This Sweet Potato and Sausage Soup is chock full of sweet potatoes, white potatoes, chorizo, and spinach, making it a ridiculously satisfying meal perfect for chilly evenings.
(This recipe for Sweet Potato and Sausage Soup was originally published in February 2010, but was updated with new photos in 2019).
I'm the first to admit when growing up, I was never a fan of soup for dinner. What can I say? I just didn't enjoy eating my meals with a spoon! But as time passed I realized a) how simple soups can be to make, b) how practical they are c) how economical they are and d-z) just how delicious they can be.
And at this age, all of those things are extremely important to me when it comes to cooking. Alsooo, you can always serve soup with a big old hunk of bread and I'm always up for a meal that involved bread on the side. The other night, I was looking for a nice hearty soup to make for dinner and found a Sweet Potato and Sausage Soup on Smitten Kitchen. Not only do I love sweet potatoes, but a soup with sausage in it? I was so down for that.
SWEET POTATO AND SAUSAGE SOUP RECIPE
The toughest part of this sweet potato and sausage soup is chopping up the potatoes, but otherwise it's smooth sailing and pretty quick to make.
The recipe says to either use linguica or chorizo... Both would definitely be delicious, but I opted for chorizo as it's a favorite of mine (mainly when it's in slices rather than when it's diced). If neither of these are appealing to you, I'm sure you can use a simple Italian sausage or even a chicken sausage.
Start by heating 2 tablespoon of oil in a large heavy pot over medium-high heat. Add the sausage of your choice and cook until brown, frequently stirring for about 8 minutes. Transfer the sausage to a paper towel lined plate to drain. I kept the oil from the sausage in the pot... because, to be quite frank, it's delicious and why would I want to discard perfectly good oil?!
Add onions, garlic, chili powder, salt, and pepper and cook until transparent, for about 5 minutes. Then add all of the potatoes and cook until they show signs of softening, stirring frequently, about 12 minutes.
Add either chicken or vegetable broth and bring to a boil, making sure to scrape up any brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and let simmer until the potatoes are soft, stirring occasionally, about 20 minutes.
Using a potato masher, mash some of the potatoes in the pot.
Add the browned sausage to soup.
Stir in spinach and simmer just until wilted, about 5 minutes. Stir in remaining 1 tablespoon of oil and season with more salt and pepper if necessary.
I initially agreed with the Smitten Kitchen that the idea of sausage soup sounded a bit odd at first, but once I continued reading the rest of the ingredients, it sounded pretty darn delicious. And I was right because it was!
The sweet potatoes provide the perfect touch of... sweetness (I really didn't want to use that word, but I am anyway because it's just true) and the chorizo added a hint of smokey. It's the kind of soup that makes it so you don't actually feel like you're eating soup. Does that make any sense? It's just so chock full of good stuff that it's way more satisfying than the average soup.
And yes, I did still serve it with a side of bread. Bread slathered in garlic butter.
Overall, this sweet potato and sausage soup is such a satisfying and soul-warming soup that I'm excited to make again! As long as Boston keeps serving up this cold, I'll keep making delicious soups.
As long as they're chock full of deliciousness.
Oh, I should also mention that this recipe makes a pretty large batch of soup, which means you should definitely have some leftovers. The leftovers are great for bringing to work for lunch or for having dinner at the ready a couple nights in a row. You can also freeze the soup in airtight containers if you want to enjoy it later in the season.
What's the most satisfying soup you've ever had?
Stay warm and Happy Friday!
If you're looking for more soup recipes that are actually super satisfying, check out my Loaded Baked Potato Soup or my Spicy Roasted Tomato Soup with Quinoa. I also can't wait to try this delicious Ukrainian Mushroom Soup from Lavender Macarons!
📖 Recipe
Sweet Potato and Sausage Soup
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, divided
- 11 oz. cooked chorizo, cut into ¼" thick slices (can also use linguica)
- 2 cups chopped onions (from about 1 large onion)
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic (from about 3 cloves)
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- 2 lbs. sweet potatoes (about 2 large), peeled, quartered lengthwise, and cut into ¼" thick slices
- 1 lb. white potatoes (about 1 large), peeled, quartered lengthwise, and cut into ¼" thick slices
- 6 cups low-sodium chicken or vegetable broth
- 4 cups (6 oz.) baby spinach
Instructions
- Heat 2 tablespoon oil in a large heavy pot over medium-high heat. Add chorizo or linguica and cook until brown, frequently stirring for about 8 minutes. Transfer sausage to a paper towel lined plate to drain. Keep oil from the sausage in the pot.
- Add onions, garlic, chili powder, salt, and pepper to pot and cook until onion is transparent, for about 5 minutes.
- Add all of the potatoes and cook until they show signs of softening, stirring frequently, about 12 minutes.
- Add the broth and bring to a boil, making sure to scrape up any brown bits from the bottom of the pot. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and let simmer until the potatoes are soft, stirring occasionally, about 20 minutes. Using a potato masher, mash some of the potatoes in the pot.
- Add sausage to soup in pot. Stir in spinach and simmer just until wilted, about 5 minutes. Stir in remaining 1 tablespoon oil and season with more salt and pepper if needed.
Notes
- Recipe adapted from Smitten Kitchen and Bon Appetit.
Sarah says
I have the same recipe bookmarked and was wondering if it'd be as delicious as it sounds. I'll have to try it out!
Travel Eat Love says
That looks like such a hearty meal. Yum!
Elina says
I was never a fan of soup for dinner either... until I grew up! haha
Blogging kind of opens your eyes and helps you get out of your comfort zone, I think.
It was nice seeing you and Sues again yesterday. 🙂
Alicia says
Oh - this reminds me of my mom's portuguese caldo verde soup. I looooove linguica, it reminds me of home. I'm going to have to try this soup - its sounds great - and I like the use of spinach and sweet potatoes! Very nutritious!
Jackie says
Another great winter soup I came across last year is African Peanut Soup. It's very different, but very good. It's a combination of chunky peanut butter, brown rice, canned tomatoes, chicken is optional and some other typical soup ingredients. Google it, it's super good.
Hayli @ Superior Nut says
I never in a million years would've put this combination together in my mind, so thanks for the great idea! I love an African Peanut Soup recipe I found a couple weeks ago over at An Hour in the Kitchen and if you're looking for all-natural peanut butter, I can recommend a place to find that too! 😉
LacyBones says
I really seriously do not recommend chorizo for this in any way. It's too loose and greasy for this dish. It's a sausage that's meant to break up.. Linguica or another spiced sausage is the way to go. If you do go with chorizo (as I did- here in Texas chorizo is much much easier to find than linguica), I recommend serving in a bread bowl.
Skinny Fat Kid says
I'm so mad I just found this recipe and its finally 70 degrees in NY! Will be saving this for the fall...love sausage and sweet potato!