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    You are here: Home / Recipes / Soup and Stew

    Copycat Zuppa Toscana

    Published: Oct 12, 2021 by Susie Weinrich · This post may contain affiliate links. Leave a Comment

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    Zuppa Toscana is a great copycat soup recipe made popular by the restaurant Olive Garden. It is a one-pot soup loaded with sausage, potatoes and kale. It makes an excellent dinner soup and can be made on your stove top, in the Instant Pot or Slow Cooker!

    copycat zuppa toscana in a bowl with bread to the side

    When I am short on time I like to make this Zuppa Toscana in my Instant Pot!

    Table of Contents hide
    1 What is Zuppa Toscana
    2 Ingredients
    3 Step by Step Picture Instructions
    4 Thickening The Zuppa
    5 Instant Pot Directions
    6 Slow Cooker
    7 Serving
    8 Storing & Reheating
    9 Recipe Tips
    10 Other Great Soup Recipes
    11 Did you make this recipe?!
    12 Copycat Zuppa Toscana Recipe

    What is Zuppa Toscana

    Zuppa Toscana translated from Italian means Tuscan Soup. It is Pronounced “zoo-pah toe-skaw-nah”.

    It is a broth based soup that is full of Italian Sausage, Potatoes, and Kale. The soup was made popular by the chain restaurant Olive Garden in the United States.

    Ingredients

    It doesn’t take a lot of ingredients to make Zuppa Toscana!

    ingredients for zuppa toscana on a table with text overlays

    Sausage – use what your family likes, any crumbled Italian sausage will work; pork, turkey, mild, sweet, or spicy.

    Potatoes – a russet potatoes holds up best in this soup recipe, although others will work too; Red or Yukon.

    Kale – make sure to remove the hard stem pieces from the kale, those will not soften in the soup. Only use the leaf portions and chop those into bite sized pieces. You can also buy bags of kale that are already processed and ready to use (near the packaged salads at your grocery store).

    Step by Step Picture Instructions

    Copycat Zuppa Toscana is pretty easy to make, the majority of the work is slicing the potatoes and then waiting for them to boil. If you have a mandolin, it makes quick work of the potato prep!

    Start by crumbling and cooking the sausage in a large pot. Add the onions and garlic and soften for another 5 minutes.

    sausage, onion and garlic in a pot

    Drain any excess grease.

    Pro Tip: push the meat and onions to one side of the pot, tip the pot up and let the grease drain to the empty side of the pot. Mop it up with paper towels being held with tongs. Discard the paper towels and move on to the rest of the recipe!

    Add the broth and scrape up any browned bits on the bottom of the pot. This is called deglazing and will add amazing flavor to your broth.

    broth, potatoes, sausage and onions in a pot

    Add the potatoes and bring to a boil and then reduce the heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes, until the potatoes are fork tender but not falling apart.

    Add the cream and kale, simmer for another 5 minutes.

    kale and cream added to zuppa toscana in a large pot

    Taste for additional seasonings – salt, red pepper flakes and pepper.

    Thickening The Zuppa

    This is absolutely a broth-ey soup. If you prefer something a little creamier you can do one of two things:

    1. Mix 2 tablespoon corn starch with 2 tablespoon cream and add it to the soup at the end. Let it simmer for about 5 minutes and it will thicken nicely.
    2. OR reduce the broth to 5 cups, and then at the end increase the cream to 2 cups.

    Instant Pot Directions

    If you would rather make this soup in your Instant Pot you can pop over to this recipe for Instant Pot Zuppa Toscana.

    Slow Cooker

    You can absolutely make this Zuppa Toscana in your Slow Cooker! I have included all the instructions in the recipe card below.

    Serving

    Just like at Olive Garden this soup is PERFECT served with warm bread or bread sticks and a big veggie filled salad.

    a big pot of copycat Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana

    To recreate the bottomless soup, salad and breadsticks from Olive Garden here are the other copycat recipes you need:

    • Copycat Olive Garden Salad and Dressing
    • Copycat Olive Garden Breadsticks

    Storing & Reheating

    Store any leftover soup in the fridge in a covered container. It will be good for up to 5 days. To reheat simply warm on the stove top or microwave individual bowls for a minute or two.

    I do not recommend storing this soup in the freezer, the milk content tends to separate in the freezer.

    Recipe Tips

    • Taste the soup before you add salt! The sausage and chicken broth both have salt content.
    • Make sure to drain some of the sausage grease before adding the broth.
    • Cook the potatoes until they are fork tender, but not until they are falling apart.
    • Use the sausage you like – mild, sweet, spicy, turkey. They all work.
    • Make it extra spicy by adding an extra helping of red pepper flakes.
    • A mandolin slicer makes really quick work of the potato prep. I have the OXO Simple Mandolin, it is under $40 and a great investment!

