Craving a comforting bowl of soup on a chilly winter day? Try our easy copycat zuppa toscana, the popular item from Olive Garden, for a tasty treat!
If you are looking for more Italian-style soups, we think you'll love our Minestrone or our Sausage Gnocchi Soup.
About
Zuppa toscana roughly translates from Italian as "soup in the style of Tuscany." The classic version comes from the Tuscany region in Italy, and is made with veggies, cannellini beans, Italian bacon, and Tuscany bread, along with olive oil, potatoes, and spices.
The Americanized version, made popular by Olive Garden, omits the beans and bread, and adds Italian sausage, kale, and heavy cream.
Ingredients
Our copycat Zuppa Toscana recipe is made with pantry staples that are easy to find. Let's talk about some of the key ingredients.
- Meat: We used Italian sausage and bacon.
- Vegetables: We used onion, garlic, kale, and diced russet potatoes.
- Liquid: We used chicken stock but you could substitute it with vegetable stock.
- Spices: We used salt, black pepper, red pepper flakes, and Italian seasoning.
- Dairy: We used heavy cream and freshly grated Romano cheese.
How to Make
Gather all the ingredients for our copycat Zuppa Toscana soup. Chop the onion and bacon, then mince the garlic. Grate the cheese and measure out the spices and liquids.
- Fry the chopped bacon in a Dutch oven over medium heat until it's crisp. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon, and place it on a paper towel-lined plate.
- Cook the Italian sausage in 1 tablespoon of bacon grease over medium-high heat until all the pink is gone. Break up the sausage with a wooden turner, then drain.
3. Heat up 1 tablespoon of the bacon fat over medium-high heat, then saute the chopped onion until soft. Add the minced garlic and cook for a minute while constantly stirring.
4. To deglaze the pan, pour in ⅓ cup of chicken stock. Use a wooden turner to scrape the brown bits off the bottom.
5. Add the spices: black pepper, red pepper flakes, salt, and Italian seasoning, and let them bloom while constantly stirring for a minute.
6. Pour in the reduced-sodium chicken broth and the filtered water, then give your Zuppa Toscana a good stir.
7. Add the diced potatoes. Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for 15 minutes or until the potatoes are done.
If you want to thicken your pot of Zuppa Toscana, remove some of the cooked potatoes and mash them then add them back into the pot.
8. Add the chopped kale and cook over medium-low heat for 5 minutes. Stir the soup frequently to help release the starch from the potatoes.
9. Add the sausage. Pour in the heavy cream and add ⅔ of the crumbled bacon, reserving some for garnish. Let Zuppa Toscana heat through for 5 minutes, being careful not to boil the soup.
10. Stir the soup. Taste and adjust seasonings, if necessary. If you want, you can skim any fat from the sausage off the top of the soup with a large spoon.
Serve Zuppa Toscana warm with a garnish of crumbled bacon, grated Romano, and some freshly cracked black pepper.
Recipe FAQs
Zuppa Toscana is full of hearty, rich flavors including a smoky and savory flavor from the bacon and Italian sausage with a touch of spice from crushed red peppers. The aromatics and vegetables layer subtle flavors to the broth and the heavy cream and romano cheese added at the end adds rich, creamy flavor to each bite.
A 1 ¼ cup serving size contains 439 calories and 23.1g of carbs. This recipe is also high in protein and vitamins A and C. For more nutritional information, scroll to the bottom of the recipe card.
When the soup is stored properly immediately after cooking and cooling it will last up to four days.
Zuppa, the word for soup in Italian is pronounced zoo-pah.
Store
- Refrigerator: Once the Zuppa Toscana soup has cooled completely, you can store it in an airtight container for up to 4 days in the fridge.
- Freezer: If you are planning on freezing some of this soup, it's best to freeze it without the kale and heavy cream. Zuppa Toscana can be frozen for up to one month.
- Reheat: Return leftover soup to a pot over medium heat until heated through. If frozen, thaw overnight in the fridge. Reheat in a pot over medium heat, lower the heat to medium-low then add in the kale and cook for 5 minutes, then add in the cream and heat through.
