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Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana

Name: Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana Recipe
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 30 min
Ingredients: 1 tablespoon olive oil; 1 lb. spicy Italian sausage; 1 medium white onion (diced); 2 garlic cloves (smashed and minced); 4 small russet potatoes (sliced into ¼ inch thick rounds (we used a mandolin to cut these)); 3 cups kale (deboned and chopped); 6 cups broth (any kind, we suggest beef or chicken, divided); ⅓ cup heavy cream; 1 teaspoon salt (separated); ½ teaspoon pepper

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By Emily Richter

5 from 5 votes

Published 10/14/2021

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Now you can have Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana soup at home! Make this ultimate cozy Zuppa Toscana soup recipe in under 30 minutes for dinner tonight.

Make Your Own Zuppa Toscana

That’s right, folks! We’re back with another soup dupe recipe, and this time it’s Olive Garden’s Zuppa Toscana soup.

why you’ll love this soup

It tastes JUST LIKE Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana soup!
It’s made on the stovetop in one pot
It’s ready in under 30 minutes
The whole family will enjoy it!

zuppa toscana soup ingredients in bowls ready to be mixed together

Ingredients – What You Need

This Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana soup recipe packs a short list of simple ingredients that don’t compromise on flavor. You’ll need:

Spicy Italian sausage: Ground spicy Italian sausage brings out the base flavor of this soup, so we don’t recommend subbing for any type of un-seasoned ground pork. If you’re not a spicy lover, feel free to sub for traditional Italian sausage.
White onion: Onion offers such a great soup starter flavor! It adds depth and savoriness. We used white onion, but yellow works, too.
Salt, pepper & garlic: These are the only spices you’ll need for this soup since you’ll already have great flavor from the spicy Italian sausage.
Russet potatoes: We sliced our potatoes with a mandolin to get them super thin! If you don’t have a mandolin, slicing with a knife into ¼ inch thick rounds will also work.
Kale: Chop up some fresh kale to add some greens to this soup! Chopped spinach will also work if you prefer that.
Broth: Technically any kind of broth works, but we love the flavor chicken or beef broth adds to this Olive Garden chicken gnocchi soup recipe.
Heavy cream: We love using a bit of heavy cream in our creamy soups because it adds such great flavor. Feel free to sub for milk if you prefer.

Kitchen Tools You Need

A Dutch oven works great for this Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana soup recipe. If you don’t have one, a large stock pot will also work! What what else will you need?

Easy Ingredient Swaps

Kale –> Spinach: We love a good hearty kale in this soup, but if you don’t have any on hand, fresh chopped spinach will work as well!
Russet Potatoes –> Yukon Gold Potatoes: Starchy taters are crucial to this soup, but feel free to sub for Yukon golds if you prefer.
White Onion –> Yellow Onion: We used a white onion in this soup, but a yellow onion will work as well.
Spicy Italian Sausage –> Traditional Italian Sausage: Because much of this soup’s flavor comes from the Italian sausage itself, we don’t recommend subbing for an un-seasoned sausage. BUT, if you’re looking to avoid spicy flavors, a traditional Italian sausage will work.
Heavy Cream –> Milk: Heavy cream adds great depth to this soup, but subbing for a dairy milk will work as well.

zuppa toscana soup in a stock pot with a ladle full of soup

How to Make Zuppa Toscana at Home

For the full recipe, scroll down to the recipe card for a list of ingredients and instructions.

Start with the Sausage + Onions

Heat a large pot or Dutch oven over medium/high heat, and add olive oil.

When the olive oil is fragrant, add the Italian sausage to the pot and break it up with a spatula. When the sausage is partially cooked and still pink, add the onion and garlic to the pot and stir the ingredients together, and sprinkle with salt.

Cook the sausage for an additional 1-2 minutes and then deglaze the pot with ½ cup of broth and scrape the bottom of the pot and remove any brown bits.

Pro tip: The pork should still be a bit pink at this point!

Add the Potatoes

Add the potatoes to the pot, being sure that they aren’t all stuck together.

Then pour the rest of the broth over the ingredients and add the rest of the salt and pepper to the pot. Stir all the ingredients together and be sure everything is covered by broth.

Bring to a Boil

Bring the broth to a boil and then turn heat to medium/low and let the soup simmer for 10 minutes or until the potatoes are fork tender.

Pro tip: this step will take a bit longer if your potatoes are cut thicker!

Add the Kale

Finally, add the chopped kale to the pot, cover and let the kale wilt in the soup for 2-3 minutes.

Finish with Heavy Cream

Remove the pot from the heat, stir and add the heavy cream to the soup. Then let the soup sit on low heat until you’re ready to serve it.

Enjoy!

Salt and pepper to taste and enjoy with croutons, crackers or your favorite breadstick.

Storage

Let your soup cool completely. Then, transfer it into an airtight container. Store in the fridge for up to 3-5 days.

storage tip!

If you’ve got the space in your fridge, you can simply store your Zuppa Toscana soup in the Dutch oven or stock pot with a lid that you made it in. That’ll save you a few dishes!