Tuscan Sausage and White Bean Soup

A white bowl of sausage white bean soup with pasta.

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Tuscan Sausage and White Bean Soup

Tuscan Sausage and White Bean Soup is cozy and so flavorful, made with Italian sausage, sun-dried tomatoes, fresh spinach, pasta shells, and a bit of cream. An easy one-pot soup the whole family will love, ready in 40 minutes!

Prep Time5

Cook Time35

Total Time40

Course: Soup

Cuisine: Italian

Servings:

Calories: 590kcal

Author: Meryl Downing

Ingredients

1 pound bulk Italian sausage
1 small onion chopped
3 cloves garlic minced
⅓ cup sun-dried tomato sliced
2 cans white beans drained and rinsed
4 cups chicken stock
2 cups water
1 cup medium pasta shells (dry)
½ cup heavy cream
5 ounces fresh spinach
2 Tablespoons fresh herbs such as rosemary, thyme, oregano, basil, parsley and sage chopped
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

In a large soup pot over medium heat, begin to brown the sausage, about 3 minutes, breaking it up really small with a wooden spoon.
When the sausage is about half cooked through, move it to one side of the pot and saute the onion on the other side, about 8 more minutes.
When the sausage is fully cooked, browned and crisp, you can drain any fat if you like. Add the garlic and stir everything together.
Add the sun-dried tomatoes, beans, stock, water, and dry pasta. Stir well so the pasta is submerged. Simmer about 20 minutes until the pasta is al dente, stir occasionally. Reduce the heat as needed to keep the soup at a gentle bubble while the pasta cooks.
Add the cream, spinach, herbs and season to taste with salt and pepper (depending on how salty your sausage is, I didn't use any). Simmer a few more minutes as the spinach wilts. Serve with Parmesan cheese and crusty bread.

Notes

Draining the Sausage Fat - This will depend on the sausage, mine gave off very little fat so I didn't drain it at all. If you see pooling fat rendered from the cooked sausage, lift one side of the pot, pushing the sausage and onion to that side, and spoon out the excess fat. The sausage does not need to be drained on a paper towel or separate plate, a little natural fat is a good thing!
Sausage - Use your favorite bulk Italian pork sausage, mild or sweet, or hot if you like. You could also slice open raw sausage links, or use turkey sausage. The finished soup may need more or less salt (or none) depending on the saltiness of your sausage.
Spinach - can be substituted with stemmed and chopped kale, but add it earlier when adding the stock and beans.
White Beans - Use 2 cans of drained and rinsed Great Northern, cannellini, or navy beans.
Pasta - I used medium shells, measured dry. You could use any short pasta shape such as ditalini, bowtie, orecchiette or orzo.
Cream - This is a broth-based soup with cream in it. There is not flour or thickener, so therefore is thin and creamy rather than thick and creamy. The cream could be left out, or subbed with half & half or whole milk.

Nutrition