Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana – Copycat Reicpe
This Copycat Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana recipe is so easy to make and tastes just like the restaurant with Italian sausage, kale, and super creamy broth!
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Umm, this is my third time re-posting this recipe. Third time shooting the photos, third time writing up the post, and billionth time making the soup. I am beyond in love with the flavors here, they blend so perfectly together and totally taste just like Olive Garden’s Zuppa Toscana soup.
What Does Zuppa Toscana Mean?
Zuppa Toscana translates to: “Soup in the style of Tuscany.”
Using Homemade Chicken Broth:
Homemade chicken broth is easy to make at home and makes your soups and stews taste twice as good:
-Take a leftover chicken carcass (even a small rotisserie chicken is great for this), and place the bones and all of the scraps into a medium/large pot.
-Add enough water to cover the chicken by an inch or so. Add in any onions/celery if you have them.
-Cover the pot, leaving a small crack for steam to escape and simmer for an hour or two.
-Place a fine mesh strainer over another large pot and pour the mixture into the strainer, allowing the broth to seep through the strainer into the pot. The remains in the strainer can be discarded.
-Allow the chicken broth to cool and freeze for your future soup needs!
Healthy Zuppa Toscana
My fried London at Evolving Table is great at putting a healthy spin on things, check out her healthier Zuppa Toscana recipe here! It’s gluten free, dairy, free, and includes Instant Pot and Stove Top instructions!
Storing Leftovers:
-Leftovers should be refrigerated and used within three days.
-You can also freeze leftovers, and it’s best if you eat them within three months.
Easy Freezer Storage:
-I like to store leftover soup in quart-sized Ziploc freezer bags. Take a large mug and line it with a labeled/dated freezer bag, then ladle the soup inside it. Seal as much air out as you can and lay it flat in the freezer.
-Once frozen, you can stack the bags on top of each other or stand them up on shelves.
I decided to run down to my freezer and show you! 😉 This is leftover hamburger soup, which I am obsessed with and make in quantities larger than any person ever should.
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This Copycat Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana Soup recipe has bits of crumbled sausage, kale, potatoes, and diced onions in a rich, savory broth topped with a pinch of red pepper flakes. Exactly like the restaurant version!
- 1 pound ground Hot Italian sausage
- 1 small yellow onion diced
- 2 large cloves garlic minced
- 32 oz. chicken broth (equal to 4 cups)
- 1 russet potato scrubbed clean
- 1/2 bunch kale de-stemmed and roughly chopped
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 2 Tablespoons flour
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 Pinch of red pepper flakes optional
- Brown the sausage in a large pot over medium heat.
Grain any excess grease. (Failure to do this will result in red broth from the sausage grease.)
Add the garlic & onions and sautee for about 5 minutes, until the onions have softened.
Pour in the chicken stock and cover the pot. Reduce heat to medium-low and let it simmer for about an 30 minutes.
Slice the potatoes very thin and add it to the pot. Simmer for an additional 30 minutes, until the potatoes are cooked through.
- Whisk together the heavy cream and flour until well combined. (It may be a little lumpy but the lumps disappear once mixed into the soup!)
Pour the flour mixture into the soup and increase heat to medium-high, uncovered, for about 15 minutes or until the soup has thickened slightly.
Stir in the kale and heat for 5 additional minutes. Season according to your taste (a pinch of pepper flakes perhaps), and serve!
Follow same steps as above, however instead of simmering the soup for an hour, cover and cook on LOW for 5-6 hours or on HIGH for 3-4. Add the potatoes during the last hour.
- Once the flour mixture is added, heat on HIGH for another 30 minutes. Stir in the kale and serve!
Don't forget a side of CHEESY Homemade Garlic Bread!
Hi Stephanie. I’m sorry I keep commenting on all your posts but I wanted to comment on this recipe. I have made a copycat recipe of this before and it was awesome. For some reason I used spinach instead of Kale but it still tasted awesome. I also cooked up a few slices of bacon, diced and added it. Do you think it is okay to use regular or mild italian sausage instead of hot? Is there a brand you recommend? Thanks!
Hey Alexis! No need to apologize at all!! You can absolutely use regular/mild Italian sausage! I’ve always liked Jacksonville sausage myself! 🙂 Bacon in the soup sounds amazing, as does spinach! YUM! I’ll have to try that next time! 🙂 -Stephanie
Another huge hit! We loved it, and it was super easy!
Great for a cold winter night!
Yes!! Wahoooo! I’m so happy to hear it Steph!! You made my day!
It’s so coincidental that I had already planned to make this for dinner tonight! Your recipe is a bit different from mine however. I’ve never used flour in the cream, but I’m definitely trying this tonight. Also, your recipe calls for only 1 potato…is this correct? I usually use 3 or 4 potatoes. Perhaps mine are smaller russets? Thanks for sharing this!
That is so funny that you were planning on making this!!! You can absolutely use more potatoes, I don’t like too many in my soup and round that one medium potato was plenty, but totally your call!! ENJOY!!!!