Learn to make Instant Pot Italian Sausage Soup! This easy one-pot recipe for Instant Pot Sausage Soup has no potatoes and no cream. It’s a healthy pressure cooker sausage soup with a taste the whole family will love and it’s gluten free. Try this comforting Instant Pot Sausage Vegetable Soup tonight- it fits in an 8-quart or 6-quart Instant Pot.
Delicious soup! Just what I needed!
– JC
I’ve had this flavorful sausage and bean soup on the site for a while now. Recently, I realized there was a nifty way to streamline the process of making it. Gotta love hacks that make life easier!
This Instant Pot Sausage Bean Soup uses dry beans. What I used to do is pressure cook the beans, and then cook the soup on the stovetop. It’s a great way to make a delicious dinner packed with leafy greens when you don’t want the oven heating the house.
However, doing things this way messes up two pots (the electric pressure cooker and a Dutch oven). Why not make this into an Instant Pot recipe instead, cooking the beans and soup at the same time? Works for me!
This soup is one of the lovely ways you can use Swiss chard. Plus, it’s a lot lighter than another popular sausage soup, the Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana. Instead of making this a heavy cream-based soup, we’re using a broth base.
The result is a dish that’s nutritious but doesn’t sacrifice flavor, since we’ve kept the delicious sausage. In short, don’t miss this one-pot soup recipe– it’s the perfect comfort food any time of the year!
(And no worries, if you don’t have an Instant Pot, I’ve still got the stovetop instructions for you.)
🥣 Instant Pot Italian Sausage Soup Ingredients
Here’s what you need to make Instant Pot Italian sausage soup:
- 1 lb. fresh ground hot Italian sausage or ground mild Italian sausage, raw (454g)
- 1 cup large dry lima beans
- 2 tablespoons olive oil (or your favorite cooking oil)
- 1½ cups chopped onion (1-2 onions)
- 3 medium carrots, chopped
- 3 medium celery, chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 5 cups low-sodium chicken broth
- 14 ounce can diced tomatoes (397g; do not drain)
- ½ tablespoon dried oregano
- ½ tablespoon dried basil
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 lb Swiss chard, red chard, or rainbow chard (454g)
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese (for topping)
Get a printable recipe card below.
The Italian sausage you use is extremely important! Make sure to use a sausage that you think is delicious because it imparts a lot of flavor to the soup.
This homemade chicken sausage is a great option if you want to go the extra mile. The feta, sundried tomatoes, and herbs in the sausage add something extra to this soup. However, your favorite store-bought pork sausage will definitely work too.
As always, fresh ingredients are important, so try to use the freshest veggies that you can get your hands on. They’re really going to shine in this hearty (yet surprisingly low calorie) soup.
Additionally, very old dry beans can take up to an hour to soften under high pressure. The pressure cooking time of this recipe will be inaccurate if you don’t use new dry beans.
🍲 How to Make Instant Pot Sausage Soup
Cover the lima beans with warm water and soak at room temperature for 12-24 hours. After soaking, remove any loose or floating skins, drain well, and set aside.
Remove the Italian sausage from the casings. Chop the vegetables: onions and carrots into ½ inch (1.27 cm) dice, celery halved lengthwise then cut into ¼-½ inch (0.6-1.27 cm) pieces. Mince the garlic.
Separate the Swiss chard leaves from the stems. Dice the stems into ¼ inch (0.6 cm) pieces and shred the leaves. You should have about 1½ cups stems.
Set the Instant Pot to high sauté and heat the oil. Add the sausage, carrots, onions, celery, and garlic. Cook about 10 minutes, breaking up the sausage with a spatula.
Brown the sausage but avoid browning the vegetables. Once browned, add chard stems, drained lima beans, oregano, basil, bay leaf, chicken broth, salt, and pepper. Nothing should be stuck to the pot, so deglazing is not necessary.
Lock the lid, close the vent, and pressure cook the sausage soup on high for 25 minutes. After cooking, let the pressure release naturally for 10 minutes.
Carefully vent remaining pressure and open the lid. Stir in the canned tomatoes and chard leaves. Leave on warm, cover with the vent open, and let sit 5 minutes until the leaves wilt. (Press them under the liquid if they aren’t cooking down.)
Remove the bay leaf, ladle into bowls, and top with grated Parmesan. Enjoy!
