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.
I have made this recipe many times & it always turns out delicious. I usually add more onion & garlic and today I added a few more spices, along with some spicy rub because the store didn’t have spicy sausage. This is one of my favorite soups. I make it at least several times a month. ❤️❤️❤️
We loved this! Tastes very authentic to the Olive Garden version my husband loves. I’ve never been a fan of kale, but you don’t even taste it in the soup. It was a pretty thin soup though so if you wanted it a bit thicker you could add a little cornstarch or flour to the broth.
Make this dairy free by adding a can (14 oz) of coconut milk! My friend LOVE this soup. I also add the Italian seasoning spice recipe from this site.
Delicious! I am so surprised how something so simple can taste so amazing! I did add a cup of shredded Italian cheese mix and a tsp of corn starch. It’s my new favorite recipe.
I absolutely love this recipe! I recommend the spinach and also I put stemless spinach in mine. I think it holds the flavor better.
Yummy. I always get the Zuppa Toscana at Olive Garden along with the salad and bread sticks. The best ever. My sister makes a very similar Zuppa to you BUT she also adds leftover mashed potatoes which is her secret and it thickens it just a bit.
I love this recipe. It is so delicious and easy to make. Great anytime!
Could you switch kale for spinich?
I’ve cooked this twice now and it’s delicious!
This was ridiculously good. Very easy to make and quick to the table. All of my family loved it and had seconds. I didn’t add the bacon, in my opinion, it didn’t need it. I used the spicy sausage, it added a good amount of heat without being too spicy. This will become a regular for us!
This is the copy cat recipe I’ve been looking for! I added the bacon when I added the potatoes and chicken stock, and added red pepper flakes while everything was simmering at the end. With those two additions, it tastes just like it used to when I worked at OG.
Would this soup work with russet potatoes? Looks delish. Thanks
This recipe is so good! I did add Italian seasoning for extra flavor and cooked the sausage in the bacon grease however I’m not sure either of these made much difference. I will be making this again soon!
I’ve made your recipe many times and it is always a hit. As a mater of fact, you are one of my go-to sites when searching for a recipe. Does this soup freeze well? I didn’t now if the potatoes would break down.
Thank you!
This is the best soup I’ve ever made! I did bear Italian sausage, spinach instead of kale and added chantrelle mushrooms. It was to die for! Definitely making again. Thank you so much 🧡
How many potato’s is that? Anyone know?
So excited for this recipe. Serving tomorrow but had to make ahead of time. One little taste and I felt like I was at OG. Perfect, thank you! Altho next time I would substitute spicy Italian sausage. 😋
This is delicious, hearty but hot heavy ,and perfect for a fall meal.
We’ve been making this soup in the Instant Pot for a few years and it’s amazingly delicious and so fast. Serve with a fresh baguette and we’re in heaven!
Hi Debbie! I’ve not tried it yet but curious if the potatoes cook fine (I don’t like them semi-raw or crunchy in soups) in only 10 minutes in the IP. I don’t usually cook potatoes in it and if I do, not for only 10 mins. Thanks!
This is so good! I used 1 pound of regular sausage and 1 pound of hot. Used the addition of Italian spices as suggested. The entire family loved it.
Can I use coconut milk for this
I love this recipe. I feed it to my family often. Can this soup be frozen? We often have leftovers and I am tired of them going to waste!
This comes out perfect every time! We like it better than the Olive Garden version. I double the amount of kale, add more potatoes, and use 8 cups of broth. I sometimes add red pepper flakes as well. Thanks for your recipe!
Question – in the intro before the recipe you mentioned that you used half and half instead of heavy cream, but the recipe then states heavy cream. Did you change your mind?
This was amazing! Can this be frozen?
I make this every other week and absolutely love it! I add tortellini noodles too and skip the bacon on occassion too – a fam favorite for sure!
This was so easy and tasted great!
I’ve made this recipe numerous times, and each time, there isn’t a drop left! Everyone loves this,and so do I! In fact, I just took a big pot of this soup off the burner about 5 minutes ago,and am waiting a bit for it to cool. It’s become a staple at my house. We love it!
Excellent recipe. I’ve made it many times. Delicious every time.
One note, the video shows adding water yet the ingredient list and the instructions don’t mention adding water. I never have added water and it seems fine.
This recipe is very easy to prepare and it has a great taste. 👍
Sooo yummy! Simple recipe with big flavor. Make this recipe, your tastebuds will thank you.
Can I substitute spinach for the kale.
Incredible! This soup is the epitome of comfort food. I had a mixture of yukon and red potatoes and used those, still excellent but I would definitely recommend sticking with the yukons. The texture is a lot better for soups!
Delicious and easy to make..
This is a regular recipe in our household now we love it!
This has now been added to the family favorites. So easy. Thank you for sharing
My family love’s this soup! Served with hot fresh Italian bread and freshly grated Parmesan. It’s delicious and easy.
Absolutely fabulous! I can’t even count how many times I’ve made it. I like to add a LOT more fresh kale, but this dish is SOOO GOOD! Try it out!
This soup was fantastic! In my opinion, it tastes even better than the original. It was quick and easy to prepare and cook. Overall, my family was satisfied and even had seconds!
I’m going to make this recipe.
Soooo good! No kale to be found so I substituted spinach.
Delish! We love spicy, so I used spicy Italian sausage and also added some red pepper flakes during simmer time. I added an extra handful of kale, too.
Thanks for sharing!
Definitely a keeper!
I have made this before and it was very good, but it’s been a year so looking at the recipe when I added the garlic, I saw a T which made me think tablespoon and I thought to myself that’s an awful lot of garlic. I made a double batch even reading over two or three times I did not catch the fact that it was a Tsp I’ve always seen teaspoons with a lowercase tsp my bad it’s a little bit more garlicky than it should be, but I added more heavy whipping cream. Hope that helps. If not, they’ll be no vampires at our house.
Delicious! Took a little longer for me to sauté the onions than what’s listed, but the soup turned out great! Thank you!
Delicious
I make this weekly throughout the cold months. This is the best recipe I have found for zuppa. I usually add a bit more kale, some fresh basil, Italian seasoning and sometimes red pepper flakes. You can also add paprika, but this is mostly for a nice deepness to the color. You can also substitute with spinach if that’s what you have on hand, BUT as is, this recipe is perfection
Great recommendation. Ive been making for about 15 years. You do what I do .
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!