Winter always puts my family in the mood for hearty soups. And I love soups I can make without having to run to the store — so when Cans Get You Cooking asked me to share a recipe, I knew I needed to share one of my favorites!

This is my go-to recipe. It’s my daughter’s favorite! She asks for it every week. What I love about it is that I can make it largely from what I already have in my pantry – or “cantry” (can+pantry), even without the fresh ingredients. (I can get at least three batches from a large bag of potatoes!

Most of its key ingredients are healthy, nutritious — and from cans. That makes homemade soup easy – and healthy!

Here’s the recipe, and some options for making it vegetarian:

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Favorite Slow Cooker Recipe: Tuscan Potato Soup!

Ingredients

• 1 lb spicy Italian sausage
• 1 lb ground regular Italian sausage removed from casings
• 1/2 red onion diced
• 2 cloves garlic diced
• 115- oz can crushed tomatoes or two 8-oz cans
• 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
• 1 or 2 cans of corn to taste and what your crockpot allows
• 1 can spaghetti sauce
• 8 small red or Yukon gold potatoes cut into quarters - or large bite size. I leave them unpeeled
• 4 stalks celery diced
• 4 bay leaves
• Canned chicken stock 2-4 cups
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• Sour cream shredded cheese, chives or herbs for garnish
• Your favorite bread to serve with the soup
• Note: you can create a vegetarian version of this recipe by substituting meatless sausage or omitting the sausage and adding more vegetables. Since the Italian sausage adds flavor you may want to add more seasoning if you omit the sausage.

Instructions

• I used a 4 1/2-quart slow cooker; you can adjust your ingredients depending on how many you need to serve and the size of your slow cooker. This recipe is very adaptable - feel free to experiment.
• Brown the sausage, onion and garlic until cooked through. Transfer to slow cooker.
• Add the tomatoes, corn, spaghetti sauce, Italian seasoning, potatoes, celery, bay leaves, salt and pepper.
• Add chicken stock until your slow cooker is nearly full.
• Cook 4 hours on high or 6 hours on low.
• Serve garnished with sour cream, cheese and herbs (I used rosemary sprigs).
• You may also want to serve with some tasty bread and butter.
• Enjoy!

It’s a great recipe for winter meals. I like it even better warmed up the next day!

For more ideas and recipes, including a cool Cooking Channel special, visit Cans Get You Cooking at:

• Cans Get You Cooking Website: CansGetYouCooking.com
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• Twitter: Twitter.com/CansGetUCooking
• Pinterest: Pinterest.com/CansGetUCooking
• YouTube: YouTube.com/CansGetYouCooking

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Bonus: Here are some of my other favorite slow cooker recipes (that just might also use cans :))!

Slow Cooker Posole soup

Slow Cooker Pumpkin Chili

 Slow Cooker Tandoori Chicken

and then even more:

 30 Crockpot Chicken Recipes!

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What’s your favorite winter slow cooker recipes?

xoxo

This post sponsored by Cans Get You Cooking and Mom it Forward. The recipe and opinions are all mine. See my disclosures.

The post Favorite Slow Cooker Recipe: Tuscan Potato Soup! appeared first on Tatertots and Jello.