Zuppa Toscana is Olive Garden’s most popular soup. This one-pot, homemade Zuppa Toscana recipe is hearty and loaded with Italian sausage, kale, bacon, and tender potatoes. It’s on my family’s regular menu rotation!
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Helpful Reader Review
“Soup was delicious! Best copycat Olive Garden recipe ever! Taste so authentic; I thought I was eating at Olive Garden!” – Marianne ★★★★★
Zuppa Toscana Video
Now wasn’t that easy? Serve topped with crispy bacon, extra cheese and generous slices of Sourdough Bread, or crusty French Bread. I hope this Zuppa Toscana becomes a favorite in your home as well.
Zuppa Toscana Copycat Recipe
Some of our most popular recipes are restaurant copycat recipes like Creamy Shrimp Pasta and of course Chicken Madeira! You can make it better at home for a fraction of the price!
We love re-creating restaurant-quality soups at home, like our popular Clam Chowder Recipe. My sister Tanya taught me how to make this Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana from scratch and it has been a family and reader favorite since we first published it in 2010. We have since made it heartier and more flavorful. The classic just got better!
What is Zuppa Toscana?
Zuppa means soup, and Toscana means Tuscan. Tuscan Soup! This American adaptation is classically made with kale, potatoes, onion, and garlic, then served topped with Parmesan cheese or Parmigiano Reggiano.
Is Zuppa Toscana Spicy?
I Use “Hot” Italian sauce, which does give this soup a spicy kick, but you can substitute with medium or mild Italian sausage and make a less spicy version that’s more kid-friendly, then season with salt and pepper to taste. You can spice up individual bowls later with red pepper flakes if you prefer.
Zuppa Toscana Ingredients
- Bacon – the bacon adds an extra layer of flavor to the soup and a crunchy salty bite when sprinkled as garnish. Parmesan is also a nice touch to serve the soup.
- Italian Sausage – I prefer using ‘hot’ Italian sausage, but you can use mild if you prefer less spice. Remove casings if present.
- Aromatics – I use a whole head of garlic (more on that below) and a diced onion.
- Chicken stock – you can use chicken broth or stock here, or even substitute with turkey stock. Homemade always tastes best, especially bone broth! For richer flavor, you can replace the water in the recipe with more stock.
- Potatoes – you can peel or leave the skins on for a more rustic soup. Russet, or yello wpotatoes work great.
- Kale – strip the leaves from one kale bundle then finely chop. It will seem like alot of kale, but it softens and shrinks down in the soup.
- Whipping cream – heavy cream creates a rich broth. You can use a light cream if desired.
Do I really need 1 HEAD of Garlic?
YES! We used a full head of garlic (about 10 large cloves). Do not skip the fresh garlic. Garlic gives the broth an incredible and authentic Italian flavor. Since the garlic is sautéed and then simmered with the broth, it doesn’t overwhelm the soup. Garlic is also very good for you (a super food)!
Is Zuppa Toscana Healthy?
This soup is naturally gluten free and grain free. To make a Keto-friendly Zuppa Toscana, you can substitute potatoes with cauliflower.
For Whole 30 (dairy free), substitute the heavy whipping cream for 1 can of full fat unsweetened coconut milk (using the solid white cream portion only and adding it at the very end just to heat through).
Everyone in my family makes this Zuppa Toscana regularly. I love it when my Mom has a pot simmering on the stove when all of my sisters’ families come over for Sunday lunch. It’s the first thing I reach for, even with plenty of other options on the table (Mom always makes a feast on Sundays!). I hope this Zuppa soup becomes a favorite in your home as well.
