This vegetable and sausage soup is a flavorful hearty soup made with tons of veggies and sausage. It’s an easy, simple, and yet satisfying one pot meal that you can make in about 35 minutes that the whole family will love!
Why this recipe works
It’s the perfect meal when you need one of those easy dinners for busy weeknights or when it’s a cold and rainy day. This is an easy meal because we save time by using some frozen ingredients to save time on prepping the ingredients. It’s the perfect reminiscent of the popular Southern stewed okra and tomatoes turned into a hearty stew.
What goes into this recipe
- Frozen Okra and Corn- We are using frozen okra and corn because it’s the healthiest option next to fresh produce. Especially when you don’t have time to chop fresh okra and cut corn kernels off the cob!
- Fire Roasted Tomatoes- This gives the dish a slightly sweet and smokey flavor.
- Bay leaf- Bay leaves adds a slightly sweet and earthy flavor and also enhances the other ingredient flavors in dishes that call for lots of liquids like this one.
How to make this recipe
- Brown the meat in large dutch oven or large saucepan on the stove using medium heat for about 3 to 5 minutes or until the meat is browned and cooked through. After the meat has fully cooked, use a wooden spoon to remove the excess grease from the cooking vessel.
- Add the garlic to the pan. Cook the garlic cook for about one minute.
- Then, add the roasted tomatoes, bay leaves, chicken stock, white pepper, onion powder, and season salt to the pot. Stir until ingredients are combined.
- Bring this to a boil using medium-high heat.
- Once it begins to boil, lower the heat to medium low heat. Cover the pot with a lid, cook on medium low for about 20 minutes.
- Now add the corn and okra to the cooking vessel. Let the it cook for about 5 to 7 minutes or until the corn and okra have heated through.
- Add salt and black pepper to taste.
Expert tips
- Prevent Oversalting – I recommend salting to taste after it’s finished cooking because the meat and stock will add some salt to the dish.
- Low Sodium Chicken Broth- For less sodium, use low sodium broths and stocks.
- Longer okra and corn cooking time results- If your personal preferences are crunchier produce, cook this as recommended. For a more cooked produce, add the okra and corn at the beginning of the cooking time (the okra will break up a little bit).
- Olive oil- I typically don’t add oils like olive oil to this dish because the meat has some fat content and you don’t want this dish to be too greasy. I recommend using a drizzle of olive oil when browning chicken or turkey meat substitutions so it won’t stick to the pan, because they tend to have less grease.
Variations
- Diced Tomatoes- Can’t find canned fire roasted tomatoes? You can use regular canned diced tomatoes and still get pretty good results.
- Tomato Flavor- For a more tomato base flavor, add 1 to 2 tablespoons of tomato paste for a rich tomato flavor. Or you can add tomato sauce. Add about 1/4 cup of tomato sauce at time until you get the tomato flavor to your liking.
- Water- If you don’t have any chicken broth or stock on hand, you can use water instead. You might have to add more additional salt to taste at the end of your cooking time if you use water.
- Beef Broth- Beef broth is also a good substitution if you don’t have chicken stock.
- Meat Variations- Turkey, smoked, Italian, or chicken sausage are all good substitutes if you want to change it up. Jamie at an Oregon Cottage has a really good veggie stew recipe using Italian meats.
- Ground Beef- Ground beef is a good meat replacement if you don’t prefer pork.
- Different veggies- Green beans, corn and fresh spinach is a good combo for this dish. Bell peppers, red peppers and okra is another good combo. Chopped onions are pretty tasty in this recipe too!
- Italian seasoning and fresh herbs- Use Italian seasoning or other additional fresh herbs to add a more earthy flavor.
- Use fresh corn or okra- For a more fresh and healthier option you can use fresh corn and okra. (This will add more time to your prep time for the recipe.)
FAQs
Warm crusty bread is great to serve with this dish (great for dipping!). I also recommend a good grill cheese sandwich to make this a complete meal.
