This Slow Cooker Tuscan Sausage and Kale Soup is a hearty, veggie-filled comfort food option for cold days – just dump it all in the crockpot then set it and forget it!
Say hello to another new cozy soup recipe to help you get through the rest of March! Hang in there, we’re SO CLOSE TO SPRING!
Okay, I know the first day of spring was a couple of days ago, but it’s still hovering around freezing everyday.
Here in Canada anyways lol!
I wish I could say March is a better month for us than January or February each year but it’s really a toss up. Even if we do happen to get some good weather in the middle of March it’s almost always inevitably followed up by a mini snow storm by the end of the month or even sometimes into April!
BRB I think I’m gonna move to Florida or California or something.
But in the meantime of course, this Slow Cooker Tuscan Sausage and Kale Soup will have to get us through.
This is such a simple and delicious recipe that I’ve actually made a few times on the stovetop when the weather first started to get cold. The first time I made it was with some chopped up butternut squash and it was to DIE for. But for the sake of keeping the ingredient list a bit shorter I changed things up a bit for the blog.
But we’ve still got some great flavours going on and that’s not to say you can’t change things up if you’d like!
I also usually use turkey sausages for this Slow Cooker Tuscan Sausage and Kale Soup but when I went to Longo’s to shoot it they were all out of my favourite ones so I swapped in some ground turkey and made my own. If you have a Longo’s near you their sausages are also bomb in my Sheet Pan Sausage & Root Vegetable Scramble.
I don’t eat pork so most turkey sausages at the grocery store are still made with pork casings – like what is even the point though? Why provide an alternative to pork sausages when they still contain the same products?!
But anyways, my point is that it’s hard to find actual turkey sausages that fit my dietary restrictions. And don’t ask about the pork thing it’s a long story haha.
What I’m really getting to is that you can make your own sausage at home with just about any type of ground meat. It’ll be without the casing of course but the flavours will still be there!
Making Your Own Turkey Sausage
To season a pound of ground turkey and turn it into sausage, all you need are some fennel seeds, garlic powder, salt and pepper, and if you’re feeling fancy, some paprika! That’s all there is to it! Add in a bit of each, mix together well, and you’ve got yourself faux-sausage!
I sometimes like to mix mine all together and then freeze it into little balls to use when I’m craving other recipes like this Turkey Sausage Pasta Arrabiata. Sooooooo good.
Once you get the sausage together (whether you’re using homemade or storebought, make sure to remove the casings), you just add it to the slow cooker along with the rest of the ingredients.
It’s THAT EASY.
If you don’t have any kale on hand, you can add in some Swiss chard or spinach at the last minute once everything has cooked through, and you can also use any colour bell pepper too.
Like all my recipes, this Slow Cooker Tuscan Sausage and Kale Soup is super easy to customize – just how I like it!
Will you be making this Slow Cooker Tuscan Sausage and Kale Soup?
I am so in love with these giant bowls of comfort food. Get this cooking all day, fill up the house with the aroma of delicious food, light a few candles and cozy up on the couch with some blankets while you still can! I’ll be hiding out until the last snow storm passes in April (but hopefully that’s not the case this year…)
If you try any of my recipes be sure to let me know on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook or in the comments – I’d love to see what you come up with!
- 1tbsp olive oil
- 4cloves garlic minced
- 2 yellow onions, diced
- 1 large carrot, chopped
- 2stalks celery, chopped
- 1tbsp Italian seasoning
- 4cups chicken broth
- 1(796mL) jar crushed/strained tomatoes (passata)
- 1can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 1 red pepper, diced
- 2cups kale, chopped
- 1lb ground turkey (or use 4 turkey sausages instead of making your own, casings removed)
- 1tbsp fennel
- 1tsp garlic powder
- 1tsp salt
- 1/2tsp pepper
- If using storebought sausages, remove casings and break up meat. If making your own, mix together sausage ingredients and break up. Add to slow cooker, along with rest of ingredients except for red pepper and kale.
- Cook on high for 6 hours or low for 8 hours. When ready to serve, stir in red pepper and kale, then let sit for 3-4 minutes. Serve and enjoy!
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