Easy Potato Sausage Stew

Delicious potato and sausage stew with vegetables, a hearty meal ready in no time, a comforting dish to warm you up in winter.

Like the Easiest Skillet Macaroni and Cheese, the Simple Chicken and Vegetable Pilaf and the Easy Pork Meatballs in Tomato Sauce, today’s potato stew with sausage is another staple in my grandmother’s kitchen and in the Romanian kitchen generally.

Potato stew or Tocana de cartofi is something you will never find on a restaurant menu, but it is something you will get to eat in every single household in Romania, even the name tocana de cartofi has for me such a strong meaning, it is almost like a word in itself, describing something so stable and so natural, so obvious, almost like a word naming a thing like a bed or a table etc. Am I making any sense?

 

VERSIONS OF POTATO STEW

However, unlike all the previously mentioned recipes, which were my grandmother’s originals, the recipe for this sausage and potato stew is not really my grandmother’s. I liked her version and I make it from time to time as well, but not too often. Instead, I prefer my own version of the potato stew.

Original version:

• One onion, pretty much oil, potatoes and a lot of sauce made with a bit of tomato puree or tomato paste. This is a typical, simple Romanian potato stew.

Richer version:

• Today’s version or my most cooked version.
• More vegetables, less oil, and some sausages.
• You can use chicken breast pieces instead of sausages as well. The cooking time will remain the same, chicken breast cooks quickly. Make sure to check that the chicken is cooked through and try not to overcook it.
• If you would like to make potato stew with other kinds of meat – beef, pork, lamb – you will have to follow different recipes, all these meats require much longer cooking times.

• Hungarian Beef Goulash – add potatoes and some extra stock during the last 30 minutes of the cooking time.
• Pork and Potato Stew
• Irish Stew with Lamb and Potatoes

Sausages for potato stew:

• I used cabanossi sausages to make the stew, they are very easily available. They are Polish smoked dry pork sausages.
• If you cannot find them, use any kind of sausage you like instead. Kielbasa, Spanish chorizo (not hot), or andouille would be fine.
• I have already made this potato stew with frankfurters, chorizo, typical German sausages like bratwurst, grilling sausages, or smoked sausages.
• Sometimes, when I have leftover already grilled sausages from a garden party or another fest, I cut those in slices, make a potato stew and warm the slices in the stew. Quick and delicious!
• And if you have more leftover frozen sausages, learn How to Cook Frozen Sausages.

Vegan version:

• For a vegan potato stew, you can replace the sausages with beans.
• White beans would be the typical Romanian kind, but you can use pretty much any kind of cooked beans you like.
• I’ve made this potato stew with kidney beans, borlotti, pinto, and even black beans.
• For other vegan versions of this potato stew, you can replace the sausages with fried tofu cubes or soy granules or chunks.
• If using soy granules, soak and drain them according to the packets’s instructions. Add them to the pot together with the leeks and the other veggies, cook everything together for 5 minutes, and add the rest of the ingredients.
• See the recipe for New Potatoes in Tomato Sauce for another version of a vegan potato stew.

HOW TO SERVE POTATO STEW

• The most common side dishes for potato stew are pickled vegetables and white bread.
• Yes, white bread, eating potato dishes with white bread was normal for us in Romania, my husband still gets a wondering look in his eyes when he sees me with a tiny piece of bread in my hand each time we have potato stew.
• Not that I need it, but it is the habit, the comforting childhood memories, I suppose.
• Try these pickled green tomatoes or zucchini pickles on the side, they are great! Or gherkins or hot pickled peppers.

Other delicious stews:

Hungarian Pork and Paprika Stew – Pörkölt Recipe

Simple and Spicy Cabbage Turmeric Stew – Vegan Recipe

Romanian Lamb Stew – Tocanita de miel

Butternut Squash and Sausage Stew in the Cast Iron Pan

Aromatic Mediterranean Calamari Tomato Stew