My fiancé Kevin is a soup-hater. I think he likes the act of hating on soups more than he actually hates soup itself. It’s interesting though, every time he says he doesn’t want soup for dinner, there always seems to be an empty, scraped clean bowl on the table after I serve it to him. “Oh… you didn’t like it at all, huh?? How very strange….Someone must have come and emptied your bowl when I wasn’t looking,” I’ll say. He is always careful to give the soup I make only small compliments, knowing that if he is ever overly enthusiastic about a soup, that he will be getting it for every lunch and dinner for a week. You see, soup is easy. And it’s comforting. And if I like any soup enough to actually post its recipe on here, trust me it is good.
Kevin loves Italian sausage and peppers. When we had it a few weeks ago he asked me why I didn’t make it for us more. “That’s so funny you should ask Kevin…I was just thinking about making your favorite sausage and peppers into a soup!!” Can you imagine how excited he was!? And here it is. This recipe is absolutely delicious. It is loaded with colorful veggies, Italian sausage, and an amazing tomato based broth that will have you too scraping the sides of your bowl clean. And best of all, you can make it in your crock pot!! There is nothing better than coming home from a long day of work and having something hot and delicious ready when you get home. This recipe uses all whole 30 compliant ingredients, just be sure to omit the shredded parmesan cheese at the end. If you’re not keeping Whole 30…the cheese is the best part 🙂
P.S. If you’re wondering what Kevin thought of this soup….HE LOVED IT. And he got to continue loving it for every lunch and dinner that week.
Let’s get started.
Step 1: What doesn’t kale you, makes you stronger. De-vein your kale and give it a chop. My favorite kale is Dinosaur kale or Lacinato kale. If you can find this, buy it!! After you are finished with your kale, dice your onions, peppers, and carrots.
Step 2: Brown your sausage. If your sausage was cased, remove it from the casing and crumble it into a pan with your olive oil. Brown on both sides for 2 minutes. Remember, your sausage it going to continue to cook for hours so do not overcook it. If you are someone who loves spicy food, try making this recipe with spicy Italian Sausage.
Step 3: Let’s give ’em something to crock about. Combine your chopped vegetables with sausage, canned tomatoes, tomato sauce and beef broth in your crock pot. If you haven’t had Rao’s tomato sauce, give it a try in this recipe. It is absolutely delicious and worth the few extra dollars that it costs. If you don’t have Rao’s in your grocery store, Trader Joe’s Roasted Garlic Spaghetti Sauce is also Whole 30 compliant and delicious! Season with salt, pepper, and dried oregano.
Step 4: And now we wait. Cook in your crock pot for 8 hours on low or 4 hours on high. Top with parmesan and enjoy!
Let's give 'em something to crock about {slow cooker Italian sausage & peppers soup}
Ingredients
- 2 pounds Italian sausage (if you are keeping whole 30, Whole Food sells sugar free compliant sausage or try your local butcher)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 red bell peppers chopped
- 2 yellow bell peppers chopped
- 2 carrots finely chopped
- 1 bunch dinosaur or Lacinato kale de-veined and chopped
- 1 large yellow onion chopped
- 1 can diced fire roasted tomatoes ( I use Muir Glen Organic)
- 1 24 ounce jar Rao's tomato sauce or your favorite tomato sauce
- 1 1/2 quarts beef broth
- 1 1/2 tablespoons dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- Dash of crushed red pepper flakes
- Shredded parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Chop vegetables.
- Brown Italian sausage in olive oil.
- Combine browned sausage and all other ingredients into slow cooker.
- Cook on high for 4 hours or low for 8 hours.
- Top with shredded parmesan cheese.