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Love the Olive Garden’s Zuppa Toscana? It’s so simple to recreate it at home. This creamy sausage, bacon, potato, and kale soup is total comfort food!
Try my Olive Garden Pasta e Fagioli, Easy Chicken Gnocchi Soup, or Minestrone Soup Recipe for more restaurant-quality dishes you can replicate in your kitchen.
Why you’ll love it
If you haven’t tried Zuppa Toscana yet, it’s about time you do! It’s immensely popular for a reason. It’s simple to make even for new cooks, very satisfying, and feels like a cozy yet impressive treat that you could easily serve for company.
Our sausage, bacon, potato, and kale soup has everyday ingredients, and you can control exactly what’s going into this robust soup that’s inspired by the Olive Garden favorite. We think this copycat recipe is way better than the original!
What is Zuppa Toscana?
- “Zuppa Toscana” literally means “Tuscan soup”, but from an American point of view, it commonly refers to the soup found at the Olive Garden restaurant with sausage, kale, and bacon. It’s a fairly brothy (not too thick) soup that’s definitely not authentic Italian, but it sure is tasty.
What you’ll need
- Bacon – I chose thick cut
- Sausage – Johnsonville mild Italian is my go-to variety for this soup. Ground sausage meat is good too.
- Onion and garlic – our aromatic base. I like sweet Vidalia onions.
- Broth and water – I prefer using chicken broth, but beef broth works as well
- Potatoes – we like using red potatoes with their skins on
- Italian seasoning – fragrant dried herbs like rosemary and thyme are found in this tasty blend that’s all in a single jar
- Heavy cream – it’s what makes that broth irresistibly creamy!
- Kale – another signature component for a burst of freshness
What’s the best kind of potatoes to use?
- I typically use red, but Russet potatoes, Yukon Gold, or even other varieties will work just fine. I don’t peel them, but you definitely can.
- This soup is pretty forgiving on the quantity of potatoes. I typically use four medium-to-large red potatoes, which I know is really subjective. I’d aim for around 1.5 pounds of potatoes if you’re looking for a specific weight.
Tools for this recipe
Check out Natasha’s favorite kitchen essentials, gadgets, and cookware!
- Using this garlic press makes it effortless to mince the garlic.
- This is the or Dutch oven I use.
- Cutting up bacon with a pair of kitchen shears makes it fast.
How to make Zuppa Toscana
This is an overview with step-by-step photos. Full ingredients & instructions are in the recipe card below.
Sauté the bacon in your soup pot. Give it a few minutes head start prior to adding the sausage pieces. Cook until the bacon is crispy and the sausage is browned. Meanwhile, prep the remaining ingredients as it’s cooking.
Add the onion and garlic to the pot and sauté for a few minutes, then add the chicken broth and water to the pot, followed by the potatoes and Italian seasoning. Bring the soup to a boil, and cook until the potatoes are done.
Stir in the cream and kale. Cook for another 5-10 minutes or so until the kale is nice and tender to your liking. Season with salt & pepper to taste!
Crockpot and Instant Pot methods
- Want to make it in your Instant Pot? Head on over to my Instant Pot Zuppa Toscana recipe.
- To make Zuppa Toscana in a slow cooker, do steps 1-4 (in the recipe card below) in a skillet, and then transfer to your Crockpot. Add in remaining ingredients except for the cream, kale, and salt & pepper. Cook for 3-4 hours on high or 6-8 on low, then add in the cream and kale about 20-30 minutes prior to serving. Season with salt & pepper as desired.
Substitutions and variations
- A lot of people like a spicy version, so feel free to use hot Italian sausage if you want a kick, or try 1/4 tsp or more of crushed red pepper flakes for a gentle heat.
- Substituting spinach instead of the kale works fine, but it’ll wilt much faster, so make sure to watch it carefully.
- If you need to, replace the cream with half-and-half, but with recipes like this, I prefer to go all out. You can’t beat real cream, in my opinion!
- Go ahead and grate some fresh parmesan cheese on top for even more luxuriousness.
What to serve with Zuppa Toscana
- I always pair this soup with a big ol’ slice of Extra Cheesy Garlic Bread, but crusty bread, a dinner roll, or breadsticks works great too.
- My go-to salad is always dressed up with this homemade Olive Garden Salad Dressing for OG night at home!
Leftovers and storage
- This soup makes great leftovers. It’ll keep in the fridge in an airtight container for 3-4 days.
