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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
This Zucchini Tomato Italian Sausage Soup is a delicious way to use up all of those fresh garden vegetables!
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. Once the zucchini is added to the pot, try to avoid overcooking. The squash should be just tender.
- Remove from heat and remove and discard the Parmesan rinds.
- Serve immediately with additional Parmesan cheese on the side.
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My family and I love this soup! It’s a weekly staple in our house and a great way to get the kiddos to eat their veggies. Thanks for the wonderful recipe!
You’re welcome Amanda!
The family loved it! we live in Mexico so I used Spanish chorizo instead of the sausage because I can’t get Italian Sausage and didn’t use zucchini since I didn’t have any. Yet, it was delicious. Here we always start our supper with rice or soup but we’ve been eating low carb so rice is out of the question and this was a great soup to add to our repertoire. Thank you!
You’re welcome Katia! Since you are eating lower carb – you might enjoy this soup too: https://www.afamilyfeast.com/keto-italian-sausage-and-cauliflower-rice-soup/
So good! I added spinach, sun dried tomatoes and orzo. Amazing!!
Thanks Aimee!
This is my favorite soup to make. The flavor is always incredible and I always feel good eating a soup full of fresh veggies. There’s always plenty lefty for me to freeze and get a couple more quick easy dinners out of it.
Thanks Leah!
This looks & sounds awesome.
Can you sub canned diced tomatoes for fresh? What size & do I need to drain?
Also can you sub ground beef for the sausage?
Thanks!
Hi Barbara – Ground beef will lack in flavor compared to the sausage, so you’ll need to make some other adjustments to the soup to offset the missing spices and seasonings. You could use a smaller, drained can of diced instead of the fresh tomatoes.
With so many swaps, you might enjoy our Hamburger Soup recipe instead: https://www.afamilyfeast.com/beef-soup-series-part-4-hamburger-soup/
I made this recipe last night exactly as it says, excluding the bell pepper only because I didn’t have any. This soup is the bomb! Wow! Such lovely flavors, so good! My husband and I kept saying to each other while we were eating how delish it was! So good!
Thanks Kimberly – so glad you enjoyed the soup!
My husband and I love this soup …. it is the first I am making now that cool weather has appeared. I question, however, how anyone can actually chop up all the veggies in 30 minutes. A professional chef?
We’re glad you enjoy the soup Betsy! Fair question…my husband Jack does have chef training, and he his a very fast chopper. (I myself can’t work as quickly as he does!) As we write recipes, I’ll be sure to list “my” prep time versus Jack’s… 🙂 Thanks for your feedback.
I just started a food blog, Can I ask you how you put your amazon pics on your site with the cute little picture with them? How do you pet them in WordPress?
Hi Mary – It’s custom code that our site designer included that as part of the custom theme for our site. I’m not sure if there are any similar WordPress plugins that would do something similar?
Made with chicken sausage, no grease – so delicious. The only thing I added was small shell shaped pasta. I love a hearty, healthy soup.
Glad you enjoyed the soup Lisa!
Can this be frozen?
Hi Mary Ann – The zucchini might get a little soft after being frozen and thawed, but if that doesn’t bother you, yes it can be frozen.