It really is delicious, Annette – I just made it for dinner for my husband and me again last week, and we fell in love with it all over again! So yummy! As I mentioned in the article, leftovers reheat nicely (although the soup thickens a bit), so we enjoyed the extras, reheated throughout the rest of the week. Then, because we had to leave to go out of town, I also tried freezing the last couple portions. The frozen soup reheated ok (better than I’d expected, actually) – but it’s definitely a little better fresh. So, all of that is to say that one option is that you could use a full batch of soup for meal prep, so you have meals throughout the week or can even tuck a few portions in the freezer for super-quick meals later. Alternately, you definitely could reduce the amounts of ingredients called for, but I was trying to avoid leaving my readers with a partial, unused can of broth, tomato sauce, vegetable juice, and bag of tortellini. If you don’t mind being stuck pitching those (or have another use for them), then it would be no problem to make a smaller batch if you’d like. I hope all that helps – good luck, and I hope you adore this soup as much as my family does! ~Shelley

It is super delicious! And subbing out chicken sounds like a great idea — my only concern would be that you’ll be missing some of the tasty Italian spices from the sausage. But that’s an easy fix — just toss some Italian seasoning into the broth! Hope you enjoy! 🙂 ~Amy

Thanks so much, Karyl! This soup is great for using up old veggies — if you have a couple of extra things you think would be yummy in here milling around your fridge, feel free to toss them in too! That’s the beauty of soup, right? You can really put anything in, haha! ~Amy

Hi, Gunjan! I think that’s a great idea! My only concern would be that Italian sausage has tons of yummy Italian seasonings in it — so if you choose to use a different protein, you’ll miss out on a big part of the recipe’s flavor. Luckily, this is a simple fix — just toss some Italian seasonings into the broth! In terms of which protein to use, I can only recommend that you use your personal favorite. 🙂 I don’t usually use a ton of vegetarian substitutions, but I imagine almost any type would work just fine! Probably best would be a “meat” crumble or sausage substitute — but since this is a soup, the exact type you use shouldn’t really affect the outcome of the recipe! Hope this is helpful! Let us know what you end up using and how it turns out! 😀 ~Amy

Oh, no! Snow flurries in April does NOT sound like fun to me — but hopefully this soup can help warm you up a little bit! 😉 ~Amy

Thanks so much, Kelly! This soup is a great place to use up pretty much whatever veggies you may have on hand! Hope you enjoy! 🙂 ~Amy

You’re totally right, Stefani! It’s so easy to throw a bunch of healthy stuff into a soup — and so yummy, too! Hope you and your family enjoy! 🙂 ~Amy

Hi, Linda! I’m right there with ya — this soup is hearty enough to be good winter soul food, but also light enough to make for a tasty summer meal! Hope you enjoy! ~Amy