You can store this in the fridge for up to three days. After it has come to room temperature, place it in an airtight food storage container and place in the fridge. When ready to eat the leftovers, remove it from the storage container and place in a large pot on the stove, then cook using medium heat until it heats through.
This is super easy to freeze making it a good meal prep recipe! After it cools and reaches room temperature, use a large spoon to spoon it in a plastic freezer storage bag. Make sure to leave some room in the bag because the liquid will expand when freezing.
Remove as much air from the bag and seal it good. Place the bags flat in the freezer. You can keep this in the freezer for up to 3 months.
When ready to reheat, place the bag overnight in the fridge in a food container to prevent any possible leaky messes in the fridge while it thaws. When ready to reheat, pour the thawed contents in a sauce pan and cook it on medium heat for about 10 to 15 minutes or until it heats through.
For a slow simmer dish make this in the slow cooker! First, brown the meat in a medium size pan on the stove using medium heat for about 3 to 5 minutes until it cooks through. Add the cooked meat to the slow cooker using a slotted spoon.
Add all of the other ingredients (except the frozen okra) to the slow cooker and stir until combined. Cover with lid, and cook for 6 hours on low. Add the okra, salt and pepper to taste, and stir until combined. Cover with lid and cook for another 30 minutes or until the okra have heat through.
Here’s a few more stew recipes to warm you up:
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Vegetable and Sausage Soup
Ingredients
- 1 pound chicken, pork, or turkey sausage
- 6 garlic pressed or finely chopped
- 1 14.5 ounce can fire roasted diced tomatoes
- 2 bay leaves
- 3 cups chicken stock
- 1/4 teaspoon white pepper
- 3 teaspoons onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon season salt
- salt and pepper to taste
- 8 ounces frozen white or yellow corn kernels
- 3 cups frozen cut okra
Instructions
- Brown the meat in large Dutch oven or large saucepan on the stove using medium heat for about 3 to 5 minutes or until the meat is browned and cooked through. After the meat has fully cooked, use a wooden spoon to remove the excess grease from the cooking vessel.
- Add the garlic to the pan. Cook the garlic cook for about one minute.
- Then, add the roasted tomatoes, bay leaves, chicken stock, white pepper, onion powder, and season salt to the pot. Stir until ingredients are combined.
- Bring this to boil using medium-high heat.
- Once it begins to boil, lower the heat to medium low heat. Cover the pot with a lid, Cook on medium low for about 20 minutes.
- Now add the corn and okra to the cooking vessel. Let it cook for about 5 to 7 minutes or until the corn and okra have heated through.
- Add salt and black pepper to taste.
Notes
- Prevent Oversalting – I recommend salting to taste after it’s finished cooking because the meat and stock will add some salt to the dish.
- Low Sodium Chicken Broth- For less sodium, use low sodium broths and stocks.
- Longer okra and corn cooking time results- If your personal preferences are crunchier produce, cook this as recommended. For a more cooked produce, add the okra and corn at the beginning of the cooking time (the okra will break up a little bit).
- Olive oil- I typically don’t add oils like olive oil to this dish because the meat has some fat content and you don’t want this dish to be too greasy. But, if you are using vegan meats or chicken, use a few drizzles of olive oil to brown the meats.
Nutrition
Please note that I am not a nutritionist, and the nutritional information is an estimate only. It varies based on the products and brands used.
Mia
Nice home recipe. This looks amazing!
Helena
Keeping this recipe for later – the soup is incredible!
Andrew Kien
Just awesome! Looks delicious.
Little Cooking Tips
Awesome. Just awesome! Papa Scott’s legacy continues, through his talented granddaughter. Definitely trying this, as soon as it cools down (this week we’re having summer weather. Again.).
Sending you lots of hugs dear!
Savory Spicerack
Has it cooled down yet? We just got our official cool weather I believe! Thanks for stopping by!
Little Cooking Tips
it finally did, this week lol:) Now it’s autumn, at last :):) xoxo
Savory Spicerack
Yay Good to Hear! I love the fall season!