Quick & Easy Sausage and Bean Soup
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This hearty soup takes only minutes to prepare but tastes like it’s been simmering all day.
Nothing melts away the cold like a rich, savory soup for lunch. But building robust flavors in a soup can often take all day… not exactly the type of lunch you’d attempt to pull off on a hectic ski trip. But what if you didn’t have to spend all day watching a simmering pot? What if you could – in a sense – take the pot with you?
On our recent trip to Mammoth Mountain, we started experimenting with storing hot meals in insulated food jars and taking them with us. This allowed us to make our meals in the morning and then enjoy them whenever we wanted. It also meant the food would continue to “cook” inside the food jars throughout the day, allowing the flavors to continue to build for an additional 4 hours.
For this particular soup, the process started in the morning, when we browned some crumbled sausage and sauteed shallots, garlic, carrots, and thyme together in a saucepan. We then added some broth, white beans, and chopped kale. We simmered everything together and then transferred the soup to our insulated food jars, sealed them up, and tossed them inside our day pack. Inside the vacuum sealed jar, all the flavors slowly build and intensify while we spent our morning cross country skiing.
Roughly 4 hours later, at lunch time, we open up the jars and were greeted to the rich, savory smell of a slow cooked soup. All that extra passive cooking time inside the jars pays off, delivering big mouth-watering flavors and soft tender ingredients.
For your next winter adventure, try this simple insulated food jar trick and prepare something spectacular for lunch.
Why It Works
‣ Loaded with protein, this stew delivers long last energy that will keep you powered all day long.
‣ This highly customizable recipe can be adapted to suit any type of diet or food preference.
Mastering the Technique
‣ If you are want to keep your stew hotter for longer, preheat your food jar by filling it with boiling water for about 15 minutes. Dump the water right before you add the stew and seal immediately.
Equipment Notes
‣ While we used HydroFlask Food Flasks, there are many great insulated food flasks on the market. So long as it is vacuum sealed, this recipe should work just fine in any insulated food jar you pick up.
Ingredients
- splash of olive oil
- 2 sausages
- 1 carrot, chopped
- 1 shallot, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon thyme
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 (15 oz) can white beans, drained
- 1 (15 oz) can chicken broth
- handful chopped kale
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a pot over medium-high heat. Crumble the sausage into the pot and cook, stirring occasionally, until the sausages begin to brown. Add the carrots, shallot, garlic, thyme, and salt and saute for an additional 2 minutes, until the shallot begins to soften.
- Add the drained beans and chicken broth to the pot. Bring to a simmer, then add the kale. Simmer until the carrots are tender, about 10 minutes.
- Remove from heat and pack into your insulated food container, or serve immediately.
Notes
EQUIPMENT NEEDED
Sharp knife & cutting boardCan opener
Pot
Insulated food container
Utensils