Serve
- Bread: crusty Italian bread, rolls, or Olive Garden style bread sticks
- Salad: Caesar salad, cucumber salad, tomato salad, or a simple green salad
- Serve small portions as a side dish with a slice of Italian Easter Pie.
Variations
- Need Zuppa Toscana dairy-free? Use coconut milk or homemade cashew cream.
- Want this with no potatoes? Use bite-sized roasted cauliflower pieces.
- Want this spicy? Use hot Italian sausage and add more red pepper flakes.
- Need this vegan? Use 24 ounces of mushrooms, fennel, smoked paprika, and cashew cream or coconut milk.
- Want add-ins? Add gnocchi or tortellini to Zuppa Toscana
Expert Tips
- Use a little bacon grease when browning the Italian sausage and sauteing the onion.
- Deglaze the soup pot with some chicken stock.
- Build flavor by blooming the spices.
- Use mashed potatoes to thicken it.
- Use heavy cream for the creamiest Zuppa Toscana.
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Recipe
Zuppa Toscana
Ingredients
- 5 strips of bacon, cut in bite-sized pieces
- 2 tablespoons rendered bacon fat
- 1 pound mild Italian sausage, casings removed
- 2 cups white onion, chopped
- 2 tablespoons garlic, minced
- 6 cups low-sodium chicken stock
- 2 cups filtered water
- 4 cups russet potatoes, diced (2 lb)
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 4 cups fresh kale, packed
- 1 ½ cups heavy cream
- ¼ cup grated Romano cheese
Instructions
Zuppa Toscana Stovetop Version
- Fry the bacon pieces in a Dutch oven over medium heat until crispy. Drain the bacon on a paper towel-lined plate, and pour the fat into a small bowl.
- Add 1 tablespoon of bacon fat to the pot and cook the Italian sausage until no pink remains. Break up the meat into crumbles with a wooden turner. Drain to separate any fat and place the sausage on a paper towel-lined plate. Pour the sausage fat into a small bowl.
- Put one tablespoon of bacon fat in the pot over medium high heat. Saute the diced onion until soft, then add the minced garlic and cook until fragrant.
- To deglaze the pan, pour in ⅓ to ½ cup (80-120 ml) of chicken stock. Use a wooden turner to scrape the browned bits off the bottom of the pan.
- Add all the spices, stir, and cook for 30 seconds to one minute.
- Pour in the rest of the chicken stock and all the water, then add the diced potatoes. Stir well, cover the pot, and bring to a boil, then simmer for 15 minutes or until the potatoes are fork tender.
- Remove some of the potatoes and place in a large bowl. Mash the potatoes with a potato masher until smooth, then pour them back in and stir well. This will help thicken the broth.
- Add the kale and cook for 5 minutes or until wilted, stirring occasionally. Lower the heat and pour in the heavy cream, the Italian sausage, and most of the bacon. Stir well, and let it heat through for 5 minutes.
- Serve warm and garnish with grated Romano cheese and the remaining bacon.
Zuppa Toscana Crock Pot Version
- Follow steps 1 to 5 from above.
- Place the sauteed onion and garlic in a large crock pot, then add the chicken stock, water, and potatoes. Stir well, cover, and cook on low for 6 hours.
- Add the kale, cream, cooked sausage, and half of the crumbled bacon. Stir, cover, and cook on low for another 2 hours.
- Serve warm with grated cheese, and the reserved bacon.
Notes
- Use a little bacon grease when browning the Italian sausage and sauteing the onion.
- Deglaze the soup pot with some chicken stock.
- Build flavor by blooming the spices.
- Use mashed potatoes to thicken the soup.
- Use heavy cream for the creamiest soup.
Nutrition
Serving sizes and nutritional information are only an estimate and may vary from your results.
This recipe was originally published on December 22, 2017.
Alex
The sausage is chewy, and the bacon is so good! The soup has a hint of spiciness, and the potatoes are soft and add a nice flavor. The spinach in it is great, too. Delicious and magnificent!
Emma
So glad that you enjoyed the soup, Alex!
Beth
The potatoes and sausage and kale and soft and immersed in a creamy broth. The soup is a bit spicy and cheesy. The bacon is crunchy--overall, this is a delicious soup!
Emma
Glad you enjoyed this soup so much, Beth!