• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Recipe Index
  • Sweets
  • How To's
  • About

Where Is My Spoon

menu icon
go to homepage
  • Recipe Index
  • Sweets
  • How To's
  • About
    • Facebook
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
  • search icon
    Homepage link
    • Recipe Index
    • Sweets
    • How To's
    • About
    • Facebook
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
  • ×

    Where Is My Spoon > Main Dish > Sausages and Bratwurst

    Published: Apr 17, 2021 · Modified: Jan 6, 2022 by Adina · 3 Comments

    Bratwurst Soup

    Sharing is caring!

    140 shares
    • Share
    • Yummly
    • Reddit
    • Twitter
    sausage meatballs and beans soup overhead view.

    Comforting bratwurst soup with pasta and beans, sure to keep the family full and happy. Perfect to serve as a main meal with just a slice of bread on the side.

    Jump to Recipe

    Brats Soup with Beans and Pasta

    I haven't posted a soup recipe on the blog in several weeks, so it was time again. I haven't counted but I have the feeling that I have more soups on my blog than anything else... No wonder, we eat soup at least twice a week. Lots of bean soups too. The Romanian bean soup is still my number one, I grew up with it, but this bratwurst soup comes close to the top spot.

    overhead view of pot with loaded soup with parmesan.

    I mean, not only the beans, which I so love but those bratwurst meatballs... so hearty and full of flavor and then the little pasta shapes.

    I've been making a version or another of this bratwurst soup for years now. In Germany, we eat a lot of brats and we grill lots of them in summer. But whenever I buy sausages for a grill party, I always buy too many. And then you have an opened package in your fridge and you wonder what to do with them.

    You can always freeze them and defrost them again when needed. You can even learn How to Cook Frozen Sausages. But when I only have a few and I don't want to be bothered with freezing, I make this brats soup. Mostly the version presented here today, but often, with potatoes instead of noodles, with other sorts of beans, with barley or buckwheat. Whatever I happen to have...

    pot with hot meatball soup and two vintage spoons.

    Ingredients for sausage soup

    Bratwurst:

    • Fresh brats will allow you to make the quickest meatballs ever! There will be no need for any seasoning at all.
    • All you have to do is to form the meatballs. And if you can't be bothered with that either, no problem at all. Just squeeze small chunks of meat out of the casings and throw them into the soup. The dish will have more of a rustic look, but that should not be an issue, it will taste amazing nonetheless.
    • You can make the meatballs with ground meat as well. To make the meatballs with ground meat, season the meat generously with salt, pepper, sweet or hot paprika (to taste), fresh or dried herbs likes parsley, oregano, or thyme. Form the meatballs and continue with the recipe.

    The beans:

    • I had kidney beans, but I often make the sausage soup with other beans. I prefer to cook my own beans. You will need 400 g/ 14 oz cooked beans, a little more or less is fine. If using canned beans, 2 cans will be fine.
    • To get about 400 g/ 14 oz cooked beans, you will have to cook about 200 g/ 7 oz dried kidney beans.
    • To cook the beans, rinse them and soak them overnight in plenty of water. Drain the beans, place them into a large pot, and cover them with fresh water.
    • Bring to a boil, let boil for about ten minutes, turn the heat down and simmer the kidney beans for at least 45 minutes or until tender.
    • Most packages of dried beans state that the beans should be ready in 45 to 60 minutes. Well, I never managed to cook beans that quickly unless they were tiny. I always need longer, so do check your beans after the initial 45 minutes, but give them as much time as they need. Keep checking and cook them until tender.
    • Don't overcook them either or their skin will break and the beans will become too mushy and disintegrate when added to other dishes.
    • The fastest method of cooking beans remains the pressure cooker, use it if you have it.

     

    earthen pot with brats and beans soup.

    Pasta:

    • Use small pasta shapes like ditalini, orecchiete or even orzo.

    Broth/stock:

    • If cooking your own beans, you can use the cooking liquid of the beans with 1-2 additional chicken or vegetable stock cubes, to taste.
    • Otherwise, I use homemade chicken stock.

    Spices:

    • Dried herbs like bay leaves, dried thyme, and dried rosemary. I added 2 teaspoons of homemade pesto (in my case wild garlic pesto, but regular pesto is just as good) at the end of the cooking time. It's optional, but it tastes good.
    • I finished the dish with some chopped parsley and a little Parmesan.
    soup with bratwurst, pasta and beans in a pot.

     How to make bratwurst soup?

