Slow Cooker Italian Sausage and Kale Soup with Sweet Potatoes

This Slow Cooker Italian Sausage and Kale Soup with Sweet Potatoes is hearty yet perfect for a light fall dinner. Paleo friendly and low carb. Throw all your ingredients in the crock pot and dinner is set!

Click here to Pin this paleo slow cooker Italian sausage and kale soup recipe!

Originally published August 31, 2017. This soup is one of my favorites to make especially when I need a reset after a holiday weekend.

It never fails, the first couple weeks after school start and the sickness begins. Last week and weekend we had 2 streps and 1 virus hit us and we were literally at the doctor 3 different days with 3 different kids. It all started in preschool, which sounds about right and thankfully did not end with the parents although my allergies have been going a little haywire lately and my sinuses are acting up. Soup is always my go-to when I feel like this and although my 2 boys don’t typically partake in it, my daughter and husband do and I felt extra good about them eating a bowl of this Italian Sausage and Kale Soup with Sweet Potatoes from my friend Natalie’s new cookbook, The Big Book of Paleo Slow Cooking. Nothing but good stuff in this soup.

How do you make healthy sausage and kale soup?

There are a lot of sausage and kale soup recipes floating around, but most are cream based and heavier than I like my soup. I’m not a huge fan of creamy soup so this version of sausage and kale soup is exactly what I like. Cook up the Italian chicken sausage in a skillet before adding to slow cooker – I use this stove top browning crock pot (<– affiliate link) and the insert goes right onto the stove saving you an extra step and skillet to wash. It’s perfect for recipes like this where you have to brown the meat first. Once the sausage is browned, everything goes in the crock pot and you are set!

These are your ingredients for this sausage and kale soup:

• 2 tablespoons ghee or bacon drippings (or use light oil if you are not strict paleo)
• 1 lb bulk uncooked sweet Italian chicken sausage
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 large sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1/2 large bunch kale, leaves removed from stems and cut into bite-sized pieces
• 1 1/2 quarts chicken stock
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• pinch of crushed red pepper flakes

I am getting back in the habit of making soup once a week again now that we are shifting into fall. I love soup all year ’round but fall just screams soup doesn’t it? It makes for super easy lunches and dinners to heat up too, and healthy. Some of my favorite soups to make weekly are this Beef and Tomato Vegetable Soup and Slow Cooker Split Pea Soup.

The Big Book Of Paleo Slow Cooking

This recipe comes from my friend Natalie’s (of Perry’s Plate)  first cookbook and I couldn’t be more excited for her! It’s pretty obvious I don’t follow a paleo diet but that did not keep me from finding recipe after recipe that I would make from this book. There are 200 paleo slow cooker recipes in this book, all whole-food based and without gluten and dairy. If gluten and dairy isn’t a problem for you like it isn’t for my family, then the recipes are easily adaptable for simple substitutions and additions (i.e. I don’t regularly cook with ghee which is an ingredient often used with the paleo diet so I don’t have it on hand – I used my preferred oil I have in my pantry instead).

My copy of The Big Book of Paleo Slow Cooking is already filled with several sticky tabs marking recipes I can’t wait to try.

Recipes on deck are:

• Chipotle Beef and Avocado Soup
• Citrus Pork Chili with Mango
• Chicken Tikka Masala with Cauliflower
• BBQ Bacon Bison Meatballs
• Italian Balsamic BBQ Meatloaf
• Sweet Jalapeno-Pineapple Pulled Pork

Doesn’t everything sound so good??

Hope you are all feeling good and having a great week!

Healthy Soup Recipes

Soup is one of my go to meals when I’m trying to trim some pounds or just generally feel healthier. Some soups I tend to make often are  Italian Vegetable Beef Soup, Slow Cooker Split Pea Soup, Italian Tomato and Lentil Soup and Healthy Chicken Tortilla Soup. I’m ready to try this Beef Taco Quinoa Soup and Fall Vegetable Quinoa Soup!

Slow Cooker Italian Sausage and Kale Soup with Sweet Potatoes Recipe

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Slow Cooker Italian Sausage and Kale Soup with Sweet Potatoes

• Author: Aggies Kitchen
• Prep Time: 10 minutes
• Cook Time: 4 hours
• Total Time: 4 hours 10 minutes
• Yield: 6 servings 1x
• Category: Soup
• Method: Slow Cooker
• Cuisine: Paleo

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This Slow Cooker Italian Sausage and Kale Soup with Sweet Potatoes is hearty yet perfect for a light fall dinner. Paleo friendly and low carb. Throw all your ingredients in the crock pot and dinner is set!

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Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons ghee or bacon drippings
• 1 lb bulk uncooked sweet Italian chicken sausage
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 large sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1/2 large bunch kale, leaves removed from stems and cut into bite-sized pieces
• 1 1/2 quarts chicken stock
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• pinch of crushed red pepper flakes

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Instructions

1. Heat the ghee in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken sausage to the pan and break it up into small bits as it cooks.
2. When the most of the sausage is cooked, add the onion to the pan. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes, until the onion begins to soften and become translucent. Add the garlic to the pan and cook for another minute or so. Transfer the sausage mixture to a 4-quart slow cooker.
3. Add the sweet potato cubes, kale, chicken stock, vinegar and red pepper flakes.
4. Cover and cook on low for 6 to 7 hours (or 3 to 4 hours on high).
5. Taste and add more salt or vinegar if necessary before serving.