This creamy, Sweet Potato Soup with Sausage and Kale is a hearty, gluten-free, dairy-free soup you’ll want to add to your soup rotation! Slow Cooker, Instant Pot or Stove Top directions!
Sweet Potato Soup with Sausage and Kale
This is like a healthy spin on a Zuppa Toscana and it’s so good! Blending a cup of the soup and using dairy-free cream makes this nourishing soup so creamy without any actual cream. I love making it in the slow cooker, but there are directions for the Instant Pot and stove too. Whichever way you cook it, it’s sure to be a hit! Some other slow cooker soups to try are this Lasagna Soup, Butternut Pear Soup, and Navy Bean Soup.
This recipe is from Danielle Walker’s new cookbook Healthy in a Hurry, which features gluten-free, grain-free, and dairy-free recipes. All her recipes are SOLID! She has everything from pasta dishes and sheet pan dinners to no-cook lunches and freezer-friendly meals. All her recipes looked so good, but I was most excited to try this sweet potato soup. Danielle says, “Nearly every time I cook this soup, I change how I make it—switching from a simple broth to a creamy version that uses my cashew-based heavy cream and cooked sweet potatoes to add body. Either way, it’s a delicious comfort soup for those brisk fall and winter days, and even my kids down their bowls!”
I don’t always love slow cooker recipes I test from books, but I wanted to see how this would turn out in my slow cooker – this turned out so good! Feel free to make it on the stove or Instant Pot if you wish, directions are provided for all.
Sweet Potato Soup Ingredients
- Sausage: Mild Italian chicken sausage with the casings removed.
- Onion and Garlic sauteed with the sausage for extra flavor.
- Apple Cider Vinegar: You only need 1/2 teaspoon.
- Seasoning and Herbs: Adobo seasoning, salt, dried thyme, black pepper, one rosemary sprig.
- Sweet Potatoes: Peel and cube one pound of sweet potatoes.
- Broth: I used chicken bone broth for more nutrition, but regular broth will work too.
- Heavy Cream: Here is the recipe for dairy-free cream. The cream’s optional, but I really like the soup with it. You can also use regular cream.
- Leafy Greens: Remove the stems and ribs from lacinato (also called Tuscan) kale or Swiss chard and tear the leaves.
How to Make Sweet Potato Soup
You can make this easy soup in the slow cooker, Instant Pot, or on the stove. Whichever method you choose, they all start with the same step.
- Brown the sausage in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook for a couple of minutes until the onion softens.
- Slow Cooker: Transfer the sausage mixture, the other ingredients, and six cups of broth into the crockpot. Cover and cook on low for six hours or on high for three hours.
- Instant Pot: Put the sausage mixture, the other ingredients, and five cups of broth into the pressure cooker. Cook for 10 minutes and let the pressure release naturally.
- Stove: Simmer the soup with six cups of broth for an hour and a half.
- Blend: Discard the rosemary sprig. Scoop out a cup of the broth, onion, and sweet potatoes while avoiding the sausage, and pour it into a blender with the cream if using. Blend on high until smooth, and return the puree to the pot.
- For the slow cooker, add the kale and cook on high heat for 10 to 15 minutes. For the Instant Pot, after adding the kale, set the machine to sauté on high heat. Bring the soup to a boil, and cook for a minute or two until thickened. For the stove, put the kale in the pot and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes.
How to Freeze Creamy Soup
I usually don’t freeze soup with dairy, but since this recipe calls for dairy-free cream, which is optional, it’s OK to freeze it. Pour it into smaller glass containers and freeze for up to three months. Thaw the soup overnight in the fridge and reheat it on the stove or in the microwave.
Variations:
- Sub butternut squash for the sweet potatoes.
- Swap Italian turkey sausage for chicken or use spicy Italian sausage if you prefer an extra kick.
- Substitute spinach for kale/Swiss chard.
More Soup Recipes You’ll Love:
- Turmeric Roasted Sweet Potato and Macadamia Soup
- Chicken and Sweet Potato Kale Soup
- Creamy Sausage and Potato Soup
- Lentil Soup with Butternut and Kale
- Kale and Potato Soup with Turkey Sausage
Your comments are helpful! If you’ve tried this healthy Slow Cooker Sweet Potato Soup with Sausage and Kale recipe or any other on Skinnytaste, don’t forget to rate the recipe and leave me a comment below. And if you took a photo of it, share it with me on Instagram so I can reshare on my Stories!
