Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana Copycat Recipe
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An Olive Garden copycat recipe! This zuppa toscana soup is made with crumbled sausage, tender potatoes, spinach and bacon. So cozy, so hearty!
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My husband always gets this at Olive Garden so I thought I’d make it at home for him. He RAVED about it- said it was better than Olive Garden’s and could eat it every night. Thanks so much for an easy yummy recipe!
Why you’ll love Olive Garden zuppa toscana
- Copycat recipe. This is Olive Garden’s most favorited, most-loved soup, and you can whip this up right at home in a single pot, which is always a win on those super busy weeknights (hello, easy cleanup here). It’s made with crumbled Italian sausage, tender russet potatoes, sneaked in leafy greens, and all the crispy bacon crumbles sprinkled on top.
- Allows for complete customization. By making this restaurant-favorite at home, you have full control over all the ingredients. Make it spicy, make it mild, make it extra creamy, or make it a little lighter with healthier swaps.
- Leftovers taste even better. Similar to lasagna, zuppa toscana tastes even better the very next day, really letting the flavors marry overnight.
- Budget-friendly. You can enjoy restaurant-quality soup for just a fraction of the cost using better quality ingredients all around.
WHAT IS ZUPPA TOSCANA?
Zuppa toscana is a soup from northern Italy in Tuscany. Translated word for word, zuppa toscana literally means Tuscan soup, also known as minestra di pane in Italy (bread soup).
Key Ingredients
- Italian sausage: mild or spicy
- Aromatics: garlic and onion
- Liquid: chicken broth or chicken stock
- Potatoes: russet potatoes
- Greens: baby spinach or kale
- Cream: heavy cream or half and half for a lighter version
- Seasoning: salt and pepper
- Topping: bacon crumbles
How to make Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana Copycat Recipe
- Cook the bacon. Place the diced bacon in a Dutch oven over medium hight heat. Pro tip: you do not need to add oil as the bacon will render its own natural fat. Cook, stirring constantly, until golden brown, bubbly, and crispy, about 6-8 minutes. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon to a paper towel-lined plate and set aside, leaving 2 tablespoons of bacon grease in the Dutch oven.
- Brown the sausage. Add the Italian sausage with the casing removed. Crumble and break apart the sausage as it cooks, stirring until browned and cooked through. Drain the excess fat but reserve 2 tablespoons in the Dutch oven.
- Sauté the aromatics. Stir in the garlic and onion until the onions are soft and translucent.
- Simmer. Stir in the chicken broth and russet potatoes. Reduce the heat and let it simmer until the potatoes are fork-tender, about 10 minutes.
- Finish. Stir in the spinach (or kale) and heavy cream.
- Serve. Season with salt and pepper, and serve warm, sprinkled with the reserved crispy bacon.
WHAT TO SERVE WITH ZUPPA TOSCANA
Tools For This Recipe
Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana Copycat Recipe: Frequently Asked Questions
Is zuppa toscana soup spicy?
The spicy Italian sausage does pack a little bit of heat, but you can substitute mild Italian sausage for milder flavors.
What is heavy cream?
Heavy cream (or heavy whipping cream) has one of the highest fat contents with about 36-40% fat. Half and half or whole milk are suitable substitutes, but will yield a lighter result.
How can I store leftovers?
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days, gently reheating on the stovetop until warmed through.
Is this freezer-friendly?
Yes! You can freeze the leftovers without the heavy cream and bacon (cream soups tend to separate when frozen) in individual freezer bags. To reheat, thaw overnight and reheat gently on the stovetop, adding heavy cream and bacon when serving.
Can I make this in the Instant Pot?
Absolutely! I have a recipe for that here.
Do you have a recipe for Olive Garden’s pasta e fagioli?
Yes! You can find the copycat recipe here.
Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana Copycat Recipe
An Olive Garden copycat recipe! This zuppa toscana soup is made with crumbled sausage, tender potatoes, spinach and bacon. So cozy, so hearty!
