Recipe: Potato Mushroom Sausage Soup in the Crockpot

Happy Saturday!  I hope you are having a good one.  We are having a lovely, actual fall-like Saturday, which is fine with me.

About a month ago, I mentioned something I'd made in the crockpot from an idea in my head that turned out really well.  Some of you expressed an interest in the recipe, so I thought I would share it.

Potato Mushroom Sausage Soup in the Crockpot

Ingredients:

5 cups of water, or a combination of water and vegetable soup stock
3-4 garlic cloves, sliced
6 medium potatoes, scrubbed and chopped into chunks (I leave the skins on)
8-10 medium/large mushrooms, chopped
1/2 stick butter
3 onions, roughly chopped
'Slurp' of olive oil
Dash of hot sauce
1 Tablespoon dried dill, or a small handful of fresh dill, rinsed and chopped
2/3 cup milk
2 links veggie Italian sausage, cut into pieces
1 teaspoon olive oil

Place the first 9 ingredients (water/stock through the dill) into the crockpot.  Turn on the crockpot to the LOW settting and cook for 5 hours, checking occasionally to be sure the liquid does not cook away (when I made this it was not an issue, but I know different crockpots can vary).

After the initial mixture has cooked for the designated time, remove approximately 2 cups of the soup and using an immersion blender, mixer, or regular blender, create a smoother version of the soup; set aside briefly.

In a small pan, briefy saute the Italian sausage pieces, so they have some "brown" to them.

Add the blended mixture, browned sausage, and 2/3 cup of milk back to the crockpot, and stir to combine.  Cook on the HIGH setting for another hour, then serve.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Enjoy!

Notes:

This recipe is vegetarian, but obviously not vegan.

The resulting soup is thick, but not creamy.  If you want a thicker texture, you could add corn starch or flour mixed in cold water, or add some instant mashed potato flakes towards the end of the cooking -  however, keep an eye on it so you don't end up with a clump!

Other seasonings as well as/instead of dill can be added of course.  Fresh dill was on hand when I made this.

Other types of veggie sausage can be used, the but the veggie Italian sausage gives it a nice bit of spice (and is the reason I used only a dash of hot sauce).

Any leftovers keep well in the refrigerator or freezer.

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I hope if you try this, you like it.  We really enjoyed it, and I have every intention of making it again especially in cooler/cold weather when soup is one of the best things to eat!