This Copycat Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana Soup can be made on the Stove Top, Instant Pot, or Crock Pot! It’s creamy, brothy, and comforting!
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Zuppa Toscana Soup
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.
How to Make it
See the bottom of this post for ingredient quantities and full instructions.
Stove Top:
- Cook and crumble the sausage, drain excess grease.
- Add the onions until softened. Add the garlic.
- Add the chicken broth and cover. Reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer for 30 minutes.
- Slices the potatoes very thinly, about 1/8 inch thick. Bring to a gentle boil for about 15 minutes, until the potatoes are cooked through. (Fork tender but not overcooked.) Reduce heat to low.
- Pour the heavy cream into a container with a lid. Add the flour. Cover and shake until well-combined.
- Add it to the soup, increase heat to medium-high and let it thicken for 15 minutes.
- Reduce heat to low and add the kale. Add a pinch of red pepper flakes. Simmer for 5 minutes and serve!
See recipe card below for Crock Pot and Instant Pot instructions.
Storing Leftovers:
-Leftovers should be refrigerated and used within three days.
-You can also freeze leftovers. Sometimes dairy-based soups don’t reheat well but I doesn’t have any trouble with this soup. (It’s not a cheesy soup and that helps.) It’s best if eaten within three months.
Try These Next
- One Pot Broccoli Mac and Cheese
- Buttermilk Biscuits
- Copycat Longhorn Parmesan Crusted Chicken
- Chicken Gnocchi Soup
- Olive Garden Alfredo Sauce
- Creamy Chicken Tortilla Soup
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Copycat Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana Soup
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground Hot Italian sausage
- 1 small yellow onion, diced
- 2 large cloves garlic, minced
- 32 oz. chicken broth, (equal to 4 cups)
- 2 russet potatoes, scrubbed clean
- 1/2 bunch kale, de-stemmed and roughly chopped
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 2 Tablespoons flour
- 1 Pinch of red pepper flakes, optional
- Salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
Stove Top
- 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 onions and cook for about 5 minutes, until softened. Add the garlic and cook for an additional minute.
- Add the chicken broth and cover the pot. Reduce heat to medium-low and let it simmer for about an 30 minutes.
- Slice the potatoes very thinly, about 1/8 inch thick. Bring to a gentle boil for about 15 minutes, until the potatoes are cooked through. (Fork tender but not overcooked.) Reduce heat to low.
- Pour the heavy cream into a container with a lid. Add the flour. Cover and shake until well-combined.Add it to the soup, increase heat to medium-high and let it thicken for 10 minutes.
- Reduce heat to low and add the kale. Add a pinch of red pepper flakes. Simmer for 5 minutes and serve!
Slow Cooker
- Brown the sausage in a large pot over medium heat. Grain excess grease. (This Crock Pot allows you to sear and brown meat right in it without having to dirty another pan.)
- Add the onions and cook for about 3 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for an additional minute.
- Add the chicken broth and cover. Cook on LOW for 5-6 hours or on HIGH for 3-4. Slice the potatoes very thinly, about 1/8 inch thick. and add them during the last hour. Cook until fork tender but not overcooked.
- Pour the heavy cream into a container with a lid. Add the flour. Cover and shake until well-combined. Add it to the soup and heat on HIGH for 30 minutes.
- Stir in the kale and and red pepper flakes. Heat for 5 more minutes and serve!
Instant Pot
- Drizzle a tablespoon of olive (or vegetable) oil over the bottom of the Instant Pot and set it to saute mode. Cook and crumble the sausage until cooked through. Drain excess grease.
- Add the onions and cook for 5 minutes, until softened. Add the garlic and cook for 1 more minute.
- Add the chicken broth and use a silicone spatula to scrape up any bits from the bottom of the pot.
- Slice the potatoes very thinly, about 1/8 inch thick and add them to the pot.
- Close the lid and and ensure the pressure release valve is sealed. Hit Cancel, then hit Pressure Cook and set the timer for 5 minutes (on high pressure.).
- Let the pressure release naturally for 10 minutes, then flip the quick release valve.
- Open the lid and switch to soup mode.
- Pour the heavy cream into a container with a lid. Add the flour. Cover and shake until well-combined. Add it to the soup and let it simmer for about 10 minutes.
- Add the kale and red pepper flakes. Let it simmer for 5 more minutes and serve!
Notes
Optional: Cook some bacon after browning the sausage. Remove and set aside. Crumble and top the soup with it. This will add even more flavor to the broth and gives it a nice crunchy topping!
Don't forget a side of Garlic Bread with Cheese!
This soup is fantastic! I’ve been trying some of your soup recipes over the past month and this will be the second time I made this one. All of them have been wonderful. Woke up this morning with ice covering all the roads so it feels like another good day for a comforting soup! Thanks for all your recipes, I always click on your when looking for inspiration!
Hi Jo!! I’m soo happy that you loved the Zuppa Toscana and check out my site for soup inspiration, I am completely soup obsessed all year round! Today is definitely a great day to whip up a batch of something cozy! Thank you so much for taking the time to leave this review, I really appreciate it! -Stephanie
Like you I love making soups. I suspect that the slow cooker version will have a better flavor but I was hoping you could comment on how much of a difference you think it makes. Is it worth the significant time difference?
Hi John! I normally make this on the stove top- this one doesn’t need the low and slow method to make it better!
Strange question, I know, but do you know how many cups or cubic inches this recipe makes? Planning a large-scale dinner, and it would be helpful.
Hi Stephen, unfortunately I don’t have a measurement for this recipe in cups, my apologies!
Sooo good! I didn’t have heavy cream so I used a can of lite coconut milk and it still tasted just like the Olive Garden’s!!’
That’s great to hear Michelle! Thank you so much for taking the time to leave this review as well, I really appreciate it! -Stephanie