Portuguese Kale Soup | Sopa de Couve com Chourico

This recipe for Kale Soup will take less than 30 minutes to prepare. This soup is very popular but it is often mistakenly called Caldo Verde Soup which is the most popular soup in Portugal. However, Kake Soup uses chunky potatoes and chopped kale rather than a potato puree. So the next time you see a restaurant menu offering these soups you’ll know the difference before you order.

There are many variations of this recipe. Some cooks use pasta instead of potatoes or add white beans or chick peas instead of the red kidney beans. Go ahead and experiment with your favorite ingredients! Enjoy!

Serves 6-8
Ingredients:

3 medium potatoes (peeled and chopped into 1 inch cubes)

4 cups chicken broth or (4 cups water and 1 chicken bouillon cube)

2 cups water or more

3–4 cups kale or collard greens (chopped)

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 large onion (chopped)

2 cloves garlic (chopped)

1 bay leaf

1 (32 oz.) can red kidney beans

1 teaspoon salt

½ tsp pepper

Olive oil for garnish

1 16 oz. can roma (or any ripe) tomatoes (chopped)

1/2 small chouriço or linguica sausage (cut into pieces)

Instructions:

In a large soup pot, cook onions and garlic in the olive oil until translucent for a few minutes.

Add the chouriço, potatoes, salt, pepper, and bay leaf.  Stir and cook for about 5 minutes. Add the water and broth and bring to a boil. Add the cabbage, beans, tomatoes, and bring to a second boil.

Cover, reduce heat to medium low and continue cooking, stirring once in a while until the potatoes are tender for about 20-30 minutes.

Taste, add water if needed to make a thinner broth and cook longer if you desire. Serve with a drizzle of olive oil on top if desired before serving.

Note: Substitute with any green leaf cabbage or red kidney beans with any type of beans for different variations.