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This Instant Pot Zuppa Toscana recipe is sure to become a family favorite! The classic Olive Garden soup with sausage, bacon, potatoes, kale, and cream is easily made in the electric pressure cooker.
Back in 2015 I posted my version of the stove-top Zuppa Toscana, and I recently re-published the post with updated photos. I figured why not hop on the Instant Pot wagon and make it in there? It’s a great way to infuse flavor quickly.
This recipe is pretty similar to the regular version (tastes practically the same), but sometimes people prefer making things in their electric pressure cooker. And why not? It frees up your stove.
If you haven’t tried Zuppa Toscana (or seen the millions of copycat recipes on Pinterest), I would suggest that it’s definitely worth making. I don’t often do copycat recipes (like why not just go get a Big Mac instead of putting in all the effort to make one at home?), but this soup is easy and fairly quick to make.
This soup isn’t particularly thick (it’s meant to be quite brothy), but you could always whisk in a cornstarch slurry if you want to thicken it up a little bit or even mash some of the potatoes to give it more of a chunky texture. I like it as-is, though.
How to make Zuppa Toscana in the Instant Pot
Start by sautéing the bacon and sausage in the Instant Pot until browned & crispy. You then add in the onions and garlic, followed by the chicken broth, water, potatoes, and Italian seasoning. Cook on high pressure for 8 minutes, then do a quick release and stir in the cream and kale. Close the lid again and let it sit for a few minutes until the kale wilts. Season to taste and enjoy (full ingredients & instructions are in the recipe card below).
Love Instant Pot soups? Try my Instant Pot chicken tortilla soup, my Instant Pot hamburger soup, this Instant Pot ham and potato soup, or my Instant Pot taco soup.
If you like Zuppa Toscana, you may also like my sausage, kale, and gnocchi soup – it has similar flavors.
Will you try making Zuppa Toscana in your Instant Pot?
Questions? Ask me in the comments below. 🙂
Instant Pot Zuppa Toscana
Ingredients
- 5 strips bacon (thick cut works best) cut into small pieces
- 1 pound Italian sausage crumbled
- 5 cloves garlic minced
- 1 medium onion chopped
- 2 cups chicken broth (beef works too)
- 4 cups water
- 4 medium-to-large red potatoes roughly diced (leave skins on)
- 1 dash Italian seasoning
- 1 cup heavy/whipping cream
- 1 small bunch of kale torn into bite-size pieces (remove stems)
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Using kitchen shears (or a knife), cut the bacon into small pieces and add it to your Instant Pot. Press the sauté button and start frying the bacon (give it about a 5 minute head start before adding the sausage so it crisps up more).
- Add the sausage meat to the Instant Pot and break it up as it cooks. Cook until the sausage and bacon are crispy and browned.
- While the sausage and bacon cook, chop the onion and potatoes, making sure to stir the bacon and sausage occasionally.
- When the sausage and bacon are nicely browned and crispy, stir in the garlic and onion and cook for about a minute.
- Pour in the chicken broth and water. Scrape up any brown bits from the bottom of the Instant Pot.
- Add the potatoes and Italian seasoning.
- Give the soup a stir and close the Instant Pot's lid. Make sure the valve is set to "sealing".
- Set the timer to cook for 8 minutes on high pressure. The Instant Pot will take about 10 minutes or so to come up to pressure.
- One the countdown has finished, do a quick pressure release and take off the lid.
- Add the cream and kale. Close the lid again and let the soup sit for another 5 minutes or so until the kale wilts (keep the Instant Pot off or on "keep warm").
- Season with salt & pepper as needed and enjoy immediately.
Notes
- Use hot Italian sausage or add some red pepper flakes if you want a bit of spice.
- You can use Russet or a different variety of potatoes if you prefer.
- I use this 6-quart Instant Pot.
- Inactive time indicates the time it takes the Instant Pot to get up to pressure.
- Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy only and should be construed as an estimate rather than a guarantee. Ingredients can vary and Salt & Lavender makes no guarantees to the accuracy of this information.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
© Salt & Lavender Inc. Content and photographs are copyrighted. Sharing this blog post is much appreciated, but copying and pasting full recipes without authorization to social media is strictly prohibited.
I tried to read everything, so sorry if this is a repeat question, but do you have a suggestion for replacing the cream with a non-dairy option? Still new to non-dairy so don’t know the good replacements.
