Spaghetti Squash Soup with Italian Sausage

This spaghetti squash soup with spicy sausage and rainbow chard brings all the cozy components of fall together in one bowl, creating a full-flavored, richly textured twist on a favorite seasonal squash.

This soup comes together in about an hour, uses just a handful of produce and pantry staples, and reheats just as well, making it a quick and easy comfort food for the cooler months. 

At the heart of this soup are spicy Italian sausage, tender white beans, ribbons of Swiss chard, and noodle-like threads of spaghetti squash, all in a light tomato-based broth seasoned with warm spices like ground cumin, cinnamon, and crushed red pepper. Whether you're lucky to have leftovers or are making it ahead of time, this soup tastes even better the next day. 

How To Cut and Prep Spaghetti Squash

Spaghetti squash is a member of the gourd family, which means the outer shell is very tough. However, there are a few tricks to make cutting and cooking spaghetti squash easier. 

• On a cutting board, set the squash on a folded dish towel to keep it stable.
• Hold the squash steady with one hand, insert a large chef’s knife into the center of the squash the long way, and push it down to cut the squash in half.
• If you find you have trouble cutting the squash into even halves, try first scoring a line or making several deep slits with your knife around the squash (from end to end), and then use that as a guide for cutting.
• Once you have two halves, scrape out the seeds with a sharp-edged spoon and discard (or roast) the seeds. Sprinkle with 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon pepper. Place the halves with the cut sides down on a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake.

Personalize This Recipe 

• Swap the squash: Instead of spaghetti squash try it with zucchini noodles, spiralized sweet potatoes, or other winter gourds like Delicata, acorn and butternut squash.

• For less heat, swap the spicy Italian sausage for a sweeter or milder variety. Well, seasoned ground pork, turkey, or chicken would also work. If you use pre-ground sausage here too or the links and remove it from the casing by hand. 

• Make it vegan: Use vegetable stock instead of chicken stock and use vegan sausage or portobello mushrooms instead of the Italian sausage. Or skip the meat part altogether. The soup is plenty hearty on its own. 
• Up the veggies by tossing in some other leafy greens like kale, collards, spinach, asparagus, sweet peas, mushrooms, or seaweed into the pot with the Swiss chard. 
• Spill the beans: Instead of white beans feel free to use black beans, pinto beans, cannellini beans or any other favorite kind of bean.

Next Level Soup Toppings

This soup is fantastic all by itself, but the addition of a few toppings takes it to the next level.

• Grated cheddar, shaved Parmesan, or pecorino cheese play well here.
• Homemade croutons are easy and delicious. 
• ​​Crispy baked tortilla strips give it a little crunch. 
• Thinly sliced radishes lend a peppery flavor.
• A dollop of sour cream or diced avocado cools down the warm spices.
• Finely chopped jalapenos will up the heat.