You can make Olive Garden’s most popular soup at home thanks to this Easy Zuppa Toscana Soup recipe! It comes together in one pot in about 45 minutes and tastes ultra creamy and comforting.
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Looking for a healthier option with just as much flavor? My Keto Zuppa Toscana Soup recipe swaps the potatoes for cauliflower, meaning less calories and carbs, and more vitamin K and C in every bowl. Yum!
Easy Copycat Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana Soup
It’s no wonder why Olive Garden’s most popular soup is Zuppa Toscana. Featuring a to-die-for chicken broth and heavy cream base, with Italian sausage, potatoes, and kale speckled throughout every bite, this Italian soup is known to be a deluxe comfort food!
The best part? You can make this recipe at home without missing out on the restaurant-quality flavors.
My Easy Zuppa Toscana Soup recipe comes together in about 45 minutes in only one pot on the stove. The fresh ingredients give it an enhanced flavor, especially when you add the crispy bacon and red pepper flakes on top. It’s way better than the restaurant version!
Watch How To Make Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana Soup
What is Zuppa Toscana?
Zuppa Toscana is a comforting Italian soup made with bacon, cream, sausages, chicken broth, potatoes, and kale. While the recipe traditionally comes from Tuscany, it’s a popular dish in Western countries thanks to the restaurant chain, Olive Garden, putting their own version on their menu. It’s their most popular soup!
Why is it called Zuppa Toscana soup?
The recipe was born in Tuscany, Italy and Zuppa Toscana directly translates to “Tuscan soup” in Italian. I’d say it’s the perfect name!
Ingredients and substitutions
- Bacon – The bacon is fried first, then used as a topping on the soup.
- Sweet onion
- Garlic
- Dried oregano
- Pork sausage – You need both ground pork sausage and mild pork sausage.
- Chicken stock – Try not to substitute this. The poultry flavors are herbaceous and soothing, which is what gives this comforting soup its charm!
- Kosher salt
- Red potatoes – I like making Zuppa Toscana soup with red potatoes because they hold their shape well after cooking. Russet potatoes or white potatoes also work well. And if you prefer to make this recipe without potatoes, feel free to swap them for roasted cauliflower instead.
- Lacinato kale – Curly kale will work just as well.
- Heavy cream – You can use whole milk instead or full fat coconut milk for a dairy free version. Just know that the finished result may not be as creamy or rich.
- Red pepper flakes – Zuppa Toscana isn’t spicy, but red pepper flakes added on top will add a subtle, yet welcome kick of heat.
How to make easy Zuppa Toscana soup
Cook the bacon pieces in a large soup pot or Dutch Oven over medium-high heat until crisp. Set the pieces aside when they’re done, but leave the bacon fat in the pot.
Next, turn the heat down slightly and add the onion. Cook until they’re beginning to brown, then add the garlic. Season with salt and oregano.
Add both kinds of sausages to the pot. Break them up with a wooden spoon and cook until they’re thoroughly browned.
Now you can add the potatoes and chicken stock. Bring the mixture up to a boil, then lower the heat and leave it to simmer. You’ll know it’s ready when the potatoes are fork tender.
To finish, take the soup off of the heat and stir in the heavy cream and kale. Ladle it into bowls, top with crispy bacon and red pepper flakes, and enjoy!
Frequently asked questions
Kale, potatoes, onions, and garlic give every bowl of Zuppa Toscana a boost of fiber, potassium, vitamins A, K, and C, and a variety of other vitamins and minerals. Chicken broth is great for your gut health and is full of anti-inflammatory properties.
Pork sausages are full of protein and B12, but they’re known to have excess amounts of saturated fat and nitrates. Heavy cream isn’t the most healthy ingredient either because it’s very high in fat. However, if you want to make your soup a little more healthy, you can switch the pork sausage for chicken sausage and use coconut milk or whole milk instead of cream.
Freshly baked bread or homemade focaccia can take every bowl of soup over the top. To make it a meal, serve it next to a few lighter sides, like kale caesar salad or pesto green bean salad.
The leftover soup will last for 3 to 4 days when kept in an airtight container in the fridge.
Yes, you can freeze Zuppa Toscana soup for about 1 month. The texture may be slightly different upon thawing but should go back to the creamy soup it once was when reheated (in a pot on the stove or in the microwave).
More copycat recipes to try
Making copycat restaurant recipes at home is so much fun because you get to control the flavors and ingredients in any way you want. They even taste better since the ingredients are extra fresh. Try them yourself:
- Starbucks Copycat Egg Bites (Instant Pot)
- Swedish Meatballs (IKEA Copycat)
- Trader Joe’s Chili Lime Chicken Burgers
Looking for more comforting soups?
Cozy up with a bowl of these creamy and comforting soup recipes:
- Chicken and Dumplings Soup
- Easy Cream Lasagna Soup
- Loaded Cauliflower Soup
- Sausage Tortellini Soup
- Fresh Tomato Bisque
Did you try this Homemade Zuppa Toscana Soup recipe? Let me know what you think in the comments below, or share a picture on Instagram! I love to share all of your recreations on my page.
Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana Soup
Ingredients
- 1 pound bacon, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1 medium sweet onion, finely chopped
- 6 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano
- 1 pound pork sausage
- 1 pound Italian mild pork sausage
- 64 oz chicken stock
- 3 teaspoons kosher salt, divided (more if needed)
- 3 medium red potatoes, cut into ½-inch cubes
- 1 bunch lacinato kale, stems removed and roughly chopped
- ½ cup heavy cream
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes, optional
Instructions
- In a large, heavy bottomed pot, cook the cut bacon pieces until crispy on medium-high heat for about 7-8 minutes. Once crispy, remove the bacon with a slotted spoon on a paper towel lined plate. Leaving the bacon grease in the pot.
- Turn the heat to medium and add the onions and cook until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Add in the garlic and cook for another 1 minute. Add a teaspoon of salt and the dried oregano.
- Now add both the sausages and 2 teaspoons of salt, break the sausage up with your wooden spoon, cook on high heat to brown for 5 minutes.
- Add the potatoes, then the stock. Bring to a boil and taste for seasoning,and cook for 10-12 minutes. Check the potatoes after 10 minutes, if not fully cooked add the additional 2 minutes.
- Whole soup is cooking, remove the kale off the stem and choose it roughly. Add to the soup and cook for an additional 5 minutes.
- Turn the heat off and stir in the heavy cream.
- Ladle the soup into bowls, top with crispy bacon and red pepper flakes if you like it spicy. Enjoy.
Suzzanne
This a great soup. I have made it once and am now making it a second time.
lena
This makes me so happy to hear Suzzanne. I love it too, so easy and delicious. Glad you enjoyed it as well.
Mary Caballero
Made this for the first time tonight! So good! Definitely better than Olive Garden. 1/2’d it for only 3 of us and it was perfect.
Anna Shapiro
This is so SO good. Made this for a family gathering and it was an absolute hit. It’s a childhood classic and I love that we can recreate this soup except the experience is totally elevated because we can make it with high quality ingredients.
lena
This makes me so happy to hear that, I love Zuppa, one of my favorite soups.
Kristen Ash
This was so so delicious! I made it for my dad and husband and they couldn’t say enough good things. This is a must make recipe!
Karyn Vorhees
This recipe was the perfect hearty soup for a chilly, rainy, fall night. We paired it with Lena’s Caesar Salad and a crisp, warm baguette. It was so delicious! My daughter even ate up all the leftovers the next day when she came home sick from school.
lena
So happy you loved the soup. Its truly one of those classics that is easy and delicious to enjoy at home.