or chickpeas as an awesome addition to the soup.

When you use beans instead of the sausage, then add a pinch of smoked paprika to the soup. It’s going to assist to create smoky, savory notes, which is what the sausage helps to do.

A silver rimmed baking sheet is covered with a sheet of parchment and freshly baked tempeh meatballs.

Lastly, I extremely suggest my easy tempeh meatballs as a sausage substitute right here!

However know that they’ll change into too mushy over time should you add them on to the soup. As a substitute, simply organize just a few meatballs within the soup when you’ve plated it for your self.

The best way to make vegan potato kale soup with sausage

I like that this isn’t solely a one-pot recipe, but additionally a soup with a comparatively brief simmering time. Listed below are the steps.

Step 1: Brown the sausage

The purpose of step 1 is to keep away from including “bare” (aka straight-from-the-package) vegan sausage to the soup.

Browning the crosswise-cut sausage slices will improve their taste and provides them a pleasant, crisped texture. It reduces the prospect that they’ll change into mushy once they’re added to the soup.

Round slices of sausage are being browned in a large soup pot. — Browning the vegan sausage slices earlier than including them to the soup will convey out their taste and provides them a nice texture.

Browning is so simple as cooking the slices in slightly oil in the identical pot that you simply’ll use for the soup itself.

Step 2: Sauté your greens

The vegetable combine for this soup is onion, celery, carrots, and garlic. You’ll sauté them in olive oil till the greens are tender and the garlic is aromatic—fairly simple.

Step 3: Add potatoes, tomatoes, broth, and seasonings to the pot

Potatoes give this soup its substance, whereas tomatoes add acidity, umami, and taste.

I exploit canned tomatoes within the soup for comfort. Use of canned tomatoes can also be a pleasant choice when tomatoes aren’t in season.

When you’d prefer to substitute recent tomatoes, you possibly can sauté them in step 2 with the opposite greens.

Onion, celery, carrots, garlic, tomatoes, and potatoes are pictured overhead in a silver soup pot. It rests on a white surface. — Onion, celery, carrots, garlic, tomatoes, and potatoes kind the vegetable (and nutrient) wealthy base of this straightforward one-pot meal.

I like including yellow potatoes to soups, personally, however russet potatoes are a very high-quality substitute if that’s what you may have.

As for the broth, you should use do-it-yourself vegetable inventory, a store-bought broth, or water and vegan bouillon. No matter is simple for you.

Step 4: Simmer away

Deliver the soup to a boil and simmer it for fifteen minutes. Then, uncover it and add your kale to the pot.

You should utilize Tuscan kale or curly kale within the recipe. When you’re not a fan of kale, you possibly can substitute chopped chard, spinach, collards, or one other leafy inexperienced of alternative. You may even add just a few cups of broccoli florets for one thing inexperienced as a substitute.

Proceed to simmer the soup for 5 to eight minutes, or till the kale is tender.

An overhead image of a soup pot, which is filled with a rustic mixture of vegetables, tomato, broth, and vegan sausage slices. — After 5 to eight minutes of simmering, the kale can be tender, and the soup can be practically full.

Step 5: Season and serve

A lot in the identical method that many rustic Italian soups are simmered with a bit of Parmesan rind or enriched with grated parmesan earlier than serving, I prefer to stir 1 / 4 cup of my vegan cashew parmesan cheese proper into the potato kale soup pot.

A small plate has been covered with a savory vegan cashew parmesan cheese.

This parmesan is made with cashews, dietary yeast, and salt. It’s going to add some saltiness, some umami taste, and only a trace of texture to the soup.

I additionally like to complete the soup with a splash of white balsamic vinegar (which I usually add to roasted greens in addition to soups) or sherry vinegar.

Different good toppings for the potato kale soup with sausage are recent or dried herbs, crushed pink pepper flakes, or a pleasant drizzle of additional virgin olive oil.

Meal prep & storage

As a vegan meal prep fanatic, I’m at all times interested by how lengthy I can retailer issues and the way far prematurely I could make them.

Fortuitously, this soup is a good contender for making forward. The soup might be saved in an hermetic container within the fridge for as much as 1 week and frozen for as much as 1 month.

The best way to serve vegan potato kale soup with sausage

The soup is certainly hearty sufficient to represent a stable meal.

However should you ask me, just about any soup is healthier with a slice or a hunk of bread. You don’t need a missed alternative for absorbing all of the pleasant, flavorful broth that’s left within the backside of the bowl.

It’s also possible to serve the soup with:

It doesn’t matter what you select to serve the soup with, I hope that it registers as a hearty, healthful hug.

Right here’s the recipe.