    • If using red kidney beans, rinse and soak them overnight. Drain, cover with water again, add the spices, bring to a boil, boil for 10 minutes, lower the heat and simmer the beans until tender, at least 45 minutes and longer if needed. Drain and reserve the cooking liquid.
    • Blend half of the cooked beans. Set aside.
    • Cook the onion and the garlic for about 2 minutes. In the meantime, puree the tomatoes (you can use the same amount of tomato puree/passata di Pomodoro from a jar. Stir in tomatoes and tomato paste, and cook for about 3 minutes.
    collage of two pictures of cooking chopped onions and tomatoes.
    • Add pureed beans, the whole beans, and 1 liter/ 34 fl. oz/ 4 ⅓ cups of the beans' cooking liquid or chicken stock. Add the thyme, rosemary, and sugar. Bring to a boil, lower the heat and cook gently for 20 minutes. If using bean stock, you might want to add 1 or 2 cubes of chicken or vegetable stock to give it more flavor.
    collage of two pictures of adding mashed beans and stock to a pot.

    Meatballs made from brats:

    • Remove the sausages' casings and form small meatballs, about the size of a cherry. Wet your hands when rolling the meatballs, this makes the rolling easier. Add the meatballs to the soup.
    • Or squeeze small chunks of meat out of the casings and add them to the pot.
    • See "Ingredients" if you want to make the meatballs with ground meat.
    five raw bratwurst on a board.
    • Add the pasta. Read the packet's instructions and cook the pasta shapes accordingly. My pasta needed 7 minutes, so the meatballs had enough time (9-10 minutes) to be cooked through. If your pasta shapes need a shorter cooking time, give the meatballs a few minutes more before adding the pasta.
    • Add the pesto and adjust the taste with salt and pepper. Add lots of chopped parsley and a grating of Parmesan just before serving.
    • Serve immediately with some crusty bread, if desired.
    loaded soup with sausages and beans.

    Variations for making brats soup

    • Use other kinds of uncooked sausages instead of brats, for instance, Italian sausages.
    • Should you have leftover grilled/fried brats, slice them and add them to the pot at the end of the cooking process. They should only be heated through. In this case, you will not need the meatballs anymore.
    • Replace the sausage meatballs with slices of smoked sausages like Cabanossi or kielbasa.
    • Use any other beans you like or have, either dried and freshly cooked or from a can.
    • Choose any other kind of pasta shape, preferably short. If you only have spaghetti, break them into smaller pieces before adding them to the pot.
    • Replace the pasta with cubed potatoes, barley, buckwheat, rice. Add them to the soup considering the time they need to be cooked through, all of them will need longer than the pasta. The potatoes will need about 20 minutes, the rice between 12 (Basmati) and 40 minutes (brown rice). Be sure to check the package's instructions if using rice, buckwheat, or barley.

    How to store?

    The bratwurst soup will keep well in the fridge for 2-3 days. It will thicken slightly because the pasta will absorb the broth. If you want to make it runnier again, add some stock when reheating it.

    More bratwurst recipes:

    • Brats in the Air Fryer
    • How to Cook Brats on the Stove
    • How to Cook Brats in the Oven
    • Halloween Spider Meatloaf
    pot with hot meatball soup and two vintage spoons.

    Bratwurst Soup

    Comforting bratwurst soup with pasta and beans, sure to keep the family full and happy. Perfect for serving as a main meal with just a slice of bread on the side.
    4.75 from 4 votes
    Print Pin Share GrowSaved! Rate
    Course: Sausages and Bratwurst
    Cuisine: German
    Prep Time: 15 minutes
    Cook Time: 1 hour 35 minutes
    Total Time: 1 hour 50 minutes
    Servings: 6
    Calories: 561kcal
    Author: Adina
    Prevent your screen from going dark

    Ingredients 

    • 1 ⅛ cup dried red kidney beans 200g, Notes 1 and 2
    • 2 medium onions divided
    • 2 bay leaves
    • 5 black peppercorns
    • 1 tablespoon olive oil
    • 2 garlic cloves
    • 7 oz tomatoes 200 g, 2-3 smaller ones
    • 1 tablespoon tomato paste
    • 4 ⅓ cups of the beans' cooking liquid or chicken stock 1 liter
    • ½ teaspoon dried thyme
    • ½ teaspoon dried rosemary
    • 1 teaspoon sugar
    • 1 lb brats 450 g
    • ¾ cup ditalini 80 g
    • 1-2 teaspoons pesto
    • a small bunch of fresh parsley
    • fine sea salt
    • ground black pepper