Zuppa Toscana – Olive Garden Copycat
Ingredients
- 6 oz bacon, chopped
- 1 lb Italian Sausage, The “Hot” variety
- 1 head of garlic, about 10 large cloves, peeled and minced or pressed
- 1 onion, medium, finely diced
- 6 cups chicken broth, or chicken stock
- 4 cups water
- 5 russet potatoes, medium, peeled and chopped into 1/4" thick pieces*
- 1 kale bundle, leaves stripped and chopped (6 cups)
- 1 cup whipping cream, or 1 can full fat unsweetened coconut milk
- salt and black pepper to taste
- Parmesan cheese, optional, to serve
Instructions
- Brown Bacon – In a large pot or Dutch oven (5.5 qt), over medium-high heat, add chopped bacon and sauté until browned (5-7 mins). Remove bacon to a paper-towel-lined plate and spoon out excess oil, leaving about 1 Tbsp oil in the pot.
- Brown Italian sausage, breaking it up with your spatula, and sauté until cooked through and browned (5 min). Remove to a paper-towel-lined plate.
- Add onion to the pot and saute 5 min, stirring occasionally, or until soft and golden, then add minced garlic and saute 1 min.
- Add broth and water, and bring to a boil. Add sliced potatoes and cook 13-14 min or until easily pierced with a fork.
- Add chopped kale and cooked sausage, and bring everything to a light boil.
- Stir in cream and bring to a boil. Season to taste with salt and black pepper, then remove from heat. Ladle into bowls and serve garnished with bacon and grated parmesan.
Notes
- Fridge: once completely cool, cover and refrigerate leftovers for 3-4 days.
- Freezer: Soups with cream and potatoes do not freeze well, so I don’t recommend freezing this soup.
- Reheat: Warm on the stove over medium-low heat or in the microwave until steaming hot. Avoid boiling.
Nutrition Per Serving
Filed Under
More Copycat Recipes from Restaurants
These recipes are inspired by some of our favorite restaurant dishes. In every case, we loved the homemade version even better because of higher-quality ingredients, healthier fats (olive oil), less salt, and, of course, a lower bill!
- Beet Salad with Arugula
- Stuffed Chicken Parmesan
- Filet Mignon
- Chicken Mango Avocado Salad
- Chicken Stir Fry
- Shrimp Scampi
- Monterey Chicken
- Homemade Salsa
- Chicken Piccata
Your Zuppa Tuscana soup was spot on!! My family loved it and I had fun making it. 5 stars plus!
That’s just awesome!! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review, Carolyn!
Hi Natasha! Could I freeze this? Thank you!
Hi Naomi, I haven’t tried that but I don’t see why not. I think it would work to freeze it.
Can I use pancetta instead of bacon? Has anyone tried that?
Hi Joanne, I haven’t tested that but I think it could work. If you experiment, let me know how you liked the recipe
Would regular milk be ok? I could make my own heavy cream but I only have 2% milk on hand. If not I have some half n half. This will be my second time making your recipe but I had heavy cream last time. It also has good flavor using beer bratwursts, I took the casings off. Adding the red pepper flakes does give it flavor as well.
Hi Michaela, I have not tested that with milk but one of my readers recommended canned coconut milk (the cream part) to make it creamy and dairy-free. You can also use half and half to make it a little lighter.
Love your recipe! The only things I did a little differently were to keep the skins on the baby potatoes I chopped, to give it a rustic feel, and to add a cup more cream with one less cup water. It’s soooo good!
That sounds so good! Thank you for that great review, Theresa!
Hi Natasha
Is the bacon for sauté flavoring and garnish only? I am substituting Spinach for Kale. (Not a Kale fan).
Thanks
Hi Marlene, the bacon adds great flavor to the soup and it’s nice as a garnish. I hope you love it with your substitution.
This is a great recipe. If you ever want to spice it up a bit. I swapped out half the sausage and replaced with Chorizo sausage to appease my Latino wife and her family. They absolutely loved it!
Thank you for sharing that great idea with us! I’m so glad your entire Family enjoyed that.
Loved this soup! My husband is an extremely picky eater and he could not get enough of it! I meal planned and thought it was going to last for at least a few days, and it was gone by day 2. I ended up with mild sausage since I don’t like spicy, and I would actually recommend sticking with spicy sausage, I felt like it needed a bit more “zing” to it. Lastly, I did half cream and half milk to have less fat for my toddler. I liked it, but my hubby added more cream separately to his bowl.
