Christmas soup is kielbasa, red kidney beans, red bliss potatoes and kale simmered in chicken broth, then sharpened at the end with red wine vinegar. The sausage fat does all the frying. One pot, eight bowls, and most of the hour is hands off.
Bring the beans to a hard boil for at least ten minutes before you drop the heat. Red kidney beans carry a toxin that only a rolling boil destroys, and the method here never once says to boil.
There is no salt anywhere in the ingredient list, only half a teaspoon of pepper and some vinegar. A pound of dried beans will swallow whatever salt the broth brought, so taste at the end and season it yourself.
Christmas Soup
Course: SoupCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Easy4
servings30
minutes40
minutes300
kcalSliced kielbasa browned until it gives up its fat, then garlic, soaked kidney beans and broth simmered soft with potatoes and kale. Finished with red wine vinegar and the sausage spooned back on top.
Ingredients
1 pound kielbasa, sliced 1/4-inch thick on the bias
Vegetable oil, as needed
8 cloves garlic, minced
1 pound red kidney beans, soaked at least 4 hours or overnight
2 quarts chicken broth
1 pound red bliss potatoes, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
6 ounces fresh kale, about 4 handfuls
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Salt, to taste
Directions
- Render the kielbasa: Put the sliced kielbasa in a 7-quart Dutch oven over medium low heat and cook about 15 minutes, until well browned and the fat has rendered. If there is less than 2 teaspoons of fat in the pan, top it up with vegetable oil. Lift the kielbasa out and set it aside.
- Cook the garlic: Add the garlic and cook 1 to 2 minutes, stirring constantly so it does not burn.
- Boil the beans: Add the soaked beans and the chicken broth and bring the pot to a hard rolling boil for at least 10 minutes. Cover, lower the heat and cook about 45 minutes, until the beans are tender right through.
- Add potatoes and kale: Add the potatoes, cover and cook 15 minutes, stirring now and then. Wash, trim and tear the kale, add it to the pot, cover and cook another 10 minutes, until tender but not mushy.
- Finish: Stir in the red wine vinegar and black pepper, then taste and add salt. Divide the kielbasa between 8 bowls and ladle the soup over the top.
FAQs
Can I use canned kidney beans instead?
Yes, and it cuts hours off the job because canned beans are already cooked through. Use three cans drained in place of the pound of dried, and add them with the potatoes rather than at the start. It also removes the boiling question entirely.
Are the beans really tender in forty five minutes?
Soaked kidney beans usually want sixty to ninety minutes, so forty five is optimistic. Start checking at forty five and keep going if they still have bite. Waiting matters, because the potatoes go in next and will overcook while the beans catch up.
Why does the card say six hours total?
Because the soak is counted in it, even though the card never says so. The beans need at least four hours in water, overnight if you can. Actual work is about two hours once they are soaked.
Can I make it ahead or freeze it?
It improves overnight, like most bean soups, and it freezes well for three months. Hold the kale back if you are freezing, because it goes slimy, and stir it through fresh on reheating. Another dish that freezes this well is these stuffed cabbage rolls.
What should I serve with it?
Bread, because a bean and sausage soup wants something to push it onto the spoon. Anything soft enough to tear works better than a hard crust. A basket of homemade dinner rolls is all it needs.
