Olive Garden™ Zuppa Toscana Soup Recipe
This is one of the most popular restaurant recipes from Olive Garden™. This is a spicy sausage and bacon soup with russet potatoes and greens in a creamy broth.
If you substitute cauliflower for the potatoes, you can make a great low-carb Atkins friendly soup that will taste exactly like the original restaurant recipe from The Olive Garden™. Another option would be to cook this up in a programmable crock pot with the pre-cooked sausage and bacon in there. It will be ready for you when you get home. Just add the kale and cream before serving.
Serve this with a nice basket of Olive Garden™ Breadsticks and their house salad. A wonderful lunch or dinner meal for you and your family.
Olive Garden™ Zuppa Toscana Soup Recipe
Author:
Ingredients
- 1 lb. spicy Italian sausage – crumbled
- 1/2 lb. smoked bacon – chopped
- 1 qt. water
- (2) 14.5 oz. cans (about 3 2/3 cups) chicken broth
- 2 lg. russet potatoes – scrubbed clean, cubed
- 2 garlic cloves – peeled, crushed
- 1 med. onion – peeled, chopped
- 2 cups chopped kale OR Swiss chard
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- salt and pepper – to taste
Instructions
- Brown sausage in a pan over medium to medium-high heat, breaking up into small pieces as it cooks.
- Drain sausage and set to the side.
- Brown bacan in a pan over medium-high heat. Be careful not to cook crispy.
- Drain bacon and set to the side.
- Place broth, water, garlic, potatoes, and onion in a pot.
- Simmer over medium heat until potatoes are tender.
- Add sausage and bacon to the soup.
- Simmer for 10 minutes.
- Add kale and cream to pot.
- Season with salt and pepper.
- Heat thoroughly.
I’ve substituted turkey sausage for the regular sausage…a slightly healthier change…Just as good!
I just got through making this soup and it was GREAT!!!..I took a potatoe masher and mashed the potatoes up a little in the pot..I also would not use as much bacon..I think the next time I am only going to use it as a garnish instead. Took longer to put together than I thought it would..plan at least an hour to hour and a half..but again GREAT!!! I am stuffed and will without a doubt make it again…Thanks a million…
Love it! Love it! Love it! This is what I heard from all the people I made this for. I would have to agree. 🙂
Pureed up a blender full of potatoes before adding the sausage and bacon. Helped make it a bit creamier.
I made this soup last winter and it was soooo good! I will be making it again soon. I will try the cauliflower this time.
This is a very good recipe. Made the following changes: Added the kale with the potatoes because of it’s coarseness. I also added 50% more broth to make it more of a soupy consistency. I left out the bacon because I had over a pound of sausage.
This soup was very good, but had way too much sausage. Next time I will add only half a pound of sausage. Also, it was very thin, so I added some garlic mashed potato flakes…YUMMY!
Love to try this one..thanks
Have made this soup several times. My only tweak is to use fresh spinach in place of the kale. A great soup with layers of flavor.
My wife made this and it tasted just like olive garden, the kale is a must. It was very very good.
I made this soup last night and it was amazing. Just like Olive Garden’s soup. Next time I would add more potatoes and a little bit less of the sausage. Otherwise perfect!!
I made this soup but made a few changes to it.I used less sausage and bacon. Instead of russet potatoes, I used used sweet potatoes and used condensed milk in place of heavy cream. I also added a pinch of cayenne pepper to make it a bit more spicy and it turned out great!
Love this soup! The recipe says you can make this recipe in the crockpot, does anyone know how long to leave it in there?
My sons are making this now for the third time!! Great, taste the same as the Olive Garden’s, but with love!
This recipe was great! Tasted just like the soup at Olive Garden. My husband and I loved it.
I made this soup tonight, and it turned out very well. I didn’t follow the recipe exactly:
– I used 1/4 lb cottage ham instead of bacon (it’s what I had).
– I cooked the ham (bacon) and sausage together, then deglazed the pan with a couple tablespoons of dry white wine.
– I softened the onions and garlic after adding the wine, but before adding the water and broth.
Very good recipe! I used spicy/hot turkey sausage – saved on fat – & low sodium bacon & chicken broth. A little less bacon & a bit more potatoes (sliced, not cubed) & a little more kale. Sauted the onions in a little olive oil until translucent to sweeten them up. Served with grated parmesan on top. After a few spoonfulls the lower salt isn’t noticeable & everyone Loved it – very much like the original!
I have been wishing I had this recipe since eating this soup at the restaurant. It is wonderful. It does take some time to make it but it is worth it. Next time, I will use more potatoes. Sweet Italian sausage was so perfect. We love this, and I am so glad to have the recipe.
can u use milk instead of cream?
You “can” but I wouldn’t recommend it. If you do use milk, use whole milk and you still may need to use some corn starch to get it to the right consistency. If you’re trying to reduce your fat intake, you may consider using some fat free half and half. It still might not be thick enough. Let us all know how it turns out if you do try it. Thanks!
Just finished making my “Paleo” version (no cream or potatoes) and it is just as good as the original! I did not have bacon so I do miss a bit of that salty depth. My tweaks were: Italian turkey sausage, cauliflower instead of potatoes, added carrots, almond milk instead of cream, sea salt and white pepper. So excited at how good and healthy this is!
This was the best soup I’ve ever had. I’ve never had the original, so don’t know how it compares to Olive Garden. I cooked in the crockpot on low for about 7 hours and the potatoes still weren’t done so turned to high for another hour. They were still a little hard for me. Next time, I’ll cut the potatoes a lot smaller so they cook faster.
I made this soup last Sunday and it was soooo delicious!!! But, like a lot commenters, I didn’t follow the recipe exactly. I didn’t have an Italian sausage or bacon so I just cut up some beef. And I didn’t have any heavy cream or condensed milk, so I just thickened it with flour. And I didn’t have any kale, so I just salt and pepper. And I threw in some more veggies, like carrots and peas. Amazing! Zuppa Toscana tasets just like beef stew!
I made this soup last weekend and it was the bomb. Making it again today for the wife. Great recipe.
Tried for first time for family. My husband said it was deccent, but his bowl was empty. I thought it was grreat justl like I remember at #
The soup came out perfect! Thanks.
ive made this several times and being Portuguese I add Portuguese linguisa and everyone says it’s better than Olive Garden’s !!!! ( I remove the castings and crumble then add it to your sausage half way thru cooking)