Sweet Potato Soup with Sausage and Kale
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 pound mild Italian chicken sausage, casings removed*
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 2 1/2 teaspoons Adobo Seasoning, *
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 sprig rosemary
- 1 pound orange-fleshed sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
- 6 cups unsalted chicken Bone Broth
- 1/4 cup Dairy-Free Heavy Cream, optional
- 1 bunch lacinato (Tuscan kale) or Swiss chard, stems and ribs removed and leaves torn (about 2 cups loosely packed)
Instructions
- In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat.
- Add the sausage and cook, breaking it up with a wooden spoon and stirring frequently, for 2 to 3 minutes, until browned.
- Add the onion and garlic and cook, stirring, for 1 to 2 minutes, until the onion begins to soften.
Slow Cooker Version:
- Transfer to the slow cooker with the 6 cups broth, apple cider vinegar, adobo seasoning, salt, thyme, pepper, rosemary, and sweet potatoes. Cover and cook on low for 6 hours or on high for 3 hours.
- Remove and discard the rosemary sprig.
- Scoop out 1 cup of the broth, onion, and sweet potatoes, being careful to avoid the sausage, and transfer to a blender. Add the 1/4 cup cream, if using, to the blender, blend on high speed until smooth, and return the puree to the pot. Switch the slow cooker to high heat, add the kale, and simmer, covered, for 10 to 15 minutes, until thickened. Serve immediately.
Instant Pot Version:
- Transfer all the ingredients to the pressure cooker add 5 cups of the broth, apple cider vinegar, adobo seasoning, salt, thyme, pepper, rosemary, and sweet potatoes and cook for 10 minutes. Let the pressure release naturally.
- Remove and discard the rosemary sprig.
- Scoop out 1 cup of the broth onion and sweet potatoes being careful to avoid the sausage and transfer to a blender. Add the cream to the blender blend on high speed until smooth and return the puree to the pot.
- Add the kale turn the machine to sauté on high bring the soup to a boil and boil for 1 to 2 minutes until thickened. Serve immediately.
No Slow Cooker, No Problem
- Let this simmer in a large pot on the stove 1 1/2 hours, covered over low heat.
Fantastic! I even added some local whole cranberries for tangy taste and a cubed apple for sweetness to the crock pot. Used some of each when I made the purée.
This soup has absolutely wonderful flavors. The amounts of herbs and spice are perfect.
Don’t skip the cream at the end. I used half and half and it worked. That step takes the soup over the top with creamy texture.
I have made this multiple times for family and guests who do not necessarily like sweet potatoes or kale. This recipe has so much awesome flavor that everyone has loved it. One of my favorite recipes to make period.
Thanks Anne!
Nice
Insanely delicious….the puree put it over the top for me. It made the soup rich and creamy, and felt very indulgent! I used pork sausage, as well, and kohlrabi greens in place of kale because that’s what I had. I will definitely be making again.
♥
I love this soup and have made it several times. Note that it specifically says orange-fleshed sweet potatoes for a reason. If you use purple sweet potatoes, it will still taste great, but will look horrific.
Fabulous! My store never has any chicken Italian sausage, so I used pork. I also used 2% milk instead of dairy free cream. I used the instant pot version, and it was easy and very tasty!
Im confused. What is the next step after the 1st set of instructions for stove top?
This soup is outstanding. My husband and I think it is even better than Olive Garden. I used Jennie-o Italian Ground Turkey Sausage b/c that’s all I could find. I used (real) heavy cream b/c I do not have time to make the homemade version Gina suggested. I used reduced sodium chicken broth b/c bone broth was expensive at my store. I goofed on the measurement for apple cider vinegar and it still turned out fine. I used cubed sweet potatoes. This is so good my husband has already asked me to make it again. Run make this soup!!
So very delicious and extremely easy to make. I just used my Dutch oven pot on the stove. Sweet potatoes were soft and sausage was cooked within an hour of starting the simmer. The bowl the next day was even better.
