Zuppa Toscana is probably one of the richest, most hearty soups out there, and definitely one of my favorites. This creamy soup with tender potatoes and flavorful Italian sausage is modeled after the famous Zuppa Toscana from The Olive Garden restaurant, but I threw in my own personal twist. I’ve added an extra budget-friendly ingredient and lightened it up just a touch so I can slurp up a giant bowl without feeling too full.
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What is Zuppa Toscana??
If you’ve never been to Olive Garden or had Zuppa Toscana anywhere else, I’d describe it as a creamy potato soup loaded with flavorful Italian sausage, kale, and bacon. The original version uses heavy cream, bacon, and a whole pound of sausage, but I decided to try to lighten it up a bit. I used half and half instead of heavy cream, subbed half the sausage for white beans, used smoked paprika for smokiness instead of bacon, and then loaded up on potatoes and kale. The result? Still totally creamy and chock full of flavor, plus a hefty dose of vegetables. I’m probably going to eat nothing but this soup for the next four days straight (it has kale, so it’s okay, right?).
Ingredients for Zuppa Toscana
Here are all of the ingredients you’ll need to make this homemade Zuppa Toscana:
- Italian Sausage: You can use hot, mild, or sweet Italian sausage for this soup, although I prefer hot because I love the combination of spicy with the creamy broth. Buy loose ground Italian sausage rather than sausage in casings.
- Onion and Garlic: These aromatics provide a deep base flavor for the soup.
- Great Northern Beans: These mild white beans add bulk to the soup without adding a lot to the total cost of the recipe. The flavor blends seamlessly and you get a lot more fiber and nutrients in every bowl! If you don’t like beans, you can leave them out and add more sausage or potatoes.
- Chicken Broth: The base for this soup’s broth is chicken broth, which adds both flavor and salt. Make sure to get a really flavorful broth or else your soup will be lacking. I like to make my broth using Better than Bouillon because it’s inexpensive and super flavorful.
- Half and Half: This is what makes the broth rich and creamy. If you don’t have half and half, you can substitute with an equal mix of whole milk and heavy cream.
- Red Potatoes: Potatoes add a lot of bulk to this soup which helps you feel full and satisfied. Their tender texture is also great with the creamy broth and they soak up tons of flavor.
- Kale: Dark green kale adds a ton of texture and color to the soup and really helps round it out to make the soup a full meal in a bowl. If you don’t like kale, you can toss in a couple handfuls of spinach at the end of the recipe and just stir it in until wilted.
- Spices: The Italian sausage and chicken broth bring a ton of flavor to the soup already, so all we need to add is a little smoked paprika (to mimic the smoky flavor of bacon), some crushed red pepper, and freshly ground black pepper!
make it vegetarian
The sausage in this recipe is responsible for adding a lot of flavor to this soup, so if you plan to skip the sausage you’ll need to ramp up the seasoning. I suggest adding a tablespoon or so of Italian seasoning blend to make up for the spices that are found in the Italian sausage. You may also want to add an extra can of beans to bulk up the soup a bit.
What to Serve with Zuppa Toscana
This is truly a meal in a bowl with the starchy potatoes, protein-filled Italian sausage and beans, and veggilicious kale, but if you want something on the side I’ve got you covered. Garlic bread would probably be my first pick, or you can do something simple like No-Knead Bread or Soda Bread. Or maybe you want to go a little lighter and add a simple side salad to really make you feel like you’re at The Olive Garden!
Zuppa Toscana
Servings 8 (1.5 cups each)Ingredients
- 1/2 lb. Italian Sausage, hot or mild ($1.75)
- 1 yellow onion ($0.32)
- 2 cloves garlic ($0.16)
- 1 15 oz. can Great Northern beans ($0.49)
- 1/2 tsp smoked paprika ($0.05)
- 3 cups chicken broth* ($0.39)
- 1 cup water ($0.00)
- 2 cups half and half** ($1.49)
- 1 lb. red potatoes ($1.29)
- 1/2 lb. kale, chopped ($1.50)
- 1 pinch red pepper flakes, optional ($0.02)
- freshly cracked black pepper, optional ($0.05)
Instructions
- Add the sausage to a large soup pot and sauté over medium heat, breaking it up into small pieces as it cooks. The sausage should contain enough fat to keep it from sticking, if not add a touch of olive oil. It’s okay if a small amount browns on the bottom of the pot.
