CHICKEN AND KALE SOUP with potatoes, mushrooms, onions and italian herbs.
This recipe combines chicken broth and savory poultry seasonings with chicken thighs, chicken sausage, kale, vegetables and lots of garlic and rosemary. It’s packed with flavor and fresh, healthy ingredients, making it a real crowd-pleaser.
Kale is one of my favorite leafy greens to add to soup because it holds up beautifully to a long cooking process. While some greens turn to mush when introduced to a hot broth, kale will maintain its texture no matter how long the soup is cooking — or how many days the leftovers last in the fridge. Paired together with chicken and potatoes, this hearty, easy-to-make soup will keep you warm and full on a cold autumn night.
Chicken and kale soup
8 cups chicken broth
4 cups chopped fresh kale
1lb chopped chicken thighs
1lb chicken sausage
3 chopped medium potatoes
2 cups sliced mushrooms
1/4 cup chopped red onion
5 cloves of garlic, minced
4 tablespoons of olive oil
2 tablespoons of butter
3 teaspoons of ground rosemary
2 teaspoons of ground sage
2 teaspoons of ground thyme
1 teaspoon ground marjoram
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon basil
Salt and pepper to taste
First, take a medium-sized boiling pot and add your chopped potatoes to it. Fill the pot with just enough water to cover the potatoes, and set it on your stove top at a high heat to boil for about 20 to 30 minutes, or until the potatoes are nice and soft.
While the potatoes cook, get a large soup pot and add the 8 cups of chicken broth to it. Set the pot on your stove at a medium heat. Add your rosemary, sage, thyme, marjoram, oregano and basil, and stir. Leave the pot to simmer while you cook the rest of your ingredients, adding them to the pot as you go.
Next, take a large saute´ pan and set it to high heat. Add your 2 tablespoons of butter to the pan and let it melt. Once melted, reduce your heat to medium high and add your onions and garlic. Saute´ the garlic and onions until they are soft, transparent and aromatic — about 3 or 4 minutes. Next, add your chopped chicken thighs and continue to saute´, stirring frequently, until the chicken is cooked through — about 6 minutes. Add the chicken, garlic, onion and butter mixture into your pot of simmering broth and stir.
Next, it’s time to cook the chicken sausage, kale and mushrooms. First, take the saute´ pan you used for the garlic, onions, butter and chicken and set it back over medium-high heat. Add your 4 tablespoons of olive oil and your chicken sausage. Saute´, stirring frequently and breaking up the sausage into small pieces, until all the pieces are cooked through — about 5 or 6 minutes. Once they are finished cooking, add your mushrooms and continue to cook for another 3 minutes, until the mushrooms are soft. Next, add your kale. Continue to saute´ all three ingredients together until the kale has slightly wilted and reduced in size — about 5 or 6 minutes. Add your mushroom, sausage and kale to your chicken broth mixture and stir.
By now, the potatoes should be about finished boiling. Drain them and give them a rough mashing, breaking them up into small pieces. Salt and pepper the potatoes and then add them to the broth.
Let the ingredients simmer together for another 10 minutes, then taste the soup. Add salt and pepper according to your taste.
The wonderful thing about this soup is it just gets better and better the longer you cook it and let the ingredients flavor the stock. You can put it over a low-to-medium heat, barely simmering, for up to an hour or so before you plan to eat it — just make sure you stir frequently. It’s especially delicious with a slice of crusty bread. Enjoy!
ALICIA BANE is Wire Editor of The Times Record, and a food blogger. See more recipes from her at eeshaeats.wordpress.com
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