I bet you have finished a bowl of Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana soup and wondered if you could make this soup at home. Yes, you can make this favorite soup from Olive Garden! You will have a creamy soup filled with crispy bacon, chicken stock, and pork sausage that becomes a family favorite from the first taste.
On a cold winter many years ago, I craved the comforting warmth of Olive Garden’s famous Zuppa Toscana. Instead of heading to the restaurant, I decided to recreate this beloved soup in my kitchen. After numerous attempts and tweaks, I’ve perfected this copycat recipe that captures the essence of the original with a creamy, savory soup that’s both hearty and satisfying.
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Table of Contents
Why This is the Best Recipe for Zuppa Toscana
This is the best copycat, Zuppa Toscana, because it contains everything you love about this soup. Italian sausage, many Russet potatoes, and bits of smokey bacon are all served in a creamy broth. This Italian soup is packed with everything so that you can enjoy this delicious soup at home. Be sure to serve it with some crusty bread!Â
What is Zuppa Toscana?
Zuppa is an Italian word for soup. Toscana is the Italian name for the region of Tuscany. So Zuppa Toscana is Tuscan soup.
Olive Garden Tuscan soup is creamy, hearty, and loaded with Italian sausage, tender potatoes, and kale. It is an excellent meal with Olive Garden breadsticks and Italian salad. It is also Olive Garden’s most famous soup, and serves countless bowls of it every day.
Why This Recipe Works
This is the best copycat, Zuppa Toscana, because it contains everything you love about this soup. Italian sausage, russet potatoes, and bits of smoky bacon are all served in a creamy broth that perfectly balances richness with hearty satisfaction. The key is browning the sausage properly in the oven to develop deep flavors, then building the soup base with aromatics before finishing with cream and fresh kale. This method ensures each component maintains its distinct character while melding into a harmonious, restaurant-quality soup.
Zuppa Toscana Soup Ingredients
Here’s a list of what you need to make this hearty homemade soup.
- Mild Italian sausage – provides the primary savory flavor and meaty texture
- Russet Potatoes – adds heartiness and helps thicken the soup naturally
- White onion – creates a flavor foundation and adds natural sweetness
- Chicken Broth – forms the soup base and adds depth. Low-sodium broth is recommended
- Water – helps achieve the perfect consistency
- Garlic cloves – adds aromatic depth and traditional Italian flavor
- Slices of bacon or Oscar Mayer Real Bacon Bits – contributes smokiness and rich umami flavor
- Kosher salt – enhances all flavors
- Ground black pepper – adds subtle heat and depth
- Fresh kale – adds nutrition, color, and slight bitterness
- Heavy cream – creates the signature creamy texture
Nutritional information can be found on the recipe card below.
How to Make Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana
- Place the sausages in a baking pan—brown sausage by roasting at 300°F for 30 minutes or until cooked through.
- Drain sausages on paper towels to absorb the excess grease and cut the links into slices.
- Place the potatoes, onions, chicken broth, water, and garlic in a large pot or large Dutch oven and cook on medium heat until the potatoes are fork-tender.
- Add the sausage, bacon, salt, and pepper and simmer for 10 minutes.
- Turn the heat to low. Add kale and cream and stir to combine.
- Add more water if necessary for desired consistency.
- Heat thoroughly and serve.
Pro Tips and Common Questions
Ingredient Substitutions
- Potatoes: Yukon Gold potatoes can replace Russet
- Sausage: Spicy Italian sausage for extra heat
- Kale: Spinach or Swiss chard work well
- Heavy Cream: Half-and-half for a lighter version
Make It Your Own
This recipe is incredibly versatile. Try these variations:
- Add mushrooms for extra earthiness
- Include cannellini beans for more protein
- Use turkey sausage for a lighter version
- Add a splash of white wine for depth
Troubleshooting Tips
- Soup too thick? Add water or broth gradually
- Soup too thin? Simmer longer or add more potatoes
- Too mild? Add red pepper flakes or use spicy sausage
- Potatoes not cooking evenly? Cut them into uniform sizes
Cooking and Serving Suggestions for the Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana Recipe
- Use a food chopper. The time required to make this recipe revolves around cutting the vegetables. Save time and get perfectly diced onions and sliced potatoes with an inexpensive and indispensable food chopper. These inexpensive food prep tools are a must-have time-saver in any kitchen.
