Recipes | Appetizers | Soup | Zuppa Toscana Soup
Soup
Author by Amanda Davis on Updated on
5 from 9 votes
Sweet Italian sausage, potatoes, bacon, and kale simmered in a chicken broth and topped off with half and half for a delicious finish. This Zuppa Toscana Olive Garden soup is delicious!
Cook Time 30 minutes mins
Total Time 40 minutes mins
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Zuppa Toscana is an Olive Garden soup recipe that has sweet Italian sausage, potatoes, bacon, and kale. It’s simmered in a chicken broth and topped off with half and half for a delicious finish.
Zuppa Toscana Soup
If you grow kale in your garden, it lasts all the way until the first frost, and can sometimes even be harvested afterward, as long as it wasn’t a truly hard frost. I didn’t have any this year, but last year mine grew like crazy!
RELATED: Love a good Italian sausage soup? Be sure to check out our Italian Sausage Tomato Orzo Soup that everyone goes crazy for!
I have been making this soup since 2014 when I first discovered it. I love that it’s filling but doesn’t feel heavy like many cream soups do. But because this soup is mostly chicken with a much smaller addition of half and half it doesn’t have that heaviness to it.
Be sure to top this delicious soup with some freshly grated Parmesan or Romano cheese and some bacon!
Zuppa Toscana basically means soup made Tuscany style. The original Tuscan soup is made with several of the same ingredients as this soup, like kale, potatoes,onion, and rigatino (Italian bacon). However, the original also has zucchini, cannellini beans, celery, carrots, and powdered chili. It is then served on toasted Tuscan bread.
Ingredients you need for this Zuppa Toscana recipe:
- 5 slices bacon, cooked and chopped or crumbled
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 large onion, chopped (about one cup)
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 pound bulk sweet Italian sausage
- 6 cups chicken broth
- 3 large russet potatoes, cubed
- 2 cups chopped kale
- 1 1/2 cups half and half
- salt and pepper to taste
- Grated Parmesan or Romano cheese for garnish
Helpful Kitchen Tools:
- Heat olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add onion and sauté for a few minutes, until tender. Add garlic and sauté another minute.
- Add sausage and cook until no longer pink. Drain off fat.
- Wipe out the pan with a paper towel and add chicken broth. Return the sausage to the pan along with the potatoes and half of the bacon. Cook over medium-high heat until boiling.
- Reduce heat to medium-low and cook for 15 minutes, or until potatoes are tender. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Add kale and half and half and heat through, about ten minutes. Serve each bowl topped with freshly grated cheese and remaining bacon.
More Olive Garden Copycat Recipes
If you love Olive Garden, then be sure to try our Olive Garden breadsticks as well. We are also a fan of their peach teaand bruschetta, so we made those too!
This recipe was originally published here on October 6, 2014
Olive Garden Copycat Zuppa Toscana
Sweet Italian sausage, potatoes, bacon, and kale simmered in a chicken broth and topped off with half and half for a delicious finish. This Zuppa Toscana Olive Garden soup is delicious!
5 from 9 votes
IMPORTANT - There are often Frequently Asked Questions within the blog post that you may find helpful. Simply scroll back up to read them!
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Course: Soup
Cuisine: Italian
Servings: 6
40 minutes mins
Calories: 617
Author: Amanda Formaro
Ingredients
- 5 slices bacon cooked and chopped or crumbled
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 large onion chopped (about one cup)
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 pound bulk sweet Italian sausage
- 6 cups chicken broth
- 3 large russet potatoes cubed
- 2 cups chopped kale
- 1 1/2 cups half and half
- salt and pepper to taste
- Grated Parmesan or Romano cheese for garnish
Before You Begin
Zuppa Toscana basically means soup made Tuscany style. The original Tuscan soup is made with several of the same ingredients as this soup, like kale, potatoes,onion, and rigatino (Italian bacon). However, the original also has zucchini, cannellini beans, celery, carrots, and powdered chili. It is then served on toasted Tuscan bread.
Instructions
Heat olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add onion and sauté for a few minutes, until tender. Add garlic and sauté another minute.
Add sausage and cook until no longer pink. Drain off fat.
Wipe out the pan with a paper towel and add chicken broth. Return the sausage to the pan along with the potatoes and half of the bacon. Cook over medium-high heat until boiling. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook for 15 minutes, or until potatoes are tender. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Add kale and half and half and heat through, about ten minutes. Serve each bowl topped with freshly grated cheese and remaining bacon.
Nutrition
Serving: 1portion | Calories: 617cal | Carbohydrates: 42g | Protein: 21g | Fat: 41g | Saturated Fat: 15g | Cholesterol: 91mg | Sodium: 1577mg | Potassium: 1415mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 2445IU | Vitamin C: 58.2mg | Calcium: 157mg | Iron: 3.5mg
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Amanda Davis
President at Amanda's Creative Studio, Inc.
Amanda Davis is the entrepreneurial mom of four grown children and four step children. She and her husband, Chef Antoine, love to cook together creating recipes for this blog. Amanda also make kid's crafts and creates decorative items for her home. She is a crafting expert and guru in the kitchen and has appeared online and in print publications many times over the years. She is also a craft book author five times over and product developer as well as the owner of FunFamilyCrafts.com. You can find her on social media by using the buttons to the left!
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Comments
Terri M says
Can I replace kale with spinach?
Reply
Amanda Formaro says
Sure
Reply
Tanya Conway says
Love this soup! A must have as soon as the leaves turn in the Fall. Yum, I’m making this tonight!Reply
Amy [emailprotected] says
Love this recipe! Pinned!Reply
Amanda Formaro says
Thank you Amy!
Reply
Ricardo Nagel says
what is this??????? 1 1/2 cups half and half????? in the ingredients
Reply
Amanda Formaro says
Hi Ricardo. Half and Half is a product sold in America that is basically half cream and half milk.
Reply