This minestrone soup with sausage is loaded with fresh vegetables and flavored with Italian sausage. It will become your favorite soup for the cold season served with crusty bread or pasta.
Minestrone is a traditional Italian soup made of vegetables and legumes and often served with pasta or rice. It is a budget-friendly recipe that is mostly prepared during the fall and winter and served with crusty bread, extra virgin olive oil, and Parmigiano cheese.
Minestrone is a staple at my home, my husband grew up eating it often so I am sharing the recipe my Italian mother-in-law taught me. I added some Italian sausage for extra flavor and to make it more fulfilling.
I love serving it with toasted homemade bread and a good drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.
Why You Should Make It
- EASY TO MAKE: You just need to cut your vegetables, sauté, and simmer. All-in-one pot and perfect for beginner cooks.
- BUDGET-FRIENDLY: Best for using seasonal vegetables and it yields lots of soup to feed a crowd.
- COMFORTING: Because there’s nothing better than a warm, hearty minestrone soup with sausage for dinner after a long day at work, especially on those cold days!
- FREEZES NICELY: Perfect for busy days, make a large batch, divide in containers, and store in the fridge or freeze it for months! My kind of meal.
The Ingredients
- ITALIAN SAUSAGE: I used 4 links (skin removed), and each one weighed about 3.8oz/110g. Any type of Italian sausage will work fine in this recipe. You can also replace Italian sausages with ground beef or pork.
- VEGETABLES: Feel free to use any seasonal fresh vegetables available to you like carrots, zucchini, green beans, celery, cabbage, potatoes, frozen peas, cauliflower, etc. You can also use frozen vegetables.
- TOMATOES: I used fresh tomatoes, but also diced canned tomatoes or tomato sauce are good options.
- ONIONS: Chopped onions or onion powder for flavor.
- HERBS: Rosemary, sage, thyme, oregano, etc. Is up to you to use fresh or dried.
- FLAVORS: Garlic cloves, salt, and black pepper.
- OIL: Extra virgin olive oil or mild olive oil.
Please note I didn’t add beans as in the traditional minestrone soup recipe. This is just a personal preference so feel free to add them if you want. Read the notes below for more info.
How To Make Minestrone Soup With Sausage
Prepare all the vegetables you intend to add. Wash them, peel them, and dice them in small bites.
Heat the oil in a large pot. Add the sausages and use a spoon to break them into pieces.
Cook over medium heat for 3-4 minutes or until the sausage is no longer pink, but still is not browned either.
If you want to use ground meat instead, make sure there are no juices left on the pot before starting the next step.
Add onion and garlic then cook stirring constantly until onion has softened and sausage has nicely browned.
The onions should be soft and translucent, so make sure to adjust the heat to prevent the sausage from burning.
Turn heat to medium-high, add the tomatoes and sauté for 2-3 minutes or until tomatoes are slightly cooked.
Pour about 5 cups of water, season with salt and pepper, add herbs, and bring to a boil.
Once the soup starts to boil, add all vegetables making sure everything is slightly covered with liquid. So, if needed, add more water.
I like my minestrone soup with sausage on the brothy side, so I add enough water for that, if you prefer your soup less watery, add less water and adjust later if you want.
Now reduce heat to a gentle simmer, cover the pot and allow to cook until all vegetables are nicely soft (about 20 minutes).
Adjust seasonings to taste, turn off the heat, and serve your minestrone soup with sausage immediately or store for later.
Recipe Notes & Tips
- Vegetables can vary depending on the season and what you have available at home. Sometimes I add green beans, broccoli, leeks, corn, kale, mushrooms, spinach, etc.
- For this minestrone soup with sausage, cut vegetables into small bites, so they would be easier to eat.
- If you want to add a spicy kick, peperoncino or chili powder are nice options.
- If you want to add beans, cannellini beans, borlotti, or navy beans are recommended. For this recipe, you can use 1 can of beans (about 8.5″/240g, drained). Add them along with the vegetables.
How To Serve
Minestrone soup with sausage can be served with some crusty bread on the side to dip into the flavorful broth.
My husband says the best condiment is just a good drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and Parmigiano. I say a squeeze of lime is enough…and chiles.
But you can serve it also with:
- Pasta: Any short pasta will be good, but ditalini is the best type. Cook the pasta separately.
- Rice: White or brown rice is a good addition, check up this restaurant-style basmati rice for perfectly fluffy rice.
- Bread: Spread a bit of olive oil on some sliced bread, toast on a griddle, and enjoy with this soup. Or try this delicious Cheesy Garlic Bread.
Store & Reheat
Minestrone soup with sausage makes a wonderful prep meal for any day of the week. I recommend making a double batch and dividing it into portions so you can enjoy it throughout the week.
Allow the soup to cool down then place in an airtight container and store in the fridge for up to 4 days. Or freeze for up to 3 months.
When ready to eat. Thaw the soup overnight in the refrigerator and then add to a pot and reheat on the stovetop stirring from time to time.
More Italian Recipes
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Minestrone Soup With Sausage
Equipment
- large stock pot
Ingredients
- 1 pound Italian sausages (about 4 links, casings removed)
- 2 pounds chopped vegetables (carrots, zucchini, green beans, cabbage, etc.)
- ½ cup frozen peas
- 1 medium onion (finely chopped)
- 3 medium tomatoes (or 1 can of diced tomatoes)
- 2 garlic cloves (minced)
- 3 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- fresh herbs (sage, rosemary, thyme, etc.)
- salt and pepper
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a soup pot over medium heat.
- Add the sausage and use the back of a spoon to break it into small pieces.
- Cook until sausage is no longer pink (about 4-5 minutes).
- Stir in onion and garlic. Cook until the onion has softened and the sausage has nicely browned.
- Turn heat to medium-high, add diced tomatoes and sauté for 2-3 minutes or until tomatoes are slightly cooked.
- Pour 5 cups of water. Season with salt and pepper and add the herbs.
- Bring the mixture to a boil and then add the vegetables making sure everything is slightly covered with liquid. If needed, add more water.
- Now reduce heat to a simmer, cover the pot and cook until all vegetables are nicely soft (about 20 minutes).
- Adjust seasonings if needed and serve the minestrone with crusty bread, pasta, or rice.
Notes
- Vegetables can vary depending on the season and what you have available at home. You can also add broccoli, leeks, cauliflower, kale, mushrooms, spinach, etc.
- Cut vegetables into small bites, so they would be easier to eat.
- If you want to add a spicy kick, peperoncino or chili powder are nice options.
- You can also add 1 can of beans (about 8.5″/240g, drained) and cook them with the vegetables.
Hi Mari,
This is a dead cert for next week. Sounds like there’ll be enough for two days at least. That will give me chance to try it your Husband’s way and then your’s. You’ll have me putting Avocado and a healthy dose of Serranos in it…where’s the Crema?! Lol
Hi Paul, definitely avocado and serrano chilies are good for garnish, not sure about the crema haha! My husband likes to add parmigiano cheese to his, while I prefer a a good squeeze of lime.
As a meat lover, minestrone soup with sausage is my fav soup ever! It’s very delicious and fulfilling, I tried adding other meat but the pork sausage is my ultimate favorite. I will make this again tomorrow for our lunch!