This comforting bratwurst soup is sure to keep the family full and happy. Our secret? We make the tasty meatballs using bratwurst meat to add delicious flavor to the soup.
I've been making variations of this bratwurst soup for years. We're big fans of bratwurst, especially during our summer grilling sessions. But I always end up with an excess of sausages after a grill party. With an opened package in the fridge, the question always lingers – what to do with them?
If they weren't previously frozen and thawed, you can always freeze them and defrost them again when needed. You can even learn How to Cook Frozen Sausages.
But when we only have a few, and I don't want to be bothered with freezing, I make this super delicious bratwurst soup. Try more of our soups using sausages: Kid-Friendly Sausage and Potato Soup, German Lentil Soup, or Swede Soup.
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📋Recipe ingredients and substitutes
- Bratwurst: Fresh brats make for the quickest meatballs ever! No need for additional seasoning. Simply form the meatballs. If that feels like too much effort, no worries. Just squeeze small chunks of meat from the casings and add them to the soup for a rustic look; it'll still taste amazing.
- Alternatively, you can use ground meat. Season it generously with salt, pepper, paprika (sweet or hot to taste), and fresh or dried herbs like parsley, oregano, or thyme. Form the meatballs and proceed with the recipe.
- The beans: I had kidney beans, but I often use different beans for the sausage soup. You'll need around 400 g/14 oz of cooked beans, give or take. If using canned beans, 2 cans will do.
- To get about 14 oz/ 400 g of cooked beans, cook around 7 oz/ 200 g of dried kidney beans. Rinse and soak them overnight, then drain and place them in a large pot, covering them with fresh water. Bring to a boil, simmer for about ten minutes, then reduce the heat and simmer for at least 45 minutes or until tender.
- Pasta: Small pasta shapes like ditalini, orecchiette, or even orzo are perfect for this hearty bratwurst soup.
- Tomatoes: Use fresh blended tomatoes or the same amount of passata from a jar.
- 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.
- Spices: Dried herbs like bay leaves, dried thyme, and dried rosemary.
- Pesto: Your favorite kind (in my case, wild garlic pesto). It's optional, but it tastes good.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
Learn more ways to cook bratwurst: Brats in the Oven, Brats on the Stove, Air Fryer Brats, or Brats and Sauerkraut.
🫘Variations on the recipe
- Other sausages: Feel free to use other types of uncooked sausages, such as Italian sausages, in place of brats. If you have leftover grilled or fried brats, slice them and add them towards the end of the cooking process, ensuring they're heated through. In this case, skip the meatballs.
- Substitute the sausage meatballs with slices of smoked sausages like Cabanossi or kielbasa. If you have more of those, make these comforting Potato and Sausage Stew or Polish Bigos or Sauerkraut Stew.
- Beans: Use other beans, either dried and freshly cooked or from a can.
- Pasta substitutes: You can replace it with cubed potatoes, barley, buckwheat, or rice. Adjust the cooking time accordingly; potatoes may need about 20 minutes, while rice can vary between 12 (Basmati) and 40 minutes (brown rice). Always refer to the package instructions for rice, buckwheat, or barley.
👩🏻🍳How to make bratwurst soup?
Step # 1: Cook the onion and the garlic for about 2 minutes.
Step # 2: Stir in the blended tomatoes or passata and tomato paste, and cook for about 3 minutes.
Step # 3: Blend half of the cooked beans and add them to the pot.
Step # 4: Add the remaining beans and either some of their cooking liquid or chicken stock. Add dried herbs and sugar. Cook for 20 minutes.
Step # 5: Remove the sausages' casings and form small meatballs about the size of a cherry. Add them to the soup.
Step # 6: Cook pasta in the soup, and add parsley and Parmesan before serving.
❗Expert Tips
Cooking beans: 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.
Cook a large batch of kidney beans and make this flavorful Indian Rajma Recipe.
❓Recipe FAQs
The quickest method is using a pressure cooker. If you have one, it's recommended for faster bean preparation.
Refrigerate any leftovers for 2-3 days. The soup will thicken slightly because the pasta will absorb the broth. If you want to make it soupier again, add some stock when reheating it.
To make it vegetarian, substitute the sausages with plant-based alternatives, use vegetable broth, and consider adding extra veggies like mushrooms or bell peppers for flavor. Or try this delicious Black Lentil Pasta Soup.
🍽️What to serve with the soup?
Check out 25 ideas on What to Serve with Soup.
Do you like this recipe?
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Bratwurst Soup
Equipment
- Large soup pot or large Dutch oven
- Blender
Ingredients
- 2 cans kidney beans 14 oz/ 400 g each, Notes 1, 2
- 2 small onions finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 7 oz tomatoes 200 g or the same amount of passata, Note 3
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 4 ⅓ cups chicken stock 1 liter, Note 4
- 2 bay leaves
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- ½ teaspoon dried rosemary
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 lb brats 450 g, Note 5
- ¾ cup ditalini 80 g or other small pasta
- 1-2 teaspoons pesto optional
- 1 small bunch of fresh parsley
- fine sea salt
- ground black pepper
- 1-2 tablespoons Parmesan freshly grated and to taste
Instructions
- Beans: If cooking the beans from scratch, check out Note 1. Drain the cooked beans, but reserve the cooking liquid. 2 cans kidney beans or 1⅛ cups dried beans (200g) to be cooked from scratch
- Blend half of the beans and set them aside.
- Saute: Heat the oil in the pot. Add the chopped onions and garlic and cook them for about 2 minutes. 1 tablespoon olive oil + 2 small onions + 2 garlic cloves
- Tomatoes: In the meantime, blend the tomatoes. Add the tomatoes and the tomato paste to the pot, stir well, and cook for about 3 minutes.7 oz tomatoes/ 200 g + 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- Cook bratwurst soup: Add the pureed beans, the remaining whole beans, and the chicken stock. Add thyme, rosemary, and sugar. Bring to a boil, lower the heat, and cook gently for 20 minutes. If using bean stock, add 1 or 2 cubes of chicken or vegetable stock to give it more flavor.4 ⅓ cups chicken stock/ 1 liter + 2 bay leaves + ½ teaspoon dried thyme + ½ teaspoon dried rosemary + 1 teaspoon sugar
- Bratwurst meatballs: In the meantime, make the 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.1 lb brats/ 450 g
- 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.¾ cup ditalini/ 80 g
- Add pesto to taste and adjust the taste with salt and pepper. Add lots of chopped parsley and a grating of Parmesan just before serving.1-2 teaspoons pesto + 1 small bunch of fresh parsley + fine sea salt + ground black pepper + 1-2 tablespoons Parmesan
Notes
- Cooking dried beans: You can cook 1⅛ cups dried beans (200g). 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.
- Other kinds of beans can be used instead.
- Tomatoes: Use the same amount of passata or blended tomatoes from a can instead.
- Cooking liquid: If you cook your own beans, use their cooking liquid to make the soup and add a few chicken stock cubes to increase the flavor.
- Meatballs: You can also make meatballs from scratch using ground beef, ground pork, ground turkey, or a mixture of any of those. Season the meat generously with salt, pepper, sweet or hot paprika (to taste), and fresh or dried herbs like parsley, oregano, or thyme. Form the meatballs and continue with the recipe.
Karen (Back Road Journal) says
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.
Ron says
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.
angiesrecipes says
Looks like a very comforting and tasty meal!