Turkey Sausage, White Bean, Carrots, Spinach, and Butternut Squash Soup

As cooked by Laurie



This is one of our favorite winter soups.  Laurie has made it a lot.  The recipe is actually a Weight Watchers recipe.  It is hard for me to believe that something with sausage in it, and would taste so good, would be a weight watchers recipe, but so be it.

The combination of the sausage and the butternut squash is what makes it so very tasty in my book.  The broth is so yummy.

You will see in the recipe instructions at the bottom of the post that Laurie has added carrots and spinach to the original recipe.  Plus she has an idea for making it a bit thicker.  Both of us like thick soup, rather than just broth with a few food items floating around in it.

Photos below are random grab shots, in order:

Saute chopped onions

Remove casing from sausage

Sausage added to onions

Sausage sauteed in onions
Butternut Squash

These are the beans we had in the pantry.  Recipe calls for
19 ounce cans, but Laurie has been unable to find that size.
These are 15 ounce cans

Broth, squash and carrots added to sausage/onion mix

Spinach (optional) added during last 10 minutes of cooking


A hearty bowl of soup 


Recipe adapted from Weightwatchers.com

https://www.weightwatchers.com/us/recipe/turkey-sausage-white-bean-and-butternut-squash-soup-1/5626a63b4236657004997c47

Turkey, Sausage, White Bean, Carrots, Spinach, and Butternut Squash Soup


What you need:

  • 2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 large chopped onions
  • 2 teaspoons kosher salt
  • 1 1/4 pounds uncooked Italian-style turkey sausage 
  • 2 teaspoons minced garlic
  • 8 cups canned chicken broth
  • 2 1/2 pounds uncooked and cubed butternut squash (can often be bought cubed!)
  • 3-4 carrots, peeled and sliced on a diagonal, 1/4" thick slices
  • 1 tablespoon fresh sage, minced
  • 14 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 38 ounces canned cannellini or Great Northern beans (two 19 ounce cans), rinsed and drained
  • 2 handfuls of fresh spinach
  • 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
  • 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese



What to do:

  1. Heat oil in a large stock pot over medium-high heat. Add onion; sprinkle with 1 teaspoon salt and sauté until softened, about 5-10 minutes.
  2. Remove casing from sausage; pull sausages apart in small pieces and add to the pot. This process can be made easier if you first freeze the sausages for an hour or two first.
  3. Stir the pop until the sausage is browned on all sides, about 10 minutes
  4. Add garlic, stirring for about 1 minute.
  5. Add broth, squash, carrots, sage and nutmeg.  
  6. Increase heat to high and bring to a boil... then reduce heat to medium and simmer until squash and carrots are tender, about 10 minutes
  7. Optional: To thicken the soup, pull out some squash and broth and blend with an immersion blender in a separate bowl and then add back to the pot.
  8. Add beans and stir and cook for about 5 minutes
  9. Add spinach and heat for another 5 minutes.
  10. Stir in lemon juice and remaining 1 teaspoon sale.
  11. Garnish with cheese.




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