Had a long day? This Busy Day Soup (Italian-Style With Vegetables and Sausage) is perfect for those stressful week-nights when you need something quick, soothing and delicious. You can throw this together in 15 minutes and then simmer it until the pasta is al dente.

What Ingredients Do I Need?
- Sausage: I prefer to use a lighter sausage, such as Smoked Chicken Sausage (fully-cooked) or Italian Turkey Sausage (uncooked). I like to keep packages of the fully-cooked sausage on hand since it cooks up very fast and depending on the brand has a long shelf life in the refrigerator.
- Onion: A quick shortcut is to take dried minced onion and rehydrate it in the microwave with ½ cup of water. You could also use frozen chopped onion. If you have a little more time, you could dice up one small onion for this soup.
- Garlic: Bottled or fresh minced garlic will give you a better flavor than any garlic powder, so this is what I recommend.
- Broth: I used vegetable broth which goes with any type of sausage you decide to use. You could substitute a different type of broth depending on your preferences. You can typically use chicken or beef broth with turkey meat.
- Canned diced tomatoes: The petite variety are a great option for soup. You could also use stewed tomatoes or any canned tomatoes you have on hand.
- Dry white wine (optional): I use just a splash or two (a couple of tablespoons) when I am sautéing the vegetables to bring out the flavor. This is optional.
- Seasonings: Keeping a bottle of Italian seasonings on hand, which typically has basil, oregano, marjoram, thyme, sage and/or rosemary, is a great time saver. You can add lots of flavor quickly with a small palmful of this. Rub it between your hands to extract more flavors. I also add some sugar, salt and pepper.
- Small pasta: I recommend Ditalini pasta, but you could use small shells or small macaroni as well.
- Frozen vegetables: Pictsweet Steamables Frozen Spring Vegetables (carrots, asparagus, yellow squash, onions, zucchini and red peppers, peppercorns) is my favorite frozen vegetable mix for this soup, but you could use another similar frozen vegetable package of your choice.
- Toppings: Grated parmesan cheese (must have!) and chopped parsley (optional).

How Do I Make Busy Day Soup?
Warm the olive oil in a large pot. Then add the onion, garlic and sausage. If using fully-cooked smoked chicken sausage (which is a type of kielbasa), then just sauté it a few minutes. (This is my preference.) If using uncooked sausage, remove the casing and then crumble and brown the sausage with a wooden spoon.

Stir in the Italian seasoning until the spices become fragrant. Add vegetable broth, diced tomatoes, wine (optional), sugar, salt and pepper. Bring mixture to a boil.
Add the frozen vegetables to the boiling mixture. When it starts to boil again, lower the temperature so that your soup is simmering (not too low). Add the Ditalini pasta and continue simmering until the pasta is al dente.

You'll want top each serving of soup with a sprinkle of grated parmesan cheese. You can also add a pinch of fresh minced parsley, if you have some.
This soup is perfect served with a slice of crusty bread. Sometimes we just toast our sandwich bread in a toaster oven with a little garlic salt and butter when we don't have anything fancier. Perfect for those busy weeknights!
📖 Recipe

Busy Day Soup (Italian-Style With Vegetables and Sausage)
Ingredients
- Smoked Chicken Sausage fully-cooked, cut into ¼" pieces. You could also use Italian Turkey Sausage (uncooked)
- ¼ cup dried minced onion rehydrated in the microwave with ½ cup of water (or 1 small onion diced)
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic
- 2 cartons of vegetable broth 32 oz.
- 1 can petite diced tomatoes
- 2 tablespoons dry white wine optional
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 ½ tablespoons Italian seasoning
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ½ cup Ditalini or other small pastas
- 2 packages 10 oz each of Pictsweet Steamables Frozen Spring Vegetables (carrots, asparagus, yellow squash, onions, zucchini and red peppers, peppercorns) or another similar frozen vegetable mix of your choice
- Grated parmesan cheese
- Chopped parsley optional
Instructions
- Warm the olive oil in a large pot. Then add the onion, garlic and sausage. If using uncooked sausage, remove the casing and then brown the sausage. If using fully-cooked smoked chicken sausage (like kielbasa), then just sauté a few minutes.
- Stir in the Italian seasoning until the spices become fragrant. Add vegetable broth, diced tomatoes, wine (optional), sugar, salt and pepper. Bring mixture to a boil.
- Add the frozen vegetables to the boiling mixture. When it starts to boil again, lower the temperature so that your soup is simmering (not too low).
- Add the Ditalini pasta and continue simmering until the pasta is al dente.
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