Last week, we did an inventory of our freezers, because they were both getting full and a lot of the stuff had been in there for way too long. So after cleaning out a bunch of old stuff, I was able to make a list of things that we had in there that I needed to use. One of them was a tube of Italian sausage that I bought a while ago and then didn’t end up using, for whatever reason. So for my lunches this week, since the weather has sadly cooled off, I decided to use it to make soup.
This one is a stovetop soup rather than an Instant Pot or slow cooker soup, and it’s fairly quick to make, all things considered. Start with two medium green peppers and one medium onion. Cut the green peppers into strips and the onion into slivers. If the pepper strips are too long to fit on a soup spoon, cut them in half crosswise. You’ll end up with about a cup and a half of pepper strips and 3/4 of a cup of onion slivers.
3.5-inch knife for scale.
Throw those into a Dutch oven with a pound of loose Italian sausage over medium-high heat. No need to add any seasoning yet. You’ll want to season this closer to the end, once you add all the ingredients, otherwise you might end up with too much salt. There are a lot of salty ingredients in this soup. I ended up not having to add anything at all. Cook the veggies and sausage together until the sausage is browned.
The sausage is about halfway finished browning here.
Once the sausage is browned, add a 14.5-ounce can of diced tomatoes, undrained, and 3 cups of chicken broth, turn the heat down to medium, and let it simmer for about ten minutes, until the peppers and onions have softened.
The simmering soup before adding all the stuff that makes it creamy.
After those ten minutes have passed, add an entire 8-ounce package of cream cheese, cut into chunks. Whisk those in until they melt into the liquid, then pour in 1/2 cup of heavy cream. Finally, add 3 ounces of parmesan cheese, one ounce at a time, whisking until it melts before adding the next batch.
The finished pot of soup.
At this point, taste it for seasoning. As I mentioned earlier, mine didn’t need anything other than some black pepper, but you may want to add salt or garlic powder, depending on how flavorful your Italian sausage is. Once you’ve gotten it seasoned to your liking, turn the heat off and serve it, or put it into meal prep containers. I managed to time mine perfectly and used the 6th serving as my Sunday lunch, just in time for the early NFL games to kick off. My Bills may have lost, but at least the soup was good.
Creamy Italian Sausage and Pepper Soup
30 minutes from start to finish, this low carb Italian sausage soup is great for a fall Sunday.
Cut the green peppers into strips and the onion into slivers.
Heat a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the sausage, peppers, and onions, and cook until the sausage is browned, breaking it into crumbles as it cooks.
Add the tomatoes and chicken broth, turn the heat down to medium, and simmer for 10 minutes, until the peppers and onions are soft.
Add the cream cheese cubes and whisk until they melt into the liquid. Pour in the heavy cream, then add the parmesan cheese, one ounce at a time, stirring until it's melted before adding the next batch.
Taste for seasoning, add salt and pepper if needed, then remove from the heat and serve.
Macros per serving: 503 calories, 5 grams net carbs, 25 grams protein, 44 grams fat.
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First off, I apologize for how awful this recipe looks. It’s damn near impossible to photograph. But because I really wanted to share this recipe, I just gave up trying to make it look presentable and took a quick snapshot of it directly from my lunch container. I’m sure if I took the time to stage it properly, I might have been able to improve it slightly, but the weather was gorgeous on Sunday and my neighbor invited us over to his pool, and well, priorities.
I should warn you that this soup’s flavor is based on a Cincinnati chili, not the traditional coney sauce, although they’re fairly close. For those of you who have never heard of Cincinnati chili, the first thing I should probably tell you is that it bears only the slightest resemblance to any sort of chili you might be used to. It’s more of a meat sauce than anything else. They serve it over spaghetti, usually, or on hot dogs. If you put cheddar cheese on top, it’s called a 3-way. Add beans or onions, it’s a 4-way. Add all of the above, and it’s a 5-way. Since we don’t eat beans, we’re having this soup as a 4-way with a cheese and onion garnish.
Start off by putting your Instant Pot on the Saute setting and adding 2 tablespoons of avocado oil.
Finely mince half an onion, and chop a package of 8 hot dogs into bite-sized chunks. I used Nathan’s hot dogs for this, because they’re what’s used in the classic Coney dog, and also they’re the only hot dogs my kids will eat, so they’re all I keep around. You might be able to find a lower-carb dog, and feel free to use those if you do. The Nathan’s have 1 gram of carbs per dog. Put the dogs and onions into the pot and saute until the onions turn translucent.
