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This Zucchini Tomato Italian Sausage Soup is a delicious way to use up all of those fresh garden vegetables!
Our backyard garden is on the brink of starting to produce massive amounts of fresh zucchini and tomatoes, and I can’t wait! Especially because I know that Jack will be cooking up a batch of this fantastic Zucchini Tomato Italian Sausage Soup!
Now, I know that some of you may be thinking that a hot soup is the last thing you’d think about cooking in the middle of the summer – and I totally get that. But we make and eat soups all year long – especially when they are as delicious as this Zucchini Tomato Italian Sausage Soup.
In fact, we love the convenience of cooking up a big pot of this soup, then reheating leftovers in the microwave for a light, quick meal.
How do you make Zucchini Tomato Italian Sausage Soup?
Most of the prep in this Zucchini Tomato Italian Sausage Soup is chopping and dicing and grating – garden zucchini, tomatoes, onions, celery, red bell peppers, garlic, and carrots, plus fresh basil and oregano, and Parmesan cheese.
After browning some sweet Italian sausage and sautéing the onions, celery and bell pepper in a pot, you’ll add all of the other ingredients including vegetable stock to the pot. Then, a ten to fifteen minute simmer on the stove finishes off this flavorful Zucchini Tomato Italian Sausage Soup – just long enough so that the zucchini and other vegetables are tender and the flavors meld.
Can I add other vegetables in this soup?
Absolutely! We created this Zucchini Tomato Italian Sausage Soup to use up fresh zucchini, tomatoes and some of the fresh herbs from our garden – but you can also add other fresh vegetables and herbs if that is what you have growing in your garden.
You can also add pre-cooked pasta to this soup if you’d like. And, if you like things extra zesty, feel free to swap in hot Italian sausage instead of the sweet.
Can I make this Zucchini Tomato Italian Sausage Soup in the slow cooker?
From the questions we often get, I know that a lot of our readers like to use their slow cooker during the summer to avoid heating up the kitchen! (So, I’m anticipating being asked this question!) 🙂
We haven’t tried making this recipe in the slow cooker ourselves – mostly because it only takes about thirty minutes (or less) to cook this soup on the stove. While a slow cooker will sort of technically work, you’ll still want to brown the sausage before adding it to the slow cooker, which is half of the cooking time listed in this recipe. Additionally, the zucchini may end up over-cooked before the rest of the vegetables are tender. So, while it’s possible, we’d still recommend cooking this Zucchini Tomato Italian Sausage Soup recipe as written because it will take less time and the results will be better.
If you want to save some time when you are rushing to get dinner on the table, feel free to chop all of the vegetables ahead of time.
You may enjoy these other garden zucchini and tomato recipes:
- Scarpaccia (Zucchini Tart)
- Stewed Tomatoes
- Best Zucchini Bread Ever
- Zucchini Lasagna
- Italian Tomato Sauce
We love seeing what you made! Tag us on Instagram at @afamilyfeast or hashtag #afamilyfeast so we can see your creations!
Zucchini Tomato Italian Sausage Soup
Once the zucchini is added to the pot, try to avoid overcooking. The squash should be just tender.
Ingredients
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 pound Italian sweet sausage, removed from casings
2 cups onion, diced
1 cup celery, diced
1 cup carrots, diced
2 cups red bell pepper, diced (about one large pepper)
2 tablespoons fresh garlic, minced
Pinch red pepper flakes
1/4 cup tomato paste
5 fresh plum tomatoes, diced
2 pounds zucchini cut into bite-sized pieces
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 quarts good quality vegetable broth
1 cup coarsely grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving
A few Parmesan cheese rinds (optional but recommended)
2 tablespoons fresh basil chopped
1 tablespoon fresh oregano chopped
Instructions
In a large soup pot or large Dutch oven, place olive oil over medium high heat and once hot, add sausage meat. Break up meat while it cooks.
Once the meat has browned, add onion, celery, carrots and bell pepper and sauté for four minutes.
Move the vegetables to the sides and lower heat to medium. Add garlic, pepper flakes and tomato paste to center and cook for two minutes, stirring occasionally. Add tomatoes, zucchini, salt, pepper, broth, Parmesan cheese and Parmesan rinds along with fresh basil and fresh oregano and stir to combine.
Bring to a medium simmer and cook just long enough until the vegetables are tender, about 10-15 minutes.
Remove from heat and remove and discard the Parmesan rinds.
Serve immediately with additional Parmesan cheese on the side.
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This recipe is easy & delicious! It’s one of those kinds of soups you want to eat to warm you up on a cold day or a feel-good soup to soothe your cold/flu. I doubled the recipe & added some small shell pasta & a couple of bay leaves, & instead of using fresh basil & oregano, I used dried. Excellent taste!
Thanks Rebekah!
Made this last night. OMG!! It was delicious and has even more flavor today. Great for the cold weather and it’s healthy.
Used 2 pkgs of chicken sausage with feta and spinach instead of the Italian sausage, jarred roasted red peppers and chicken broth. Also didn’t have quite enough zucchini so added some finely chopped kale in the end. It’s a keeper for sure. Thanks for sharing this recipe.
You’re welcome Cindy! Glad you enjoyed the soup!
Made this today, added some garden fresh cherry tomatoes, it was a hit with my 4 small kids AND their great-grandparents. Thanks for the recipe!
You’re welcome Michelle! We’re so glad everyone is enjoying the recipe!
This is the best soup! The Parmesan rind is key. I’m not a pepper person so substituted with corn, extra celery, fresh & canned seasoned tomatoes. I used “Lucky’s” store fresh chicken sausage. Absolutely delish👏🏼
Thanks Jude!
I would like to make this in my crockpot…..any suggestions, other than I guess I should add The zucchini at the tail end?
Hi Audrey – Yes – assuming you plan to cook it in your slow cooker for a couple of hours, the zucchini would definitely disintegrate, so adding it at the end (just long enough for it to get tender) would work best.
I made this today. I substituted a 15 oz. can of Hunt’s diced tomatoes (or so I thought) and didn’t notice until I’d popped the can open that it was WITH jalapeno and habanero peppers. Turns out it was quite a happy accident. The soup is amazing – spicy, but not overly so. I served it over brown rice. I will make it again!
Sounds delicious Jeanette! 🙂 We’re glad you enjoyed the soup – with the extra peppers!
Made this soup today. I added an extra 1/4 cup tomato paste. It is terrific. Will definitely make it again.
Thanks Trina – glad you liked the soup!
Made this the other day and it was a hit. I wanted to use a lot of things from our garden so I did add a couple diced potatoes that we dug up also. I do have a question on the Parmesan cheese. Where do you find Parmesan cheese that also has a rind? Our local store only has already shredded cheese or the powdered grated cheese.
Hi Sandra – So glad you enjoyed the recipe! We buy our Parmesan wedges with the rind at Costco. Sometimes our supermarket also has smaller pieces with the rind still on in the gourmet cheese section that is located near the deli. Hope that helps! Thanks for writing to us today.
Can you freeze this soup?
Hi Bethany – We haven’t tried freezing it ourselves – I suspect the zucchini would get a little mushy. But if that doesn’t bother you, I think you could definitely freeze it.
Do you think it would be possible to cut up the zucchini and freeze it and then make the soup later? My neighbor gives me giant zucchini and I can’t use it all at once so I’ve been freezing some of it. Thanks!
Hi Helen – I found this article on another site that you might find helpful – it suggests blanching it before you freeze it. https://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-freeze-zucchini-57275 And yes, you can definitely make this soup with the frozen chunks of zucchini. Hope this helps!