Cooking Time & Servings

Vermont Farmhouse Apple Sausage & Bean Soup Recipe

You Will Also Need

Here's What You Do

Preparing the beans:

  1. Rinse, drain, and pick over beans.
  2. Place beans in a bowl, cover with plenty of water and allow to soak for 4 hours at room temperature or overnight. Or, for a quick soak, boil for 10 minutes in water and let stand for 2 hours.
  3. Drain beans, place in 4-qt. pot with 2 qts. fresh water, bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer covered for 1 ½ hours.

Preparing the Soup:

  1. In a 4-quart soup pot, sauté sausage pieces in oil about 2 minutes over medium heat.
  2. Stir in contents of Vermont Farmhouse Apple Sausage and Bean Soup Mix seasoning packet.
  3. Drain beans. Add with broth and apple pieces.
  4. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer covered for 1 hour.
  5. Just before serving stir in fresh spinach, cook uncovered for 5 minutes, and serve.

Recipe Adaptations

Vegan

The sweetness of the apples and squash combines with a hint of curry in the seasonings for a delish dish!

You Will Also Need:

  • 8 cups vegetable broth
  • 2 Tbsp. olive oil
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced (optional)
  • 16 oz. fresh or frozen butternut squash cut up into 1-inch cubes
  • 2 large apples, cut up
  • 3 or 5 oz. fresh baby spinach, (4 cups, loosely packed) shredded

Here’s What You Do:

Preparing the Beans:

  1. Pick though the beans. Remove discolored, shriveled beans and any foreign material. Rinse well.
  2. Place beans in a bowl, cover with plenty of water and allow to soak for 4 hours at room temperature or overnight. For a quick soak, boil for 10 minutes in water and let stand for 2 hours.
  3. Drain beans, place in 6-8 qt. pot with 8 cups fresh water.
  4. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer covered for 1 hour.

Preparing the Soup:

  1. In a 4-quart soup pot, sauté onion in oil for 5 minutes over medium heat, adding in garlic for the last 2 minutes over medium heat.
  2. Stir in contents soup mix seasoning packet.
  3. Add drained, cooked beans, vegetable broth, apple pieces, and butternut squash to pot.
  4. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer covered for 1 hour.
  5. Just before serving, stir in fresh spinach, cook uncovered for 5 minutes.

Slow Cooker

Recommended slow cooker size: 4-6 quart

Here’s What You Do:

Preparing the beans the night before:

  1. Rinse, drain, and pick over beans.
  2. Place beans in a bowl with 2 quarts water, let stand on counter overnight.

Assembling the soup in the morning (or night before):

  1. In large skillet sauté the sausage in oil about 10 minutes over medium heat.
  2. Stir in contents of seasoning packet.
  3. Transfer to bowl of slow cooker and add broth. (May cover and refrigerate overnight).

Cooking:

  1. Drain beans and add to crock pot.
  2. Cover and cook on high 4-5 hours.
  3. Add spinach and diced apples, cook 30 minutes until spinach is absorbed into soup and serve.

Pressure Cooker

We do not have a specific Pressure Cooker recipe for this soup at this time.

Recipe Variations

INVENTIVE VARIATION

*Turkey and chicken sausages are becoming widely available in intriguing flavors. We tried a delightfully spicy chicken sausage with sun dried tomatoes and basil as well as turkey breakfast sausage. Let us know what specialty sausage you like.

Our various cooks recommend: Andouille, Kielbasa and many specialty varieties of chicken sausage links. Breakfast turkey sausage does not seem to enhance the texture or flavor of the basic soup. Be sure to add the spinach just before serving, do not prepare soup ahead and freeze with the spinach.

Cooking & Nutrition Tips

Remember these are soup-starter mixes, you can’t go wrong! Feel free to omit any of our recommended additions and/or add any of your favorites!

  • To boost vegetables, add 1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen, diced butternut squash or shredded green cabbage when adding apple pieces.
  • To reduce sodium: use a low-sodium broth, bone broth, or stock.
  • For added protein: add a can of your favorite bean (black, chickpea, navy, etc), chicken breast, or other plant-based protein option.
  • For added nutrition: look in your fridge/garden and add any vegetables you have on hand!