Sausage Potato Soup

Ingredients

• 1 teaspoon Olive Oil
• 1 pound Mild Italian Sausage - Remove the sausage from their casings and tear them into small pieces. This will make it much easier to break down any large pieces once the sausage hits the hot pan.
• 1 Medium Onion, finely diced
• 1 Large Carrot, diced – if the carrot is on the smallish side, use two
• 1 Celery Rib, diced
• 3-4 Garlic Cloves, minced
• ¼ teaspoon Black Pepper
• 4 cups Chicken Broth
• 2 pounds Russet Potatoes, peeled and cut into roughly 1 inch cubes - keep peeled and cut potatoes covered with cold water if you're not using them right away. Potatoes brown quickly once they’re peeled; keeping them in water slows this down. Just remember to drain them completely before adding to the soup.
• 3 tablespoons Butter
• 3 tablespoon Flour, all purpose
• 1 cup Milk, whole
• 1 cup Shredded Cheddar Cheese, for serving
• 2 tablespoons Chopped Parsley, for garnish
• Salt, to taste if needed at the end – we used kosher salt

Instructions

Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, but not smoking, add the sausage. Cook the Italian sausage for approximately 3-4 minutes until it’s browned. Stir the sausage occasionally while breaking up any large pieces with a wooden spoon or spatula.

Depending on the fat content of the sausage used it may be necessary to drain some of the oil from the pot after browning.

The easiest way to do this is to take the pot off the heat, arrange the sausage on one side of the pot and tip it slightly so that the oil pools opposite the meat. Use a large spoon to scoop the excess oil and add it to a small bowl, can, etc.

Place the pot back over medium heat (or lower the heat to medium) and add the onions, carrots and celery. Cook the vegetables with the sausage for 2-3 minutes until the onions are translucent, stirring frequently.

Add the garlic and black pepper to the pot and cook for 1 minute, stir frequently.

Add the potatoes and the chicken broth. Raise heat to high and bring the broth to a boil (this will take about 4-5 minutes).

Once it’s boiling lower the heat to medium-low and cover the pot. Cook the soup for 20 minutes or until the potatoes are fall-apart tender. They should break easily when pierced with a fork or knife.

Make the white sauce

This is a simple white sauce made with butter, flour and milk. It’s going to add creaminess to the sausage potato soup and help thicken it.

Add the butter to a saucepan over medium heat. When the butter melts add the flour and stir until incorporated. Gently cook the mixture for 1½ -2 minutes to get the raw taste out of the flour. Stir almost constantly.

Next, slowly add the milk while stirring with a large fork or whisk. Continue stirring until the sauce is smooth. Cook the sauce for 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Once it starts simmering, lower the heat to medium-low and stir often.

Finish the soup

When the potatoes are super tender, take the pot off the heat and add the prepared white sauce. Use a rubber spatula to get every last bit out. Stir well until the sauce is completely incorporated in soup.

The more you stir, the more the potatoes will tumble and break down to thicken the soup. Taste the sausage potato soup and add salt if needed. As a reference we added 1 teaspoon to ours.

Serve the potato sausage soup with 1 or 2 tablespoons of shredded cheddar cheese and garnish with parsley, if desired.

You may also like these soup recipes:

• Chicken and Rice Soup
• Tortellini Tomato Soup
• Chicken Egg Noodle Soup
• Chickpea Soup
• Chicken Meatball Soup