Description
This Zuppa Toscana recipe (inspired by the classic dish at The Olive Garden) is easy to make, full of the most delicious zesty Italian flavors, and it’s so cozy and comforting!
Ingredients
Scale
- 1 pound ground Italian sausage (I recommend spicy)
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 medium white onion, peeled and diced
- 1.5 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes, diced
- 5 to 6 cups chicken stock
- 2 to 3 cups chopped fresh kale
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- fine sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper
- 6 pieces bacon, cooked and crumbled
Instructions
- Cook sausage in a large stockpot over medium-high heat until browned and cooked through, breaking the sausage into small pieces as it cooks. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the cooked sausage to a separate plate, reserving 1 tablespoon grease in the stockpot for later*, and discarding the excess grease. (I actually like to briefly rinse my cooked sausage in a strainer to remove even more excess grease.) Set aside.
- Add onions to the stockpot (with the grease), and sauté for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add garlic, and sauté for 1 minute, stirring occasionally. Add the potatoes, chicken stock, and cooked sausage, and continue cooking until the mixture reaches a simmer. Reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer for 10 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender. Stir in the kale and cream, and simmer for an additional 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Serve warm, garnished with the bacon bits.
Notes
Slow Cooker Version:
- Cook sausage in a large stockpot over medium-high heat until browned and cooked through, breaking the sausage into small pieces as it cooks. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the cooked sausage to a separate plate. (I actually like to briefly rinse my cooked sausage in a strainer to remove even more excess grease.) Set aside.
- Add cooked sausage, garlic, onion, potatoes, and chicken stock to a slow cooker, and stir to combine. Cover and cook on low heat for 6-8 hours, or on high heat for 3-4 hours, until the potatoes are tender. Stir in the kale and cream, and simmer for an additional 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Serve warm, garnished with the bacon bits.
Instant Pot (Pressure Cooker) Version:
- Press the “Sauté” button on your Instant Pot. Add the Italian sausage, and sauté until browned and cooked through, breaking the sausage into small pieces as it cooks. Press “Cancel” on the Instant Pot. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the cooked sausage to a separate plate, and drain and discard the excess grease in the Instant Pot. (I actually like to briefly rinse my cooked sausage in a strainer to remove even more excess grease.)
- Add cooked sausage, garlic, onion, potatoes, and chicken stock to the bowl of the Instant Pot, and stir to combine.
- Press “Manual”, then press “Pressure” until the light on “High Pressure” lights up, then adjust the +/- buttons until time reads 10 minutes. Cook. Then very carefully, turn the vent to “Venting” for quick release, and wait until all of the steam has released and the valve has dropped. Remove the lid.
- Stir in the kale and cream, and simmer for an additional 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Serve warm, garnished with the bacon bits.
*Stovetop Version: If you would rather not sauté the onions in the grease, you can sub in 1 tablespoon olive oil instead.
Can you freeze the leftover soup?
AH-Mazing! Exactly what I had been craving. After I asked the husband, is it a keeper recipe? And he said o ya, that was so good. Thanks for this recipe!
I am anxious to try this, but was wondering about subbing in baby spinach or broccoli for the kale, and thinking of adding some carrots and cauliflower??? Rebecca in high point. North Carolina
I need a copycat recipe for Panera’s Fall Squash Soup.
Can anyone help me?
I can’t believe I can say, “I made this”! It was so easy and it tastes fantastic! My 3yo had such a great time helping me add all of the ingredients to the crockpot and pushing the buttons to turn it on. 4 hours later, it was ready to eat! So simple! Thanks for bringing my family together with this awesome recipe. We will be making this again and again!
This was delicious. It is a keeper. Thanks.
Turned out amazing 👏
Very good and so easy to put together! I used sweet Italian sausage because my grandchildren were here and they don’t like the spicy hot version. After it was all put together, I took out servings for them and added some red pepper flakes to the rest and let them finish cooking separately. Everyone was happy!
This is so easy and just so amazingly good! I use pork breakfast sausage because we don’t like Italian, but this is so delicious. I highly recommend using the white onion as specified. It makes a difference.
Great recipe! I used ground turkey instead of pork and seasoned it with Italian seasoning. While family ate it and said they can’t wait for leftovers.
I love this soup…so good, and really easy to make!!!
Can frozen kale be substituted for fresh?
Made this today. My daughter doesn’t like ground meat so I took the left Turkey and made broth. Followed the sir except substituting the Italian sausage for the leftover turkey and I added turkey sausage. It’s delicious !!!!😋
Made this weekend on the stove and it was delicious. I had mushrooms so I added them.
