Warm Me Up White Bean Soup With Kielbasa and Kale

Warm Me Up White Bean Soup With Kielbasa and Kale

I am not used to temperatures in the single digits in winter in North Carolina. I have been frozen. My friends in Minnesota have been turned into solid ice. Alas....I must make some soup that will warm my soul and feed my refrigerated body. This is a soup you can make in an hour. I take some shortcuts but I am cooking with some great ingredients. 

Here is what you are going to need.....

• 2 cans of white beans (I used Cannellini beans)
• 1 box of chicken broth (32 ounce) (could use cans (2) 15 ounce)
• 1 Kielbasa cut up
• 5 cloves of garlic (break bulb to get them) ( no garlic bulb=jarred minced garlic)
• 1 medium yellow onion
• 4 cups of fresh kale chopped (I used chopped, bagged, washed kale from store)
• 2 teaspoons of Italian Seasoning
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt (can use less if you want)
• 1/2 teaspoon of pepper
• 1 tablespoon of Olive Oil

Chop your onion. 

Chop your garlic and your sausage

Add one tablespoon of oil to your soup pot. Heat to medium high. Add your chopped onion. Stir and cook for 3 minutes. Turn the heat down to medium. Add the chopped kielbasa to the pot. Stir for another 5 minutes. Add the chopped garlic. Stir and cook for 2 more minutes. Now add the chopped kale. Stir

This looks like way too much kale right? Wrong!

This is what it looks like after 3 minutes.


Now you add almost all of your chicken broth. Keep about 1/2 cup in a measuring cup for another step. Add 1 1/2 cans of white beans. Add 2 teaspoons of Italian Seasoning, Add 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Add 1/2 teaspoon of pepper. Stir.

Add all the beans but 1/2 of a can.

Now put the 1/2 can of beans in a bowl with the leftover 1/2 cup of broth. Use an immersion hand blender until the mixture is smooth. (You can use a potato masher if you do not have the hand blender....it is soup....perfect smooth is not necessary) Now pour this back into your soup. Stir. Add 2 teaspoons of Better than Bouillon (could use 2 teaspoons of chicken bouillon granules). Stir. 

Use hand blender or potato masher.

Pour smooth beans into soup to thicken.

Stir all of this up and let it simmer for 30 minutes. Stir every few minutes and keep it just at a simmer. Taste it.  See if you need more salt or pepper. (You can add water if you put in too much salt)

This is your final product.


If your family does not like kale or soup where the beans can be seen, you can use the hand blender and turn this into a lovely soup that looks like cream of broccoli soup.  I serve with a drizzle of olive oil and some good bread.