Hi Kathy! No worries! I haven’t tested a dairy-free alternative. Some readers use coconut milk, but it can change the flavor a bit. I’ve also heard some people use cream substitutes (I know Silk brand makes a dairy-free whipping cream).
Love this soup. I made it this time with turkey Italian sausage and it is ( I’m eating it now) delicious.
Fantastic!! 🙂
I’ve been craving this soup and finally got some kale to make it. My whole family enjoyed it, even my “soup isn’t a meal” husband. I did 3 cups broth 2 cups water bc I used low sodium broth that wasn’t too flavorful and omitted one cup liquid so it’s thicker for my husband. The only thing I’ll do next time is use spicy sausage. I made an Olive Garden type salad and bought some garlic bread sticks and we were all full. It was like we were there. Thanks for a great recipe! I’ll for sure be making this again.
Sounds like a delicious dinner… I haven’t had breadsticks in ages. I’m glad even your husband liked the soup! And yes, it’s very good with hot Italian sausages. Thanks for leaving me a review! 🙂
Recipe is spot on!! Easy and was a huge hit with the entire family. I will double the recipe for leftovers next time as my family of seven devoured the entire pot!
Fantastic!! 😀
I like NEVER leave reviews for recipes, usually because I’m too busy stuffing my face to pull the site back up and wrote down my thoughts that I’m sure no one cares about… BUT….
I’m a little over 4 months pregnant and I’ve been CRAVING Olive Garden Zappa Tuscano BIG TIME. Every time I’m in town I can’t bring myself to spend $8 on a dinky little bowl of soup that would be cold by the time I got it home.
THIS WAS PERFECTION. Finally me and my baby are satisfied and everyone in the house can stop hearing me whine about it 😂
Next time I might add a little less water and a little more broth just for extra flavor, but it’s really a stretch to find any complaints except that I’m the only one in the house that likes this kind of soup and there’s no way I can eat it all… is it freezable?
I’m so happy you liked it! To be totally honest, people DO care, and it really helps us food bloggers out as well as other readers, so reviews are much appreciated. I know that whenever I’m looking at a recipe online, the first thing I do when deciding to make a recipe or not is check the comments to see if anyone has any tips/thoughts that could be useful. 🙂 Yes, you can definitely freeze it. It’s popular in my house too, and we’ve frozen it plenty of times before.
Such a good recipe and so much better than olive garden! Dont recommended adding the potatoes though the instapot just made them super mushy and gross. After I added the cream and kale I find if you do the soup setting for 5 minutes the kale is nice and soggy which I love. I just got my wisdom teeth out and this has been my crutch!
I hope you feel better soon!!
I used to make this soup all the time the old fashioned way pre-Instant Pot and used this recipe instead to try with my Instant Pot. I would replace all water with chicken broth (ended up being too bland with water added) and probably use a cup less of broth (so 5 cups of broth). I also used half & half instead of cream. Other than that, it turned out good and was much faster than the “old way” of cooking it on the stovetop!
Yup, you could definitely do all broth or just add some more salt at the end. Glad you enjoyed it!
I have made this incredible recipe no less than 10 times in the last couple of months – it is hearty without being heavy and amazingly delicious. I did crisp my bacon first then added the sausage. Thank you!!
Wow that’s impressive! I’m so happy you enjoy it! 🙂
Making it for the second time now. It’s just me and my boys and it made an admittedly large batch but I’ll tell you what – never have I been so keen to eat the same thing for lunch every day! It. Is. Amazing. My *only* suggestion is to fry up the bacon first. I ended up having to transfer it to a bacon plate in the microwave because this thick cut bacon just wasn’t crisping up in my instant pot. I accidentally cooked it to long and it was C-R-U-N-C-H-Y but it turned out perfect in the soup, even days later!
(Oh… and I may or may not have dropped a full stick of butter in at the end… this southern girl can’t help herself…)
Ok, the full stick of butter comment made me smile!! 😀 It makes everything better. I’ve heard that comment re: the bacon from a few readers, so I think I will tweak the instructions a bit.
Hey Natasha. Coming back two years later to say thank you again for sharing this recipe. It is one of my favorite things to eat – and so satisfying every time. As soon as I start getting fall vibes, this is one of the first things I crave. Much love (and long live butter)!
Awwww I appreciate it, Krista!! 😀 XO
Made exact recipe several times and its AMAZING every time!!
Fab!!! 🙂