🥬 Instant Pot Sausage Soup Substitutions
Don’t be afraid to make this Instant Pot Sausage Soup your own. Want to use a different type of beans or a different combination of herbs? Go for it! Chase the flavor profile that makes your taste buds happy.
Instead of Swiss chard, try…
- Chopped spinach
- Baby kale
- Beet greens
Rather than chicken broth, use…
- Homemade bone broth
- Vegetable broth
Switch out the beans for another starch…
- Pasta (such as tortellini or orzo)
- Potatoes
- Rice
- Or go lower carb with cauliflower or zucchini
Note: these will have a shorter pressure cooking time than the beans.
Try a different meat (or poultry) …
- Ground turkey
- Ground pork
- Or ground beef
Add another soup topping…
- Croutons
- Bacon
- Pancetta
- Pesto
- Red pepper flakes (just a little!)
️🌡️ Leftovers
How long does Instant Pot sausage soup last? Cool the soup, put it in a covered food-safe container, and it will last 3-4 days in the fridge. You can reheat it on the stovetop over medium heat or in the microwave for 2-3 minutes.
Some of the ingredients (such as the beans) may absorb more liquid as it sits. However, you shouldn’t have the mushy texture issues that occur when you try to store soup with pasta and soup with rice. Add a little extra broth if your soup begins to dry out.
You can also freeze this soup, but it’s best to leave the chard out until reheating if you do this. Make the soup ahead without the chard, freeze, and buy fresh chard to add in during heating.
Instant Pot Italian Sausage Soup Recipe
Learn to make Instant Pot Italian Sausage Soup! This easy one-pot recipe for Instant Pot Sausage Soup has no potatoes and no cream.
Cook Time 35 minutes
Total Time 35 minutes
Course Dinner
Cuisine American
Servings 4
Calories 533 kcal
- ▢ 1 lb. Italian sausage (454 grams; raw sweet Italian sausage)
- ▢ 1 cup dry large lima beans
- ▢ 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- ▢ 1½ cups onion, chopped (1-2 onions)
- ▢ 3 medium carrots, chopped
- ▢ 3 medium stalks of celery, chopped
- ▢ 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- ▢ 5 cups low-sodium chicken broth
- ▢ 14 ounces diced tomatoes (397 grams; from a can, do not drain)
- ▢ ½ tablespoon dried oregano
- ▢ ½ tablespoon dried basil
- ▢ 1 bay leaf
- ▢ 1 lb Swiss chard, both stems and leaves 454 grams (approximately 1 small bunch of chard, can substitute rainbow chard or red chard)
- ▢ salt and pepper, to taste (amount depends on how salty your broth is)
- ▢ ¼ cup Parmesan cheese, grated (for topping)
Please leave a comment below 😊
-
Cover the lima beans in warm water and let them soak at room temperature for 12-24 hours.
-
After soaking, remove any loose or floating skins from the beans. Drain the beans well. Set them aside as you prep the rest of the ingredients.
-
Remove the casings from the Italian sausage and chop the veggies. The onions and carrots should be chopped to ½-inch dice (1.27 cm). The celery should be halved lengthwise and cut into ¼-½-inch (0.6-1.27 cm) pieces. Separate the chard leaves and stems. The stems should be cut to ¼-inch dice (0.6 cm) and the leaves should be shredded. (I ended up with about 1½ cups of stems.) Mince the garlic.
-
Put the Instant Pot on the “high saute” setting and heat the oil. Add the sausage, carrots, onions, celery, and garlic to the pot. Cook for about 10 minutes, crumbling the raw sausage with a spatula as it browns.
-
After the sausage is browned, add the chard stems, drained lima beans, oregano, basil, bay leaf, chicken broth, salt and pepper to the pot.
-
Put the lid on the Instant Pot and close the vent. Pressure the sausage soup for 25 minutes under high pressure. Allow the pressure to naturally release for 10 minutes when the time is up.
-
Open the vent, lift the lid, and stir in the tomatoes and chard leaves. Cover the Instant Pot with the lid but leave the vent open. Leave it on “warm” for 5 minutes. The Swiss chard leaves will wilt into the hot soup. (Press them under the liquid if they aren’t cooking down.)
-
Remove the bay leaf, ladle the soup into bowls, and sprinkle with the grated Parmesan cheese. Enjoy!
Save this RecipeSaved!
