Caldo Verde is Portugal's renowned sausage, kale and potato soup. Our version, designed as a soup-for-dinner soup, has plenty of delicious smoky sausage, potatoes and healthy kale. It's a whole, balanced meal, all cooked in one pot. And you'll love how quick and easy it is to make a big pot of this incredibly comforting soup.
In Portugal the most popular meat is pork and the best-loved soup is sausage kale potato soup. When I was in Lisbon and Porto there was a version of caldo verdo on every restaurant menu. It's also a popular dish at weddings and other special occasions.
The Caldo Verde recipe originated in the Minho region of northern Portugal. You might be familiar with the delicious sparkling wine called Vinho Verde, which hails from that same region.
HOW TO MAKE PORTUGUESE SAUSAGE KALE POTATO SOUP
There are only 6 main ingredients in this soup: sausages, kale, potatoes, chicken broth, onions and garlic.
- One of the key ingredients of Caldo Verde is Linguica sausage. It's a smoked pork sausage, flavored with garlic and sweet paprika. If you can't find Linguica, you can substitute another smoked sausage, such as Chourico or even Spanish Chorizo.
- The first step to making sausage kale potato soup is to sauté the sausages. The fat and browned bits that are left in the pot will enhance the flavor of the soup.
- I like to slice one sausage into rounds and brown it, for a tasty garnish. The rest of the sausages are chopped and cooked in the soup to thicken it and to ensure that you get some delicious sausage in every bite.
- After the sausages are browned and removed from the pot, add the chopped onions and garlic and cook them for a few minutes until softened. Then add cubed potatoes, broth and water to the pot and cook until the potatoes have softened, about 15 minutes.
- Use a potato masher to mash half of the potatoes, right in the pot, leaving the other half as chunks of potato, for texture.
- Now add the cooked chopped sausage and the raw kale and cook the soup for a few more minutes until the kale is wilted and soup is heated through.
How to prepare kale
- For this soup I love to use the darker, more delicate lacinato kale. In addition to being delicious, it's packed with vitamins and minerals.
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- Kale has a thick center rib which we want to remove. Pull the green leafy parts off of the center ribs, then stack the leaves on top of each other and slice them crosswise, into thin slivers. Now they're ready to add to the soup and will take only a few minutes to cook in the hot broth.
How to prepare the potatoes
- I like to use russet potatoes for this recipe. Peel them, slice them in half lengthwise and then crosswise into bite-sized chunks. Once you add them to the soup, they'll need only about 15 minutes of cooking.
- After the potatoes cook in the broth, half of them are mashed, which makes the soup thick and creamy. The other half remain in bite-sized chunks, adding great texture to this sausage kale potato soup.
What to serve with Sausage Kale Potato Soup
- If you want to stick with tradition, serve caldo verde soup with brown bread or corn bread on the side, to dip.
- Although there are plenty of greens in this soup, I always enjoy a cold salad on the side with a hot soup. If you're in the mood for a side salad, I recommend this butter lettuce salad with citrus honey vinaigrette
If you like this kind of tasty one-pot dinner, here are a few other Panning The Globe recipes you might enjoy:
- Curried Butternut Squash, Lentil and Chicken Stew
- Moroccan Chicken Stew with Apricots, Sweet Potatoes and Kale
- Korean Chicken Stew with Spinach
If you try this Portuguese Sausage Kale Potato Soup, I hope you'll come back to leave a star rating and a comment. I'd love to know what you think!
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Caldo Verde: Portuguese sausage kale potato soup
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 5-7 1x
Description
This hearty soup has delicious smokey sausages and plenty of potatoes in every bite but it's also packed with healthy kale. It's definitely s soup-for-dinner kind of soup — a whole balanced meal, all cooked in one pot. And you'll love how quick and easy it is to make a big pot of this incredible comforting Portuguese sausage and potato soup.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil, for sautéing
- 1 ½ pounds fully-cooked, smoked Linguica sausage - slice one fourth of the sausage into thin rounds - the rest into ¼-inch dice (Chorizo or Chourico are good substitutes if you can't find Linguica)
- 2 cups finely chopped yellow onion (2 medium onions)
- 2 tablespoons minced garlic (5-6 cloves)
- 4 cups low salt chicken broth (I recommend Swanson's)
- 3 cups water
- 2 ½ pounds russet potatoes, peeled, sliced into quarters lengthwise, then cut crosswise into 1-inch chunks.
