There were a few Portuguese soups that were staples during my childhood but this one - Caldo Verde - always felt like it was reserved for special occasions. Which is ironic because my grandfather talks about how he ate this soup for breakfast, lunch, and dinner when he was growing up and they didn't have much more! This vegan Portuguese collard soup recipe has a little twist on the original but gives me the same feeling as the soup I grew up with. It's:
Simple
Comforting
Less Than 10 Ingredients
Can Be Made For Less Than $10 Using Easy Homemade Broth!
And Gets The Smoky Flavour Of Chouriço... From Sun-Dried Tomatoes!
What Is Caldo Verde
Caldo Verde translates to "green broth" and is one of the most traditional Portuguese soups. Tia Maria's Blog has a great traditional recipe you can take a look at.
It is made up of Pureed:
- Onion
- Garlic
- And Potatoes
Filled out with:
- Thinly sliced collard greens.
- or couve which is a wild cabbage more similar to collard greens than kale in my mind but either could be used for this soup!
And topped with:
- Portuguese smoked sausage, chouriço.
- Traditionally 1-3 pieces of sliced chouriço garnish the top of the soup.
The Vegan Twist For This Portuguese Collard Soup
For this version, the one switch we make to this Portuguese collard soup recipe is that...
We swap the smoked chouriço with smoky sun-dried tomatoes!
Leite's Culinaria has a great blog post on the difference between Portuguese chouriço and Spanish or Mexican chorizo.
The chouriço that my grandparents make is seasoned with paprika (but much less than chorizo), garlic, red wine, and pimenta (a Portuguese hot red pepper sauce).
So for this simple smoky sun-dried tomato substitute... we use:
- Dry-packed sun-dried tomatoes for the chewiness (you can use oil-packed if that's what you have).
- Liquid Smoke for the smoky flavour.
- Smoked paprika for both that bit of heat and extra smoky flavour.
- And a splash of tamari or soy sauce (which can be optional) but boosts the savoury "meaty" flavour.
If liquid smoke or tamari are new ingredients for you; jump to the condiments section of our Pantry Tips to read a bit more about them! They are absolute flavour boosting staples for us that deliver great smoky, "meaty", savoury flavour.
Other Ingredients For This Easy Collard Soup
The beauty is really in the simplicity of this soup. It's hearty, comforting, and made of only a few ingredients.
- Potatoes (the smaller you can dice them the quicker they cook)
- Diced yellow onion
- 2 cloves of garlic, roughly minced
- Vegetable broth (using homemade veggie scrap broth saves us CAD $6 for this soup recipe!)
- Collard Greens (or use kale, the leaves will just look curly instead of straight slivers).
How To Slice Collard Greens or Kale
The thick stem of the collards or kale is not used for this recipe so to start:
- Slice the leaf away from the thick stem by making a "V" shaped cut and pulling the stem away.
- Reserve the stem for another use! I like to dice them up and add them to pastas, curries, tofu scramble, other soups etc. You can even freeze them and use them later OR add them to your veggie scrap bag for homemade vegetable broth!
- If any of the leaves are really wide you can slice them in half lengthwise so that the finished strips aren't too long.
- Stack multiple leaves on top of one another and even roll them into a cigar shape to slice multiple at a time.
- You can slice them even thinner than I did for these photos if you can!
How To Make This Vegan Portuguese Collard Soup
Once your potatoes and onion are peeled and diced, make your smoky sun-dried tomatoes!
- Add a splash of oil, water, or broth to a large pot over medium heat.
- If your sun-dried tomatoes are oil-packed you can omit this extra oil.
- Toss in your flattened sun-dried tomatoes then splash in the seasonings and cook for 2-3 minutes to infuse them with that flavour.
- Remove them from the pot and set aside.
To the same pot...
- Saute the onion and garlic for 3 minutes or so. Season with salt and pepper.
- Add the diced potatoes and vegetable broth.
