With long-lasting ingredients like kielbasa, onions, bell peppers, and carrots stocked in the fridge and pantry staples like canned beans, Worcestershire sauce, flour, and ground sage always in the pantry, this creamy sausage and bean soup is ready to salvage mealtime plans in just about 30 minutes.
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“This is our all time favorite soup! We have it at least a couple of times a month.” -Roxanne, FoodieCrush reader
The Dreamy, Creamy Sausage and Bean Soup We Love in the Winter
This creamy bean soup recipe comes from my forever friend Krista, whose tastebuds and cravings are very much like my own. When she texted me her own family-favorite recipe for bean soup and told me I needed to give it a try, I was 100% ready to start cooking.
I love a bean-heavy soup or stew, like my grandma’s minestrone or my creamy white bean stew. Not only do legumes bulk up a soup and lend a hearty dose of protein, but they can also thicken the soup and provide creaminess. This soup also gets its velvety creaminess from milk, rather than actual cream.
What I love most about this stellar smoked sausage and bean soup is that it isn’t one of those all-day simmering affairs. There’s no need to soak any beans. The soup comes together quickly and easily on the stovetop.
Made with fresh carrots, onion, green bell pepper, and smoky kielbasa sausage, plus two different types of beans that blend perfectly in the creamy broth (without any cream!) It just hits all the right notes.
Enjoy!
Heidi’s Tips for Recipe Success
Remember to rinse and drain those beans before you dump them in. This will prevent your soup from tasting metallic.
Mix and match your beans. Krista suggests using two different types of canned beans: Dark kidney beans and white kidney beans, aka cannellini beans. The dark kidney beans are firmer and hold their shape better than the more delicate cannellini beans which break up just enough to add to the creaminess of the soup. If you choose to use only white cannellini beans in this soup, be careful not to cook the beans too long or they’ll break apart in the soup and disappear.
Make the broth thinner or thicker. If the soup broth is too thick, add more milk to thin it as desired. Alternately, if it is too thin, make a slurry of 1 tablespoon of flour with 4 tablespoons of the broth (whisk well in a bowl) and add to the soup, cooking to thicken.
What’s in This Recipe?
The full recipe, with amounts, can be found in the recipe card below.
- Kielbasa sausage — Tasting like a hybrid of ham and hot dogs, kielbasa sausage can be found made with pork or made healthier with turkey.
- Veggies — I used a blend of carrot, onion, bell pepper, and garlic for color and flavor.
- Milk + all-purpose flour — There’s no cream in this soup, where instead, a simple roux of flour and milk creates the creamy base.
- Worcestershire sauce — The ingredient that gives the creamy broth so much flavor.
- Seasonings — A little ground sage, freshly ground black pepper, and kosher salt is all this kielbasa bean soup needs. (While the amount of sage used in this recipe seems negligible, don’t skip it! The herb rounds out the flavors in a really lovely, but mellow way.)
- Beans — Krista suggests using white beans and kidney beans.
- Canola or vegetable oil — I prefer these for their higher smoke point, but olive oil is also fine.
How to Make Creamy Bean and Sausage Soup
- Brown the sausage for flavor. Slice the kielbasa into coins, and if you prefer, halve the coins to get more sausage with every bite. Kielbasa sausage doesn’t put off much fat, so a drizzle of canola oil in the hot stock pot browns the sausage and develops flavor as it keeps it from sticking.
- Add the chopped vegetables to the sausage. Sautéing the vegetables with the sausage adds a sweet caramelization as the vegetables become tender. Krista’s recipe didn’t include garlic, but I added it in because I pretty much add garlic to everything. However, I’m 99% sure this soup would be just as good without it. Add flavor as you go by seasoning with kosher salt and black pepper.
- Add the flour. Sprinkle the sausage and veggie mixture with the flour, stirring to coat for 1-2 minutes as the heat cooks off the flour’s raw taste. Be watchful that the flour doesn’t begin to burn, but browns and smells toasty instead.
- Add the milk. Slowly pour the milk into the pot and continue cooking and stirring, as the mixture thickens. I use 1% milk-fat milk, but full-fat or even non-fat will work equally well.
- Add everything else to the pot. While longer cooking times are often interpreted to mean more flavor, with this soup there’s no need. Cooking the sausage, beans, vegetables, and creamy broth for a mere 15 minutes brings all of the flavors together and is ready to be served.
If you make this recipe, please let me know! Leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating below, leave a comment to tell us what you think, and tag me on Instagram @foodiecrush.
Creamy Bean and Sausage Soup Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon canola or vegetable oil
- 2 pounds kielbasa sausage , cut into 1-inch slices
- 1 cup chopped onion
- 1 cup chopped green bell pepper
- 1 cup chopped carrot
- 2 cloves garlic , pressed or minced
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 4 cups milk
- 6 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- ½ teaspoon ground sage
- 1 15-ounce can Great Northern white beans , or cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 15-ounce can dark kidney beans , rinsed and drained
- chopped parsley
Instructions
- In a large dutch oven or stock pot, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the sausage and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until browned.
- Add the onion, green bell pepper, carrot, and garlic. Season with the kosher salt and pepper, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion and pepper soften, about 5 minutes.
- Sprinkle the flour over the sausage and veggie mixture and stir to coat, stirring and cooking for 1-2 minutes or until it loses its raw floury taste and begins to smell toasty.
- Slowly add the milk and stir until smooth. Cook until the mixture begins to thicken and bubble, stirring often, then add Worcestershire sauce, sage, and beans.
- Reduce the heat to medium-low and continue to cook for 15-20 minutes or until the flavors come together, stirring occasionally. Add more salt and pepper to taste. Serve hot with a few sprinkles of fresh parsley and french bread for dipping or crackers on the side.
Notes
Nutrition
Ingredient Swaps to Try
- Use a different type of bean, such as Great Northern beans, navy beans, pinto beans, or regular kidney beans
- Switch up the meaty protein and use ground pork sausage (drain off the extra fat), all beef hot dogs, bacon, or a leftover ham bone or ham hock
- Sub in or add other vegetables like mushrooms, kale, celery, potatoes, corn, or green beans
- Bay leaf or thyme would also be tasty
- Freshly grated Parmesan cheese would be yummy just before serving
What to Serve With Sausage and Bean Soup
- A loaf of warm french bread slathered with butter, or crackers to break into it.
- Caesar Salad with Garlic Croutons
- Kale and Butternut Squash Salad with Wild Rice
- Classic Blue Cheese Wedge Salad
- Garlic Knots or Garlic Bread
- Homemade Croutons
More Hearty Bean Soups and Stews
- Split Pea Soup With Ham
- How to Make the Best Minestrone Soup
- White Bean Chicken Chili
- Slow Cooker Tuscan White Bean And Sausage Soup
- White Bean Stew
- Beef and Three Bean Chili
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