this Tuscan soup The recipe is an easy Olive Garden copycat! This is a quick one-pot soup recipe packed with Italian sausage, tender potatoes, beans, garlic, and a rich, creamy broth. Serve it with hunks of crusty bread for sopping up all the Tuscan flavors!
Craving more comforting soups? Try my one-pot recipe like this one Chicken Gnocchi Soup, Lasagna SoupAnd mine is simple Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup.
Why I Love This Zuppa Toscana Recipe
Zuppa Toscana packs all the fresh flavors of the Tuscan countryside into one bowl of comforting, creamy soup! This is my homemade recipe for Zuppa Toscana or Tuscan Kale Soup at Olive Garden. This is a rich and comforting recipe packed with juicy Italian sausage, bacon, tender potatoes and veggies, garlic, beans and kale. Here's why I love making it at home:
- Tuscan flavor. I love Italian-inspired dinners like mine creamy Tuscan chickenAnd this Tuscan kale soup is perfect for winter. It's packed with filling ingredients, with the option of adding a splash of heavy cream.
- Like Olive Garden (only better). I need no longer settle for Zuppa Toscana at Olive Garden. This homemade version is quick, easy, and, dare I say it, even tastier than a restaurant one!
- a pot Everything is fried, boiled and served from one pot. It makes cleaning a breeze, plus it makes all that delicious flavor.
Soup ingredients
Nothing but goodness in this Zuppa Toscana! No mystery ingredients, nada. I've included some ingredient notes and substitution ideas here. Scroll to the recipe card after the post for a printable list with recipe measurements.
- bacon – I like to use thick cut bacon or pancetta. Regular bacon works too, if you have it on hand.
- Italian sausage – Buy the sweet Italian sausage that comes in the casing and remove the casings before slicing the sausage into large pieces. You can also buy packages of sweet or spicy Italian sausage.
- vegetables – Chopped carrot, chopped celery and chopped white or yellow onion.
- garlic – Fresh minced meat. I prefer a garlic soup, but you can adjust the number of cloves to taste.
- potatoes – You'll want to use waxy potatoes, such as baby potatoes or red potatoes for soup. Starchier varieties like russets tend to break. Cut the potatoes into bite-sized cubes.
- beans – These can be kidney beans or other white beans, such as cannellini beans or butter beans. Rinse and drain any canned beans before you add them to the soup.
- Chicken stock – I'll use mine Homemade Chicken Stock When I have it on hand, otherwise, store-bought low-sodium chicken stock works well. You can use vegetable broth if you want.
- in time – I love to make Zuppa Toscana with Tuscan kale, when it's in season, also called lacinato. That being said, any type of kale works in this soup (curly, Russian red, baby kale, etc.).
- heavy cream – Optional, but I like to recreate Olive Garden's Zuppa Toscana with a splash of heavy cream. Another option is to use cream cheese for a richer soup.
How to make Zuppa Toscana (Tuscan Kale Soup)
I like to make this one-pot soup on weekend afternoons, and I'll save any leftovers to reheat throughout the week. It's very easy to make on the stovetop with the following step-by-step instructions. Refer to recipe card for printable instructions.
- Cook the bacon and sausage. Get the bacon sizzling in a heavy-bottomed pot. Once browned, remove to a plate with a slotted spoon. Next, brown the sausage in the same pot and transfer it to a plate.
- Fry the vegetables. Cook the onion, carrot and celery until the vegetables are soft and stir in the garlic.
- Combine and cook. Add the potatoes, beans and stock and return the sausage to the pot. Bring the soup to a simmer for 20 minutes.
- Add vegetables. Add the chopped kale leaves and simmer for another 10 minutes, then remove the soup from the heat.
- Make it creamy. Last but not least, stir in the bacon and heavy cream, and you're ready to serve!
Recipe tips
- Drain any excess grease. If you find that there is a lot of grease left in the pot after browning the bacon and sausage, drain some of it before cooking the vegetables.
- Add cream off heat. If you're finishing your soup with heavy cream, be sure to remove the pot from the heat before adding it. If the soup is too hot, the cream will curdle and separate. For the same reason, I don't recommend substituting milk for heavy cream as it is more likely to separate in the heat.
- Add more flavor. This Tuscan kale soup packs a lot of flavor as it is, but if you want to spice things up, go ahead and add sun-dried tomatoes, diced cherry tomatoes, fresh herbs (like basil and parsley). lemon juice
- Make it spicy. Use hot Italian sausage and/or sprinkle on crushed red pepper flakes.
- Make it vegetarian. For a vegetarian version, just leave out the bacon and sausage or substitute more beans, potatoes or vegetables for the meat. You can bulk it up with rice or noodles, or check out my vegetarian White bean soup.
Reserving and reheating leftover soup
- Keep in fridge. Refrigerate any leftover Tuscan kale soup in an airtight container. It will last up to 4 days.
- Reheat. Heat the soup on the stove or in the microwave until hot.
- to freeze You can freeze this Zuppa Toscana, although if possible, it's best to freeze it without adding heavy cream. Store the soup in a freezer-safe container and freeze it for up to 3 months. Refrigerate the soup overnight. After reheating you can add a little heavy cream.
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This is rich, creamy Tuscan soup The recipe is an easy one-pot soup packed with fresh ingredients like Italian sausage, bacon, tender potatoes, beans and kale. Like Olive Garden, only better!
- 8 Bacon, sliced thickly
- 1 ½ Pound sweet Italian sausage, remove the casing and divide between 1– inch fraction
- 1 Small yellow onion, chopped
- 4 Medium carrot, peeled and chopped
- 4 Celery sticks, chopped
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 3 Clove garlic, minced
- 5 Medium waxy potatoes, cubed
- 1 15-ounce can kidney beans or white beans, rinsed and drained (optional)
- 8 cups Chicken stock, or vegetable broth
- 3 cups Chopped Tuscan kale, packed
- ½ cup Heavy cream, optional
- Heat a heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high heat.
- Add bacon and fry until browned (about 10 minutes). Using a slotted spoon, remove the bacon and set aside to drain.
- Add the sausage to the pot and fry until browned on all sides (about 10 minutes). Remove sausage with a slotted spoon and set aside.
- Add the onion, carrot and celery to the pot and season with sea salt. Saute until onions are translucent (about 5 minutes).
- Add the garlic and fry until fragrant (about 1 minute).
- Add potatoes, beans (if using), chicken stock and cooked sausage. Make sure you rinse and drain the canned beans before adding them to the soup.
- Bring the soup to a boil before reducing the heat. Simmer for 20 minutes.
- Add the kale and simmer for an additional 10 minutes.
- Remove from heat. Stir in cooked bacon and heavy cream (if using).
- Serve! This soup is perfect with bread crumbs.