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 bunch kale, washed, thick center ribs removed, and slivered (I prefer the dark green dinosaur kale but any kale is fine)
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Instructions
- Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large Dutch oven or heavy pot over medium heat. Sauté the sausage rounds for 1 minute or two, until they are nicely browned. Transfer to a small plate and set aside. Add diced sausage to the pot and cook, stirring, for about 3 minutes, until they start to brown a bit. Transfer to small bowl and set aside.
- Add 1 tablespoon olive oil to the pot, along with the chopped garlic and onions. Sauté over medium-low heat for 4-5 minutes until onions soften and start to get transparent. (Don't let them brown)
- Add broth, water, potatoes and salt to the pot. Bring to a boil. Lower heat to a steady simmer and cook for 15 minutes, until the potatoes are tender. Using a potato masher, mash half the potatoes right in the pot, so you have a creamy broth with some chunks of potato remaining.
- Add the cooked chopped sausage and the slivered kale. Cook for 3-4 minutes, until the kale wilts and the soup is heated through.
- Ladle soup into bowls and top each with a few rounds of cooked sausage. Enjoy!
Notes
- Nutrition Information — We do our best to calculate nutrition values using an online nutrition calculator called Nutrifox. Our nutrition information should only be used as an approximation.
- Prep Time: 30 mins
- Cook Time: 30 mins
- Category: Soup
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Portuguese
This soup looks super delish! I'd love to make it because I'm trying to get kale into our diet. Unfortunately, we are very limited for any sort of sausages where I live. We do have a locally made & smoked beef & pork sausage that is pretty tasty, but it is not spicy at all. Any idea of how I could use it & still get the soup to come out tasting close to what you have made? Like, what sort of herbs or spices are in Linguica, Chorizo or Chourico that I could add? Thank you for any suggestions!
Linguica is a smoked sausage, flavored with garlic and paprika. I bet the soup would be delicious if you sauté your local smoked pork sausage in some garlic and sprinkle it with a teaspoon of sweet or smoked paprika. Lisa
My son-in-law has been eating a lot of kale recently for health reasons, and the rest of the family is joining him. Will definitely fix this recipe! Thank you for posting it. I am also a Lodge lover!
Over the past year I've gotten back into cooking with cast iron, and the difference in HOW I cook is amazing! I didn't always like stews or soups, until lately...NOW making soups and stews in raw or enameled cast iron has retired my slow cooker! I especially like making beef stew with yummy fresh carrots, celery, onion and potato. Nothing like that smell in the house from it cooking for hours in the oven! And clean up is a snap with cast iron. NOPE I will never again cook stew or soups (or anything!) in anything else!
I cannot wait to try this soup. I love to cook, and I use Lodge cast iron 99% of the time in all my cooking. Every little morsel of food tastes so much better when cooked in cast iron.
This looks like a perfect dish for my family! A healthy & tasty combination of vegetables & meat. I'll try it!
We like this hamburger soup: http://www.yankeehomestead.com/2013/03/27/hamburger-soup/
I always love new soup ideas... YUM! As the weather gets cooler my favorite to bake in a dutch oven is N.E. Baked Beans. I know it is not soup but being from New England it is the Saturday night thing to do. I always have great luck using a cast iron pot in my gas oven. The delicious smell of molasses and bacon baking into the beans is so amazing!
My favorite soup is New England style clam chowder. I could eat it every day.
My favorite soup is Tuscan Vegetable Soup by Ellie Krieger (I double the beans, though). Just delicious.
I love my grandmother's super simple potato soup - it's mostly just water, potatoes, onions, water, and a little flour, salt, and pepper...but somehow, it cheers me up every time. 🙂
My favorite soup is a white bean soup with rosemary oil. Can't wait to mail it this winter!
My favorite soup is called Italian tortellini soup. It is easy to make and is so flavorful! My entire family loves it and the leftovers are even better!
My favorite is a stew my wife created..it is Italian sausage, rice and okra. YUMMMMM
My favorite soup is the turkey noodle soup my mother makes after Thanksgiving. It uses the turkey bones, some of the dressing, the meat and, of course, noodles.
Tomato Basil soup is my favorite soup. This looks pretty good though.
my favorite is pumpkin soup!