While that’s cooking, put together your spice blend. In a small bowl, mix together 4 tablespoons of chili powder, a tablespoon and a half of ground cumin, a rounded teaspoon of oregano, a rounded teaspoon of cinnamon, a half teaspoon of ground allspice, and a quarter teaspoon of ground cloves. Finally, stir in the “secret ingredient”, 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder. The brand I linked to, Guittard, is a very good low-carb variety, with only 1 gram of net carbs per tablespoon. Don’t put any salt and pepper in this, because you’ll want to adjust for that later. Some hot dog varieties are saltier than others, so you’ll want to taste it and season once it’s cooked.
When the onions are soft and translucent, add a tablespoon of minced garlic and saute for about a minute, then add the seasoning and toss it around to toast it for a minute or two. After that, pour in a can of tomato sauce and 4 cups of beef broth. I love these resealable containers, because if you’re making a recipe that calls for a smaller amount, you can just pop the cap back on and store it in the fridge for later. For this recipe, though, you’ll use a whole one. Stir until the spices aren’t all clumped up anymore, then bring it to a boil. Once it’s boiling, crumble in a pound and a half of 85/15 ground beef. That’s right, you don’t cook it first. It ends up with a softer texture and smaller pieces if you put it in directly. Stir it constantly to break up the chunks, and once there are no big chunks of beef left, put the lid on and switch to the Soup setting on your Instant Pot. If you’re using a different brand that doesn’t have a soup setting, set yours for 30 minutes. Once it’s done, do a manual release, then remove the lid once you can safely do so. Turn it to saute and stir in 3/4 cup of shredded cheddar until it’s melted. This should thicken the soup a bit. Add salt and pepper to taste, then serve with a garnish of chopped onion, cheddar cheese, and if you’d like, about a teaspoon of mustard. Yellow is fine, but I really like to use the classic Stadium Mustard if I have it. My macros for this recipe don’t count garnishes, so make sure you count yours separately if you’re tracking.
Keto Instant Pot Coney Dog Soup
A keto soup made in the Instant Pot with classic Cincinnati chili flavors.
Turn your instant pot on the Saute setting and add the oil. Chop the hot dogs into bite-sized pieces and mince the onion. Add them to the Instant Pot and saute until the onion is soft and translucent, about 5 minutes.
While the hot dogs and onions cook, mix together the chili powder, cocoa powder, cumin, cinnamon, oregano, allspice, and cloves in a small bowl and set aside.
When the onions are cooked, add the garlic and saute for about a minute, then pour in the spices and toss to coat and toast the spices for a minute more. Pour in the broth and tomato sauce and bring to a boil, then crumble in the uncooked ground beef. Stir to break up the clumps of beef.
Put the lid on the Instant Pot and set it for the soup setting (or, if using a different pressure cooker, set for 30 minutes on high). When the timer goes off, use a manual release, and remove the lid once it's safe to do so.
Set the pot for Saute again, then stir in the cheddar cheese until it's melted. Taste and add salt and pepper as needed. Garnish with shredded cheddar, chopped onion, and a bit of mustard before serving.
Macros per serving, not counting garnishes: 446 calories, 8 grams net carbs, 24 grams protein, 34 grams fat.
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It was a balmy 94 degrees outside when I made my meal plan for the week, so of course I decided that what I was currently craving was potato soup. I’m…kinda weird. The second most obvious issue here is, of course, that potato soup isn’t […]
Some of my best recipes come from random cravings I get. This recipe is actually my impetus for finally starting this blog that I’ve been considering doing for ages. I did a great job the first time I made it, and when I posted a picture of it on Instagram, my very Italian friend Erin replied with a tweak to it that her family does. A few weeks later I got a nasty cold, and the only thing that sounded good to me was this soup. And oh my goodness, her tweak made it SO MUCH BETTER. And more keto, to boot. So here I am, finally sharing the recipe with the world.
The first time I made this, I made it on the stovetop, and it’s doable, but the magical Instant Pot makes it a lot better. The chicken ends up with a much nicer and softer texture. You’ll want to start out by putting the Instant Pot on saute. When it heats up, add a tablespoon of butter and a tablespoon of olive oil. When the butter melts, you’ll want to add 10 ounces of a mirepoix mix, otherwise known as diced celery, carrot, and onion. My grocery store makes a premade version of this that saves a ton of time. If you’re doing it yourself, you’ll want about 2 ounces of diced carrots and 4 each of diced celery and onion, as carrots can get a little high in carbs if you go nuts with them. Saute the mirepoix, adding a pinch or two of kosher salt a few minutes in, and cook until the onions start getting translucent. The carrots won’t be done yet, but they’ll cook more later. Remove them from the pot and set aside in a small bowl.
