This lemony chicken sausage soup with farro is an easy, nourishing, and cozy recipe to make during cooler seasons, so that you feel nourished even on your busiest or laziest days. Packed with Italian flavors, this soup tastes extra delicious when served with squeezes of lemon, parmesan, and your favorite loaf of crusty bread.
In cooler weather seasons, I'm always looking for an easy soup recipe that requires little hands-on time for weeknights, and this chicken sausage soup is a favorite. With chicken sausage being already prepared and hard to overcook, using it in soup makes for quick preparation and guarantees juicy, delicious bites of sausage. Add the Italian seasonings, parmesan, and lemon to the mix, and we basically have a big steaming bowl of comfort in front of us.
The only other thing you need are homemade croutons for topping or a fresh loaf of sourdough bread for dunking, and you've got the ultimate nourishing dinner. Let's be cozy, warm people and make this soup, yes??
Ingredients
- Chicken sausage - We're looking for the fully cooked chicken sausage that needs to be heated up, ideally minimally processed and free of nitrates. Sweet Italian is a favorite flavor, but sometimes I go for something spicier! Amylu, Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, Gilbert's, and the Good & Gather brand from Target are all brands I've used, love, and recommend.
- Farro - Farro is an Italian grain that's high in nutritional value, with a chewy texture and nutty flavor.
- Mirepoix - Also known as chopped onions, celery, and carrots -- your typical soup starter base. You can buy mirepoix pre-chopped to save time, but I usually just chop up my own veggies. You'll also need a bit of olive oil or butter for sautéing these guys.
- Broth - Chicken or veggie.
- Garlic - A few minced cloves for flavor and extra nutritional value.
- Lemons - One or two will do. The fresh-squeezed lemon juice MAKES this soup. Well, that and the parmesan 😉 We'll squeeze the juice of one lemon into the broth while cooking, and then save one more for serving.
- Kale - This is soup is a lot prettier with some dark greens to balance it out 🙂 I didn't chop up the kale very much because it cooks down a TON in the soup. We'll add this as our last step in the cooking process.
- Parmesan - Sprinkle on a generous amount of grated or shaved parmesan just before serving. And, if you're fancy and want a ridiculously delicious flavored soup broth, throw a parmesan rind in the soup while it's simmering.
- Salt, pepper, and Herbes de Provence - If you don't have Herbes de Provence on hand, just use a blend of dried Italian herbs such as rosemary, oregano, and/or basil.
How to Make This Chicken Sausage Soup
Okay. Soup. What I love about it, is that it pretty much always starts the same way, with a bit of olive oil or butter and your onions, garlic, celery, and carrots (mirepoix).
As such, you'll heat some olive oil or butter (a tablespoon or two) in a large pot or dutch oven, and sauté the garlic, onions, celery and carrots, which you so finely diced up. While those are sautéing, slice the chicken sausage into coins, or cut each sausage in half lengthwise before slicing them crosswise into little semi-circle chunks.
After about seven minutes or so, the veggies should be softened up. At this time you'll add in the broth with a bit of water, plus the farro. Crank the heat and bring that whole mixture to a boil before you add in the chicken sausage, and then reduce everything to a simmer. Now we'll throw in some flavors like a squeeze of fresh lemon juice, just a dash of salt for now (later you can adjust to taste), pepper, Herbes de Provence, optional bay leaf, and a parmesan rind if you have one on hand.
Cover the pot and let all of that simmer for about 30 minutes. If the farro has absorbed too much liquid, feel free to add in more broth or water by ½-1 cup -- more/less based on the thickness you like. I made this batch thicker, more like stew.
After 30 minutes, turn off the heat and toss in a few large handfuls of kale. Cover the pot and let it sit for a few minutes while the kale cooks down. Then, remove the lid and give everything a good stir to get the kale all up in there.
Finally, get out bowls, parmesan, lemons, bread and butter, and friends ;). Serve each bowl with some quality parmesan, a squeeze of lemon, some freshly cracked black pepper, and your favorite bread on the side. I like sourdough 🙂
It makes a BIG batch so you can have it all week, and you can always double for a large family or extra freezer meals.
I hope you find this cozy chicken sausage and farro soup to be just what you need for a healthy comfort food fix.
xoxo!
Print📖 Recipe
Chicken Sausage Soup with Farro
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 6-8 1x
Description
This chicken sausage soup with farro is an easy and nourishing recipe, perfect for weeknights when you want to feel cozy with a low effort, hearty meal. Serve with parmesan, squeezes of lemon, and your favorite warm, crusty bread.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 yellow or sweet onion, diced small
- 2 stalks celery, diced small
- 2-3 carrots, sliced into coins
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 package pre-cooked chicken sausage, nitrate free, sliced into coins
- 2 tablespoons Herbes de Provence (or dried Italian herbs)
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 4 cups water
- 1 cup dried farro
- 2 lemons
- 1 parmesan rind (optional)
- 5 cups chopped kale
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- Shaved or grated parmesan, for serving
Instructions
- Sauté veggies. Heat olive oil or butter over medium in a large pot or dutch oven. Add onion, garlic, celery, carrots, and a pinch of salt. Sauté until softened (7-8 minutes).
- Add chicken sausage and seasonings. Add the chicken sausage coins and Herbes de Provence and sauté for another 5 minutes, until the sausage coins start to brown.
- Add remaining ingredients, except kale. Add broth, water, farro, juice of 1 lemon, a few shakes of pepper, and parmesan rind (if using). Bring mixture to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Cover and let cook for 30 minutes, or until farro is completely cooked.
- Add kale. Remove lid and add in the kale, then replace lid to allow kale to wilt. After five minutes, stir the soup and taste test. Add more salt and pepper to taste.
- Serve. Serve each bowl with shaved parmesan, a squeeze of fresh lemon juice, and freshly cracked black pepper. Also delicious with warm bread and butter or olive oil.
Notes
- Freezing instructions. To freeze this soup, place fully cooled soup in an airtight container, leaving about ½ inch of space from the top. Store in the freezer for up to three months. When you're ready to eat, remove from the freezer and allow the soup to thaw in the fridge overnight.
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 45
- Category: Soup
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
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