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 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.
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.
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!!
This recipe is great!!! It tasted perfect!!
I love this soup!!! I substitute peppered bacon for the bacon bits and it really gives it a lot of spicy flavor.
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
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.
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.
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!!
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.
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!
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!
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!!
I just made this soup and it turned out great!! Everyone loved it…its better than OG’s zuppa!
Olive Garden in Las Cruces waters this down so badly you can hardly see anything in it. Thx for the real tasty version.
I love this recipe,This soup is my favourite and now I can enjoy it a home. thanks so much.
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.
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.
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.
I use hot pepper flakes and hot italian sausage.
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
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!
If you use Russet potatoes you can mash some pieces up as a thickener till you get the desired consistency.
A little bit of instant potato also will act as a thickener.
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.
agreed – we love the Kale
No, you might like it this way, but the recipe is dead on.
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.
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!
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!