This is a wonderfully hearty soup. I increase the beans to two cans and omit the pasta. Sometimes I add a few red pepper flakes to turn up the heat. My son asks me to make this soup on a regular basis.
I was debating between another recipe and this one and am very pleased on choosing this one! Although I did make a couple minor changes, it did not alter the basic flavors that the creator intended, therefore the high rating. Did cut back on the amount of pepper called for, no potatoes on hand so that was omitted, and finally thought a little additional flavor would enhance the broth so i added a small amount of dried crushed rosemary. Will be using this one again for sure!
I was recently introduced to kale and wanted to find more ways to use it. This was a great way to incorporate it into a soup! I did make some substitutions/omissions based on what I had. I used fresh kielbasa instead of the smoked, fully cooked kind because I was out (I think mild Italian sausage would probably also be great), and I also was out of potatoes. I sauteed the onions and sausage in the oil, then added the carrots, and then the kale, before finally putting in the broth. Once that came to a boil I added the macaroni and garlic (without letting it simmer 45 minutes), which was cooked in about 9 minutes, and lastly I added the beans. So it ended up being a quick, delicious, nutritious soup, and my husband raved about it all evening. We forgot about the parmesan, but I'd like to try that on it next time.
I tried the recipe, but I should notate here about using kale from recipe. It says one bunch of kale, but bunches can be quite big and it can overpower other ingredients. I would say use 3 big leaves of kale for this recipe and it would do it. I had to add more chicken broth to make it more soupy instead of a stew. Just use a little bit less kale. I am also put less noodles in this soup, I put half a cup of noodles instead of one cup. I totally omitted salt and put a little bit of pepper. Otherwise, it's very hearty and healthy soup.
I have made this many times and everyone loves it and asks for the recipe. I agree with others that the pasta can be swapped out for another bean. I use black beans in the can. Don't be timid with the kale. It really makes the dish.
This is the best soup ever! Easy to make, delicious, and you can freeze it! I use white beans, no salt and low sodium broth, just a little pepper and do not always add the pasta. Doesn't matter, this soup is always a hit! I have even used sweet potatoes.
this was pretty good but i attribute it to the spicy sausage i used.. i made it out of ground turkey using the recipe for Homemade Sweet Italian Sausage Mild Or Hot on this site.. it really flavored the broth.. i used an extra cup of chicken broth b/c the soup looked too thick.. left out the potatoes, pasta, salt, and pepper.. i subbed the kidney beans with great northern.. and only cooked the soup until the veggies were tender.. didn't add the parm.. this was a good base but i think the original recipe would have been salty and overpowered by black pepper
This is on my Soup List for certain! The only minor changes I made was to "go easy" on both salt & pepper plus I use sweet Italian sausage as that was what I had in my freezer but will definitely try a Polish sausage next time. Thank you rn.leeann for this creation!
This is my new favorite soup recipe. DELICIOUS. You could make this exactly as is and it would be SUPERB! That said I personally left the pasta & parmesan out and it was still perfect didn't even miss it and healthier:) I also used ground italian sausage just cause that's what I have - IF you do this reduce the salt or eliminate it all together and add to taste. SUPER flexible - add more of whatever veggie you want and just bump up the liquid if necessary I'm thrilled I tried this.