    Other Great Soup Recipes

    • Creamy Red Potato Soup
    • Creamy Chicken Stew and Dumplings
    • Instant Pot Coq Au Vin

    Susie Weinrich washing produce

    Did you make this recipe?!

    If you make this recipe I would love to hear your review. Pop down to the comment section and connect with me.

    Then sign up for our Weekly Newsletter so you never miss a new recipe!

    Rate This Recipe
    a bowl of zuppa toscana with a spoon

    Copycat Zuppa Toscana Recipe

    A great Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana copycat recipe, just like the popular restaurant version, but made in one-pot at home! It is loaded with potatoes, sausage and kale.
    5 from 1 vote
    Print Pin Rate SaveSaved to Grow
    Prep Time: 15 minutes
    Cook Time: 45 minutes
    Total Time: 1 hour
    Servings: 6 people
    Calories: 559kcal
    Author: Susie Weinrich

    Ingredients

    • 1 lb Mild Italian Pork Sausage (sweet, hot, even turkey sausage- whatever you prefer)
    • 1 tablespoon oil
    • 3 plump garlic cloves minced
    • 1 yellow onion chopped
    • 3 cups russet potatoes peeled, halved lengthwise, then sliced ¼ – ½ inch thick
    • 6 cups chicken stock
    • 3-4 cups fresh kale chopped hard stem pieces removed
    • 1 cup heavy whipping cream
    • salt to taste TASTE THE SOUP BEFORE SALTING
    • pepper and red pepper flakes to taste
    Prevent your screen from going dark while you are cooking!

    Instructions

    • Place a large pot over medium heat. Add the olive oil and crumble/brown the sausage for about 5 minutes.
    • Add the onions and garlic and soften for about 5 minutes.
    • Drain most of the grease.
      Pro Tip: Push all the sausage/onions to one side tip the pan up and let the grease drain to one side of the pot. Sop it up with a couple paper towels being held with tongs. Discard the paper towels.
    • Pour in a little chicken broth and scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the pot. Pour in the remaining broth.
    • Add the peeled and sliced potatoes and turn the heat to high and bring the pot to a hard simmer/boil.
    • Reduce the heat to medium/low and simmer for 30 minutes.
    • Turn the heat to low and add in the kale and cream. Keep on the heat for another 5 minutes.
    • Taste for seasoning (salt, pepper, red pepper flakes) and then serve!

    …Or Use The Slow Cooker Directions

    • In a large sauté pan on the stove top, over medium heat, cook and crumble the sausage. Add the onions and garlic and saute for another 5 minutes.
    • Pour the sausage mixture into the bottom of your slow cooker.
    • Add in the peeled and diced potatoes and chicken stock.
    • Cook on high for 3-4 hours or on low for 5-6 hours, until the potatoes are fork tender.
    • Pour in the cream and add the kale. Cook for another 10 minutes.
    • Taste for seasonings (salt and red pepper flakes).

    Serving

    • Just like at Olive Garden, this goes great with some warm bread sticks or ciabatta bread, and a big veggie salad!
      Pop down to the notes section for links to Olive Garden Copycat Breadsticks and Salad!

    Storing

    • Store leftovers in the fridge for up to 5 days.
      I do not recommend freezing this soup due to the milk content.

    Notes:

    Instant Pot – Pop over to this recipe for How To Make Zuppa Toscana in your Instant Pot
    For a thicker soup use one of these two options:
    • Mix 2 tablespoon corn starch with 2 tablespoon cream and add it to the soup at the end. Let it simmer for about 5 minutes and it will thicken nicely.
    • OR reduce the broth to 5 cups, and then at the end increase the cream to 2 cups.
    Make it a Copycat Meal:
    Copycat Olive Garden Breadsticks
    Copycat Olive Garden Salad and Dressing
    Did you try this recipe? Connect with me & let me know how it turned out by commenting below!
    Jump to Comments
    Serving: 1serving | Calories: 559kcal | Carbohydrates: 28g | Protein: 22g | Fat: 40g | Saturated Fat: 17g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 5g | Monounsaturated Fat: 16g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 116mg | Sodium: 857mg | Potassium: 979mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 3995IU | Vitamin C: 48mg | Calcium: 107mg | Iron: 3mg

    If nutrition facts are provided they are calculated as an estimate to the best of our knowledge.

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    About Susie Weinrich

    Susie Weinrich is the recipe developer, food photographer, and content creator behind Mom's Dinner. She has over 20 years experience in the food industry. Currently, Susie shares all her recipes and food knowledge on Mom's Dinner. You will find her recipes are easy to follow and full of tips and tricks to make sure the recipe you are making turns out perfect!

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