Easy Low Carb Sausage Kale Soup Instant Pot Recipe

Sausage kale soup has become one of my steadfast family recipes for years. If you’ve ever been to Olive Garden, then you know all about soup, salad, and bread sticks. Growing up on a tight budget, I always knew I could get a tasty meal for a decent price if I was willing to fill up on soup! My favorite was Zuppa Toscana, which is basically a sausage kale soup and over the years, I’ve been making a sort of copycat recipe at home. The best part? My whole family will eat it!

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In the past few weeks though, I’ve been cutting carbs and while I am not totally a Keto Diet girl just yet, I’ve found a lot of good information while researching meal planning options. Note: if you are following Weight Watchers you can use chicken sausage in place of the Italian sausage and milk subbed for the heavy cream for lower points. I’ve included it both ways in the recipe below.

I realized my sausage kale soup recipe was almost nearly carb-free. All it had was potatoes so a simple swap out for cauliflower was easy enough and still delicious. In fact, my oldest never liked the potatoes anyway, so it’s an upgrade for him! You can make this soup on the stove, but most recently I’ve been using the Instant Pot and I love it.

Easy Sausage Kale Soup Recipe

You’ll want to saute the sausage first and drain off any grease. For some reason, the sausage I buy doesn’t leave a lot of grease so it just depends on what it looks like when cooked. I love cooking right in the the soup pot, y’all. Makes clean up SO much easier.

After the meat is cooked, switch off the Instant Pot while you add the other ingredients. I start with the broth and move on down the list ending with kale on top.

I’ve tried this recipe with both fresh and frozen cauliflower and I prefer adding it frozen. This helps it hold up longer and doesn’t get quite as mushy. Plus, no chopping!

Of all the green vegetables, one my kids have never complained about is kale. We love making “green” chips in the oven and this soup is another winner. Will they eat mac’n’cheese? Of course not. Don’t ask kids to make sense.

Once all your goodies are in the Instant Pot, close the lid, set the vent to seal and pressure cook on high for 5 minutes. I let it naturally release for a while after and then vent out whatever pressure is left. All told, I recommend allowing about 40 minutes from start to finish (including the meat cooking time).

I love it when meals are easy and delicious. Eating low carb really isn’t too hard for me once I have a few tools in my belt and get out of sugar’s grip. And it’s always easier when my family is just as excited about a healthy meal! Total mom win.

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Andrea Updyke

Andrea Updyke is a married mom of two boys living in Raleigh, NC. A self-proclaimed social media nerd, she published her first book, Klout for Dummies, in 2013.
Andrea's personal mission is to celebrate the big and the small in parenting young children. She also shares her many attempts at balancing working-from-home and motherhood along with the fun stuff like traveling to Walt Disney World, running half-marathons and drinking way too much coffee.