sweet potato and sausage soup
Because I am, in all likelihood, about seven years old on the inside but old enough on the outside to know that this might never change, I’m just going to admit from the start that the concept of sausage soup makes me giggle. It also sounds kind of gross, don’t you think? Sausage soup.Hee hee. In fact, when it appeared a few weeks ago as Epicurious’ Recipe of the Day, I sent the link to my husband who, also being seven or maybe seven and a half on the inside, would totally get a kick out of it. But then–and I hope that this doesn’t mean that he is growing up on me, because that just will not do–he actually said that it sounded good, and that we should make it for dinner.
Well his taste buds–which cry for only tomatoes, salt, cured meats and chocolate–haven’t led us astray in the past, have they? Now that the weather has finally plodded into something resembling fall, soup season is officially on and what way to ease ourselves into it but with something hovering in the delicious middle-ground between broth and stew.
This middle ground is important, mind you, if you are the kind of person who likes your soups hit up with an immersion blender right before serving and your significant other likes them chunkier. This soup is a bit of both and to top it all off, it’s really easy to make. It’s exactly the kind of recipe you can choose to make late in the afternoon and still eat for dinner. It’s hearty enough to count as a one-pot meal, and instead of relying on umpteen spices for flavor, it coaxes them out of the sausage instead. I am impressed by its efficiency, and I suspect you will be too.
And now, back to hiding under two comforters and hoping the nice landlords will turn on our heat. Apartment living, I am so over you today!
One year ago: Creamy Macaroni and Cheese, Bretzel Rolls
Sweet Potato and Sausage Soup
Bon Appetit, October 2007
We ended up using spicy chorizo (yee-ouch!) but it played off the sweet potatoes perfectly, saving me from death by cayenne.
Gourmet note: This hearty soup gets rich flavor from linguica, a delicious pork sausage from Portugal seasoned with garlic, paprika, and other spices.
Makes 8 servings
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
1 10- to 11-ounce fully cooked smoked Portuguese linguica sausage or chorizo sausage, cut crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick slices (Spanish chorizo can be substituted)
2 medium onions, chopped
2 large garlic cloves, minced
2 pounds red-skinned sweet potatoes (yams; about 2 large), peeled, quartered lengthwise, cut crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick slices
1 pound white-skinned potatoes, peeled, halved lengthwise, cut crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick slices
6 cups low-salt chicken broth
1 9-ounce bag fresh spinach
Heat 2 tablespoons oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Add sausage; cook until brown, stirring often, about 8 minutes. Transfer sausage to paper towels to drain. (I poured off some of the oil in the pot at this point, but the original recipe doesn’t think this is needed.) Add onions and garlic to pot and cook until translucent, stirring often, about 5 minutes. Add all potatoes and cook until beginning to soften, stirring often, about 12 minutes. Add broth; bring to boil, scraping up browned bits. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until potatoes are soft, stirring occasionally, about 20 minutes. Using potato masher, mash some of potatoes in pot. Add browned sausage to soup. Stir in spinach and simmer just until wilted, about 5 minutes. Stir in remaining 1 tablespoon oil. Season with salt and pepper. Divide among bowls and serve.
Other options to consider: Kielbasa (suggested by commenter Wendy) instead of chorizo/linguica, adding a can or two of drained white beans or using more spinach. I love spinach wilted in soups and could have used even more.
Beautiful soup! And why doesn’t your heat stay on (or at least available) year round, rather than having to have a landlord turn it on?
Long time lurker, first time commenter. I agree that the concept of sausage soup does at first sound both funny and gross. But, it seems so easy, and your pictures look so lovey, I might just have to make this for dinner tonight! I made the butternut squash galette last Sunday night to rave reviews. I guess I’m starting a tradition of Smitten Kitchen Sundays!
Yay for soup! I can’t wait to try this, I’ll get Hubby-brownie points for weeks!
I made this soup right after I received my October Bon Appetit. This issue was just full of the best Fall recipes that I couldn’t wait to dig in. I made this soup with smoky kielbasa and it was fantastic. My husband raved and he doesn’t even like sweet potatoes. Figure that. Love, love, love your website and have passed it on to so many foodie friends. Thanks for your great efforts!
Your ‘one year ago today’ recipes are two of my favorites. I crave the mac-n-cheese when I’m feeling unwell…it’s the only thing that satisfies!
