Portugal's famous sausage kale potato soup, also known as caldo verde, is beyond delicious! Made with smoky garlicky sausages and plenty of kale and potatoes, this hearty soup verges on a stew and make a wonderfully satisfying one-pot dinner.
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.
- 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
Here's the recipe for Portuguese Sausage Kale Potato Soup. If you try this recipe I hope you'll come back to leave a star rating and a comment. I'd love to know what you think!
PrintCaldo Verde: Portuguese sausage kale potato soup
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 5-7 1x
Description
A nutritious satisfying one-pot dinner that's fairly simple to cook.
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)
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: The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator and is not a substitute for a the advice of a professional nutritionist.
- Prep Time: 30 mins
- Cook Time: 30 mins
- Category: Soup
- Method: stovetop
- Cuisine: Portuguese
Lorena Keech
My favorite soup is Mexican chicken soup. It will cure the common cold and is yummy to boot!
Emily Morelli
My favorite soup is sweet potato-apple bisque.
Heather M
Love making a minestrone.
I have this same oven in red and LOVE it!!! Would love to win another one.
Ann Fantom
I like chicken corn chowder
Liz B
Gumbo is definitely my favorite soup, if it's considered a soup that is!
angie
My favorite is potato soup.
Shannon Baas
I love either potato soup or chili.
Stephanie V.
broccoli cheese and chicken noodle our my family's faves!
Jane Thomas
I LOVE Tomato Basil soup, I am like a lot of people I make plenty so I can freeze it.
Starr Greenwell
This recipe looks wonderful:) My favorite is a bean soup with chicken and vegetables.
Lysa
Our family favorite soup is currently a cheesy potato soup.
Margaret Smith
My favorite soup is veggie soup
Linda Peavy
My favorite is chicken gnocchi
christina givens
Ham and white bean soup
christina givens
my family loves ham and white bean soup
M. Sun
My very favorite soup was my mother's beef heart stew. As kids we always called it bee fart stew - but that was what we always asked her to make when given a choice. Unfortunately, she never wrote the recipe down and has passed away. It will always live in my heart and on my taste buds.
I really can't wait to try this soup this fall as we are still really warm where I live but I am thinking about it because I have just discovered KALE. Love, love, love kale! It will be the first soup I make. I can already taste it.
As an aside - I also am really happy that I found your website. I already have made a couple of the recipes found here and those Thai coconut bbq ribs I now make at least a couple of times a month!
Kathy
That soup in that Dutch Oven sounds like my kind of heaven!!!!!!!!! And, beef stew would really "shine" simmered all day long in that pan!!! Sheesh, I'm making myself hungry! LOL
Mya Murphy
I'm going to be honest, the soup you have posted looked gross and almost made me sick. My favorite soup is chicken noodle. I love the classics.
Adrienne gordon
clam chowder
Katt Lewis
My favorite soup is my creamy potato and corn.