I bet you have finished a bowl of the Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana Soup and wondered if you could make this soup. You can make your Zuppa Toscana taste just like the Olive Gardens soup recipe. Potatoes, Italian sausage, kale, onions, bacon, and cream make for a delicious and hearty soup. You don’t have to get a babysitter, or even leave your house to have soup just like Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana.
Rich and hearty, Zuppa Toscana is one of the most popular Olive Garden soups on the restaurant’s menu. Enjoy a delicious bowl of this Olive Garden favorite at home any time you want with this recipe. Like most homemade soup, the Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana recipe does take some time to come together. Do you want to get this meal on the table faster? Then be sure to read the time-saving tips below.
What Makes Italian Sausage Italian?
Sausage is the star of this soup, so it needs to be the highest quality Italian sausage you can find. Make sure to select Italian sausages for this recipe because it has an entirely different flavor profile than other types of sausage, such as Andouille or Chorizo.
Italian sausages combine finely ground pork, pork fat, and seasonings inside a natural casing. The main seasonings which give them their unique flavor are fennel and anise. Unlike other varieties of sausages, Italian sausages are always raw, and never smoked or precooked. You will need to make sure to cook them thoroughly before serving.
Don’t be confused about how the labeling on the package. You will often see Italian sausages labeled as ‘mild,’ ‘sweet’, or ‘hot’ in the supermarket. Mild and sweet sausages are two different words companies use to describe exactly the same ingredients. The word ‘hot’ indicates that red pepper flakes are part of the pork mixture. The spiciness of hot Italian sausages varies by brand.
For this recipe, hot or sweet Italian sausages work, so choose whichever one you usually enjoy.
Cooking and Serving Suggestions for the Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana Recipe
- Use a food chopper. A lot of 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 the reason there is no salt in bread from the region is that 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. Just 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 to balance out the soup’s richness.
If Olive Garden is your favorite restaurant, then you have to give these recipes a try:
Olive Garden Watermelon Moscato Sangria
Olive Garden Spinach Artichoke Dip
Olive Garden Steak Gorgonzola Alfredo
Olive Garden Chicken & Shrimp Carbonara
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Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana Soup
Ingredients
- 1 pound sweet or hot Italian sausage links
- 1 pound russet potatoes s, 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 Oscar Mayer Real Bacon Bits (1/2 can)
- Salt and pepper
- 2 cups chopped kale
- 1 cup heavy cream
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. Put the sausages in a baking pan and roast for about 30 minutes, until cooked through. Drain on paper towels and cut into slices. 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 and simmer for another 10 minutes. Turn the heat to low. Add kale, the cream, and more water, if necessary. Heat thoroughly and serve.
Gina says
Very good. Makes a whole lot of soup. I used an extra clove of garlic and the optional fennel seeds. If I did it again I’d add about 1/2 tsp of red pepper flakes, a bit more pepper and about 1/8 – 1/4 cup less cream. Very good though, just personal taste variants.
Lisa Masteller says
I am what you would call a “late bloomer”, with good home cooking. Now that I live in the South East, I have been more drawn to coming up with meals that please a variety of people. This one continues to be very consistent no matter how many times i make it. It contains so much flavor and goes very quickly! Love, Love it!!
Camisha says
This recipe is great!!! It tasted perfect!!
Deb says
I love this soup!!! I substitute peppered bacon for the bacon bits and it really gives it a lot of spicy flavor.
Becky says
this receipe is identical to Olive Gardens…. I have cooked n served this to numerous people and they all agree…. the only change I made that seemed to make a TREMENDOUS difference is simmering a whole chicken and using the actual stock instead of the broth… the chicken salad the next day was an added bonus
Dave in Florida says
I found using 32 oz chicken stock(not broth) and 24 oz water, escarole instead of kale, and a touch more cream kicked this up several notches. I also cooked some bacon and used the bacon grease to wilt the onions prior to adding the other items. I just made some last week and it’s still great.
Dave in Florida says
A really nice addition. Get a bag of pizza dough and pull some golf ball sized pieces from it and place on a greased sheet pan. Allow dough to almost double in size at room temp. Sprinkle tops with garlic salt and bake at 400 for 12 mins, or until very light golden colors start showing. Nice soft, chewy pizza crust rolls.
Brandy says
Made this soup for my boyfriend because this is his FAVORITE thing from OG. I have never had it before. He said it was really good and tasted a lot like OG. I really enjoyed this soup and will make again. I could not find Swiss Chard or Kale at our local grocery store so I used Napa Cabbage instead. It was so good!!
