We love making warm, comforting soups for dinner in the colder months, but we have to make sure we switch up our soup routine pretty frequently so no one in our family gets tired of them. That means using a variety of meats, veggies, and herbs to create new and interesting flavors. Instead of the usual chicken or beef, we used sausage in this tasty soup, and as for our herbs…we popped all of ours into a super handy herb infuser – it lets us use as many fresh herbs as we like – creating some truly amazing flavor – without having to fish out all those pesky stalks later on. Such a time-saver!

Click HERE to order your Herb Infuser!

Here, we decided to do a nice red (and orange and yellow) pepper and sausage soup that has just the right amount of kick to it, and that we finished off with some heavy cream to round everything out. It’s the perfect departure from your typical soup fare and it’s easy to adjust the spices and seasoning to the preferences of those joining you for dinner. Get your herb infuser, then make this soup for dinner…it won’t disappoint!

Red Pepper Sausage Soup

Serves: 6

Ingredients

  • 1 pound ground Italian sausage
  • 3 assorted bell peppers, thinly sliced
  • 1 (32 oz.) box low-sodium chicken stock
  • 2 cups marinara sauce
  • 1/4-1/2 cup heavy cream, optional
  • 1 yellow onion, thinly sliced
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 2 sprigs rosemary
  • 1 sprig thyme
  • 1 bunch fresh oregano or 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes, optional
  • kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
  • herb infuser
  • garlic croutons, garnish
  • parmesan cheese, grated, garnish

Directions

  1. Heat olive oil in a large stock pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat and sauté onion and bell pepper for 6-8 minutes, or until softened.
  2. Add minced garlic and cook for 1 minute, or until fragrant, then season generously with salt and pepper and red pepper flakes, if using.
  3. Pushing veggies to the edges of pot, add ground sausage and cook, breaking up as necessary, until browned. Season again with salt and pepper.
  4. Taking your herb infuser, insert bay leaves, rosemary, thyme and fresh oregano, if using. Seal herb infuser and set aside.
  5. Stir in marinara sauce and cook for 2 minutes, then pour in chicken broth and drop in packed herb infuser. Bring mixture to a boil, then reduce heat and let simmer for 15-20 minutes.
  6. Taste and adjust seasoning, if necessary, then stir in heavy cream. Remove herb infuser when ready to serve.
  7. Ladle soup to serving bowls and garnish with croutons and cheese. Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from Fashionable Foods