Kale, sausage and sweet potato soup

Another soup that I'll be adding to the rotation.



We've already managed to polish off all the turkey stock I made from our Friendsgiving turkey and I'm sad about it (but grateful for the extra freezer space). Homemade stock is like an elixir and it makes everything taste a million times better. I don't have any special method, I just use the crockpot. For a 13 lb turkey I usually need to do it in two batches. I pick as much meat as I can off the bones, then add the bones to the crockpot along with whatever I have on hand (usually a few stalks of celery, leaves and all and a couple sad carrots and some shallots and any fresh herbs I have lying around - this time it was thyme and parsley) and cover it with cold filtered water. I prefer not to add onion, because I think the flavor can be a little overpowering in stock. I let it cook on low for at least twelve hours, then strain it, refrigerate it (you can skim the fat at this point, but I find that bone broth doesn't have much to skim) and portion it into freezer bags for later. It is the best thing.

This soup is a particularly good candidate for homemade stock because it's fairly broth-y. I'm hoping it's still delicious with store bought, since I don't really want to wait a whole year to make it again.

I tweaked this a bit because I wanted to use the sweet potatoes I had on hand and because I like hot sausage.


Kale, sweet potato and sausage soup (makes 6 servings, slightly modified from here)

14 oz hot pork sausage (I got it without casings)
8 cups kale (or more), stems removed, leaves sliced
1 tsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 medium carrots, sliced
4 cloves garlic, chopped
9 cups chicken or turkey stock
2 medium sweet potatoes, diced into 1/4" pieces
Salt and pepper to taste

:: In a large stock pot, saute the sausage over medium high heat until browned. Remove and set aside (can drain on paper towels if you like). You can also cook whole sausages and slice them, as the original recipe suggests.

:: Add olive oil to the pan and saute the onions and carrots until soft (5 - 10 minutes). Add in the garlic and saute another 1 - 2 minutes.

:: Add broth, bring to a boil and cook for 5 minutes. Add sausage and potatoes, cover and cook until potatoes are just starting to get tender (about 5 - 10 minutes, depending on your dice).

:: Add kale, cover and return to a simmer. Cook until the kale is tender and the potatoes are done, about 5 more minutes.

:: Season to taste with salt and pepper. This will depend on your stock (my homemade stuff has zero salt, so the soup needed a bit more than you would with boxed stock).


The sweet potatoes and sausage make this sweet and savory and I feel good about the fact that it gives you a substantial serving of greenery. I crammed two small bunches of kale in there, which I think was more than the eight cups it called for, but who wants to waste time measuring out cups of kale?