Used chicken bone broth for the first 4 cups, then low sodium chicken broth for the rest. With the sausage, there was plenty of salt to ensure a ton of taste. Will definitely be making again. Thanks!
I used the stovetop method, heavy cream; definitely be sure to use unsalted chicken broth—delicious and healthy!
This was delicious. So easy, and one of the best soups I’ve had. Can’t wait to have leftovers for lunch!
Loved this soup! I did use more broth to make it “soupier” instead of the heavy cream I put cottage cheese into the blender for a little bit of protein! Also used regular Italian sausage and added a can of cannellini beans for some more fiber and protein.
The flavors were delicious.
This is such a tasty soup that comes together quickly. It’s on regular rotation at our house!
I LOVE this soup! It is so flavorful, and my whole family enjoys it. My husband has asked me to make it for his lunches 2 weeks in a row!
I love this soup! Great as is or use a a base recipe and add or subtract ingredients. One of my favorite adds is a can (or two) of white beans!
This was DELISH! My husband kept moaning in pleasure as we were eating. LOL! I had to sub mild Italian pork sausage because I couldn’t find a good chicken or turkey option in the store. I will say I think I chopped the sweet potatoes up too small because they were pretty much all mush. Next time I’ll be more careful about my chopping. It didn’t affect the flavor at all – still 100% yummy! Thanks for such solid recipes!
I have been making this over and over! Never thought it’d be something I like so much but it’s a favorite in our household!
I made this today, (crockpot version) and it turned out great. I used Italian turkey sausage with low sodium chicken broth and it was delicious. This is a recipe that I will make again. I like that it has a decent amount of protein too.
Made tonight. Super easy and delish
I Really enjoyed this soup. I forgot to buy dairy free cream and bought regular by accident. I will try dairy free next time I make it as it was very tasty!
I’m not a kale person, but I loooove this soup. 100% recommend!
My husband is super lactose intolerant, so we used coconut milk instead of heavy cream, and it worked well.
This soup is delicious! I usually detest kale, but it’s tasty in this recipe. I’m going to be adding this to my meal rotation. Thank you for the recipe!
I made the slow cooker version, and I used coconut cream for the heavy cream. That worked well.
Great taste! I used lower sodium broth and added dandelion greens with the kale. The instapot recipe overcooked the potatoes so I will try a different route next time. Still tasted incredible!
I don’t see where it says to add the last cup of broth?
Would a little coconut cream work in place of the dairy free cream?
Absolutely delicious!! I hate kale and my husband never met a sweet potato he liked, but we both loved this soup! I only tried it because I had tasted a similar soup at a restaurant and liked it.
Gina, I have to tell you that I struggled daily on what to feed my husband and grandsons (who stay with us throughout the week). Then I found you! I have been using your recipes as my go to on what to make almost every day! Thank you so much!
Aww, thanks Stacey, that means a lot to me!
This is a fantastic soup! The first time I made it, I followed the recipe. The next time I made it, I used hot Italian sausage, and tonight I’m making it with a mix of hot and sweet. We all love it!
This one was so good i had to make it twice in 1 week because the hubs goggled it all up!! Recipe worked perfectly!! I thought i would be bland, but no way! It was quite savory! Oh but i used UNsalted chicken broth and only 1 teaspoon of abodo.
I just found this very salty. It may have been the broth I used, as I usually use low sodium but didn’t find low sodium bone broth, but I think the adobe seasoning was not for me (Or it was just too much). I have made a similar recipe that calls for old bay seasoning, which I preferred. I’m sure it’s just my preferences, but I wanted to post in case anyone else may not like a super salty flavor to their soup.
This soup has good flavor but I also found it quite salty. I prepared it on top of the stove and only needed 60 minutes to get the potatoes soft. It will be my go to for lunches this week.
I was concerned as well. The recipe calls for unsalted broth. I accidentally bought the one with salt so I left out the salt portion of the recipe. Adobe is very salty as well so I halved the amount. The salt level in my soup turned out just fine.
This is a solid recipe. I was looking for a hearty soup to add to my rotation and this did not disappoint! I used mild turkey sausage and substituted carrots for the sweet potatoes. So good! I tend to double recipes when I made soup so I can freeze so I can also confirm that this soup freezes and reheats nicely.