My [maternal, Hungarian] grandfather used to make hot dog soup all the time, it was his favorite dish. He’d sit in his chair with the pot in his lap and eat it while watching sports. It took me years to figure out that it was just the closest he could get to making goulash in this country at the time. Anyways, in that context, your sausage soup sounds great to me! Like a grown up version of Aba’s hot dog soup, almost - more nutritious, tastier, but close enough to get me all nostalgic.
That looks delicious. I am just going into soup phase. I’ll have to put this one on my list.
I’m kind of a soup freak, as well as a sausage freak, so this sound wonderful to me!
Jessica — Ha! It’s an old building and they have to turn it on first, which they are supposed to do the first time it goes to 50 or 55 overnight, but they tend to forget because it’s a small building and they don’t get a lot of complaints. However, I just ran to three (3!) stores to get ingredients for a tart I want to make so I’m all warm now. Phew.
Wendy — I forgot to mention that –Alex isn’t crazy about sweet potatoes either, unless they’ve been spiced up, but he loved this.
Danielle — Ooh, I want to make goulash. I bet you have a good recipe, don’t you?
I forgot to mention that I think this soup would be awesome with a can or two of white beans stirred in. I’ll add that now.
This looks delicious! It reminds me of a soup I made last week with sausage, sweet potatoes and that amazing dinosaur kale (I think it’s also called Tuscan kale or black kale–it was featured in this month’s Saveur.) Anyway, if you or anybody makes it again, I would suggest that as a possible alternative to spinach. It’s the perfect complement to the sausage and sweet potatoes. Here’s to soup season!
It just turned brisk here this week and well…. I love all things sausage. I think this just might have to be Sunday dinner!
my boyfriend absolutely loves soup and i love anything sausage so this looks great! i’ll have to make it once it gets a little colder…
I was trying to hold back from bringing this up… but when I read Danielle’s comment about hot dog soup I knew I couldn’t help it. While your soup looks amazing and I, too, appreciate that in-between broth and stew, the people in Berlin, Germany do not seem to understand this concept. My boyfriend and I were there this summer, trying desperately to fit in and not be overly-American, and we decided to order “Traditional German Soup” as it was labeled on our English-language menus. Well, imagine pouring about two teaspoons of chicken broth over stale croutons and sticking two full hot dogs in it. If hot dogs literally stick straight up in your soup, something must be wrong… We at the whole thing with the forks it was served with (in an attempt to not get yelled at by German waiters who, we found, were not always the friendliest) only to get hysterically laughed at later when our spoons were still clean. Was this some terrible joke on unsuspecting American tourists? I hope so, for the Germans’ sake.
I saw something similar in Bon Appétit - this may be the same thing. I marked it to make it. This looks so delicious and perfect for the fall chill coming around. :)
Deb.
I just found your blog a few days ago, and I have not been able to go a day since without the “smitten kitchen”. I felt like I had found a kindred spirit in the world of foodies.
I especially loved the comment in one of your articles about how much better food is at home, when you make it your self. My husband and I are both former professional chefs, and it is really hard to eat out any where here in our small Texas town. We only have about 3 restaurants worth eating at.
Anyway, the sausage soup looks delectable. I have a pound of smoked sausage in my freezer just waiting to be paired with sweet potatoes. I think my kids will even love this one.
Thank you for such a fabulously written blog filled with pictures that makes one want to get in the kitchen and create!
Yum!!! I recently made caldo verde(green soup) with sausages and I was amazed by the flavors from sausage that seeped out into the soup…made the soup very spicy and yum!
I just made a very similar soup this evening but in a different vein. Kielbasa and Chard. There must have been something in the air.
Once, while having breakfast with friends at Perkins, I referred to someone’s gravy as Cream of Sausage Soup (well, it basically is!) and she was so grossed out that she couldn’t eat it.
I don’t see how that made Perkins’ gravy any grosser than it started out, but whatever. *snicker*
Sausage soup! Okay now that you have caught my attention, I must say that I am a sweet potato freak. The New Zealand native variety is called Kumara and I could not live without it - and yes it is great in a soup.
This soup was served at a party I attended the other night. My husband & I had 2 bowlfuls each! We could not stop talking about it the next day so I was trying to hunt down the recipe. Can’t believe I fell upon this blog - thank you for the recipe! I am going to make this for dinner tonight!
That sounds gorgeous, but since no one else here likes sweet potatoes, I’ll have to make it sometime just for me..
