Sausage Potato Soup

Recently, it was Tater's birthday, and it's a family tradition that the birthday person gets to pick the menu for the entire day of their birthday. Tater is a child after my own heart 💖--he loves soup, and this one is his favorite, so of course we had it for supper! It's a creamy potato soup base jazzed up with some savory sausage and some other yummy vegetables, so it's a general family favorite anyway. 😊

I learned this recipe from a close friend who invented it one day with things she always has in her pantry, and chances are, you'll have the ingredients on hand, too--making it the perfect "what-to-make-for-dinner-when-I-haven't-had-time-to-plan-ahead" meal!

Start with your favorite linked sausage; it can be spicy, sweet, whatever you like. I like using the Hillshire Farms brand because I can get two meals out of one package, and they have several different varieties of MSG-free sausage. (As you may remember, Jimmy, my husband, is allergic to MSG, so that influences a lot of my buying and cooking decisions.)

Slice and quarter the sausage, and then brown it in some oil in a large stockpot. Scoop it out (leave the oil behind with the sausage drippings) and set it aside for later.

Next, add to the pot diced potatoes, chopped carrots, frozen corn, chicken broth, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper. (Note*: if you want to know how I make my own MSG-free chicken broth, check out my post on Savory Chicken Chili.)

Bring that to a boil, then cover and simmer about 15 minutes or until the vegetables are tender. Since everything's cut small, it shouldn't take very long.

Once the vegetables are done, add your sausage back in, and stir in milk, grated cheese and parsley. Stir until the soup is heated through again and the cheese is melted, and it's done!

Just wait until you taste it! It's so creamy, cheesy, savory with the sausage, sweet with the corn, and very filling with the potato--it's probably my favorite soup as well, and I bet you'll love it too! Give it a try tonight!