Venison Sausage and Gnocchi Soup

Venison sausage and gnocchi soup is the perfect winter warmer meal. It's creamy, flavorful, colorful, comforting, and delicious. The seasoning from the venison Italian sausage perfectly flavors the broth and brings together all the ingredients in this delicious soup. Give it a try today!

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Why This Recipe Works:
Ingredient Notes:
Equipment Notes:
Step by Step Instructions:
A note on venison Italian sausage:
Putting it All Together:
Recipe FAQ's:
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Why This Recipe Works:

Venison Italian sausage is a versatile ingredient that can be used for so much more than spaghetti and meatballs! The blend of herbs and spices in the sausage gives the broth in this soup a wonderful flavor. The roasted red peppers add a little bit of sweetness and the kale adds beautiful color to this vibrant soup.

The gnocchi are perfect fluffy little pillows of goodness tucked in among the other ingredients. Paired with fluffy sourdough bread for dipping, this delicious creamy soup is sure to warm your belly and fill you up!

If you're looking for a lighter soup, try this venison Italian wedding soup!

Ingredient Notes:

venison sausage and gnocchi soup ingredients with labels.

Venison Italian Sausage: This recipe uses my venison Italian sausage but if you already have some in your freezer, you can use that instead!
Gnocchi: Gnocchi come in all sorts of varieties. This recipe uses plain potato gnocchi but you can use whatever gnocchi you'd like.
Tuscan Kale: Tuscan kale can be replaced with any other hearty green like Swiss chard, spinach, other varieties of kale, etc.

Equipment Notes:

Dutch Oven: This recipe uses a Dutch oven but you can also use a large pot.

venison sausage and gnocchi soup in dutch oven.

Step by Step Instructions:

How to make roasted red peppers:

Roasted red peppers are a delicious ingredient whether you buy them or make them yourself. But, you can usually make them for a lot cheaper than you can buy them and they're super easy to make! They lend a delicious savory and sweet flavor to any dish you add them to. Read below for how to make them!

cutting red bell pepper in half. — **Step 1:** Slice bell peppers in half lengthwise.

seeds and membrane removed from bell pepper. — **Step 2:** Remove stems, membranes, and seeds.

red bell pepper halves on sheet pan. — **Step 3:** Place peppers cut side down on a parchment paper-lined sheet pan.

roasting red bell peppers in oven. — **Step 4:** Roast for 15-20 minutes, or until the skin is bubbling and pulling away from the flesh. You can remove them at this point or leave in the oven for another 5-10 minutes

red bell peppers roasting in oven. — **Step 5:** If you leave them in the oven until they look like this, you'll get a lot more flavor out of them!

peeling skin off roasted red pepper. — **Step 6:** Let peppers cool slightly and remove the skins.

roasted red pepper in jar. — **Step 7:** Store in an airtight container in the fridge or use immediately for recipes.

Pro Tip: Look out for when bell peppers are on sale, make a big batch, and freeze or can the peppers for future use!

How to make sausage and gnocchi soup:

Once you have your sausage and peppers made, this soup is super easy to make! Check out the step-by-step instructions below.

melting lard in dutch oven. — **Step 1:** Add lard or other cooking fat to Dutch oven and heat until melted.

cooking venison Italian sausage in dutch oven. — **Step 2:** Add Italian sausage and cook until browned. Remove from pan and set aside.

melting butter in dutch oven. — **Step 3:** Add butter to Dutch oven and heat until melted.

cooking onions and garlic in dutch oven. — **Step 4:** Add onions and garlic. Cook until translucent.

broth simmering in dutch oven. — **Step 5:** Add broth and simmer 5-10 minutes.

gnocchi added to pot of simmering broth. — **Step 6:** Add gnocchi and bring to a boil.

broth with gnocchi simmering in dutch oven. — **Step 7:** Simmer for 5 minutes.

adding roasted peppers and sausage to pot of soup. — **Step 8:** Add roasted red peppers and Italian sausage.

venison sausage and gnocchi soup simmering. — **Step 9:** Add cream and bring back to a simmer.

kale added to pot of sausage and gnocchi soup. — **Step 10:** Add kale and cook until slightly wilted.

bowl of venison sausage and gnocchi soup. — **Step 12:** Serve and enjoy!

Pro Tip: Add salt and pepper at the end of cooking. The saltiness of your soup will depend on the salt in your sausage and broth. Adding it at the end helps ensure your soup isn't too salty!

A note on venison Italian sausage:

Italian sausage is a popular choice when you take your deer to the butcher. But, you can also make your own! Making your own can be really rewarding and you can adjust the seasonings to your liking. Looking for a recipe? Check out this recipe for ground venison Italian sausage.

pouring Italian sausage seasoning into bowl of meat.

cooked venison Italian sausage in bowl with red towel.

Putting it All Together:

Once your soup is ready, it's time to dig in! Top it with a little freshly grated parmesan and chopped parsley for a little extra brightness. Tear off a piece of Dutch oven sourdough bread for dipping and enjoy!

Recipe FAQ's:

What gives Italian sausage its distinctive flavor?

Fennel is the main ingredient that gives Italian sausage its distinctive flavor but a blend of other herbs and spices make Italian sausage special as well.

Do you have to add pork to deer sausage?

No, you can make sausage with 100% ground venison. You will need to add some fat to the pan to cook it but it doesn't have to be ground in. If you are making sausages in casings, you do need to add fat to the ground venison to prevent it from drying out.

What part of the deer is best for sausage?

You can make sausage out of any cut of meat you'd like. But, the popular choice is to turn your trim meat from steaks and roasts into sausage. If you're not big on roasts, you can grind those into sausage as well.