I remember the first time I tried this recipe. I really had my doubts that it would be good. WHAT?!? I’ve made it three different times and loved every drop. I’ve used different sausages each time. This time I did not have time to drive the 45 miles to a store that would have chicken or turkey sausage so I took a chance and made my own with chicken breast in my food processor. I was a little concerned about how it would turn out, but it was delicious! This recipe is definitely a keeper! Thank you for this gem!
I’m very excited to try this recipe this week! Could I add the sausage at the end, after using an immersion blender in the crockpot? I’m not sure if that will affect the flavor of the final product (as in, it’d be better to let the sausage cook with everything else).
I realized I misread the directions and blended 1 cup as directed. 🙂 The soup was decent, but next time I will use twice the sausage and even more veggies (or maybe less broth?).
Yum…very flavorful. I used spinach instead of Kale only because I had it on hand. A big hit!
Excellent! I messed up and got regular chicken broth instead of low sodium and also put the salt in that’s called for in the recipe. Sooo, was definitely too salty but tasted great anyways. Way more flavor than I anticipated!
This soup was so delicious and is now in my soup rotation! I made the stovetop version. I used spicy chicken sausage and low sodium chicken broth. I would probably not add any additional salt.
This is fabulous . I threw in some butternut squash and a little half and half . Used spicy chicken sausage .
Thank you Gina !
I expected my husband to hate it but he is already telling me to try spicy sausage next time (he doesn’t know it’s chicken sausage-shhh)
Lol, I won’t tell! Glad he enjoyed it!
This was very good, I used low sodium chicken broth instead of non salted broth as what I had on hand, so it may have been a bit on the salty side to me, ( I think I am just extra salt sensitive), but husband thought great. (I didn’t add extra salt.) I made it on the stove top as just as easy this time to do so, but I do love having the options of pressure cooker and slow cooker. I used a whole small bunch of kale, and I didn’t bother to puree soup, and skipped the cream. Has a nice spicy kick with adobo seasoning. Great cold weather soup, and would make again.
This looks yummy. But I do have a question. I’ve never used Adobo seasoning. Is there any particular one that you recommend and does it matter whether or not it’s with black pepper or not?
It doesn’t matter!
Can’t wait to make this, but when you use the instant pot, do you use the soup mode or manual?
Could I substitute spinach for the kale?
I did substitute spinach. It was very good and worked fine
Excellent soup, so tasty and flavorful, love the sweet potato and kale, extra healthy. Will certainly keep this soup in my soup rotation.
Looks great , but I don’t see the recipe for dairy free cream . Can you please post ?
Thanks!
Sorry! It has been updated in the recipe, but here is the link https://www.skinnytaste.com/dairy-free-heavy-cream/
This soup is Aaaamazing!! Way better than expected! I used sweet Italian sausage and it still had a little kick but not too much for my toddler. Made in the instant pot. So easy and delicious!
This recipe is excellent and easy to modify. I used regular pork sausage, and I left off cream, nutritions yeast, and adobo seasoning. I used spinach as my greens option. It is still absolutely delicious and more nutritious than many things.
This soup is so incredibly flavorful, and blending a cup of the veggies/broth truly elevates the texture. I have a super-picky 5yo who found the broth too “spicy” (a word she uses universally to describe strong flavors), but she happily ate the sausage and chunks of sweet potato — so that’s a win in my book.
When I have ingredients I want to use up I look for a recipe I can use, this was it. The sausage was pork not chicken and I used real heavy cream. Other than that I followed this recipe and it is lovely. I try to eat soups and salads every day and this one does not disappoint. It is enjoyable, so don’t hesitate and make this one for something slightly different.
This recipe is definitely a keeper. I made it as written except I didn’t use the immersion blender or add cream. A big hit- thank you!
This was delicuous! I love so many of your soups! The soup is greater than the sum of its parts! Thank you!!
Perfect comfort food! Used russet potatoes because that’s what I had at home, and Beyond Meat Italian sausage. seriously yummy. My boyfriend asked me to do this weekly because it’s that good!
I made this as written except I omitted the cream and didn’t bother blending. It was delicious! We added some hot sauce at the table because we like spicy. Thanks, Gina! Another keeper.