💭 Expert Tips from Dietitian Summer Yule
This is a level 1 recipe (may help support fat loss). This veggie-rich soup has a subtle Mediterranean feel and offers a nice mix of provitamin A, vitamin C, fiber, phytonutrients, and satisfying protein. It is a balanced option when you want something nourishing, comforting, and full of flavor.
If you enjoy cooking but not the cleanup, this one-pot recipe keeps things simple. Fewer dishes and straightforward steps make it an easy choice for busy days when you still want a homemade meal.
Depending on the sausage you choose, this Instant Pot soup can be gluten-free, so checking labels may help if that is important for you. Chicken Italian sausage is often a lighter option than pork, though either works well depending on your taste and preferences.
Broth-based soups can fit nicely into many eating styles, including those focused on weight management. With protein and plenty of non-starchy vegetables, this soup can feel filling without being heavy. If you want something more substantial, adding bread, crackers, rice, pasta, or potatoes on the side is an easy way to round out the meal.
This flexibility makes it simple to serve the same dish to everyone while adjusting portions or sides to suit different appetites, goals, or energy needs.
🔥 Stovetop Directions
If you’d rather make your soup on the stovetop, you can do that too. Instead of the dry beans, use 3 cups of canned or frozen large lima beans. Chop the veggies as described above.
Put 1 tablespoon of oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Brown the sausage, breaking it up with a spatula as it cooks. It will take about 10 minutes. Remove the sausage from the pot and set it aside.
Add another tablespoon of oil to the pot. Soften the onion, carrots, celery, and garlic over medium heat. This step also takes about 10 minutes.
Add the cooked sausage, lima beans, chard stems, oregano, basil, bay leaf, chicken broth, salt and pepper to the pot. Bring it to a simmer over medium heat and cook for 15 minutes.
Turn the heat off and stir in the tomatoes and the rainbow chard leaves. Put the lid on the Dutch oven and let it sit for 5 minutes. The chard will wilt into the soup.
Remove the bay leaf after the time is up. Ladle the soup into bowls and sprinkle with Parm.
Nutrition information is for one serving.
nutrition info disclaimer
All recipes on this website may or may not be appropriate for you, depending on your medical needs and personal preferences. Consult with a registered dietitian or your physician if you need help determining the dietary pattern that may be best for you.
The nutrition information is an estimate provided as a courtesy. It will differ depending on the specific brands and ingredients that you use. Calorie information on food labels may be inaccurate, so please don’t sweat the numbers too much.
“To taste” means to your preferences, which may have to be visual to follow food safety rules. Please don’t eat undercooked food x
Calories: 533kcalCarbohydrates: 53.3gProtein: 36.1gFat: 18.4gSaturated Fat: 6.1gPotassium: 1168mgFiber: 15.1gVitamin A: 301.5% DVVitamin C: 88.1% DVCalcium: 24.6% DVIron: 48% DV
Keywords Instant Pot Italian sausage soup, Instant Pot sausage soup
FAQs
How to make Instant Pot Italian Sausage Soup keto?
To make keto Instant Pot Sausage soup, you should omit the beans, perhaps substituting with additional meat. You could also try using a legume that is very low carb, such as black soy beans. Removing the beans and Parm topping also makes this a Paleo and Whole30 Instant Pot soup.
How to make Instant Pot Italian Sausage Soup vegan?
To make vegan Instant Pot Sausage soup, swap the meat for more beans or vegan sausage, and the chicken broth for veggie broth. You will also need to skip the Parmesan cheese topping for a completely plant-based option.
How long can soup be left out before it becomes unsafe to eat?
In general, soup can be left out for a maximum of 1-2 hours in the food safety danger zone (40-140F/5-60C). Don’t leave soup out overnight at room temperature. It will not be safe to eat.
Can you make Instant Pot sausage soup in the slow cooker instead?
Yes! To make a Crock Pot sausage soup recipe, brown the sausage in a pan on the stove. Add everything to the crockpot except the tomatoes, chard leaves, and Parm. Cook on low for 7-8 hours, adding the tomatoes and chard leaves during the last 5 minutes of cooking. Remove the bay leaf and sprinkle with Parmesan to serve.
👩🏻🍳 More Soup Recipes
Join our community! Subscribe for all of the latest and greatest recipes, and follow me on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, and YouTube!
Hello! I’m Summer, a registered dietitian and home chef who loves to cook, eat, and create recipes for you! Every recipe on this site has been tested by me to help ensure your success in the kitchen. All eaters are welcome here 🙂
Leave feedback about this