Dave in Florida says
Try escarole if it’s available. It’s not as firm as kale and it’s still very authentic Italian. I love it in this soup.
Lisa says
OMGosh, this tastes exactly like Olive Garden. My daughter (11 years old) and I are making this as I type. The broth is exactly the same. I made some changes though – I used real bacon and sauted the garlic and onions in that and then used all of that in the soup itself I bought Italian sausage, but still added a sprinkle of red pepper flakes. I will double the batch next time, since we like to have leftovers for lunch through the week! Thanks for the recipe!
Cathy Ighagbon says
I’ve made this soup recipe a few times and really believe it tastes better than what you get at Olive Garden! It’s wonderful and so easy to prepare! I add a small pinch of crushed red pepper flakes and it’s awesome! Thanks for sharing your recipe!
Margaret deVries says
I make this with 1/2 and 1/2 instead of cream and omit the bacon…still tastes great!!! I fling in a ham stock cube…
I use the ground Italian sausage 1 lb
I have used the super large size of canned potatoes which I cut up …..used frozen spinach,,,,though I prefer Kale, and even used a can of evaporated milk when I had nothing else…and it always tasted great!!
Cynthia says
I just made this soup and it turned out great!! Everyone loved it…its better than OG’s zuppa!
Sally says
Olive Garden in Las Cruces waters this down so badly you can hardly see anything in it. Thx for the real tasty version.
Karen says
I love this recipe,This soup is my favourite and now I can enjoy it a home. thanks so much.
Amy Wellman says
I’ve been making your creation of OG’s Alfredo Sauce & Zuppa Toscana Soup for years….It is wonderfully yummy…I still like to visit OG when I can.
Diana says
For the OG Zuppa Tuscana, it’s
Italian Sausage, Pancetta (Italian bacon), Diced Onion, Minced Garlic, Chicken Stock, Heavy Cream and Milk.and slice Russet Potatos. The Kale is added just prior to serving…The Kale sets off the flavors. A little extra Crushed Red Pepper can be added to give it that extra little zip.
Karen says
It was the best copy kat recipe I have tried. It was just like setting at a table at Olive Garden and having this great soup. It has been my favorite soup for about the past 3 years but have never been able to perfect it myself. You did it for me. Thanks.
suzy says
I use hot pepper flakes and hot italian sausage.
Chef Mark says
This recipe will make a close clone of the OG soup, but I beg to offer a few tips to make it much better than the OG:
1) Use 1/2 cup finely chopped Italian parsley instead of the kale — it’s less harsh, and adds a better hint of freshness
2) Use yellow potatoes instead of Russets — they are far less likely to crumble and dissolve after so much simmering
3) Sauté the sausage & bacon, reserve some of the bacon fat and sauté the onions until brown, add the garlic until fragrant (30 seconds), THEN, add it to the broth & water; it greatly increases the flavor
4) The OG version is too watery — don’t be afraid to add a little corn starch/water thickener or use some of the bacon fat & flour to make a roux to thicken the soup up a bit
Stephanie says
I appreciate your suggestions. I think your suggestions will make this better than what the Olive Garden makes. Love your additional suggestions, while that won’t make exactly what they do, it will make very tasty soup!
Dave in Florida says
If you use Russet potatoes you can mash some pieces up as a thickener till you get the desired consistency.
PMM says
A little bit of instant potato also will act as a thickener.
PMM says
To me, one of the things that makes this recipe is the kale and the taste the kale adds to the overall soup, and Italian parsley would detract rather than enhance the soup for me.
Lori says
agreed – we love the Kale
bill says
No, you might like it this way, but the recipe is dead on.
Darrien Maverique says
Bill, the recipe may be dead on, but as he said, he is offering methds to improve on Olive Garden. I intend to try all of them except subbing out the kale, that part he is just wrong on. Don’t think I would thicken mine any further either, but worth trying.
pima says
If you want to make it closer to the OG recipe, you should add in a 1/2 tsp of red pepper flakes. It gives you the kick!
Also, I typically cook the sausage the night before when I am making dinner for that night. Cool it over night and then slice the sausage.
The soup makes alot. I would say 6-8 servings. If you have a Panerra Bread by you, buy the soup bowls and use them. I do it that way for entertaining a luncheon with the OG salad.
I do go to our local OG for the salad, because it is cheaper than me making it!
Emily says
I’ve made a very similar recipe, as well! It’s the Caldo Verde, from The Joy of Cooking…and I had no idea, but my roommate told me that it was just like her favorite soup from Olive Garden. The only difference is that it does not include cream (or any dairy). So light and tasty, though! And a LOT of fun to make! The recipe is on my blog!