Recipes > Caldo Verde

- Serves: 4 to 6
- Active Time: 50 mins
- Total Time: 50 mins
- Views: 45,249
- Success Rating: 74% (?)
Steps
Step 1: Starting the Soup

- 1 large yellow onion
- 3 cloves garlic
- 2 large potatoes
- 7 cups stock (vegetable or chicken)
- 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
- kosher salt (to taste)
- 5 cups kale or savoy cabbage*
- 1 lb (450 g) chouriço, linguiça, or kielbasa sausage*
- 1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
- kosher salt (to taste)
- freshly ground black pepper (to taste)
- extra-virgin olive oil (for garnishing)
- Spanish paprika (optional, see note)
Method
Finely dice the onion and mince the garlic. Shred the kale or cabbage and set aside. If desired, you can use a combination of both kale and savoy cabbage. Thinly slice the sausage and set aside.
In a heavy-bottomed pot, heat the olive oil over medium-low heat. Add the onion and garlic, followed by a pinch of salt, and sweat for about 5 to 10 minutes or until translucent.
In the meantime, peel and dice the potatoes. Once the onions are translucent, add the potatoes, along with another pinch of salt, and cook for a few minutes to soften.
Increase the heat to medium-high and add the stock, along with another pinch of salt. Bring to a simmer. Cover and let simmer for approximately 10 minutes while you cook the sausage.
Heat a fry pan over medium heat and add the olive oil, followed by the sausage. Cook the sausage until the fat begins to render and the sausage just begins to brown. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels.
Reserve the fat in the pan. This will likely have a nice deep red color from the sausage and can be used to add color to the soup once done.
Once the potatoes have cooked for about 10 minutes, mash them slightly with a potato masher. Add the kale and/or savoy cabbage and bring the soup up to a simmer for about 5 minutes until the kale is tender.
Mash the potatoes once again until you achieve the desired consistency. Stir in the sliced sausage and season to taste with salt and pepper.
Note: For extra color, stir in some of the reserved fat, if desired. Alternatively, you can mix a bit of Spanish paprika and a bit of olive oil together and add it to the soup.
Ladle into warmed bowls and drizzle with olive oil. Serve.
Chef's Notes
- by Kimberley Slobodian
- •
- April 11, 2011
Chouriço (spicy Portuguese chorizo), linguiça (smoked Portuguese sausages) or Kielbasa can be used to make this soup.
Feel free to use a little more or less than the stated quantity of sausage.
For a vegetarian soup, simply omit the sausage.
19 Comments
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So let's see what I can make today since its -12 C. This soup is outrageously good . Since it is so cold outside I just used what I had. I just had regular green cabbage (no savoy), spinach (no kale), fresh Italian sausage (no chorizo), homemade broth. Let me tell you my wife already had 3 bowls. I garnished it with freshly grated grana padano cheese a splash of olive oil. Remarkable.
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Do you think Polska Kielbasa will work in this?
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Sure why not. It may give the soup a different flavor, but it should still be delicious. Cheers!
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FYI, out fine It worked out fine,but i did add some hot pepper spice my step dad makes to add a little spice, because without it it wa a little bland.
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I made this recipe....only I didn't. ;) It is a great guide recipe that lends itself to substitution based on what is on hand. I didn't have any cabbage or kale, but just finished pulling in the end of year harvest from my garden. After sweating the onions and garlic for 5 minutes, I added (small dice) half a red pepper, a Hungarian wax pepper, a medium carrot, a jalapeno, and 2 celery stalks. Sweated another 5 minutes and added the potatoes. I also substituted cubed saute'd ham for the meat. I didn't change the recommended seasoning. It turned out really good. I'm sure that changed the nature of the soup, but it worked for me!
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Rouxbe Staff
Great suggestions, Valerie. ~Ken -
This soup was tasty and unusual (for me anyway, as I rarely cook with any kind of sausage and am very unfamiliar with their tastes/flavor profiles). I used Linguica sausage. The sausage was surprisingly sweet (especially once I pan fried the sausage) and a bit spicy (which really came through in the fat that rendered). The drizzle of the rendered oil over the soup brought some nice heat (and beautiful color) to the soup. The base of my soup was homemade white chicken stock. For me, I think I would have prefered larger pieces of potato in the soup (rather than mashing the potato) to ensure there is another chewable ingredient (and to also keep the stock clear and beautiful). I used Dino Kale as there was no Savoy Cabbage available that day at my store. The kale was vibrant green and beautiful in the soup and added another component of tooth-someness. Thank you Rouxbe - great soup!
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Rouxbe Staff
Hi Sunnie: sounds as though you explored all flavors of this Caldo Verde. And, kale is so hearty a green that it works very well in any soup recipe. Sounds delicious, in fact. Thanks for always sharing your experiences with us! Rouxbe on, -Char -
I'm in South Africa and it's almost summer here and I'm really hot from exercising, and I'm still craving the deliciousness of the soup!
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how many grams are the potatoes in total please.thank you.
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Rouxbe Staff
Hi Jack: The average, large, Russett potato weights approximately 170-220. For accuracy, you could try the scale at the grocery store, I also find having a food scale at home to be very helpful in weighing and measuring. Have fun making this soup. Cheers, Char -
can i freeze this soup once cooked?
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Rouxbe Staff
Absolutely! -
how much is the large onion in grams?thank u x
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Rouxbe Staff
Hi Jack: I believe that question was asked yesterday. The best thing to do is select a large onion and weigh it at the produce stand. Generally, about 225-275 grams, but best to measure it at the store. Cheers, Char -
can i add 10 ml lemon juice at the end for acidity?thank u.
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Rouxbe Staff
10 ml sounds like it would add the perfect touch of acidity. Add it, then taste. You may find you want more. -
This soup could do with my liquid to make it more 'soupy' how much more liquid do you recommend I can add as an addition.thank you.
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Rouxbe Staff
Hi Riaz, I have confidence that you can make this adjustment on your own! This scenario is similar to others you've asked about, so go ahead and make the adjustment according to your preference...no need to ask for our recommendation. Enjoy! ~Eric
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