Creamy Italian Sausage Soup
Creamy Italian Sausage Soup combines chunks of Italian sausage with Ditalini pasta and freshly chopped vegetables in a creamy tomato broth, simmering until tender. This soup is easy, hearty, and full of Italian flavor.
If you are looking for another creamy and savory soup, try this Creamy Taco Soup.
A Quick Look at the Recipe
- ✅ Recipe Name: Creamy Italian Sausage Soup
- ⏲️ Ready In: Under an hour
- 👨👨👦👦 Serves: 6
- 🍽️ Calories: 388 kcal
- 💪 Protein: 18g
- 🥣 Main Ingredients: Carrots, celery, onions, garlic, tomato paste, Italian sausage, crushed tomatoes, sun dried tomatoes, cream, pasta, and spinach.
- 💯 Why You’ll Love It: This one-pot meal is easy to customize to the liking of your family or friends. We love it for serving a crowd because it’s filling and beautiful .
Here’s a brand new family favorite soup that’s creamy, savory, and ready in under an hour. I make this soup on repeat during the cold Kansas winter months because my family adores it, especially my husband who loves to have soup at work for lunch.
This easy sausage soup really hits the spot on those nights and usually all I add to it is a nice thick slice of peasant bread on the side. Peasant bread is perfect for dunking in a bowl of soup because it holds together really well.
Outside of the sundried tomatoes and the Ditalini pasta, the remainder of the ingredients are all very basic. You can opt out of the sundried tomatoes, if desired, and for Ditalini pasta, substitute any short (cute!) pasta you have in the cupboard.
Ingredients and Substitutions
For a complete list of ingredients, see the detailed recipe card below.
- Avocado oil: I use this healthy oil all the time and love how flavorless it is for cooking for my picky eaters. You can substitute vegetable or canola oil if that’s what you have on hand.
- Diced carrots and celery: I use equal parts but you can mix and match, or even just use one or the other.
- Dehydrated onions: Substitute 1 teaspoon onion powder, granulated onion or a medium white or yellow onion, if desired.
- Italian seasoning: You can make your own by combining equal parts of oregano, basil, thyme and rosemary. I do this all the time.
- Fresh garlic: 6 cloves might seem like a lot, but it’s really not when you’re making this much soup. Sometimes I even add 8 cloves of garlic because we love garlic!
- Tomato paste: Since most recipes only call for 1-2 tablespoons of tomato paste at a time, I open a can, use what I need, then keep the remainder in an airtight container in my freezer. When I pull out the frozen tomato paste, I pop the container into the microwave and use the defrost setting for 30-40 seconds, just enough to soften the tomato paste so that I can get what I need from one end that’s thawed a bit.
- Italian sausage: Use mild or hot bulk Italian sausage, depending on your preferences and what your family enjoys. If you can’t find bulk Italian sausage and need to use links, use your kitchen shears to slit open the sausage casing and remove the ground sausage inside.
- Crushed tomatoes: Crushed tomatoes really helps to make the soup more creamy and rich as opposed to using diced tomatoes. If you’ve only got diced tomatoes on hand, toss them into your food processor and process for a few seconds. Voila! You’ve got your own version of crushed tomatoes in seconds.
- Sun-dried tomatoes: Use sun dried tomatoes packed in oil because they are always much softer in texture than dehydrated sun dried tomatoes. Drain well first, then chop them on a cutting board for this recipe.
- Chicken broth: I make my own using Better Than Bouillon concentrate that I always store in my fridge. I love being able to make as much or as little broth as I need to.
- Heavy cream: If you want this soup extra rich and creamy, use 1 cup of heavy cream. I stick to 1/2 cup because it adds richness without all the additional calories.
- Ditalini pasta: This is a small pasta that is hollow and tube shaped. I have substituted orzo in place of the Ditalini and also elbow macaroni.
- Baby spinach: Add this at the very end so it doesn’t get overcooked. The spinach turns bright green and makes the soup look soooo appetizing. This is listed as an optional ingredient but highly recommended. For a spicier green, add chopped arugula in place of the spinach.
Step by Step Instructions
Heat the olive oil in a large Dutch oven or soup pot over medium heat.
Step 1: When the oil is nicely hot, add the carrots, celery, dehydrated onions, and Italian seasoning. Season lightly with salt and pepper.
Step 2: Cook the aromatics slowly, allowing the vegetables to soften and gently caramelize, 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally, lowering the heat a bit, if needed. Add the garlic and tomato paste. Stir and cook for 3–5 minutes over medium-low heat, until fragrant and golden brown.
Step 3: Add the Italian sausage to the pot with the vegetables, breaking it up so it cooks throughout, mixing it well with the vegetables.
Step 4: Once the sausage is cooked through, move the pot to a cool area of your cooktop, tilting it up on one side. I prop it up onto a couple of rolled up hot pads.
Move all the sausage to the side that’s elevated. Let the fats from the sausage drain down onto the other (empty) side of the pot, then use a couple paper towels to sop up the fats and remove.
Step 5: Add the crushed tomatoes to the pot, bringing the soup to a gentle boil over medium heat. Reduce to a simmer and cook for about 5 minutes.