- Bring to a boil.
- Reduce the heat and simmer for 6-10 minutes until the potatoes are soft and break apart with a fork.
Now for the blending...
- Use an immersion blender to puree the soup OR...
- Allow the soup to cool enough to transfer it carefully to a stand up blender. Make sure your blender can process hot liquids and blend in batches so as not to overfill it! OR...
- Keep the soup chunky and proceed to adding the collards. It won't look like the traditional but it will still be a tasty soup.
Finish it up...
- Add the sliced collard greens and allow to cook and soften for 5-10 minutes.
- Carefully taste and adjust the salt level if you'd like. *I tend to use more salt in this soup than I normally use because there are no other prominent spices and the traditional soup does tend to have a saltier taste.
- Serve the soup by ladling into bows and top with a few pieces of smoky sun-dried tomato chouriço!
Recipe Cost
In keeping with this recipe being a simple, cost effective soup we love to keep tons of flavour but cut the cost by using our nearly free homemade vegetable broth!
*If you've never collected your veggie scraps to make broth with them check out our blog post and video for inspiration. This is a thrifty habit that we started during the 2020 pandemic and we won't stop!
Using our homemade broth this vegan Portuguese collard soup costs us approximately: CAD $9.16 for 6 large portions.
Traditionally, water is used and can be flavoured by either adding a piece of chouriço while the soup boils OR tossing in chicken or pork bones. So to keep this recipe under $10 you can use water instead of store-bought broth and lose just a bit of flavour.
Using store-bought broth brings our cost up by about $6 to $15.24.
*The dry-packed sun-dried tomatoes and the smoky seasonings cost us roughly CAD $3.18 which is maybe slightly more but quite similar in price to the traditional chouriço.
Let us know in the comments below if you have had Caldo Verde before and if you will be giving this recipe a try!
Make sure to take a look at the other vegan Portuguese recipes I've had fun reimagining from my childhood! Did you know I have a vegan Portuguese ebook with 25 vegan Portuguese recipes? Head to our shop to get a copy!
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Vegan Portuguese Caldo Verde - Easy Collard Soup
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
- Diet: Vegan
Description
An easy Portuguese soup; with a twist! Smoky sun-dried tomato subs in for the traditional chouriço in this vegan Portuguese collard soup!
Ingredients
For the sun-dried tomato “chouriço” (see notes for another alternative)
- ½ tbsp olive oil
- 85g sun-dried tomatoes (dry-packed is best but can use oil-packed)
- ½ tsp tamari or soy sauce (can omit, or use a splash of red wine)
- 1 tsp liquid smoke
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
For the soup:
- ½ tbsp olive oil (or broth/water)
- 1 medium yellow onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- ½ tsp salt
- ⅛ tsp black pepper
- 4 cups peeled and diced yellow flesh potatoes (5-6 potatoes)*
- 8 cups vegetable broth (homemade for extra savings! See notes)
- 1 bunch collard greens (leaves only, thinly shredded)*
*Fresh Ingredients you need that are not part of our pantry and freezer tips.
Instructions
- Start by peeling and dicing your potatoes. The smaller you dice them the quicker they will cook. Dice your onion and flatten the sun-dried tomato pieces if they are all curled up. If your sun-dried tomato is oil-packed you can omit the ½ tablespoon olive oil, drain the excess oil off the sun-dried tomatoes, and flatten them with a spoon when you add them to the pot in the next step.
- To a large pot over medium low heat add ½ tablespoon olive oil if using. Add in the sun-dried tomato pieces and let them cook for a minute. Add in the tamari, liquid smoke, and smoked paprika. Cook, stirring, for another 2 minutes to fully coat the pieces and infuse that flavour. Remove the seasoned sun-dried tomato “chouriço” from the pot and set aside. (It’s ok if the bottom of the pot has become dry and the seasonings a little stuck, that will infuse the soup with more flavour and come loose in the next step).