    Instructions

    • Cook beans: If using dried beans, soak them overnight in plenty of water. Drain, cover with water again, add the onion, bay leaves, and black peppercorns, bring to a boil, boil for 10 minutes, lower the heat and simmer for 45 minutes or longer until the beans are tender.
    • Check after 45 minutes and adjust the cooking time accordingly. Drain the beans, but reserve the cooking liquid. Discard the onion and spices. Blend half of the cooked beans. Set aside.
    • Heat the olive oil in a soup pot. Finely chop the second onion and the garlic and cook them for about 2 minutes. In the meantime, puree the tomatoes or use some pureed ones from a jar.
    • Add the tomatoes and the tomato paste to the pot, stir well and cook for about 3 minutes.
    • Cook: Add the pureed beans, the whole beans, and cooking liquid or chicken stock. Add the thyme, rosemary, and sugar. Bring to a boil, lower the heat and cook gently for 20 minutes. If using bean stock, you might want to add 1 or 2 cubes of chicken or vegetable stock to give it more flavor.
    • Meatballs: In the meantime, make the sausage meatballs. Remove the sausages' casings and form small meatballs, about the size of a cherry. Add them to the soup and simmer for about 2 minutes.
    • Add the pasta. Read the packet's instructions and cook the pasta shapes accordingly. My pasta needed 7 minutes, so the meatballs had enough time (9-10 minutes) to be cooked through. If your pasta shapes need a shorter cooking time, give the meatballs a few minutes more before adding the pasta.
    • Add the pesto (1 or 2 teaspoons to taste) and adjust the taste with salt and pepper. Add lots of chopped parsley and a grating of Parmesan just before serving.
    • Serve immediately with some crusty bread.

    Notes

    1. You can use 2 cans of beans instead (each weighing 400 g/ 14 oz).
    2. Other kinds of beans can be used instead.

    Nutrition

    Serving: 1/6 of the soup | Calories: 561kcal | Carbohydrates: 62g | Protein: 29g | Fat: 26g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 16g | Cholesterol: 67mg | Sodium: 1414mg | Fiber: 12g | Sugar: 20g
    Tried this Recipe? Pin it for Later!Mention @adinabeck or tag #WhereIsMySpoon!

    More Sausages and Bratwurst

    • bowl with fried cabbage with sausage with a fork sticking in the food.
      Simple Fried Cabbage with Sausage
    • bowl full with slow cooker cabbage and sausages with thyme on top.
      Slow Cooker Cabbage and Sausage (Crockpot)
    • bun stuffed with brat, sauerkraut and mustard.
      Brats in the Air Fryer
    • two whole and two sliced cooked brats cooked from frozen on a plate.
      How to Cook Frozen Sausages

    Sharing is caring!

    140 shares
    • Share
    • Yummly
    • Reddit
    • Twitter

    web banner representing all the websites logos that featured our food blog.

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. angiesrecipes says

      March 31, 2019 at 7:34 pm

      Looks like a very comforting and tasty meal!

      Reply
    2. Ron says

      April 04, 2019 at 1:55 pm

      Pasta e Fagioli Soup is one of my favorite soups. A soup that's good any time of the year in my mind. Ditalini is such a great soup pasta. I must make your version soon. FYI: Olive Garden Restaurants are located all over the US. I've had their Pasta e Fagioli soup and it's not bad. We don't have Olive Gardens here in Sweden but if we did I'd go visit.

      Reply
    3. Karen (Back Road Journal) says

      April 08, 2019 at 10:05 pm

      I make pasta e fagioli often and you have certainly created something very different and delicious sounding. I can't wait to give your version with sausage meatballs a try.

      Reply

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe Rating




    Primary Sidebar

    Follow me!

    • Facebook
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
    • Instagram

    Hello! Where Is My Spoon is a blog where you will find delicious and family friendly recipes, all made from scratch. From simple healthy soups to sumptuous cakes for special occasions, all our recipes have been tried and loved by our family and our friends.

    More about me →

    Popular

    • green plate with slow cooker lamb chops, roast potatoes and green beans.
      Slow Cooker Lamb Chops (Crock Pot)
    • lamb seasoning on a silver spoon of a green striped cloth.
      Homemade Lamb Seasoning
    • close up of beer braised short ribs in a white dutch oven.
      Beer Braised Short Ribs
    • overhead view of a slice of bailey's chocolate cake with glaze and streusel.
      Easy Bailey’s Chocolate Cake

    Footer

    ↑ back to top

    Info

    • Privacy Policy
    • Accessibility Statement

    Our second blog

    The Fast Recipe Food Blog

    Newsletter

    • Sign Up! for emails and updates

    As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

    Copyright © 2023 - Where Is My Spoon. All rights reserved.