This soup was the best!! Thank you for sharing!!!!!
Thank you for this! I don’t normally comment …I’ve actually made this 3 or 4 times & I’m making it again now, tonight in my instapot. The house smells awesome and with the small substitutions of Italian turkey sausage & half & half it’s waistline friendly.
This soup is SO GOOD!!! I added two extra cups of broth and used 3 cups of kale. It was a hit with the family!!
This looks so delicious. I’m making a pot now. My granddaughter gave me the recipe. She said it’s very good.
I made it and loved every morsel of it! Will be making again 😋
I made this it is so good taste just like it should , I added some fresh grated parm on top! Perfection!!!
This is a repeat recipe in my house, it is SO good. The broth is like liquid gold. I use spicy sausage and I add red pepper flakes to taste because I like a little more heat. It’s so easy to put together and is a hit every time I make it!
Yes I loved this soup so much taste exactly like the original soup, I used to go to my great grandmother’s house and she would make this she knew the founder of olive garden and she actually was one of their first cooks so she knew this recipe by hart, loved it growing up!! But when I make I all ways use my homemade spices that I make and sell on karenscookslard.www try it out anyway this is Karen and if you heard it from Karen you heard it best 😉
When do you put the bacon in? At the last?
I was going by the written instructions and didn’t add bacon until I went back up to ingredients and had to thaw out my bacon and cook it after my soup was done. I hope that’s ok.
Honestly I’ve never had any soups at Olive Garden but this happens to be the trend this year. ( 2025) so I hopped on. The soup is delicious. I couldn’t find Kale so I used collard greens. I will definitely make this again. I made home made rolls with mine and a salad. :) Thanks for the recipe. :)
The recipe is missing instructions for the bacon. It’s listed in the ingredients but never mentioned in the procedure.
The recipe says “6 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled” in the ingredient list. So you just cook them however you wish. I’m making this now and I stuck them in the oven because I had something else in there already. 15-20 minutes at 350.
If you would like low carb, sub cauliflower for potatoes. It’s very good.
Ohhhh my gawsh delicious!!!! Recipe is perfect!!! Thank you!!! Husband doesn’t like kale so I substituted spinach. But that’s just personal preference.. Recipe is flawless. I didn’t use heavy cream because I only had half-and-half and it’s still turned out amazing, along with the broth. I literally have no need to go to Olive Garden anymore lol
Amazing recipe! It’s easy, it’s delicious and it tastes just like the zuppa from Olive Garden. That soup, plus salad, is my go-to order at OG, because I’m gluten free and those are sure to be okay for me. I was hungry for it and looked for a copycat recipe, and this is exactly right! I love it. I followed the recipe exactly (well,mostly –
the only exception was I added a few chopped mushrooms that I needed to use up). It’s perfect.
I want to make this for a family soup potluck. How is it reheated? As we can’t all use the stove it’d be easier to reheat for the event.
it’s amazing this is my 33 time making it
My entire house smells wonderful. I tasted it, it doesn’t have the cream or the kale in it and it tastes delicious already. I’m taking it to an Italian theme dinner and can’t wait to share it.
Thank you.
This is a wonderful recipe. It’s easier than others I’ve seen. I use mild and spicy Italian turkey sausage. It is so tasty. My family and friends love it. I make it a least once a month. It’s now my fav soup. Thanks so much!!😋
Delicious and SO easy. I followed the recipe exactly, and literally have nothing to critique. So, so good!
Delicious. I used 1/2 sweet Italian sausage and 1/2 hot Italian sausage. Would like this a little less watery so added some cornstarch to the cream. Still yummy
I actually thought this was even better than OG!
Added one pound of mild and one pound of spicy sausage and kept everything else the same. This is definitely a keeper.
Where does the bacon go?
Sooooo good! Making it again because we (my husband and 94 y/o mom and myself) in spite of the 91 degree heat outside! I highly recommend to ALL! So much flavor and so simple. Most of my soups take half a day to make, but, you only need an hour or so to complete. I added more chicken stock than suggested, a little more bacon…oh yeah! And a little more kale. I’ve also substituted fresh spinach and is just as good! Love it! ♥️
This is so delicious, it was my first time making this Olive Garden Soup, (I usually make their Pasta E Fagioli Soup) Zuppa Toscono is a keeper and it’s a favorite of my husband. Thanks.