- While the sausage is cooking, dice the onion and mince the garlic. Add the onion and garlic to the pot and sauté until the onions are softened. The moisture from the onions should help dissolve any browned bits of sausage off the bottom of the pot.
- Drain and rinse the can of beans. Add the beans, smoked paprika, chicken broth, one cup water, and half and half to the pot. Place a lid on the pot and let it come up to a simmer over medium heat.
- While the pot is heating, cut each potato into quarters lengthwise, then slice across into thin, 1/8-inch thick slices. Add the potatoes to the pot along with the pre-chopped kale. The kale will fill the pot when it’s first added, but the heat from the liquid will wilt it within a few minutes. Stir it occasionally to help the wilting process.
- Let the pot simmer over medium heat for about 15 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender. Season with red pepper flakes and freshly cracked black pepper if desired.
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Equipment
- Dutch Oven
- Liquid Measuring Cup
- Chef’s Knife
Notes
Nutrition
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Scroll down for the step by step photos!
How to Make Zuppa Toscana – Step by Step Photos
Add 1/2 lb. Italian sausage to a large soup pot and sauté over medium heat, breaking it into chunks as it cooks. I didn’t use any extra oil because sausage tends to be pretty fatty. It’s okay if a little sticks to the bottom of the pot because it will dissolve off in the next steps. While the sausage browns, dice one yellow onion and mince two cloves of garlic. Add the onion and garlic to the pot and continue to sauté until the onions are soft.
Drain and rinse one 15oz. can of Great Northern beans, then add them to the pot with 1/2 tsp of smoked paprika. The smoked paprika will give that smoky hint that the bacon would have supplied. Sneaky, right?
Next add 3 cups of chicken broth, 1 cup water, and 2 cups (one pint) of half and half. If you’re not from the U.S., “half and half” is like a lighter version of light cream. Read about it here. Put a lid on the pot and let it come to a simmer over medium heat.
While the pot is heating up, wash and slice one pound of red potatoes into 1/8-inch thick slices. Slicing them thinly helps them cook faster, plus makes a great texture in the soup. Add the potatoes to the pot.
Instead of buying a regular bunch of kale, I bought this bag of pre-chopped kale (it’s actually less expensive than regular bunches at my local store). This is a 12oz. bag, so I just used about 2/3 of it. If you are buying your kale in a bunch, use about one bunch. Make sure to remove the stems and tear the leaves into 1 to 2-inch pieces.
Add the kale to the pot and it will likely fill it up to the top. Let the heat from the liquid begin to wilt the kale. Give it a stir occasionally to help it contact the hot soup and wilt.
After a few minutes, it will have wilted down into the soup nicely. Let the soup simmer over medium heat for about 15 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender.
I like my soup spicy (and had used mild Italian sausage), so I seasoned it with a pinch of red pepper flakes. A little freshly cracked black pepper is also nice. Depending on what type of broth you use, you may need to add a little salt (I did not add any).
And that’s it!! The potatoes and beans help thicken the broth up nicely, without having to use heavy cream.
Absolutely deserving of all the internet hype. SO. GOOD.
This was delicious! Although I’ve never had this type of soup before, it looked so good I had to try it. I also liked that it seemed relatively healthy. I added the half and half toward the end of the recipe, as others had suggested (to prevent curdling). I had a delicious bowl of it last night and then had leftovers for lunch today. In addition, my coworker had a bowl of it and loved it–she requested the recipe. I will definitely make this again. It wasn’t too difficult to make and didn’t take too long.
Used spicy Italian sausage, and only 1 link because that is all I had. Also subbed broth for water (why not, a carton has 4 cups, might as well use it all). Red pepper flakes are a must. Next time I would hold off on adding the half and half until the end like I normally do with these types of soups. Very nice flavor.
I’m a vegetarian – this looks great, but the sausage doesn’t work for me obviously. How do you think it would be without that?
The sausage actually provides a lot of the flavor here because it’s so heavily seasoned. I think you could do a vegetarian version, but you might want to add a hefty dose of Italian seasoning blend.
Pretty good! I’m not a fan of kale usually but I followed the recipe to the letter to see what all the fuss was about. It was very good but I think next time I’ll sub in some fresh spinach. Solid 4/5 stars!
