Are you searching for a soup that’s not just a starter, but a robust, deeply satisfying meal all on its own? Imagine a rustic, one-pot wonder filled with savory sausage, creamy white beans, and vibrant greens, all simmered in a rich broth. This classic Italian-style Sausage, Beans and Broccoli Rabe Soup is the ultimate answer to your comfort food cravings.
This isn’t just any soup; it’s a celebration of “cucina povera,” or Italian peasant cooking, where simple, humble ingredients are transformed into something truly extraordinary. The magic lies in the perfect balance of rich, savory sausage, earthy and pleasantly bitter broccoli rabe, and the creamy comfort of white beans and potatoes. Get ready to fall in love with your new favorite one-pot meal.
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Recipe Overview: A Rustic Italian Masterpiece
The beauty of this Sausage, Beans and Broccoli Rabe Soup is its straightforward, one-pot method that develops incredible depth of flavor. By browning the sausage first, we create a savory foundation that infuses the entire soup. The addition of a potato helps to naturally thicken the broth, giving the soup a wonderful, hearty body that’s closer to a stew. It’s a complete, nourishing, and deeply flavorful meal.
| Metric | Time / Level |
| Total Time | 45 minutes |
| Active Prep Time | 20 minutes |
| Difficulty Level | Easy |
| Servings | 4-6 |
The Essential Ingredients for This Hearty Soup
This recipe relies on classic Italian ingredients to build its authentic, rustic flavor. Here’s a look at the key components.
- Italian Sweet Sausage: We use bulk sausage (meat without the casings) for this recipe because it’s a fantastic shortcut. It allows you to easily break the meat up into savory, browned crumbles that distribute perfectly throughout the soup. Sweet Italian sausage, seasoned with fennel and herbs, provides a wonderful savory flavor.
- Broccoli Rabe (also known as Rapini): This is the heart and soul of the soup’s character. Broccoli rabe is a leafy green, famous in Italian cuisine for its signature, pleasantly bitter flavor. This bitterness is the perfect counterpoint to the rich, fatty sausage, creating a beautiful balance in the final dish.
- White Beans: Two cans of white beans, such as cannellini or Great Northern, add a wonderful creamy texture and a healthy dose of plant-based protein and fiber. Using canned beans makes this a quick and accessible weeknight meal.
- A Large Potato: This is our humble secret weapon. One peeled and diced potato breaks down just enough as it simmers, releasing its starches and naturally thickening the broth. This gives the soup a satisfying body that makes it a true one-pot meal.
- The Aromatics (Onion, Carrot, Garlic, Bay Leaf): This classic quartet builds the aromatic foundation of the soup. The onion and carrot provide sweetness, the garlic adds a pungent warmth, and the bay leaf imparts a subtle, savory background note.
- Chicken Stock and Parmesan Cheese: A quality chicken stock creates the rich, liquid base for our soup. For serving, a generous grating of a salty, nutty hard cheese like Parmigiano-Reggiano or Pecorino Romano is absolutely essential for an authentic finish.
Step-by-Step to a Perfect Pot of Soup
Follow these simple, detailed steps to create this rustic and deeply satisfying one-pot meal.
Step 1: Brown the Sausage First, heat a medium soup pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the 2 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil. Once the oil is hot, add the bulk Italian sausage to the pot.
Use a wooden spoon or a spatula to break up the sausage into smaller crumbles as it cooks. Brown the sausage until it is cooked through and nicely caramelized. This step renders the fat and creates a layer of flavorful browned bits (the “fond”) on the bottom of the pot.
Step 2: Sauté the Vegetables Once the sausage is browned, add the chopped onion, carrot, potato, and garlic to the pot with the sausage and its rendered fat. Add the bay leaf.
Season the mixture with a good pinch of salt and pepper. Cook everything together for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. This begins to soften the vegetables and allows them to absorb the delicious flavor from the sausage.
Step 3: Wilt the Broccoli Rabe Now, add the 4 cups of chopped broccoli rabe to the pot. It might look like a huge amount, but it will wilt down significantly. Stir the rabe into the hot vegetable and sausage mixture. The heat will cause it to wilt and turn a vibrant, deep green color.
Pro Tip: To prepare broccoli rabe, trim off the tough, woody ends of the stems. You can then chop the entire bunch—stems, leaves, and florets—into bite-sized pieces.
Step 4: Simmer the Soup to Perfection Pour the 2 quarts of chicken stock into the pot. Stir everything together, scraping up any last flavorful bits from the bottom.
Cover the pot and raise the heat to high to bring the soup to a full boil. Once it is boiling, immediately reduce the heat to maintain a steady simmer. Let the soup simmer for 15 minutes. This is the perfect amount of time for the potatoes to become tender and for all the flavors to meld together beautifully.
Step 5: Season and Serve After 15 minutes, remove the bay leaf from the soup. Taste the broth and adjust the seasonings with more salt and pepper if needed.
Ladle the hot, hearty soup into deep bowls. Serve immediately, passing a wedge of Parmigiano-Reggiano or Romano cheese at the table for everyone to grate generously over the top of their soup.
Hearty One-Pot Sausage, Bean & Rabe Soup Recipe
A hearty and rustic one-pot soup featuring Italian sweet sausage, cannellini beans, and bitter greens. The soup is built by browning bulk sausage and then sautéing a base of onion, carrot, potato, and garlic. Chopped broccoli rabe is then wilted into the pot before chicken stock and beans are added. The soup is simmered until the potatoes are tender and the flavors have melded, then served with a generous topping of grated Parmigiano-Reggiano or Romano cheese.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: 6–8 servings 1x
- Category: Soup
- Method: Sautéing, Simmering
- Cuisine: Italian-American
- Diet: Gluten Free
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 1/4 pounds Italian bulk sweet sausage
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 1 carrot, chopped
- 1 large potato, peeled and chopped into small dice
- 2 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1 bay leaf, fresh or dried
- 2 cans white beans, drained
- Salt and pepper
- 4 cups chopped broccoli rabe and greens
- 2 quarts chicken stock
- Grated Parmigiano-Reggiano or Romano, to pass at table
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a deep soup pot over medium-high heat. Add the sausage and cook, breaking it up with a spoon, until browned.
- Add the chopped onion, carrot, potato, garlic, and the bay leaf to the pot with the sausage. Season with salt and pepper.
- Cook the mixture for 5 minutes, stirring, to begin to soften the vegetables.
- Add the chopped broccoli rabe to the pot and stir until it wilts, about 2 minutes.
- Add the drained white beans, tomatoes, and chicken stock to the pot.
- Raise the heat and bring the soup to a full boil.
- Once boiling, reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender.
- Before serving, remove the bay leaf. Adjust seasonings with more salt and pepper if needed.
- Serve the soup hot with grated cheese for topping.
Notes
- This is a one-pot meal, which makes for easy cooking and cleanup.
- Using bulk sausage is convenient as it doesn’t require removing casings.
- Wilting the broccoli rabe before adding the stock helps it to incorporate into the soup and become tender.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/6 of recipe (approx. 2 cups)
- Calories: 500-600
- Sugar: 8-12 g
- Sodium: 1200-1500 mg
- Fat: 28-35 g
- Saturated Fat: 10-14 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 35-45 g
- Fiber: 8-12 g
- Protein: 25-30 g
- Cholesterol: 60-80 mg
Serving and Presentation
This rustic soup is best served simply. The deep colors of the green rabe and the chunks of sausage and vegetables are beautiful on their own. For an extra touch of authentic Italian flavor, you can offer a drizzle of high-quality, peppery extra-virgin olive oil to finish each bowl before adding the cheese. Of course, serving this soup with warm, crusty bread for dipping and mopping is a must!
Storage and Make-Ahead Tips
This is one of those soups that tastes even better the next day, making it perfect for meal prep.
- Storage: Allow any leftovers to cool completely, then store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. The soup will thicken as it sits.
- Freezing: This soup freezes wonderfully. Let it cool completely, then portion it into freezer-safe containers or bags. It will keep well in the freezer for up to 3 months.
- Reheating: Thaw frozen soup in the refrigerator overnight. Reheat it gently in a saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until it is warmed through. You may want to add a splash of extra chicken stock or water to loosen it to your desired consistency.
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Creative Recipe Variations
While this classic combination is fantastic, feel free to customize it to your liking.
1. Make It Spicy For a fiery kick, simply swap the sweet Italian sausage for hot Italian sausage. You can also add a pinch (or more!) of crushed red pepper flakes to the pot at the same time you add the garlic.
2. Try Different Greens If you can’t find broccoli rabe or find its bitterness too strong, you can easily substitute it. Hearty greens like Swiss chard, escarole, or curly kale would all be delicious alternatives.
3. Add Some Grains or Pasta To make the soup even more substantial, turn it into a minestra-style soup. Add 1/2 cup of a small pasta like ditalini, small shells, or orzo for the last 10 minutes of simmering. Alternatively, you can stir in cooked grains like farro or barley at the end.
Enjoy This Ultimate Bowl of Comfort!
You’ve just created a truly satisfying one-pot meal that is bursting with rustic, authentic flavor. This Sausage, Beans and Broccoli Rabe Soup is a perfect example of how simple ingredients can come together to create something deeply nourishing and delicious. It’s a hug in a bowl, perfect for any night of the week.
We hope this hearty soup becomes a cherished recipe in your home.
If you loved making this dish, please leave a comment below or share it with a friend who loves a good, hearty soup!
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Q1: What is broccoli rabe and is it the same as broccoli?
No, they are different vegetables. Broccoli rabe (also called rapini) is actually more closely related to turnips than to broccoli. It has thinner stems, smaller florets, and lots of leafy greens. Its signature characteristic is a pleasant, earthy bitterness that pairs wonderfully with rich and savory ingredients.
Q2: My broccoli rabe tastes too bitter. How can I reduce the bitterness?
If you are sensitive to bitter flavors, you can blanch the broccoli rabe before adding it to the soup. Simply boil it in a large pot of salted water for 1-2 minutes, then drain it well. This will temper its bitter edge significantly. Then, add the blanched rabe to the soup as directed.
Q3: Can I use dried beans instead of canned?
Yes, you can. You will need to soak about 1 cup of dried white beans overnight. The next day, drain them and cook them according to the package directions before adding them to the soup. Using canned beans is the primary shortcut for making this a quick weeknight meal.
Q4: What’s the difference between sweet and hot Italian sausage?
Both types of sausage are typically seasoned with fennel and garlic. The primary difference is the addition of crushed red pepper flakes or other hot peppers to the “hot” variety, giving it a spicy kick. “Sweet” Italian sausage does not contain these hot peppers and has a milder, more savory flavor.
Q5: Can I make this soup vegetarian?
Absolutely. To make a vegetarian version, omit the sausage. Start by sautéing the vegetables in olive oil. Use a high-quality vegetable stock instead of chicken stock. To make up for the savory flavor of the sausage, you can add 1 teaspoon of smoked paprika and a tablespoon of soy sauce or tamari to the vegetables for an umami boost.