I make a similar soup with coconut milk, and spice it up with Garam masala, paprika, spicy sausage, cilantro- delish!
This was a great recipe! I subbed for sweet Italian pork sausage because I had some in the freezer. Sweet potato makes it really creamy
Excellent! I used spicy turkey sausage and a pinch of red pepper flakes. I also added some carrots to pump up the veggies. Some of the best soup I’ve ever had!
This soup is absolutely delicious this is the 2nd time I made it. Such an easy recipe I happen to have all the ingredients in my home that made it super easy
This was DELICIOUS!! Made it in my crockpot and was so simple and easy. I left out the rosemary and thyme because I don’t love them, and it was still so flavorful! Highly recommend!!
This was so easy to make! It was so full of flavor~ will def be making this more often. Very healthy too!
Delicious! It was a hit with the whole family, including my 8 year old who is quite the food critic! They all requested I add this to our “rotation.” We manage severe food allergies (peanuts & sesame), and this was allergy friendly! 😊
This was delicious but mine did not thicken even with the 1/4 cup cream. Not sure what I did wrong. Made in the slow cooker.
I blended some of the veggies with a hand blender and it thickened it up some.
This was delicious… made exactly as written. Google and made my own Adobo seasoning as i did not have any premade in house!!! Yum yum.
Correction. I used spinach as the store did not have kale!!
This is DELICIOUS! I made this last night on the stove top and followed the recipe exactly. It was even better for lunch today. I will definitely make this again and I have already shared it with friends and family.
If your using an instant pot make sure you scroll down for
the specific directions. I read add all ingredients to the instant pot and later realized the cream was not supposed to go in. I scooped pig wash I could and made it work. Nevertheless this soup was still yummy! Definitely will add this to our rotation!
Delicious & easy. I cooked mine in a slow cooker. I didn’t have sweet potatoes so substituted a thawed bag of frozen butternut squash. My husband is not a big fan of spinach, however there is so much flavor in the soup recipe that it’s flavor, not the spinach, that stands out. My husband asked me to add this to our :keeper” recipes. My hat off to you Gina!
Sooooo good! Made ahead for my lunches this week and it’s outstanding! I would recommend holding off on salting early in the cook like I did – I forgot Adobo has salt in it. Yummy and will make again!
Made this tonight and decided to add a can of beets (puréed with some of the hot broth) and OMG it was AMAZE! It was delicious before the beets, but I wanted it a bit thicker so I puréed a can of beets and it made it a beautiful color and added a tinge of sweetness. Perfection. Will DEF be making this again. And trust me… add the beets!
The beets sound like an interesting twist I have them in my cupboard how exactly did you do it purée the beets & added the heavy cream ? Could you taste the beets? Sounds delicious
Loved this recipe. It’s so easy and so flavorful.
Delightful but please include more detailed instructions for stovetop! I had to guess what to do and when to put in what.
You guys. This was so delicious. I was questioning it just a bit as I was making it, but the broth came out so flavorful and it’s super filling. I did swap butternut squash with the sweet potatoes to cut carbs and I used Swiss chard instead of kale because that’s what I could find. Finally I splurged with normal half n half instead of the dairy-free kind.
I will absolutely make this again.
WOW! I wasn’t expecting to love it as much as I did but its SO GOOD! I used boars head zesty Italian chicken sausage which added just a bit of spice. I didn’t add thyme or rosemary because I forgot to pick those up and I really don’t think it needs it. I also used half and half and regular kale because my store doesn’t carry Tuscan kale. Its definitely a make again and again and again!
Loved this soup so much! Perfect fall flavors but also great all year round. It was very easy to make and I used the instant pot. I used canned coconut milk in place of the non dairy cream recipe and bone broth for more protein. I also garnished with cilantro on my leftovers – I will say it was definitely better the next day.
This was so good! I can’t seem to find chicken Italian sausage so had to use turkey, but otherwise did as directed in the instant pot. Definitely a repeater.
Holy smokes! This was absolutely scrumptious and perfect for our first snowy weekend of the year. The flavors are spot on…we didn’t have any rosemary on hand so just used the dried thyme and it still turned out fabulous. This will def be added to the winter soup rotation! Thank you again for another delicious meal!