This is delicious! thank you so much for sharing! I love how you added the beans. Question: does this freeze well?
I haven’t tried freezing this one so I’m not sure. Creamy sauces are kind of hit or miss when it comes to freezing. This one doesn’t have a flour/roux thickener, so it might be okay.
Did you end up trying to freeze it? I’d also love to know if freezes well!
We made this tonight and it was amazing! Followed the directions, but went ahead and left out the crushed red pepper. It was delicious! We appreciate these great recipes, Beth.
We love this recipe and make it often. I recently got an Instant Pot (pressure cooker) and have been trying to learn how to use it, so tonight I attempted to convert this recipe and it was successful. Using the saute function (our PC is electric), I browned the onion, meat and garlic – didn’t cook the meat all the way through, just browned. Added spices, stock and potatoes (cut slightly thicker than for stovetop recipe) and cooked on high pressure for 8 minutes. Did a quick release and checked to make sure the potatoes were cooked (they were). Added the 1/2 and 1/2, beans and kale and kept warm til dinner time. Since I’m new to the whole Instant Pot craze I wasn’t sure the meat texture would hold up under pressure and I can be a bit of a flavor snob, but it all worked well!
The only thing we usually change is bulking up the meat and adding extra beans and kale – ours is definitely more “stoupy” (Rachel Ray’s word for thick soup), but we like it that way. :)
Awesome, thanks for sharing!!
I walked away from this for a few minutes and when I came back, the cream had curdled. I suggest adding at the end of the recipe just to prevent this—I’m not saying the original recipe is wrong but better safe than sorry! This soup is delicious and definitely worth a try.
This has happened to me when making this soup too. I now add the dairy later. The one time I did curdle the soup from inattention, I strained it (took out potatoes/meat/onions) and blended the broth/dairy liquid to get it to re-mix. It wasn’t perfect but I saved the soup from being wasted!
I made this I tonight and It was god but mine was super bland. I ended up adding a lot of salt and pepper- what could I have done wrong? Thanks! Love you recipes!
I think a lot of the flavor depends on the chicken broth, so if you’re using a brand that’s not very flavorful or a low sodium version, the soup as a whole will be more bland.
this was super good! I used canned evaporated milk instead of half and half and a head of kale rather than bagged. going to experiment with coconut milk next time
Ooh, coconut milk sounds intriguing! Did you ever end up trying it with that substitution?
I just made this soup and it turned out amazing! I followed the directions exactly as written, with one change that I had to make because apparently my eyeballs are terrible weighing devices…I realized I only had just over a lb of red potatoes, so I sliced up a russet with my fancy finger-guillotine/mandoline. The russet slices just fell apart after simmering for a while and didn’t hold their shape as well as the slices of red potato, so I definitely don’t recommend it. I got 6 lunch-sized containers out of this recipe for my husband and I to take to work this week with some crackers or rolls.
Beth, I have a question- my friend and I like to get together and batch cook multiple recipes at the same time and split everything up so we get more variety to our meals. She doesn’t eat pork, but I think she would love this recipe otherwise. Do you think there’s another meat I could substitute with success (chicken sausage?) or should I just double up the beans? Thanks!
I think I would suggest doing a chicken or turkey sausage. The spices in the sausage account for a lot of the flavor in the soup, so I wouldn’t suggest substituting with a plain ground meat. :)
I made this the day you posted this recipe. So good! Making it again tonight but adding some extra ingredients like shrimp and maybe some rice or pasta to add calories for my kids.
I’ve tried different Zuppa Toscana recipes before and while they’re closer to the Olive Garden recipe, they’re always so rich my husband never likes them. Made yours tonight and he loved it! I loved the budget-friendly aspect and also felt it was healthier. Thanks as always!
I made this for dinner tonight and it was absolutely amazing! I don’t like kale, but it takes on a whole new flavor in this soup. Loved it! Thank you Beth!
I LOVE, LOVE this recipe!! I made the mistake of bringing some to work in a little crock pot for myself that all of my co-workers were asking try some. Will make more next time. I spoiled myself with this recipe that when I returned to Olive Garden, I preferred this recipe over the original. How about that?!?!
Yay!!! :D Thank you!