This is a hearty, filling, cold-weather soup that makes a meal served with a crusty bread and light salad. The soup is just not the same if the brats are not grilled.

Bratwurst Soup
This is a hearty, filling, cold-weather soup that makes a meal served with a crusty bread and light salad. The soup is just not the same if the brats are not grilled.
Ingredients
- 5 fresh bratwurst sausages
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 onions chopped
- 4 carrots sliced
- 4 ribs celery chopped
- 2 teaspoons chopped garlic
- 32 ounce cartons chicken broth
- 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes
- 1 cup chopped fresh basil
- ¼ cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
- 2 teaspoons ground thyme
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 6 potatoes cut into cubes
- 15 ounce cans cannellini beans drained and rinsed
- 12 ounces spinach coarsely chopped, or more to taste
Instructions
- Preheat an outdoor grill for medium-high heat and lightly oil the grate.
- Grill bratwursts until cooked through, about 5 minutes per side. Cool. Slice each bratwurst into 1/4-inch pieces.
- Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Cook and stir onion, carrots, and celery in hot oil until onions are tender, 5 to 8 minutes. Stir garlic into onion mixture and cook until garlic is fragrant, 1 minute.
- Stir chicken broth, tomatoes, sliced bratwurst, basil, parsley, thyme, and cayenne pepper into onion mixture. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes.
- Mix potatoes into bratwurst mixture, bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and simmer until potatoes are almost cooked through, 15 minutes.
- Stir beans and spinach into pot; simmer until heated through and potatoes are done, 5 to 10 minutes.