- Serve with warm slices of Tuscan bread to make Zuppa Toscana a simple supper. Tuscan bread is unique because it is baked without salt. Some people say there is no salt in bread from the region because the stubborn residents refused to pay high salt taxes during the Middle Ages. Other people think saltless bread pairs well with the traditionally heavy and salty local food. Either way, Tuscan bread goes great with this soup.
- Top each bowl with cheese and a splash of olive oil. A tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil on top of your soup just before serving helps provide a luscious mouthfeel. A little grated Pecorino Romano or Parmesan cheese on top helps balance the soup’s richness.
Storage & Reheating Instructions
- Freezing: Freezes well in airtight container for up to 3 months. Thaw in refrigerator before reheating.
- Refrigerator Storage: Store leftover soup in airtight container for up to 3-5 days in the refrigerator. Like many soups, this tastes better the next day.
- Reheating Method: Reheat on stovetop over low to medium heat for even warming. Avoid microwave as it can cause uneven heating and texture issues.
Love Olive Garden? Try these copycat recipes!
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- Olive Garden Spinach Dip
- Capellini Pomodoro
- Seafood Alfredo
- Steak Gorgonzola Alfredo
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Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana – Easy Copycat Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 pound sweet or hot Italian sausage links
- 1 pound russet potatoes peeled, cut in half lengthwise, then sliced 1/4-inch thick
- 1 cup chopped onion
- 29 ounces chicken broth (2 cans)
- 1 quart water
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic
- 1/4 cup chopped slices of bacon or Oscar Mayer Real Bacon Bits(1/2 can)
- kosher salt to taste
- ground black pepper to taste
- 2 cups chopped kale
- 1 cup heavy cream
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.
- Place the sausages in a baking pan and roast for about 30 minutes or until cooked through. Drain sausages on paper towels and cut into slices.
- If you are using fresh bacon slices, saute bacon in a small skillet until the bacon has browned.
- Place the potatoes, onions, chicken broth, water, and garlic in a pot and cook on medium heat until potatoes are done.
- Add the sausage, bacon, and salt and pepper to taste. Simmer for 10 minutes.
- Turn the heat to low. Add kale and cream. Stir to combine.
- Add more water, if necessary for desired consistency.
- Heat thoroughly and serve.
so easy and so good. I made it for a friend and she loved it.
We wish that your site would start giving directions by using air fryers and induction methods as well as the regular range methods. More and more people are using air fry and induction methods to speed up their cooking.
By the way this soup is fabulous and we have made it a few times using the induction and air fry
methods,
Thank you for the comment. I will keep your suggestion of adding more air fryer directions. Did you make the soup in an air fryer?
I LOVE this soup, actually making it again today. The only thing I changed was I use baby spinach, because I do not know anyone in our group that likes kale.
This is the best ever!!
Our favorite soup at The Olive Garden and now one of our favorite soups for home I didn’t use the bacon or garlic though hubby is finicky but still taste just like our favorite restaurant
For a more authentic OG soup use ground mild Italian sausage and add red pepper flakes while cooking. Remove cooked sausage. In the same pan,Sauté onions, garlic, and cooked bacon together until onions are soft. Add broth and water then thinly sliced potatoes. Cook until potatoes are soft. Soup should be around 185F. Remove from heat. Add half and half or heavy cream. Also the kale should be added to hot soup after it’s cooked to keep its texture. Just a couple of hints from the OG kitchen.
Tasty and a ton of flavor! One of my favorite recipes.
We’re having the rare ice day here in Houston so I thought, what better time to make soup. I tried this recipe and it came out great. I didn’t see the video so I only browned the sausage. Just like in Olive Garden, one bowl wasn’t enough. I’ll definitely be making this again.
Easier than recipe I was following and just as good tasting. I followed the written recipe and didn’t see the video until afterwards, so I didn’t brown onions and garlic with sausage. I dumped them in the broth uncooked. I browned the the sausage earlier in the day and bought kale in a bag already chopped to simplify even further.
So good…Perfect
My boyfriend’s favorite soup at Olive Garden! He LOVED this copycat version! We will be making this again!
That’s awesome!