Name: Copycat Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 35 min
Yield: 6
Ingredients: 5 slices bacon (cooked and crumbled); 1 lb ground Italian sausage; 1 yellow onion (diced); 4 cloves garlic (minced); 1 32 oz container chicken stock (or 4 cups); 3 cups russet potatoes (cubed); 1 tsp salt; 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper; 2 cups kale (washed and cut into bite size pieces); 1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream; Garnish: Parmesan cheese (grated, to taste)

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4.8 from 24 votes

I still like Olive Garden

We recently had a chance to go out to dinner with some friends of ours. That is a rare occasion around here. My husband and I don’t get many date nights. And it is even harder to go out with friends who have kids too. So when that chance happens, it sure is nice to get to go out as grown ups and talk about grown up stuff. Although conversation inevitably turns to our kids. You know how it goes. We all decided to hit the OG (that’s Olive Garden for those who aren’t hip to the term, OG). We all could probably just go there for the soup and salad alone. Our friends kept saying how much they love the Potato and Sausage soup at Olive Garden.

Anyhow, our friend is a really good cook. In fact, he manages a small family-owned restaurant in a small town near ours. He has a lot of tips and tricks on how to make food taste really good. Tip from ‘our friend who shall remain nameless’: Did you know you can crush up croutons to use for breading for Chicken Parmesan? He gave me that tip while I was digging into my Chicken Parmesan that night at OG. What a great idea!

Zuppa Toscana or Tuscan Soup

So I was telling him that I had a really good recipe for the sausage and potato soup if he ever wanted to try it. I’m pretty sure he could have come up with his own version but I was telling him that this one is so good. I think it tastes even better than Olive Garden’s. I got it a couple of years ago from a friend and fellow food blogger, Siggy Spice. And it really is very easy and you can spice it up as much as you like. You can use hot Italian sausage if you want it spicier and if you can’t find kale, you can use any type of greens you like such as Mustard or Collard Greens. I hope you’ll give it a try and let me know if you think it’s up to snuff.

Ingredients
5 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
1 lb ground Italian sausage
1 yellow onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 (32 oz) container chicken stock (4 cups)
3 cups russet potatoes, cubed
1 tsp. salt (to taste)
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper (to taste)
2 cups kale, washed and cut into bite size pieces
1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
Garnish: Parmesan cheese, grated, to taste

Directions:

First chop up your kale. If you’ve never worked with greens before, it’s important to remove the stems and wash any grit off. Cut the kale in a “V” pattern to separate the leaves from the stem. Chop up leaves into bite size pieces. You want about 2 cups worth of leaves.

Then throw kale into a colander and rinse well to remove any dirt or grit that might still be hanging on. Let it drain well.

Meanwhile, in a large pot, brown and crumble sausage along with onions. During the last couple minutes of cooking, toss in garlic. Once cooked, drain excess grease.

Return sausage mixture back to pot and pour in chicken stock.

Then add in cubed potatoes.

Cover and allow potatoes to simmer for about 15-20 minutes, until tender.

Once potatoes are tender, pour in heavy cream and stir. Season with salt and pepper.

Then add in kale and chopped, cooked bacon.

Stir again. Bring mixture back up to a simmer and allow the kale to soften and wilt.

Give it a test (be careful – it’s hot!) and see if you need more seasoning like salt or pepper.

Then serve!

Enjoy!

You might like these other Olive Garden inspired recipes.

Olive Garden Salad Dressing

Pasta E Fagioli Soup