Italian Sausage Vegetable Soup
This Italian Sausage Vegetable Soup is a healthy and hearty soup that goes great with some homemade cornbread.
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes
Servings 4 servings
Calories 223kcal
Ingredients
- 1 lb bulk Italian chicken sausage (if using sausage links, remove from casing) (Sweet or Spicy)
- 1 large red onion, diced (or whatever you have on hand)
- 2 large stalks of celery, diced
- 2 large carrots, diced
- 1 medium green bell pepper, diced
- 3 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1 tbsp crushed fennel
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 (14.5 oz) can of fire roasted crushed tomatoes
- 1 tsp dried Italian seasoning
- 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes, optional
- 2 1/4 cups water
- 2 medium zucchini, diced
- 2 handfuls of baby spinach, roughly chopped
- sea salt to taste (varies depending how salty the sausage is)
Instructions
- Heat one tablespoon of ghee or olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the sausage and begin breaking it up as it browns. Add the celery, onions, carrots and peppers to the pot and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables begin to soften, about 5-8 minutes. Add the minced garlic and cook for a minute more. Add the crushed fennel, garlic powder and stir to coat the meat/veggie mixture. Add the tomatoes, water and zucchini to the pot. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer, partially cover and cook until veggies are tender, about 20 minutes. Add the baby spinach and stir to wilt. Check seasoning and adjust if necessary. Serve immediately.
Notes
Because the sodium content of sausage can vary, I recommend waiting until the end to add salt if needed.
If using spicy Italian sausage, you will probably want to omit the crushed red pepper flakes.
A handy method of crushing whole fennel seeds by hand: Place them on a cutting board, put a little olive oil on them to hold them in place and chop into small pieces with a knife. Or use a spice mill if you have one.