Step 6: Stir in the sun-dried tomatoes, water, chicken broth and cream. Bring the soup to a boil, then add the pasta. Reduce to a simmer, and cook until the pasta is tender, about 10-15 minutes. Stirring often.
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Step 7: Stir in the chopped spinach until wilted and fully incorporated.
Step 8: Taste and adjust seasoning with additional salt and pepper, as needed. Serve at once garnished with Parmesan, as desired.
Body Text
My Recipe Tips
- When adding the tomato paste in Step 4 of the recipe card, do cook and stir the tomato pasta for the full 3-5 minutes so it can turn from bright red in color to a deep reddish brown. This will make the soup taste really rich and flavorful and is totally worth the extra couple of minutes it takes.
- When you add the tomato paste to the vegetables in Step 4 of the recipe card, they might start to stick to the bottom of the pot. Deglaze the pot with some broth or wine to loosen them up.
- As the ditalini pasta simmers in the soup, it slowly releases starch into the broth, creating a very silky and creamy texture.
Creamy Italian Sausage Soup FAQs
You can totally double this recipe but you’re gonna need a BIG pot. This recipe is easy to cut in half if you’re cooking for two. I like to make a full batch and then freeze the leftovers in 2 cup containers. Just thaw and reheat!
I like to keep soup in a pitcher in my fridge so I can quickly and easily pour a cup or bowl of soup that gets reheated in the micro. In an airtight container, this soup will keep for up to 3 days in the fridge or for up to 6 months in the freezer.
Yep! I follow the recipe through Step 6 of the recipe card (where you’ve drained the fats from the sausage) and then I move all the ingredients to my slow cooker. Add the crushed tomatoes, sun dried tomatoes, water, chicken broth, cream, and pasta. Cook on low for 2-3 hours. Just before serving, stir in the spinach. Super easy!
More Soup Recipes
I also love to make steaming pots of Chicken and Black Bean Fideo Soup, White Chicken and Rice Chili, and Speedy Tex Mex Corn Chowder since these recipes make it easy to feed a crowd. All ya gotta do is add some bread!
Creamy Chicken Enchilada Soup is a hearty soup filled with chunks of tender chicken, black beans, corn, peppers, and tomatoes.
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Creamy Italian Sausage Soup
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Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons avocado oil may substitute olive oil, if preferred
- 1 cup diced carrots and celery
- 1 tablespoon dehydrated onions
- 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 6 cloves fresh garlic minced
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 pound mild Italian sausage may substitute hot Italian sausage if you prefer something more spicy
- 14 ounce can crushed tomatoes
- 1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes, packed in oil drained and chopped
- 2 cups water
- 6 cups chicken broth
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 2 cups dry ditalini pasta
- 2 cups baby spinach chopped, optional, but recommended
- grated Parmesan cheese for garnishing
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a large Dutch oven or soup pot over medium heat.2 tablespoons avocado oil
- When the oil is nicely hot, add the carrots, celery, dehydrated onions, and Italian seasoning. Season lightly with salt and pepper.1 cup diced carrots and celery, 1 tablespoon dehydrated onions, 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning, Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Cook the aromatics slowly, allowing the vegetables to soften and gently caramelize, 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally, lowering the heat a bit, if needed.
- Add the garlic and tomato paste. Stir and cook for 3–5 minutes over medium-low heat, until fragrant and golden brown.6 cloves fresh garlic, 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- Add the Italian sausage to the pot with the vegetables, breaking up the sausage so it can cook until fully browned and done throughout, mixing it well with the vegetables.1 pound mild Italian sausage
- Once the sausage is cooked throughout, move the pot to a cool area of your cooktop, tilting it up on one side (I prop it up onto a couple of rolled up hot pads) moving all the sausage to the side that's elevated. Let the fats from the sausage drain down onto the other (empty) side of the pot, then use a couple paper towels to sop up the fats and remove.
- Add the crushed tomatoes to the pot, bringing the soup to a gentle boil over medium heat. Reduce to a simmer and cook for about 5 minutes.14 ounce can crushed tomatoes
- Stir in the sun-dried tomatoes, water, chicken broth and cream. Bring the soup to a boil, then add the pasta.1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes, packed in oil, 2 cups water, 6 cups chicken broth, 1/2 cup heavy cream, 2 cups dry ditalini pasta
- Reduce to a simmer, letting the pasta cook until tender, 10-15 minutes or so, stirring often.
- Stir in the chopped spinach until wilted and fully incorporated.2 cups baby spinach
- Taste and adjust seasoning with additional salt and pepper, as needed. Serve at once garnished with Parmesan, as desired.grated Parmesan cheese
Notes
- When adding the tomato paste in Step 4 of the recipe card, do cook and stir the tomato pasta for the full 3-5 minutes so it can turn from bright red in color to a deep reddish brown. This will make the soup taste really rich and flavorful and is totally worth the extra couple of minutes it takes.
- When you add the tomato paste to the vegetables in Step 4 of the recipe card, they might start to stick to the bottom of the pot. Deglaze the pot with some broth or wine to loosen them up.
- As the ditalini pasta simmers in the soup, it slowly releases starch into the broth, creating a very silky and creamy texture.
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer
Chef Alli is not a dietitian or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate.