Warm up with a cozy bowl of Sausage Gnocchi Soup with White Beans this season! Rustic and comforting, it's made with flavorful sausage, lots of veggies, white beans, and pillowy soft gnocchi in a rich herby broth. Easy and quick cooking, this one-pot soup is ready in 45 minutes!
- A Bowl of Comfort Food! - We love soups that start with sausage, they are so rich and flavorful! With earthy flavors, a healthy amount of veggies, and gnocchi, our favorite pantry staple, you'll want to make this one all winter long!
- Quick and Easy! - Sausage Gnocchi Soup is quickly made a layer at a time on the stovetop, while it tastes like it's been simmering all day! Easy, hearty and perfect to throw together on a busy night!
- If you Love this Soup, try my Tuscan Sausage White Bean Soup, Creamy Sausage Potato Soup, and this Ham and White Bean Soup!
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Ingredients & Substitutions
With Italian countryside style, this soup is made with basic vegetables, beans, stock, sausage, and easy store-bought potato gnocchi.
- Italian Sausage - I used mild bulk Italian sausage for this recipe. You can use anything labeled mild or sweet, or even hot if you want to go spicy. You can also use sausage links and just cut them out of their casings when raw.
- Onion, Celery, Carrot, Garlic - This classic combination of onion, celery and carrot known as the French mirepoix is the base layer of flavor. They begin sautéing alongside the browning sausage and finish softening as they simmer in the broth.
- Kale - Chopped kale adds nutrition and a hearty component to the soup. If you aren't a kale fan, it does cook up tender and without much taste. But, you can also sub a few big handfuls of fresh spinach as the soup is simmering.
- White Beans - For extra protein and heartiness, use 2 cans of white beans such as great Northern, cannellini, or navy beans.
- Chicken Stock - We love to make Homemade Chicken Stock from Bones and Veggie Scraps and keep it in the freezer for soup making. Save your veggie scraps from this soup to make it! Store-bought chicken or vegetable stock are also fine, they take on intense flavor from the sausage and herbs.
- Gnocchi - A delicious Italian ingredient, gnocchi is like a little pasta dumpling made from potatoes. They're inexpensive, easy to find in the pasta aisle, and cook up quickly, tender and pillow-y delicious! Gnocchi could be substituted with 1 cup of short pasta like small or medium shells, ditalini, orecchiette, or ½ cup of orzo. Just simmer the soup until the pasta is done, taste one! Try my Tuscan Chicken Gnocchi Soup too!
- Fresh Herbs - A few savory fresh herbs really boost the flavor of this broth based soup. Try any combination of rosemary, thyme, sage, or parsley. You can also substitute 1 teaspoon of dried thyme or Italian seasoning when adding the garlic.
See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
This one-pot gnocchi soup is built in layers, full of healthy veggies, protein and is a balanced meal all in one heart-warming bowl!
Step 1 - Chop the vegetables, slicing the carrots thin so they cook up quickly. Mince the garlic.
Pull the kale leaves off the stem and give them a rough chop.
Step 2 - In a large soup pot over medium heat, begin browning the sausage for about 5 minutes.
When it's about half done, move it to one side of the pot and saute the onion, celery and carrot on the other side, about 12 to 14 more minutes.
Step 3 - Stir both sides occasionally, but not too often. Allow the sausage to get browned and crispy caramelized.
When the sausage is fully cooked, add the kale and garlic and mix everything together until the garlic is fragrant.
Step 4 - Add the beans, stock, water, fresh herbs, and gnocchi.
Give everything a good stir, scraping the flavorful bits from the bottom of the pot.
Step 5 - Simmer the soup about 15 to 20 minutes until the gnocchi are cooked through and tender.
Step 6 - Give it a taste and add a pinch of salt and pepper if needed.
Your sausage might be salty enough that you don't need any. It's ready to serve!
Recipe Notes & Helpful Tips
- A Note on Salt and Pepper - Depending on how salty the sausage is, and it's usually strongly seasoned and pretty salty, you may not need any additional salt and pepper. Wait until the end and give it a taste, then add a pinch if you think it needs it.
- Wait to Add the Gnocchi - Gnocchi is quick cooking and will overcook if you continue to simmer the soup too long. So once it's ready, you should eat! If you aren't ready to eat yet, just wait to add the gnocchi. The rest of the soup can simmer on low for up to an hour, then just add the gnocchi when you're ready.
- Adjustable and Customizable - This soup is forgiving and the amounts don't need to be exact, especially the vegetables. An extra or missing carrot or rib of celery is up to you. Use more or less kale or substitute spinach. If you only have 1 can of white beans on hand, that will be fine too!
- What to Serve it With - Gnocchi soup is best served with crusty bread for dipping like a fresh baguette or my Overnight Dutch Oven Bread. Sprinkle it with freshly grated Parmesan cheese and it's a complete meal!
- Storage and Reheating - This soup can be made a day in advance and stored in the fridge for up to 3 days. You can reheat it in the microwave or on the stovetop. When reheating, your soup may seem less brothy and more creamy in texture. This is because the starchy potato and flour in the gnocchi have broken down a bit and thickened the broth.
Recipe FAQs
Keeping the vegetables and the sausage separate will keep the natural liquid in the vegetables away from the sausage. The hot contact with the pot will help your sausage get browned and caramelized, mixing with the vegetables can cause it to steam instead of brown. Give the sausage and the separate vegetables each an occasional stir, but not too often so they can each caramelize.
If your soup becomes too thick, just add a little more stock or water to thin it out, especially when reheating.
Gnocchi soup is not the best soup to freeze since the texture of the gnocchi won't be quite as good. But, it is freezable for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge before reheating.
More Favorite Soups!
If you made this recipe, I'd love to hear how you liked it! Be sure to leave a star rating by clicking the stars in the recipe card, or leave a comment below!
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Sausage Gnocchi Soup with White Beans
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Print Pin RateIngredients
- 1 pound bulk Italian sausage mild
- 1 small onion chopped (about 1½ cups)
- 2 to 3 ribs celery chopped (about 1 cup)
- 2 to 3 carrots thinly sliced (about 1 cup)
- 3 leaves kale stems removed, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 2 cans white beans drained and rinsed
- 4 cups chicken stock
- 2 cups water
- 1 pound gnocchi
- 2 Tablespoons fresh herbs such as thyme, parsley, rosemary, sage, or oregano chopped
- salt and pepper to taste, if needed
Instructions
- In a large soup pot over medium heat, begin to brown the sausage, about 5 minutes, breaking it up very small with a wooden spoon.
- When the sausage is about half cooked, move it to one side of the pot, and saute the onion, celery and carrots on the other. Stir both sides occasionally (not too often so you get some caramelization) and keep them separated as best you can, about 12 to 14 minutes.
- When the sausage is browned and fully cooked and the veggies softened, add the kale and garlic and mix everything together for a minute until fragrant.
- Add the beans, stock, water, gnocchi and fresh herbs. Simmer about 15 to 20 minutes until the gnocchi are cooked through. Lower the heat as needed to keep it at a gentle simmer.
- Taste and season with salt and pepper if needed. The sausage may be salty enough without adding more. Serve with grated Parmesan cheese and crusty bread.
Notes
- Wait to add the gnocchi if you don't plan to eat right away. The rest of the soup can simmer over low heat. Add the gnocchi and serve when it's cooked through, taste one!
- Carrots - Thinly slice carrots so they cook up quickly. If you feel like your carrots are too thick and not going to be tender, just simmer the rest of the soup a bit before adding the gnocchi.
- Gnocchi could be substituted with 1 cup of short pasta like small or medium shells, ditalini, orecchiette, or ½ cup of orzo. Just simmer the soup until the pasta is done, taste one!
Kari says
Do you think I can make without the sausage? I am vegetarian but this sounds so good! Maybe add more gnocchi instead?
Meryl Downing says
Yes I do think you could make a vegetarian version. Maybe increase the veggies or gnocchi a little. You might want to add a bit of dried thyme, Italian seasoning, or a pinch of crushed red pepper flakes along with the veggies since the sausage is heavily seasoned. And vegetable stock of course!
Brian Jefferson says
This might be our favorite soup yet. Really easy to make and great taste! Thanks Meryl, another winner to add to the soup menu. Thank you!
Meryl Downing says
Thanks Brian, I'm so glad to hear that! This is turning into one of my favorites too!