No matter how I often I make Portuguese kale soup, the first sip from every newly made pot confirms why I love it so much. Earthy, smoky and spicy, it has a way of both stimulating and calming my mind and body at the same time.
That stimulating effect actually comes from the sausage. Traditionally, Portuguese kale soup uses either chorizo (also called chourico) or linguica sausage and both give the soup a nice zing. Chorizo is spiced with dried red hot pepper and linguica is smoke-cured (and thus pre-cooked) and only mildly spicy. I definitely recommend chorizo! But you can substitute any sausage you want if you’re not a fan of spiciness (and thus a total wuss 😉 ).
Hands down, Portuguese kale soup is the soup recipe I make most frequently that uses sausage because it all comes together in a very short time. Start to finish it doesn’t take me more than 30 minutes to make a big pot for the entire week!
For that reason it’s also the very first recipe in the “Simple Sausage and Meatball Soups” chapter from my book, Fearless Broths and Soups: Ditch the Boxes and Cans with 60 Simple Recipes for Real People on Real Budgets.
OK, here I am, dorking it up in my kitchen once again….
Portuguese kale soup combines broth, chorizo sausage, kale, potatoes, onions and spices for a delightfully earthy, smoky and spicy flavor.
1. If you want to use a slow cooker, add all the ingredients except the kale and sausage and cook on low for 6-10 hours. When it’s ready, sauté the kale and sausage separately, dice and add to the soup.
2. Many Portuguese kale soup recipes included tomatoes and/or kidney beans. Feel free to add them if you'd like.
As mentioned above, my new book, Fearless Broths and Soups, has an entire chapter devoted to simple 3-step sausage and meatball soups.
Also included are recipes for:
The book also includes many other recipes for things like Asian noodle soups, creamy vegetables soups, and seafood soups and chowders.
All of the recipes included will emphasize simplicity. They’re geared to all you stressed out moms and dads, workaholics and non-cooks trying to figure out how to eat well with limited funds and time.
And these days, that’s just about everyone.
Craig Fear is the creator of Fearless Eating and the author of three books, The 30-Day Heartburn Solution, Fearless Broths and Soups and The Thai Soup Secret. After years helping clients with digestive issues, Craig decided to pursue writing full-time. He intends to write many more books on broths and soups from around the world! Click here to learn more about Craig.