This hearty sausage and zucchini soup is the ultimate in warm winter comfort food. This make-ahead meal is packed full of flavour. 
This recipe is a spin-off of my Sausage and Spinach Soup. That soup is my son Josiah’s favourite. I loved the flavours in it as well. The problem was that the texture of the cooked spinach in it was weird. Pretty much all of my family (other than Josiah) complained about the texture.
I was left in a bit of a quandary. On the one hand, I loved the heartiness and the flavours of this soup. Josiah asked for it all the time and raved about it. On the other hand, the rest of my family wasn’t a fan because of the spinach. What’s a mom to do?!
This soup was the answer. By replacing the spinach with zucchini, I was able to please everybody. In fact, this sausage and zucchini soup is now our family’s most requested soup!
Hearty Sausage and Zucchini Soup Recipe:
- 1 lb. ground Italian sausage (I prefer the spicy variety to give it a bit of a kick)
- 24 oz. jar pasta sauce
- 19 oz. can white kidney beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 cup diced zucchini
- 4 carrots, peeled and chopped
- 1 onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 1 cup small pasta shells
Place the dry small pasta shells into a medium resealable bag.
Brown the ground sausage in a skillet. Blot it with a paper towel to get rid of some of the grease or drain it. 
Once the sausage has cooled, put it in a large resealable freezer bag. Pour in the pasta sauce, the white kidney beans, diced zucchini, chopped carrots, diced onion, minced garlic, and chicken broth. Remove any excess air from the bag and seal. Staple the bags together above the seals and freeze.
On cooking day, take the bag out of the freezer and thaw. Separate the bags and add the contents of the large bag to a crockpot®. Cook on low for 4-6 hours. Add the pasta in the last 20 minutes.
Alternatively, you can simmer the soup in a large stovetop pot for about an hour and add the pasta for the last ten or fifteen minutes. 
By using different types of jarred pasta sauce, you can change up the flavours of this soup and experiment until you find the one that you like best.
- 1 lb ground Italian sausage I prefer the spicy variety to give it a bit of a kick
- 24 oz jar pasta sauce
- 19 oz can white kidney beans drained and rinsed
- 1 cup diced zucchini
- 4 carrots peeled and chopped
- 1 onion diced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 1 cup small pasta shells
-
Place the dry small pasta shells into a medium resealable bag
-
Brown the ground sausage in a skillet. Blot it with a paper towel to get rid of excess grease or drain it.
-
Once the sausage has cooled, put it in a large resealable freezer bag.
-
Pour in the pasta sauce, the white kidney beans, diced zucchini, chopped carrots, diced onion, minced garlic, and chicken broth. Remove any excess air from the bag and seal.
-
Staple the bags together above the seals and freeze.
-
take the bag out of the freezer and thaw. Separate the bags and add the contents of the large bag to a crockpot®.
-
Cook on low for 4-6 hours. Add the pasta in the last 20 minutes.
-
Alternatively, you can simmer the soup in a large stovetop pot for about an hour and add the pasta for the last ten or fifteen minutes.
Check out these other awesome freezer soup recipes:
As I type this, we are in the mountains on our annual family ski trip. I brought freezer meals with us because the condo we rent has a kitchen and when you travel with this many kids, it’s not realistic to eat in restaurants. I chose meals to bring that were hearty, delicious and easy to reheat. When my kids come in off the ski hill, they are HUNGRY!
On the day of cooking, take the bag out of the freezer to thaw and heat on stovetop over medium-low heat or in the microwave. If you prefer, you can also heat the soup in the slow cooker on low for 2-3 hours.
