Vegetarian Sausage, White Bean, and Spinach Soup

This healthy Vegetarian Sausage, White Bean, and Spinach Soup is easy and quick for a vegetarian meal for Meatless Monday. It's easy to customize with your favorite beans, veggies and can be made spicy or mild.

This hearty soup is quickly becoming one of my favorites as the nights begin to get colder and fall sets in. The key to the soup, in my opinion, is choosing a really flavorful vegetarian sausage as the base. If you can't find one, you can always bump up the spices. Spices like thyme, fennel seeds, sage, and rosemary all are delicious.

From there it's the traditional soup base of garlic, onion, carrots, and celery plus diced tomatoes, white beans, and spinach. All this creates a rich, filling, and healthy soup that is delicious for lunch or dinner. One last thing, if you can, make this soup a couple of days ahead of time since the flavor only gets better with time.

Tips and Tricks for Vegetarian Sausage Soup

• Make it spicy: You can easily make this soup spicy by adding red pepper flakes to the olive oil. Let it cook for about 30 seconds and then follow the remaining instructions.
• Trade kale for spinach: This soup turns out great with kale as well. Since kale takes longer to cook, add it as soon as the broth is simmering.
• Add lentils: Instead of adding vegetarian sausage, you could use lentils. For cooked or canned lentils, you won't need to add extra broth. For dry lentils, you will need about 3 cups of broth for every cup of lentils.
• Adding pasta: Pasta is another great addition to this soup and many people use it in place of the beans. Any kind of pasta will work. Add it during the last 10 minutes so it doesn't overcook and get mushy.

What brand of vegetarian sausage do you recommend?

I get a lot of questions about vegetarian sausage. Normally I buy the Field Roast Italian Sausage or the LightLife sausage. I can also find a really good ground vegetarian sausage in my local market that they make there. If you can't find a ground sausage, I like to break up the Beyond Meat Burgers and use those. They are my absolute favorite veggie burger. Just add some extra spice to simulate the flavors in sausage. 

Could I make this without sausage?

Absolutely! This soup turns out great without using vegetarian sausage at all. Instead, you can double up the beans and add some extra spices. Try using an Italian seasoning and some red pepper flakes. You could also add lentils or pasta. Some people like to make this with tortellini since it reminds them of a classic sausage and tortellini soup. If you make it with dry lentils, you will need to add extra broth. 

What kind of toppings do you use for the Vegetarian Sausage, White Bean, and Spinach Soup?

I love adding topping to my soup and this soup is no different. Normally I reach for cheese. Parmesan, goat cheese, feta, and asiago are all good options. When I want to add crunch, I usually top it with some oven baked croutons. For some freshness and brightness, I also like to add fresh lemon juice and fresh herbs like basil or parsley. 

What are the health benefits of this Vegetarian Sausage Soup?

• Spinach: Spinach is a powerhouse when it comes to nutrition. It's a green leafy vegetable that is packed with vitamins and minerals. Spinach contains potassium, calcium, zinc, iron, magnesium, and manganese. It also contains many vitamins including vitamin A, vitamin B6, vitamin C, and folate. This soup contains a cup of spinach per serving but you could easily double that. 
• White Beans: Beans are a great plant-based source of protein and also contain large amounts of fiber. They are good for digestion, heart health, and help regulate blood sugar. They also have cancer-fighting properties.