Sunday Soup #45: One-Pot Creamy Sausage and Potato Soup

Another week, another seven days stuffed full of kids activities, work, booster club meetings, etc.... So, I was looking for a quick recipe this past week. It was helped by the fact that my friend and frequent kitchen sidekick, Lisa, did a lot of the chopping, so this one was a piece of cake... But, did it deliver on taste?

This recipe came from: https://www.galonamission.com/one-pot-creamy-sausage-and-potato-soup/

*Pic 1 - https://www.galonamission.com/one-pot-creamy-sausage-and-potato-soup/

Variations from Recipe as Written: I double the recipe. I used one pound of hot Italian and one pound of mild Italian sausage (to reach the two pounds required by a double batch). And, we decided to make shredded cheese available as another garnish. But, other than that, I followed it closely.

General Thoughts: As I already said, this one was super easy to prepare. The prep was very minimal, the ingredient list was short, and the cooking was not overly burdensome (even less so if you were to just throw all the ingredients in a slow cooker, as the recipe suggests you could), so it fit the bill perfectly this weekend.

*Pics 2 & 3 - Pictures from when I made it

This soup had good texture: the right mix of firm and soft, thick and brothy, and a great combo of veggies, meat, and starch... In short, it was put together well.

However, the taste needs a bit more comment or, perhaps, explanation. It tasted fine... Let me just throw that out there. It was tasty enough that I looked forward to each next bite. But... It didn't have great depth of flavor. What do I mean? You know how sometimes when you take a bite of a soup and the flavors just "pop"? You can taste the subtle spices, the tanginess of the pickled vegetables, the smokiness of the meat, etc.... This soup was just kind of a single taste. The garlic, the oregano, and even the red pepper flakes were lost in the overwhelming sausage-ness of this soup. The cream seemed not to make much of a difference (maybe a little color?), which made me question why this was called a "Creamy" soup. And the potatoes and vegetables (as they sometimes do) just took on the overall character of the other dominant tastes; in this case, sausage.

Now, don't get me wrong... I love me some Italian sausage, as a quick review of this blog would show you. But, I like a little more out of my soups than just being able to taste a single overwhelming flavor. I want some complexity, some subtlety, something that rewards my tastebuds and keeps me coming back for the next bowlful. I think draining off some of the sausage fat would have helped with the mono-flavor problem, but still this isn't the type of soup that is going to surprise you. It is what it is: hearty, acceptably tasty, and solidly comfort food.

Potential Improvements? Next time, I'd add more heavy cream and maybe even give it a couple of spins with the immersion blender. I'd add some more pepper to give it a bit more bite. And, I'd likely drain off some of the sausage fat rather than leaving it all in or, at least, perhaps skim some of it off the top before adding the cream and serving. But, these are all just minor tweaks.

Polling the Fam: I felt like it was solid overall, had "good enough" flavor for what it was, and I think it would be a good choice for a quick, hearty dinner soup on a cold Fall day, so I'd make it again. Jayson thought it was good, gave it two thumbs up, and remarks that the cheese was a good garnish. Andrew thought it didn't stand out but was good overall, and he called it "solid." Hunter said it wasn't his favorite ever, but called it "solid, filling, and good." Fox said it was pretty good and seemed to be spiced properly, although he called the meat "interesting."

Verdict: It was okay. (3 stars)