Kielbasa Potato Soup

Kielbasa Potato Soup is so creamy, packed with buttery potatoes and browned Kielbasa sausage in a smooth & rich creamy broth. Your whole family will love this potato and smoked sausage soup recipe.

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Cheesy potato sausage soup

Potato Kielbasa soup is extremely comforting and filling. You can make this easy instant pot soup with few ingredients and under 30 mins.

This soup tastes amazing and stores well too. Such a wonderful candidate for weeknight meal preps.

For a low carb version, you can even switch the potatoes with cauliflower.

Ingredients & Substitutions

Find the Ingredients with actual measurements at the bottom of the post. The list below is just a reference.

• Potatoes: Russet potatoes. You can also use Yukon gold potatoes.
• Sausage: Smoked Polish Kielbasa. You can use any Kielbasa you want to, like pork kielbasa or turkey kielbasa. Kielbasa actually means sausage in Polish. You can also swap the Kielbasa with Italian or Cajun sausages.
• Veggies: Carrots and celery.
• Aromatics: Yellow onion and garlic.
• Seasonings: Smoked paprika, ground black pepper and salt according to your own personal taste preference.
• Dairy: Heavy whipping cream, sharp cheddar cheese. For a lighter version you can swap the cream with whole milk or 2 % milk or half and half.
• Cooking fat: Any neutral oil like extra light or light olive oil and butter. For a low-calorie version, you may skip using butter.
• Better than bouillon chicken base: Stir the better than bouillon chicken base into warm water to make an instant homemade chicken stock. Tastes so much better than the store-bought versions.
• Thickener (optional): Corn starch slurry. 1:1 cornstarch and water mixed together to form a slurry. This is a naturally gluten free thickener. If you prefer a thicker sausage potato soup than use this at the end.

Tips for success

• Non- curdled dairy: Add warm heavy whipping cream to the soup. This will prevent the cream from curdling. Also, turn off the instant pot and then add the cream and the cheddar cheese. Add the cheddar cheese at the end. Stir constantly until the cheese completely melts and blends into the soup. This will also help to prevent the cheese from curdling.
• Best potatoes: Use either russet or Yukon gold potatoes for a creamier soup.
• Spicy Kielbasa soup: Add red pepper flakes for a spicy soup.
• Soup consistency: We prefer a thicker soup. Hence, we mashed a few cooked potatoes with the back of a ladle and also added a simple cornstarch slurry to thicken the soup. However, you can totally skip the cornstarch slurry and naturally thicken the soup by mashing a few cooked potatoes with the back of your ladle.
• Cut back calories: Sub the butter with oil. Drain the sausage fat. Sub the heavy whipping cream with either half & half or whole milk or 2% milk or fat free milk. You can also sub the potatoes with cauliflower florets. In that case, just cook the soup on high pressure for just 3 mins. followed by 5 mins natural release.

How to make Potato kielbasa soup?

Find the detailed step by step recipe along with measurements + Video at the bottom of the post.

Learn how to make the soup in your instant pot.

Step #1 Brown Sausage

• Brown sausage: Set the instant pot on high heat on sauté mode. Add butter & oil and brown the diced sausage equally on both sides. Once done set a few browned sausage pieces aside for garnishing the soup.

Step #2 Sauté veggies & aromatics

• Sauté veggies: Add the onion, garlic, celery and carrots into the instant pot and sauté for 1 min. Add the seasonings along with the salt and sauté for another 30 seconds. Place the potatoes and mix well until the seasonings change color and star

Step #3 Pressure cook soup

• Deglaze pot: Add the potatoes and give everything a good stir. Add the stock and deglaze the pot very well by scraping the sides and the bottom of the pot with the help of a spatula. This will help loosen any stuck food particles and prevent the burn error. Cancel the sauté mode.
• Pressure cook soup: Secure the lid of the instant pot and pressure cook on high for 6 mins followed by 10 mins natural pressure release. Mash a few cooked potatoes with the back of a ladle.

Step #4 Add dairy

• Add dairy: Add the warm heavy whipping cream. Mix well. Than, add ½ the quantity of the grated sharp cheddar cheese. Stir well until the cheese completely melts and incorporates into the soup. Add the rest of the grated cheddar and stir well until the cheese completely melts.
• Thicken soup: Hit the sauté mode and set it on low heat. Now, add the corn starch slurry and stir briskly until the soup thickens. Turn off the instant pot and serve the Polish sausage soup garnished with browned sausage pieces and freshly chopped parsley (optional). Enjoy!

Serving Ideas

This Kielbasa potato soup is very filling and rich. You can easily make a hearty meal out of it and some crusty bread on the side. However, we don't mind these extra sides once in a while to accompany this easy sausage soup recipe.

• A light crisp salad on the side.
• Ant crusty bread like sour dough or French baguette for dipping into the chowder.
• Corn bread.
• Biscuits.
• Bread sticks.
• Air fryer garlic bread.
• Air fryer smashed brussel sprouts.
• Air fryer roasted beets.
• Air fryer carrots and potatoes.
• Butternut squash fries air fryer.
• Instant pot Moroccan couscous.

Leftovers & storage

Fridge: You can store the creamy potato kielbasa soup for up to 5 days in the fridge in air tight containers.

Freezer: You can freeze the soup for up to 2 months. Use heavy duty individual portion control freezer safe bags or containers. Thaw overnight in the fridge and follow the reheating directions shared below.

Reheating directions

Microwave oven: Reheat the thawed or fridge cold soup in the microwave oven until warm or hot. Serve immediately. The frozen soup when thawed might look curdled, just give it a gentle stir and then proceed with reheating.

Stove top: Place a heavy bottomed saucepan or pot over medium high heat on the stove top. Transfer the Kielbasa soup and reheat it stirring often. Serve immediately. You can add milk or water to adjust the consistency.

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