Zuppa Toscana

4.60 from 5 votes

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Made with Italian Sausage, potatoes, and kale, this Zuppa Toscana Recipe is exactly what you need to warm up on a cold day! The sweet Italian sausage flavors, the creamy broth, and the potatoes and kale add substance to make this hearty and healthful. It’s a relatively quick recipe to make and doesn’t take a bunch of prep work, either. Delicious served with Four Cheese Texas Toast or my Mom’s Potato Rolls.

sausage kale soup in white bowl

Olive Garden Copycat Recipe

Have I got a winner of a dinner for you today! A hearty, easy to make, stick to your ribs soup that everyone will love! Zuppa Toscana looks pretty plain jane, but let me tell you, the flavor in this will knock your taste buds off. One pot of this doesn’t last long and it’s just what we needed to warm up and fill some empty tummies! A copycat recipe to Olive Garden’s Zuppa Toscana, you can make this at home, too!

Looking for even more soup recipes? Here are some of my favorites: Creamy Cauliflower SoupChicken Noodle Soup with Homemade NoodlesLoaded Baked Potato Soup, and Crockpot Chicken Tortilla Soup.

sausage kale soup in blue pot

Make this soup your own! Variations:

I encourage you to experiment and make this Zuppa Toscana Soup your own, based on your likes, dislikes and what you have on hand. Here are a couple of suggestions to get you started, let me know how it goes in the comments below.

  • Spinach: replace kale with spinach! The spinach will wilt a lot more than the kale will, but still equally delicious with a big nutritious kick.
  • Beans: Instead of using potatoes, try using canned white beans, or really any can of beans will work!
  • Bacon: saute some bacon along with the sausage for an extra shot of flavor!
  • Veggies: feel free to load this sucker up full of vegetables. Carrots, celery, zucchini, broccoli, it’s all fair game.
  • Smoked Sausage: don’t like Italian Sausage? No problem! Try a tasty smoked sausage. Since most of the flavor comes from the meat, be sure you’re using one with lots of flavor.

How to Make Zuppa Toscana Soup

The directions for this recipe are really simple! For full details see the recipe card down below. Here is what you can expect when making this recipe:

Cook Sausage

In a large pot, cook sausage until browned and cooked thoroughly. Remove from pot and drain on paper towels.

flour on cooked sausage in pot

Add Remaining Ingredients (except heavy cream)

In same pot, melt butter and saute onions until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in garlic and cook until fragrant, another minute. Stir in cooked sausage and flour. Cook 2 minutes to cook out the raw flour taste. Add in chicken broth and seasonings. Bring to boil, then reduce to simmer. Stir in kale and potatoes.

Pro Tip: To take the bitter edge off of the kale, blanch it for a couple minutes in boiling water before adding to soup.

Cover and cook 10-15 minutes or until potatoes are tender.

adding kale into soup

Add Heavy Cream + Serve

When ready to serve, remove the bay leaf and add the heavy cream.

My Soup Isn’t Thick! What do I do?

If you made this recipe and you noticed that its not as thick or creamy as you’d like, the solution is a relatively quick fix. After the soup is made in its entirety, simply whisk 2 tablespoons of flour into 1/2 cup water to create a slurry and then gently stir that into the pot of soup. After a minute or two, it should thicken up slightly.

If you have read this section before you’ve begun making Zuppa Toscana, simply increase the flour to 6 tablespoons instead of 1/4 cup (which is 4 tablespoons). Stir the flour into the cooked onions and sausage before adding in the broth. That should do the trick!

sausage kale soup in blue pot

Storing Leftover Zuppa Toscana Soup

Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3-4 days.

To Freeze – I love that this soup freezes so well! Allow soup to cool completely before placing in a freezer safe, airtight container. Soup will stay fresh for up to 3 months in the freezer.

To Thaw – Allow to thaw overnight in the fridge. Reheat gently to keep from getting mushy potatoes.