I have so many of those recipes that nobody else will eat. I need a gourmet by myself weekend.
Looks delicious and I suppose soup weather is on the way.
Sausage soup kind of weird? Heck no! My favorite winter soup to make at home is kilbasa and sourkraut. Gotta get the spicy kilbasa though. mmmmmm that clears up any sinus problems you have in a second!
I’m definitely going to make this soon. Made the butternut squash tart as a starter for a dinner party this past weekend–to die for.
In the meantime, I got this recipe 30 years ago from a woman we used to babysit for–who got it from her Polish-Irish immigrant parents. It’s delicious–and kids love it also:
Lee Anne Fahey Jory’s Polish Kielbasa Soup
1 lb. of Kielbasa (or whatever size that Hillshire Farms package is)
1-2 yellow onions
4-5 potatoes (some varieties dissolve into the broth, others don’t—experiment to your preference—do you like chunks or thicker broth?)
Beef stock
1 pound (or more) green beans (trimmed and cut in half or not)
8 oz container low-fat sour cream
¼ cup white wine vinegar
¾ of a lager beer
Milk
Salt and pepper
These are approximate proportions.
Slice the potatoes and cut them into bite size pieces (I don’t peel them but you can). Put them in a stock pot and just cover with water/beef broth. Start cooking on medium heat.
Slice the kielbasa in 1/8 to ¼ inch rounds. Heat a skillet with a smidge of olive oil and add the kielbasa. When it is half way brown add the onions. (I find adding the onions at the same time with the sausage overcooks them). When brown, transfer to pot with potatoes—with just enough water/stock to cover.
Don’t clean the skillet—instead add some water getting the extra fond from the sausage/onions. Add green beans to skillet and cook 5-8 minutes or until green beans are semi cooked. Transfer beans and their liquid to big pot. By now, the potatoes should be soft (20-30 minutes of cooking). If they are, add the sour cream, vinegar, the beer, salt and pepper, and milk (up to 2 or 3 cups depending on how much broth you like), and reduce heat to low. Allow flavors to blend 5 or 10 more minutes. The broth is delicious—and not adding too much water to the potatoes in the beginning allows for more milk. I use non-fat, but any percentage will do.
Freezes well and tastes even better the next day.
I guess it is time to start making soups again. My husband is a big soup lover! I try but I’m just not as into it as he is. I’ve never had sweet potatoes in soup before. At least not that I can remember…
I made this on my blog recently–it is so delicious. great minds…
That looks delicious! Though just yesterday I used up the last of my yams AND sausage with completely different recipes - I’ll have to swing by the store to pick up more so I can make this.
yeah. sausage soup. hee hee. my husband and I are both juvenile in our sense of humor as well. ;P
this looks REALLY good to me. I make a sausage and potato soup that’s cream based and, therefore, not very healthy - I’d like to try something like this instead that is somewhat better. thanks for the recipe!
Oooooo Yum. That looks delicious!
That looks divine! I’ve never had sausage in soup before. I think it must be because they’re usually in my tummy before they make it into the soup..=)
such a warming and comforting soup!
hee hee;) This really does look good, I don’t really like sausage but this soup makes me think I might change my mind!
i riffed off your recipe and posted about it. i must say - it was amazing. truly delicious. thank you so very much for the inspiration. i hope you approve of where i went with it! wish i could drop you off a bowl for lunch!!!
Wonderful!
I was so excited about this yesterday that I printed off the recipe and stopped at the store on my way home — I didn’t end up eating until after 9, but it was well worth it.
I subbed in low-fat smoked sausage and doubled the spinach. I added a can of navy beans. I also used white sweet potato in place of the regular white potatoes, at least I think I did. They were in the Unidentifiable Tuber category for a while.
Wonderful and thanks!!
If it ever gets cold here in Los Angeles, that soup would be the best cure ever! Ah, screw it - I’m going to make it anyway! :)
this weekend I took pictures of the makings of Carmel Apples, I thought” What would Smitten Kitchen do?”
It was a crazy weekend, too much to do, 30 children to invade my home and barn to celebrate Halloween in the safest way possible. List of chores, laundry, and more cooking than usual. I stopped to photograph food and ahhhh…. peace.
I have to share a funny sausage story . . .