Mirepoix
Add 8-10 cups of chicken stock to the pot, depending on how brothy you want it. Throw in a large (6-8 ounce) chicken breast. Seal the lid and cook under high pressure for 15 minutes, then allow for a natural release. When the chicken is done, add the mirepoix back to the pot, set the pot for saute again, and put the chicken in the bowl the mirepoix was in.
While the chicken is cooking, you’ll want to make the meatballs. Start with a pound of 80/20 ground beef–the added fat makes a difference in the final dish. Add one egg, 1/4 cup of parmesan cheese, a teaspoon of Italian seasoning, a teaspoon of salt, 1/2 teaspoon each of onion powder and garlic powder, and however much cracked black pepper you want. Mix it until it’s a uniform texture, and then begin the tedious process of making a billion slightly larger than marble-sized meatballs. This is what they’ll look like when they’re done (hand for scale because I don’t eat bananas).
After that comes Erin’s addition. Lightly beat two eggs in a medium-sized bowl, then mix in parmesan cheese until it’s a thick paste. I ended up using 1.25 cups of cheese. Set that bowl aside.
Doesn’t that look appetizing? Trust me, though, it is.
By this point, the chicken should be close to finished. So get the mirepoix back in there, take the chicken breast out, and bring the broth back to a boil. At that point, start dropping in the meatballs, one by one, taking care not to drop them all in the same part of the pot so they don’t stick together. Then drop small spoonfuls of the egg and parmesan paste directly into the parts of the pot where there are the most bubbles from boiling. They will end up breaking up and making delicious little eggy cheesy bites all through your soup. Shred the chicken breast, put it into the soup, and test the broth for seasoning. I’ll usually end up adding a teaspoon or so of salt here, as well as several grinds of pepper. Let it continue to simmer while you work on the last step.
Most of the recipes I’ve seen for keto wedding soup call for cauliflower rice in them. Now, don’t get me wrong, I love me some cauilflower rice, but it doesn’t really mimic the texture of the acini di pepi pasta that normally goes in wedding soup, and it adds a weird flavor. What works perfectly in this case is Miracle Rice! Yes, the maker of your favorite shirataki noodles also makes a rice version, and the shape is little pearls just like the pasta in wedding soup. Two bags is plenty. I prepare these by rinsing them thoroughly in a fine mesh colander, then heating them in a non-stick skillet until the liquid dries up. This usually takes about five minutes. Once they’re dry, the odd odor should be mostly gone. Put them in the pot, then turn the heat off and add 5 ounces of baby spinach, stirring until it’s wilted. This will make enough for two people to eat it for lunch for the entire work week, but make sure it all gets finished, because it doesn’t freeze well at all.
Heat your Instant Pot to saute. Add olive oil and butter and allow butter to melt. Add your mirepoix mix (see detailed instructions above if you can't purchase this pre-made) and saute until the onions become translucent. Remove and place into a bowl.
Add the chicken broth and chicken breast to the Instant Pot, seal the lid, and cook on high pressure for 15 minutes, using the natural release function.
While the chicken is cooking, prepare the meatballs by mixing together the ground beef, egg, 1/4 cup of the parmesan cheese, Italian seasoning, teaspoon of salt, onion and garlic powder, and black pepper in a large bowl. Form the mixture into marble-sized meatballs (see picture above for scale) and set aside.
Beat two eggs in a medium bowl and add the remaining parmesan cheese until it makes a thick paste. Set aside.
When the chicken is finished, add the mirepoix back to the Instant Pot and remove the chicken breast, putting it in the same bowl the mirepoix was in. Turn on the saute function of the Instant Pot and bring the broth and mirepoix mixture back to a boil. Put the meatballs into the pot, one by one, making sure to not put them in the same place in the pot so they don't stick together.
In the still-boiling soup, add small spoonfuls of the egg and cheese mixture directly into the bubbles.
Shred the chicken and return it to the pot. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed.
As the soup continues to simmer, drain the Miracle Rice in a fine mesh colander and rinse thoroughly. Heat over medium to medium-high heat in a nonstick skillet until it's dry. Put it into the Instant Pot.
Add the spinach and turn off the Instant Pot. Allow the residual heat to wilt the spinach, then serve.
Macros, counting 8 cups of broth and 6 ounces of chicken: 282 calories, 4 grams net carbs, 20 grams protein, 19 grams fat.
Keyword beef, chicken, instant pot, make ahead, soup
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Any embedded link to a product earns me a portion of the purchase price if you click and buy it.
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