- To the same pot, add a splash more oil (or broth/water) and saute the onion and garlic for 3-4 minutes until softened and fragrant. Season with salt and pepper (I tend to be a little more generous with salt for this recipe as there are no other prominent spices. The traditional soup tends to have a saltier flavour).
- Add the diced potatoes and vegetable broth. Raise the heat and bring the soup to a boil. You can cover the pot to speed up the process, just make sure to watch it closely. Once boiling, lower the heat to a simmer and cover with the lid. Simmer for 6-10 minutes until the potatoes are tender and break apart when pierced with a fork.
- Shred your collard greens while the potatoes are cooking. Cut the leaves away from the thick stem (make sure to reserve the stem and use it diced up in another recipe!). If any of the leaves are really wide you can slice them in half lengthwise so that your shredded pieces aren’t too, too long. You can stack the leaves on one another and roll them up, then slice them as thinly as you can. This way you don’t have to slice each leaf individually.
- When the potatoes are cooked, puree the soup with an immersion blender or allow it to cool enough to add to your stand up blender (in batches if needed). Return the soup to the pot if you had removed it and bring it back up to a simmer.
- Stir in the thinly shredded collards and cook for 5 - 10 minutes to soften the greens. Carefully taste the soup and adjust the salt level if desired.
- To serve, spoon the soup into bowls and top with a few pieces of your reserved smoky sun-dried tomatoes (traditionally there are only 1-3 pieces of chouriço per bowl).
- *If storing leftovers, you can keep the tomatoes separate so that the tomato flavour doesn’t infuse the soup as it sits... but, if you want a bit of tomato flavour and softer sun-dried tomato chouriço, add it in!
- Keeps well for 3-4 days in the fridge.
Notes
Approximate Cost: CAD $9.16 ($1.53/serving) using easy homemade vegetable scrap broth. Using store-bought broth adds roughly $6 bringing the cost to CAD $15.24. Collect your vegetable scraps, freeze them, and when you have enough, boil with water for 30 minutes, strain, and enjoy your flavourful homemade veggie broth!
Feel free to use kale or another sturdy leafy green for this recipe!
If you prefer to avoid the salt in the sun-dried tomatoes, use red kidney beans for that pop of red the traditional chouriço gives the soup!
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 35 minutes
- Category: Soup
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Portuguese
Marissa Laubscher
I had collard greens wilting in my fridge that I needed to cook up and my mouth started watering when I found this recipe. I had all the ingredients in my pantry EXCEPT for liquid smoke which I substituted with some sauce from my can of chipotle peppers in adobo which was tasty. I was pleased with how simple this recipe was to make but how unique the flavors turned out. I want to try ALL of the recipes on this blog now.
Kathryn Alexandre
This is so great to hear! I'm glad you found this recipe and gave it a try! The adobo sauce is a perfect substitute for liquid smoke, good call! Keep letting me know what you try and I hope you like some more recipes you find here.
Marie Thomson
first off, found your recipe via Google search. i didn't follow precisely, i used a large can of Glory Foods seasoned collard greens (hard to find even in the US but its a southern brand, so good! my go to all the time bc im too lazy to use fresh greens). i also left my potatoes al dente then used a masher to make little chunks (again, i was being lazy, or shall i say, expedient, heehee). i didn't have liquid smoke and like the above commenter used adobo peppers (great minds think alike!). i like spicy so i chopped three, yes, three. lastly i added a can of cannellini beans for a bit of protein. the result is nothing less than delicious. definitely adding this to my soup repertoire. and will peruse your website for other tasty soups.
Kathryn Alexandre
haha I love the addition of cannellini beans for protein! Sometimes I toss in kidney beans instead of the sun-dried tomato for the pop of red colour. I'm so glad you found my recipe and made it work for you! Thank you so much for letting me know and I hope you find some other recipes on my blog that you want to try! Keep me posted!