That’s so great! It sounds like you have a new favorite!
I love this soup and your recipe however I had little potatoes so I didn’t peel them and it turned out fine,
Thank you for sharing that with us, Louisa! I’m so happy you enjoyed that.
Hello Natasha,,pretty good recipe ,but for one thing drop the kale and add real nice unique flavor of Swiss chard stand cut bite size leaf torn added after stems are aldente ,,now tour Italian ,,chard more expensive than kale but has a greater nutritional value a unique one of a kind flavor gotta cook it ,thats why people use more kale cause it can go in a salad chard except for an heirloom variety from Barese Italy cannot ,,eat more chard !!!
Thank you for sharing that with me, Joseph!
I love the Kale! Not a fan of that Swiss chard stuff. I am sure someone may try that though. And honestly, your post lost me a little bit at the end. I think it mainly says you love the chard.
I sub-out the Potatoes with a head of chopped(diced) Cauliflower – So yummy
Thank you for sharing that with me, Maria!
I make this often. One of my favorites. Just a note; this soup freezes well so don’t throw out leftovers. It’s even better the second time around.
Thank you so much for sharing that with me.
Jan, thank you for the tip! I wouldn’t have thought of freezing it, especially not with the potatoes, but I will try next time I make it.
One of my go-to recipes as soon as the weather even hints at cooling off. Super delicious!
That’s so great! It sounds like you have a new favorite!
Can I substitute kale for spinach?
That should work, Carly!
It would really be helpful to know the approx. weight of the russet potatoes, as there are monster ones, and also tiny little ones…my guess would be about 1-1/2 lbs for this soup?
Hi Patricia, we have a photo for comparison in the recipe.
Go with what you like. I actually use a lot of taters, and 2# of sausage. (I use 1# sweet sausage and 1# chorizo sausage) And just add a lil more broth to make sure and cover the taters. I use all broth no water. And of course a lil more half and half. I love a spoon full of taters and sausage over mostly liquid. And skip the bacon since the chorizo pretty much kills any bacon flavor.
Thank you so much for sharing that with me.
we really enjoyed this!
I’m so happy to hear that!
Made this soup twice. Did not need to adjust recipe at all. My husband can’t get enough of it. Thanks.
That’s just awesome!! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review, Judy!
I have used your recipes for this soup since i tried it at olive garden for the first time. and over time i have perfected it for our family, I use one can of evaporated milk as i’m lactose intolerant and it is a lot healthier than the heavy whipping cream. I also use hot but i have to add one mild in with to please the family whom don’ t like the spice. I also have used the low sodium chicken and organic chicken broth, both of those by far better less salty. I also use red potatoes as they are less starchy wich make it also healthier. I practically live off this soup so i had to make it healthier for us. Thank you natasha!
That’s so great, Samanth! Thank you for the great feedback.
Natasha, I noticed that you cook in Dutch oven a lot. Is that right? Would you please recommend non-toxic and chip-resistant Dutch oven brands for cooking and baking bread? Also are any other high-efficient cookware alternatives for Dutch oven for those above mentioned methods? Thank you very much!!!
We love cooking in our Dutch oven. Our Shop here has all of our favorites that we use often.
Left out the potatoes to make it Keto!!
That’s so great. Thank you for sharing that option with us Marie!
I use cauliflower instead!
Thank you for sharing that with us, Stephanie!
Hi Natasha My name is LarQueen. I just love your food!😀 could you pls tell me where you get your bowls from? You just made some Alfredo chicken and I loved your blue bowl!🙂
Hi LarQueen, we have our favorites in this shop here, https://natashaskitchen.com/shop/
Made the soup for dinner, my husband and I really liked it. This one is a keeper. I do think it would be fine without the bacon atop too. I also was concerned about how much garlic it called for, but it was perfect!
I’m so happy to hear that! Thank you for sharing your great review!