Look, kale is one of the healthiest super greens out there—yet plenty of people don’t like it. If you’re searching for a way to help introduce it to your diet, though, look no further: This sausage kale dish is super tasty and an easy introduction to kale. Even better, it’s super customizable, so you can modify the dish to work with other types of sausage, other types of greens, and even other spice combinations. All we ask is that you’re conscientious about the sausage you use—it’s way too easy to be fooled into buying sausage with added sugars, nitrates, and more, so pay attention to labels. Ideally, you would also use your own chicken stock; if you use store-bought stock, shoot for a low sodium variety and you can likely skip the salt in the final step.
Sausage and Kale
Ingredients
- 1 bunch kale
- 1/2 onion diced
- 1 package chicken sausage (12 ounce package)
- 8 button mushrooms trimmed and sliced
- 1 cup chicken stock
- 2 tablespoons oil (we recommend coconut or avocado oil for this recipe, though olive oil also works)
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
Instructions
- With a sharp paring knife, cut the leaves off the kale stems, separating the stems and leaves. Next, dice the stems to approximately the same size as your onion before cutting the leaves into thin strips.
- While heating half the oil (1 tablespoon) in a large skillet, cut the sausage into ½ slices (kitchen shears work well for this). In two batches to ensure you can keep your sausage in a single layer, brown the sausage on medium-high heat in small ½ thick patties. It should take 2-3 minutes for each side, flipping once browned. Once the first batch is done, remove them from the skillet and repeat with the second batch of sausage patties.
- Once all of the sausage patties have been cooked and removed from the skillet, add the second tablespoon of oil to the skillet, reducing the heat to medium. Add the kale stems and onion and cook until they begin to soften—about 5 minutes. At that time, push the vegetables to the edge of the skillet to open up a space in the center. Add the butter to that center space in the skillet; once melted, add the mushrooms to the melted butter and saute for a few minutes. Add your salt and pepper and stir well.
- Once the mushrooms begin to show the butter appropriately, add the kale leaves one bunch at a time, stirring to combine them with the vegetables. Cook until the leaves are wilted, 3-5 minutes, before adding the sausage back to the dish along with the red pepper flakes and chicken stock, stirring well to combine everything as you return the heat to medium-high. Once the liquid begins to boil, reduce the heat to low (or medium-low if needed to maintain the simmer) and simmer until the liquid has mostly evaporated. Taste, adding salt as needed, before serving.
Notes
- Sharp paring knife
- Cutting board
- Large skillet
- Kitchen shears