Caldo verde (Portuguese kale and potato soup)
50 min · 10 g protein · 279 cals / serving
Portugal's best-loved soup: a silky, garlicky potato broth with fine ribbons of dark green kale that stay bright and a little chewy, crowned with thin slices of smoky, paprika-red chorizo and a thread of good olive oil. Simple, cheap and wonderfully warming.
Ingredients
- 2 tsp olive oil
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, sliced
- 1 1/2 lb gold potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 3 1/3 cups water
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 2 oz spanish chorizo, cured chorizo or Portuguese chouriço, thinly sliced
- 1 large bunch kale, or collard greens, stems removed, sliced into very thin ribbons
To serve
- 1/2 tbsp olive oil, your best, to finish
Steps
- Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat and cook the onion and garlic 5 minutes until soft but not brown.
- Add the potatoes, broth, water, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and simmer 15–20 minutes until the potatoes fall apart when pressed.
- Meanwhile, fry the chorizo slices in a dry skillet 2–3 minutes until they curl and release their red oil. Set aside on paper towel.
- Blend the soup until completely smooth with a stick blender. Bring back to a simmer, add the kale ribbons and cook 4–5 minutes, until tender but still bright green. Taste for salt.
- Ladle into bowls, lay a few slices of chorizo on each and finish with a thin thread of olive oil.
Good to know
How thin should the kale be?
As thin as you can manage: roll a stack of leaves into a tight cigar and slice across it into fine threads. Thin ribbons cook in minutes and give the soup its classic look.
Vegetarian?
Use vegetable broth, leave out the chorizo and add 1 tsp smoked paprika with the onion for the smoky note. It comes out lighter, at about 90 instead of 84.
Can I make it ahead?
Make the potato base up to 3 days ahead or freeze it. Add the kale when you reheat, so it stays green.
Alternatives
Can't fill you up alone — pair it with protein.
Per
- Calories
- 47
- Protein
- (15%)
- 2 g
- Fat
- (36%)
- 2 g
- Carbohydrates
- (49%)
- 6 g
- of which sugar
- 1 g
- Fiber
- 1 g
- Sodium
- 188 mg
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Computed from the ingredients with our published formula, not yet kitchen-tested. How
As written, 1116 kcal goes into the pot and 2544 g of ingredients comes out as about 2350 g of food: 47 kcal per 100 g. Cooking moves water and energy density is the score's biggest lever, so the dish is scored as cooked, not as an average of its parts. Every ingredient links to its food page, with the same data and score. The label's percentages are each macronutrient's share of the calories. The full formula.