Soups, Stews, & Chowders
Portuguese Kale Soup Recipe | Best Cook Ruth O’Donnell
This recipe for Portuguese kale soup—also called Portuguese penicillin—is a crowd favorite that has nourished family and friends for generations.
By Edie Clark|Dec 15 2010|
Coffee By Design | Portland, Maine
Photo Credit : Katherine KeenanYield:
Ingredients
Instructions
This is the best kale soup I have made or tasted. I live in a predominately Portuguese community and this recipe is better than I have had at our many Portuguese restaurants. Ruth is correct in the addition of the Bean with Bacon soup as it gives an added special flavor and richness. Thank you Ruth for this excellent recipe that I will made many times!
This soup is terrific. I’m no slouch at making soup myself but I have never made any like this. The first pot dissappeared too fast and I am making another one today. During a winter storm in upstate New York this warms the house and smells delicious. My thanks to Ruth for sharing this recipe with all Yankee readers.
I grew up in Foxboro, Mass, but now live in Marietta Georgia. When I was a child I loved
Kale soup. I haven’t tried this yet but will this weekend. It has been snowing down
here and it will be good to try some good Kale soup.
I’m going to make this soup form my playoff party on Sunday the temps are supposed to be in the negative numbers by nightfall. So even though the Patriots are out. My home will be warm and cozy with my family and this beautiful soup!!
I can’t believe how much kale 1# equals! When ripped into pieces, it completely fills my largest pot. What makes it worse is that I was doubling the recipe so I’m only 1/2 way through the shredding process. I could feed a couple hutches of rabbits for a week. Am I on track with all this kale? Thanks for your help!
I made this soup for my son and he (and I) loved it. My late neighbor, Mrs. Sousa, used to make this for Scott when he was young. Being English, I had never had this before and absolutely loved it. Mrs. O’Donnell’s soup is now a permanent fixture in our households! Thank you so much!
How about the flipper recipe? Would be great to have my family lined up for them!!
I grew up on portuguese kale soup!
Love Kale soup will try this recipe and the flippers too
I LOVE this soup! I make it with great northern beans and extra chicken broth. It is absolutely delicious!!
I was a Mommas boy, I used to watch and help my mom cook from as long as i can remember. those were some of the best memories as a kid, helping her cook and bake. Thank god before she got sick she wrote down some of our favorite recipes, as that is not easy because like Ruth said there are no recipes for those foods, a dash of this, a sprig of that, and a handful of something. You would be surprised how a bowl of your mom’s soup can transport you back to your childhood. I had a bowl of kale soup at the Lobster Pot in P-Town and it was awesome, but I’m sure Ruth’s recipe will be far superior to theirs! Thanks for sharing, Ruth!!!!
This is hands down not only the best soup I’ve ever made, it’s also so easy to make! It’s incredible! I lived on the cape for 8 years & had kale soup in P-town many times. This
Is even better!
just an update: My new favorite soup , second only to my moms soup, seing how we are italian I added a can of hunts petete chopped tomatoe, just to make it my own!
My mother-in-law came to Fall River, MA (large portuguese community) from the Azores in the early 1900’s. She made amazing Portuguese food, kale soup was a staple. I love to cook, and watched her intensely in the kitchen. I now live near Memphis, but I always have Chourico and Linguica on hand (mail order from Famous Foods ). This is very close to the way I make my Portuguese soup, and it is amazing, by far my favorite of all my soups. Ruth is a treasure, and I enjoyed her story almost as much as the soup
I am originally from Fall River, MA and I am Portuguese. I was raised on this soup also but we used Navy beans and split peas. Then added a soup bone with meat, potatoes, kale (or collards), minced garlic, minced onions and chourico, I now live in Texas and make it frequently for my family and friends, only thing is I have to order the chourico from Fall River. Everyone loves it. I was surprised to see only one person using white beans and no one using split peas. It thickens the soup just a little and makes it so tasty…try it…
Ciro and Sal’s!!!! My family were regular visitors to the Cape, and we loved Provincetown. Of course we had to eat at Ciro and Sal’s.
Provincetown, unsurprisingly, is also the first place I experienced (because it is a beautiful sensory and emotional experience) Portuguese Kale Soup it was a rainy cold day and we were walking along less familiar streets. We came across a tiny restaurant in what was a clapboard family house. We let the screen door shut behind us and were told to find an empty table. We all ordered bowls of the soup, which was a speciality. Heaven! The golden beautifully flavoured broth with kale, potatoes and linguisa. Mmmmm mmmmm. After that when ever I went to New Bedford or The Cape I’d keep an eye out for it. If it was a choice of Chowdah or Kale Soup – Kale Soup every time!