OLIVE GARDEN ZUPPA TOSCANA (+Video)

Name: OLIVE GARDEN ZUPPA TOSCANA
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 35 min
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)

May 4, 2019 by Brandie @ The Country Cook 68 Comments

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5 from 26 votes

COPYCAT OLIVE GARDEN ZUPPA TOSCANA

Copycat Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana is a hearty Italian, homemade, creamy sausage and potato soup. Serve with OLIVE GARDEN BREADSTICKS and it is heaven!

VIDEO INCLUDED BELOW:

WHAT DOES ‘ZUPPA TOSCANA’ MEAN?

Zuppa Toscana just means Tuscan Soup in Italian. But is sounds fancier in Italian, right? 😉 It’s like PASTA E FAGIOLI just means Pasta and Beans in Italian but it sounds so much better when you say Pasta e Fagioli. Ha!

HOW DO YOU CUT KALE?

This is a question I get a lot. Kale is a lot like collard greens and mustard greens and if you’ve ever cut those, then you’ll be familiar. If you’ve never dealt with any kind of large green, I will show below how to do it in my step-by-step instructions.

WHAT YOU’LL NEED:
bacon
Italian sausage
yellow onion
garlic
chicken stock
russet potatoes
salt and pepper
kale
heavy whipping cream
grated Parmesan cheese

bacon, Italian sausage, yellow, onion. garlic, chicken stock, russet potatoes, salt and pepper, kale, heavy whipping cream, grated Parmesan cheese

HOW TO MAKE OLIVE GARDEN’S ZUPPA TOSCANA:

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.

browning ground beef, Italian sausage and onions in a large stock pot

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 stir in kale and chopped, cooked bacon. 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.

Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana, finished, in a pot

Then serve!

Enjoy

Originally published April 2013
Updated and republished: May 2019

OLIVE GARDEN ZUPPA TOSCANA

Copycat Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana is a hearty Italian, homemade, creamy sausage and potato soup. Serve with breadsticks and it is heaven!

5 from 26 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Italian

Keyword: Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 35 minutes

Servings:

Calories: 623kcal

Author: Brandie @ The Country Cook

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

Instructions

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 minced garlic.
Once cooked, drain excess grease.
Return sausage mixture back to pot and pour in chicken stock.
Then add in cubed potatoes.
Cover pot 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 taste test (be careful - it's hot!) and see if you need more seasoning like salt or pepper.

Video

Notes

collard greens or mustard greens can be used in place of kale

Nutrition

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BE SURE TO TRY THESE OTHER OLIVE GARDEN COPYCAT RECIPES!

OLIVE GARDEN SALAD DRESSING

CROCK POT PASTA E FAGIOLI SOUP
HOMEMADE OLIVE GARDEN BREADSTICKS

Olive Garden is a registered trademark of Darden Restaurants, Inc.

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About Brandie @ The Country Cook

I’m a regular home cook, like most of you, doing my best to get a good meal on the table for my family. I like to say the recipes on here are recipes for the busy cook (you know who you are). You can still get a good meal on the table, with a few shortcuts to help you along the way. I hope you’ll find lots of recipes here that you’ll love and hopefully will become family favorites. Read more...

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