Love Kale? Here are More Kale Recipes:

sausage kale soup in white bowl

With the cold months of the year are starting to settle in, make a nice big comforting pot of Zuppa Toscana soup. It’s sure to please even the pickiest eaters! The printable recipe card is down below, have a great week, friends! 🙂

If you make this recipe, I would really appreciate it if you would give it a star rating and leave your review in the comments! If you have a picture of your finished dish, post it on Instagram using the hashtag #laurenslatest and tagging me @laurens_latest.

sausage kale soup in white bowl
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4.60 from 5 votes

Zuppa Toscana Soup

Made with Italian Sausage, kale, and potatoes, Zuppa Toscana is exactly what you need to warm up on a cold day!
servings 6 servings
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Total Time 35 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 lb Italian Sausage sweet or spicy, you choose
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 1 onion diced
  • 2 cloves garlic minced
  • 1/4 cup all purpose flour
  • 6 cups chicken broth
  • 1 bay leaf
  • salt & pepper to taste
  • 4 cups kale stalks removed & torn into bite sized pieces
  • 2 medium russet potatoes washed and sliced into 1/2 inch pieces
  • 1 cup heavy cream

Instructions

  • In large pot over medium heat, cook sausage until browned and cooked thoroughly. Remove from pot and drain on paper towels.
  • In same pot, melt butter and saute onions until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in garlic and cook until fragrant, another minute. Stir in cooked sausage and flour. Cook 2 minutes to cook out the raw flour taste. Add in chicken broth and seasonings. Bring to boil, then reduce to simmer. Stir in kale and potatoes. Cover and cook 10-15 minutes or until potatoes are tender.
  • When ready to serve, remove the bay leaf and add in heavy cream.

Video

Nutrition

Calories: 549kcal | Carbohydrates: 25g | Protein: 17g | Fat: 43g | Saturated Fat: 20g | Cholesterol: 122mg | Sodium: 1483mg | Potassium: 951mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 5162IU | Vitamin C: 78mg | Calcium: 136mg | Iron: 3mg
Course: Soup
Cuisine: American
Keyword: sausage kale soup

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Recipe Rating




16 Responses
  1. Elaine Sayson

    5 stars
    Made this tonight and everyone loved it. Added carrots and celery (sliced thin). I’m curious, how would this turn If I use coconut milk instead of the heavy cream?

  2. Melissa Whittaker

    5 stars
    Made this Sausage Kale Soup today, my husband’s fav soup, and he said it was the best version he had ever tasted. Win win win!!! It was my first time trying it and it was so creamy, savory and comforting. Thanks!

  3. Melinda

    5 stars
    Thanks for the recipe! It was super delicious and will become a winter staple around here. I look forward to lunch tomorrow to enjoy the leftovers! Great blog! I look forward to trying more of your recipes! 🙂

  4. Lauren

    Oh! I love this stuff! It reminds me a lot of my favorite soup at Olive Garden! I’m living in Romania right now and I’ve been looking for easy recipes to make for my host family. I’m sure they’ll love this.

  5. beth

    Ok so I really wanted / needed this soup today on this cold Chicago evening but don’t have any white beans any suggestions for a substitute bean?

  6. Velva

    When cold happens, soup happens. Fabulous creamy kale and sausage soup. I think kale is under appreciated-because it is a wonderful green leafy vegetable.

    Awesome. Thanks.

    Velva

  7. cathyb.@brightbakes

    This looks great! Then again, it’s January in Wisconsin, so of course it does 😉 Kale in soup is one of my all-time favs…it gets so pillowy and rich tasting!
    love,
    cathy b. @ brightbakes

  8. Jessica

    This sounds so good! I just got some Himalayan pink salt, HimalaSalt, from Sustainable Sourcing https://secure.sustainablesourcing.com and I think I’ll try it out in this recipe. Thanks for sharing!

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