Creamy Zuppa Toscana

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This Creamy Zuppa Toscana Soup combines Italian sausage, tender potatoes, kale, and bacon in a creamy broth. It is a cozy homemade soup ready in just 30 minutes.

Zuppa Toscana Soup is made even better at home.

Zuppa Toscana Soup is Olive Garden’s most popular soup, and my copycat recipe tastes even better! “Zuppa” means soup, and Toscana means Tuscan–this is a Tuscan Soup that’s hearty and delicious, made with sausage, potatoes, bacon, and kale in a creamy broth. And it tastes great eaten days later, so it makes a great meal prep soup. It’s inexpensive, easy to make and just so comforting on a chilly day. It’s also naturally gluten-free and grain free!

Pro Tip: Use mild, medium or hot Italian sausage, depending on your spice preference. You can also make zuppa toscana soup in the slow cooker or the instant pot (see my notes in the recipe card).

Warm up with more soup recipes, like Chicken Noodle Soup, Homemade Chili, Chicken and Dumplings, Hungarian Goulash, or my famous Lasagna Soup!

How to make Zuppa Toscana:

Brown Sausage: In a large soup pot over medium-high heat, cook the ground Italian sausage, breaking it into small pieces, until browned. I love to use my meat chopper for this. Remove some of the grease and move the sausage to one side of the pot. Add the chopped onion, garlic, and potatoes and sauté for a few minutes.

Simmer Potatoes: Pour in the chicken broth and water and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook for about 8-10 minutes, until the potatoes are fork-tender.

Finish and Serve: Stir in the cooked, crumbled bacon, chopped kale, and heavy cream. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper, plus crushed red pepper flakes if desired. Cook for 2-3 more minutes, until warmed through, and serve with homemade Olive Garden Breadsticks.

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5 from 211 votes

Creamy Zuppa Toscana

Author: Lauren Allen

 This hugely popular and easy Zuppa Toscana soup recipe is made with sausage, potatoes, kale, bacon and cream. It's always a crowd pleaser!

Prep: 10 minutes mins

Cook: 20 minutes mins

Total: 30 minutes mins

Servings: 6

Cost: $15

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Equipment

• Pot
• Knife
• Meat Chopper

Ingredients 

US CustomaryMetric

 

0.5x1x2x?

• ▢ 1 pound hot ground Italian sausage
• ▢ 1 large onion, , chopped
• ▢ 3 cloves garlic, , minced
• ▢ 2 large Russet potatoes, , or gold potatoes, peeled, quartered, and then chopped in ¼ inch slices
• ▢ 5 slices bacon, , cooked and crumbled
• ▢ 4 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• ▢ 1 cups water
• ▢ 3 cups chopped kale, (ribs/stems removed)
• ▢ 1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
• ▢ salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• ▢ crushed red pepper flakes, to taste, if desired

Instructions 

• Brown sausage: In a large soup pot over medium-high heat, Add the ground sausage and cook, breaking it into small pieces as it cooks, until browned. Remove some of the grease and move sausage to one side of the pan.
  1 pound hot ground Italian sausage
• Add chopped onions, garlic, and potatoes and sauté for a few minutes. Pour in chicken broth and water and allow mixture to come to a boil.
  1 large onion, 3 cloves garlic, 2 large Russet potatoes, 4 ½ cups low-sodium chicken broth, 1 cups water
• Simmer: Reduce heat to medium low and cook until potatoes are fork tender, about 8-10 minutes.
• Stir in the bacon, chopped kale, and cream. Season with salt and pepper and crushed red pepper flakes, if using. Cook for 2-3 more minutes or until warmed through.
  5 slices bacon, 3 cups chopped kale, 1 ½ cups heavy whipping cream, salt and freshly ground black pepper, crushed red pepper flakes
• Serve with homemade Olive Garden Breadsticks.

Notes

Kale: You could also use spinach.

Slow Cooker Instructions: Sauté ground sausage, onion, garlic and potatoes in a pan, then add to the slow cooker with water and broth. Cook on LOW for 5 hours or HIGH for 3, or until potatoes are tender. Stir in cream and season to taste.

Instant Pot: Use the Instant Pot to sauté the sausage, onion, garlic and potatoes on sauté setting. Turn pot off and add water and broth. Cook on High pressure for 4 minutes, with a 10 minute natural release. Stir in kale and cream. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Make Ahead Instructions: The entire soup can be made 1-3 days ahead of time, stored in the fridge.

Freezing Instructions: To freeze Zuppa Toscana, make the soup according to instructions but don’t add the cream and don’t cook the potatoes until tender. Allow soup to cool, then store in a freezer safe container for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge and rewarm on the stove, cooking potatoes until tender, and then stir in cream.

Nutrition

Calories: 460kcal, Carbohydrates: 31g, Protein: 21g, Fat: 29g, Saturated Fat: 11g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g, Monounsaturated Fat: 11g, Trans Fat: 0.2g, Cholesterol: 76mg, Sodium: 615mg, Potassium: 1092mg, Fiber: 3g, Sugar: 5g, Vitamin A: 3619IU, Vitamin C: 42mg, Calcium: 189mg, Iron: 3mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

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I originally shared this recipe October 2017. Updated September 2020, September 2023 and October 2026.