Love this copycat recipe for Olive Garden’s Zuppa Toscana Soup – tastes exactly like the real thing!
Zuppa Toscana Soup
Many years ago, my little brother found a recipe for Zuppa Toscana soup from Olive Garden. This soup is a family favorite whenever we visit Olive Garden and is something we all look forward to. After a few tweaks I think this soup tastes just like the real thing.
My older sister sends me a box of organic produce once a month. Last week it arrived and had a gorgeous bunch of kale in it and I knew just what to make. This is the perfect meal for a cool fall or winter day – sure to warm up your belly!
Directions:
Crumble the sausage onto a baking sheet. Bake the sausage in the oven at 300 degrees for about 30 minutes or until no longer pink. Place on paper towels to drain.
Cook the bacon and crumble into small pieces. I baked my bacon. Slice the potatoes between 1/8″ and 1/4″. I used the thick setting on my mandoline. Just make the slices about the same size so they cook evenly. Dice up the onion and mince the garlic. Throw the potatoes, onion, garlic, chicken broth, and water into a large pot on medium heat until the potatoes are cooked through.
Prepare the kale by chopping into bite sized pieces. Kale is wonderful for soups because it holds up to the heat so well. It’s also delicious! Add the sausage, bacon, red pepper flakes, and salt and pepper to taste. Simmer for another 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana Soup
Ingredients
- 1 lb Italian Sausage spicy if you prefer more heat
- 5-7 slices of bacon
- 5 medium russet potatoes
- 2 cups kale chopped
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1 qt water
- 28 oz chicken broth
- ½ large onion
- 2-3 cloves of garlic minced
- 2 tsp red pepper flakes
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Crumble the sausage onto a baking sheet. Bake the sausage in the oven at 300 degrees for about 30 minutes or until no longer pink. Place on paper towels to drain.
- Cook the bacon and crumble into small pieces. I baked my bacon. Slice the potatoes between ⅛ inch and ¼ inch thick. I used the thick setting on my mandolin. Just make the slices about the same size so they cook evenly. Dice up the onion and mince the garlic. Throw the potatoes, onion, garlic, chicken broth, and water into a large pot on medium heat until the potatoes are cooked through.
- Prepare the kale by chopping into bite sized pieces. Kale is wonderful for soups because it holds up to the heat so well. It’s also delicious!
- Add the sausage, bacon, red pepper flakes, and salt and pepper to taste. Simmer for another 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- During this time the potatoes will start breaking apart into smaller bite sized pieces because they are so tender. Turn the heat to low and add in the kale and heavy cream. Let the soup heat through and serve. We like to serve this soup with some grated Parmesan cheese on top. Delicious!
Nutrition
More dinners to love:
Cheesy Chicken Broccoli and Rice Casserole
20 Minute Skillet Chicken and Spinach Parmesan
Sara says
Love it! Little too spicy for my son, but I loved the kick that the red pepper flakes gave the soup. A definite do again for me and my hubby. Thanks for sharing.
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
That’s wonderful Sara! Thanks for stopping by!
Deanna says
Love, love, love this recipe!! I’ve made it a few times and each time it is thoroughly enjoyed by all! 🙂 Thanks for sharing.
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
So, so glad you enjoy this recipe Deanna!! Thanks for visiting!
pauline robitaille says
aAbsolutely as good if not better than Olive Garden. I added more kale to the recipe. My husband loved it.
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
Oh wow! Thank you Pauline!
Cammy Rigby says
How many servings does this yield?
Cammy Rigby says
Nevermind, saw your answer to another That it makes 6!
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
Great! Thanks Cammy!
Eden says
I made this soup for a potluck lunch at work and my co-workers loved it! It tastes just like the one at Olive Garden! I used spicy italian sausage but only one tbs of red pepper flakes since my colleagues cant handle the heat. I shared your website with everyone since it was such a hit! Thank you for this awesome recipe!
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
Thank you SO much Eden – just made my day 🙂 And thanks for sharing my site with your coworkers – love that!!
Danielle says
I Have to say that when I found this pinned on pinterest, I was so excited. I just finished making it and ate it with my family…. I am rather disappointed, it didn’t taste even close to the OG’s version. I’ll be making it again with this recipe as a base and changing some things to hopefully satisfy my craving for this yummy OG soup.
Thank you for posting the recipe though!
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
I’m glad you’re going to try again with some changes as suits your family Danielle. Good luck and thanks for stopping by!
Pyper says
I can’t wait to try this tonight. Question – if I use bacon crumbles, how much should I use? I have no idea how many 507 slices of bacon makes. Thank you!
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
That’s a great question! I would guess about 1/2 cup Pyper! Let me know what you think 🙂
Pyper says
I ended up just using bacon. It was delicious!! Thanks for a great recipe. My hubby and my kids loved it. But next time I will try the bacon crumbles. And I think you’re correct – a 1/2 c. should be about right.
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
So glad it worked out for you Pyper!
Nicole W says
I moved to The Netherlands 8 years ago and I miss Olive Garden Soups soooo much when I saw a friend of mine pin this IT was a no brainer to try it. I made this tonight and IT was Amazing!!! THANK YOU so much for this!! My picture did not look as lovely as the one on here, it was amazing anyway. I loved it so much! I KNOW I said that more then once but OMG! 😀
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
I loved reading your comment Nicole 🙂 I am SO glad you enjoyed the recipe! It’s a family favorite of ours FOR SURE. So glad you stopped by!
lydia d says
I make this soup a lot, my recipe is similar but I’ve been making it for years and have perfected it! One of the things I do is brown my onions and garlic in a little butter or olive oil first, then cook the sausage in that, then drain all the oil very well, Next I add my water and potatoes and let that boil until the potatoes are soft. I add quite a bit of parmesan cheese to the soup as it is cooking and it gives it AMAZING flavor. I add the cream and kale last. I use chicken bouillon instead of broth:)
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
Ooh that sounds so good Lydia – thanks for sharing!
Rachael E Howard says
So So So Good.
I Made It Vegetarian With Veggie Crumbles And A Cube Of Vegetable Bullion.
Excellent!
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
That’s awesome Rachel! So glad you enjoyed the recipe 🙂 Have a wonderful weekend!
Jessica says
I just made this for dinner for my fiance and he loves it! Thank you for this recipe, we will be making it again!
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
So glad you enjoyed the recipe Jessica! Have a great weekend!
Tiffany says
Hi! This is going to sound really dumb if someone’s already asked, but what size cans of broth do you use. I’m absolutely terrible at “winging” recipes; the very thought tends to leave me in a cold sweat. My boyfriend just loves this soup, and I would really like to make it for him.
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
That’s a great question Tiffany! They are 14 oz cans – just updated the recipe too! Thank you 🙂 So glad you’re giving this a try – you really can’t mess it up!
pmarieoc says
low fat options, evaporated 2% canned milk… all the creaminess less than a quarter of the calories and spicy italian turkey sausage…. lean and low fat! been making this version for a couple of year atleast once a week for some picky teenagers. i never have leftovers even though the recipe is doubled! good stuff!
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
Those are some seriously awesome substitutions – can’t wait to give them a try! Thanks so much for stopping by!
Zipzish says
My recipe is pretty much the same except I use skim milk. It works just as well. I did the cream the first couple of times, then wanted to make it one day and had everything but the cream, so I used the skim milk and liked it better. It also drops the calorie count significantly.
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
That’s great Karen! I’ve tried it that way too a couple of times just to cut out calories but I really do prefer it with a little cream 😉
Sarah @ Miss CandiQuik says
The ONLY soup I get at Olive Garden! Pinned – thanks for sharing 🙂