Once upon a time, I got a call from a to-be-unnamed ‘famous’ chef’s PR person who said, “Charlie (we’ll call him Charlie) would like to spend the day with you doing anything you want to in the kitchen.” I’m a big fan of cured meats, so I (jokingly) said, “how about we shoot a boar and cure its leg?”
She said she’d check with Charlie and get back to me. Sadly, the boar part didn’t pan out. Instead, I found myself in Charlie’s kitchen making sausage. The mixing and seaoning of the meat was just fine, but if you ever wondered what would win for “most uncomfortable task to do in the kitchen with famous male chef” . . . it’s stuffing sausage.
The soup looks great though!
Since I’m Portuguese, the thought of sausage soup just brings a smile to my face :) My parents just came to Pittsburgh for a visit and brought me about 3lbs. of linguica (and 5lbs. of salted cod). I was going to make the traditional “Caldo Verde” but may give the sweet potatoes a whirl.
There really must be something in the air. I, too, posted about a very similar soup yesterday. I made a Caldo Verde with kale, white potatoes and kielbasa. I would have used chourico, but it was raining and I didn’t want to go out to the store. I’ll definitely have to try it with sweet potatoes next time. Yours looks great!
Let me call my grandmother, and get her recipe for you. Nothing better than that.
This soup looks and sounds delicious - YUM! Do you think it would be freeze-able? I am a college student and like to make soups and freeze them when it gets close to winter. Thoughts, anyone?
Looks great, it could sound even sillier though - Imagine ‘Saucisson Sec Soup’!
Sausage soup sounds like something a seven year old would make as a kitchen debut, true. But sausage is sooo good. No, I don’t mean hot dogs (although I actually like those, too …), but knarly sausages with lots of spices. Hungarian, Polish, German or why not a Cajun. Great soup!
Ah, another feast to fulfill my phallic food obsession. Thanks Smitten Kitchen! ;)
I don’t know about elsewhere in the country but I have never seen Spanish chorizo in Californian supermarkets, just Mexican (which does not stay together). And it seems like I have a ton of spanish chorizo recipes that I want to try. Anyone have a suggestion?
You must try the Brats, Kraut and apple recipe in the same BA. It’s delicious.
Awesome, tried it tonight. My husband is not really a soup guy but definately a meat and sweet potato guy, so he loved it. Thank you for an wonderful recipe. I am new reader but love your site, your pictures are amazing and recipes are inspiring.
Today it actually was cold in LA. We just finished the soup (which I made with a bell pepper and onion chicken sausage cooked in the same pan as the bratwurst from last night, which was cooked in bacon grease), and my husband would like it known that there is much nodding and approving, with spoon-waving and symphonies, going on. I may add different greens to a later edition (we subscribe to an organic veggie service that brings us a lot of kale and chard), and I might want to add just a bit of wine, as well.
Now there are brownies in the oven (from Trader Joe’s — I didn’t make them), to be served with pumpkin ice cream.
mmm, yummy soup (stew). I added french lentils and it gave it a nice extra chewy texture that was only appreciated by the adults in the house. The toddler set would not go near this one. (guessing its the spinach or as my 3 yr old calls it, “euuww, seaweed”) I did trick a few of my kids into trying it out and once they had a little taste, they liked it. hmmm if only I could blind fold them at dinner sometimes…
great site, I’m having lots of fun drooling over/imagining/trying out so many great recipes!
i just made this tonight, but with smoked chicken rosemary sausage (with a 3 and 5 year old i can’t really do the spicey thang).
boy howdy, that smokey flavor was really, RILLY good with the soupd part. i’m now thinking about trying it with some pancetta or bacon!
keep up the good work!
I just made a very tasty variant of this, with Hungarian sausage and baby bok choy. If I get any good photos later today, I’ll post about it soon.
I found you via a friend, and loved the post and the recipe. Tonight I made a version of this with white fleshed American sweet potato, Chinese pork and duck sausages, beef broth, red wine, and young collard greens. Fantastic!
Made this tonight. I used Chicken Chorizo. While it was ok, it felt just needed more flavor & depth. So I added 1/2 bottle oatmeal stout, a pinch of pumpkin spice and let it simmer a bit more….seemed to round out the flavors even more. still, It doesnt compare in robust flavor to the pumpkin/black bean soup (nov.), which still lingers in my mind & palat. Dang, that stuff rocked! However, I would like to say a hearty thankyou for recipes such as this, so healthful and delicious… my idea of good eats:).