Absolutely delicious! This soup was the perfect blend of creamy, spicy, and hearty. It was also very filling and kept me full all evening. I look forward to making it again in a few weeks as it will be added into our weekly soup night rotation.
This soup has so much flavor! I cooked it on the stove top and removed the rosemary sprig about 15or 20 minutes into the cooking because it was falling apart and I didn’t want it to overtake the soup. Will definitely make again, so delicious! Next time I might add only 2 tsps of Adobo seasoning bc islt seemed a little salty (I used low sodium chicken broth) but definitely a delicious healthy soup! I used heavy cream and served with a baguette. So delicious!
This was SO good! I used the slow cooker method and substituted the sweet potatoes for butternut squash as suggested to cut down on carbs. My husband said “this is my new favorite soup”
I make a lot of your recipes. You are my go-to.
Thank you!
Thanks Melissa!
Hi Gina,
I made your recipe for Aaron’s Dry Adobo Seasoning. (Which is awesome on the pork tenderloin by the way). Can that seasoning be used for this recipe? I assume so, but the recipe here doesn’t link to it, so thought it best to check. Making this today. You never disappoint on soup Gina. It’s a cold windy day here near Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Going to negative double digits tomorrow, so soup hits the menu. 🙂
Take care.
I used goya adobo but that seasoning would be great if you want some kick!
You were right! Using Aaron’s Adobo seasoning. gave it a very nice kick. I was worried it would be too salty – but it wasn’t.
There are asterisks on two of the ingredients (the sausage and the adobo seasoning) but I can’t find a comment that The asterisks refer to.
I saw the dairy free milk recipe earlier in the week and now I cannot find it.
New recipe for it coming soon!
Do you have to put it in a blender?
This is really good! A bit salty. In the future, I’ll eliminate the 1/2 teaspoon of added salt. It’s a cool, rainy day in SoCal. This warm, tasty soup is a welcome warm up!
I made this tonight via the insta pot method. I usually rate all skinny taste recipes as a 5, but this was maybe. 4. It wasn’t bad at all, but the soup was missing couscous or orzo or something else. Definitely worth a try though! I would make it again and try adding orzo next time.
Feel free to add as you wish! I personally wouldn’t add pasta with potatoes, but that’s just me!
We are definitely in soup eating mode over here with the weather turning. As well I dusted off the slow cooker over the weekend. Adding this to our rotation this week – I love all the flavors and am sure it will be a big hit.
You always have the best soup recipes. I can’t wait to try this one!
I made this last night…didn’t have dairy free cream so I used half a cup of light cream instead. The grocery store didn’t have kale so I used spinach. It was delicious! Next time I will cut my sweet potato into bigger cubes. I made this on the stove and after simmering for a hour (the recipe calls for an hour and a half) my sweet potatoes were so done they were starting to fall apart. But the flavor was wonderful. My entire famiy of 4 loved it and can’t wait for me to make it again. That hardly ever happens in our house.
I was wondering about coconut mild also. This looks and sounds delicious!
Sure its just a little sweeter.
Your instructions say to purée ingredients yet picture shows chunks of sweet potatoes… how much do you purée vs leave in chunks?
just 1 cup
Hi can you used non-fat condensed milk instead of cream?
Sure or half and half works too
Half and half worked well
How do you think coconut milk or coconut cream would work instead of a nut based cream? I have a tree nut allergy.
Also, any suggestions for making this vegetarian?
Oooh I think Coconut Cream or Coconut Milk would be amazing in this!
I have Japanese Sweet Potatoes (white fleshed) so hmmm … curious if they would work also? 🤔
I think it would be fine, just a little sweeter!
I subbed in a veggie Italian sausage and used coconut milk and it turned out great!
Any way to make this nut-free and still have it be close in calories etc? Nut allergy in the house’
The cream is optional, but even some half and half is ok.
I used half and half and it was perfect!
Did I miss something? It doesn’t mention when to add the sweet potatoes or spices in any of the directions.
just fixed
I don’t see it either where to add any of the spices and sweet potatoes for the stove top directions. Am I missing something that is right in front of me?
never mind figured it out!