- If you freeze the soup, it can separate a bit when reheating, though, so reheat on a low temperature and stir it well. Alternatively, if you’re planning for a lot of leftovers, just add in the cream when thawing and reheating.
More restaurant-worthy recipes
Have you tried Zuppa Toscana? Leave a comment below. Questions? Let me know! You can also tag me on Instagram #saltandlavender with your beautiful creations.
Easy Zuppa Toscana
Ingredients
- 5 strips of bacon (thick cut works best)
- 1 pound Italian sausage see note
- 1 medium onion chopped
- 5 cloves garlic minced
- 2 cups chicken broth (beef works too)
- 4 cups water
- 4 large red potatoes diced (leave skins on)
- 1/4 teaspoon 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 a pot. Cook for 5 minutes over medium-high heat to give the bacon a bit of a head start before adding in the sausage.
- Add the sausage meat to the pot.
- Allow the sausage and bacon to get nicely browned and crispy (this can take 15+ minutes). Stir occasionally. There may be quite a lot of fat in the pot (especially if you're using thick cut bacon), so you may want to spoon some out and discard it, but be sure to leave a few tablespoons in there as it adds flavor.
- Stir in the onions and garlic. Cook for 2-3 minutes.
- Add the chicken broth, water, potatoes, and Italian seasoning to the pot.
- Increase the heat to high and bring the soup to a boil, then reduce to medium-low heat to simmer.
- Cook for 10-15 minutes or until the potatoes are tender.
- Add in the cream and kale, and cook for a further 5 minutes or until the kale is soft and wilted. Season with salt & pepper as needed.
Notes
- To save prep time, I chop the onion and potatoes while the bacon and sausage cook.
- For the sausage, either use ground sausage meat or a pack of Italian sausages (I use a 5-pack of Johnsonville mild Italian sausages that’s 500g/17.6 oz. here in Canada) and take the meat out of the casings. A little more than a pound is totally fine!
- Russet or Yukon Gold potatoes would work if you don’t want to use red potatoes. Aim for approx. 1.5 pounds of potatoes.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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This post was originally published on September 23, 2015. I’ve updated it with new photos, text, and a better written recipe!
I was just wondering if I could add other veggies like carrots celery red,yell,& oran. sweet pepper and zucchini to this soup. If so would it throw the taste off a lot.
Hi Stacy! It will for sure taste a bit different, but I think it would be yummy.
Easy to make and amazing flavor! Added extra kale – I had plenty from garden. Also, used breakfast sausage links – used up what was in refrigerator. I sautรฉd onions/garlic before I added liquid. I will definitely pass this recipe to my daughters. Thank you!
I am so happy you enjoyed it! Thanks for sharing the recipe! XO
Hello Natasha! I have made this soup a multitude of times and it is always a hit! The one difference is that I sautรฉ the onions and a bit of celery until the colour lightens (5 or 6 minutes). I then add the potatoes and continue to sautรฉ for 5 minutes before adding the liquid. This locks in more flavour. So delish!
Good idea!! So glad you enjoy the soup! ๐
Delicious and beautiful to look at! The house smells wonderful!
Aww thank you!! XO
I make this delicious soup often, especially on a cold night. I add fresh thyme, parsley, leeks and a small amount of fresh fennel all sautรฉed with butter and sherry which takes it to a whole new level of richness and food for the soul.
Oooh I love your ideas! I need to try.
This is a great recipe and is easy for someone who can’t cook-like me! My family loved it and I’ll be making this more often.
I’m so happy you like it!! ๐
This soup it’s amazing…one of my favorites. Thanks for sharing this wonderful recipe.
I’m so happy to hear that!!
I just made this soup and love, love, loved it. It is perfect ๐
Wonderful ๐ค
I am in love with this soup itโs so AMAZING and DELICIOUS! Wonderful recipe Iโd recommend it tremendously to everyone! ๐๐๐๐
Thatโs awesome!! So glad you like it! Thanks for letting me know. โฅ๏ธ
Love following you on insta- have made several of your recipes! ๐ This one my fiance LOVES, and its’s so easy
Aww I am so glad to hear it! So glad you found me!! ๐ Thank you!
Outstanding! One of the best soups Iโve ever made! Super easy, too! I did add a good bit of salt and pepper, but other than that made exactly as directed. Thank you for posting this!
That’s so great to hear!! Thank you for letting me know! ๐