Video
Ingredients
- 4 slices bacon, diced
- 1 pound spicy Italian sausage, casing removed
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 sweet onion, diced
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 3 russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
- 3 cups baby spinach
- 1 cup heavy cream
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Heat a large stockpot or Dutch oven over medium hight heat. Add bacon and cook until brown and crispy, about 6-8 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate; drain excess fat, reserving 2 tablespoons in the stockpot, and set aside.
- Add Italian sausage and cook until browned, about 3-5 minutes, making sure to crumble the sausage as it cooks; drain excess fat, reserving 2 tablespoons in the stockpot.
- Add garlic and onion, and cook, stirring frequently, until onions have become translucent, about 2-3 minutes.
- Stir in chicken broth and potatoes. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer until potatoes are tender, about 10 minutes.
- Stir in spinach until wilted, about 1-2 minutes. Stir in heavy cream until heated through, about 1 minute; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Serve immediately, garnished with bacon.
Equipment
Notes
- Render some bacon fat. Save some of the leftover bacon fat to cook the sausage and aromatics – this will add a rich, smoky base layer to the soup. And the bacon crumbles will double as a garnish when serving.
- Use starchy potatoes. Russet potatoes have a high starch content, naturally thickening the soup into a velvety consistency while soaking up the rich flavors.
- Add in leafy greens. This is a great recipe to sneak in leafy greens for those picky eaters. Spinach, kale, collard greens, swiss chard, or arugula are all great options.
- Add the cream slowly. Always add the heavy cream at the very end of cooking, pouring very slowly to prevent curdling.
- Make it dairy-free. Substitute coconut cream or skip the heavy cream.
- Add garnishes. Garnishes are always optional but a fresh sprinkle of grated Parmesan or some crispy bacon will take your soup to the next level, adding more flavor, texture and contrast.
- Freeze without the heavy cream. The dairy (heavy cream) may separate or look grainy when thawed. If you are planning to freeze the soup, hold off on the heavy cream and bacon, and portion the soup into plastic freezer bags in individual servings. Label, date, and freeze up to 2 months.
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This IS better than Olive Garden! 🙂
This was so delicious!
I have found that if you’re going to use kale and find it strong, put it in from the beginning and boil it a bit longer than the potatoes. Turns out tasty without the harsh and cooked like it should be. I make an anduille, white bean and kale soup and have to cook it longer than the recipe calls for. Makes it scrumptious!
Made this today and the spinach beats the Kale at OG. This reciepe is better than the soup I get at OG. Thank You Absolutely Perfect !!!!
If you happen to have any left over, can it be frozen?
Unfortunately I cannot answer this with certainty as I have never tried freezing this myself. I recommend using your best judgement for storing leftovers and reheating.
Hello J. Harold Ray,
Don’t freeze cream soups if they really have cream in them and are not just pureed soups.
Cream soups are the hardest to freeze. Milk products often separate and get watery.
If you are using real cream, freeze the base and then add the cream when you prepare it to eat.
Several “cream of ” soups that use pureed vegetables and not heavy cream, those soups freeze well. Most other food products using heavy cream (with the exception of ice cream and a few decent desserts) do not freeze well at all.
I’ve made different variations of this recipe dozens of times. I prefer to use kale if I’m gonna add something green, and the secret to making it more like OG’s is using turkey sausage! I couldn’t figure out why the sausage never tasted quite right, then on a whim one day I tried it with turkey sausage, and that was it! One of my absolute favorites to make, and it is always better when you do it yourself.
LOVE THIS!
I made some minor modifications:
1. I used a roll of spicy Jimmy Dean breakfast sausage
2. I fried the bacon, then fried the sausage in the bacon fat, then sauteed the onions and garlic in the bacon/sausage fat for extra flavor
3. I used small new potatoes, unpeeled and quartered. Put them in with the chicken stock before it reached a boil as you should never add potatoes to boiling water or they will be mushy outside and raw inside.
5. Added lots of extra seasonings (sage, red pepper flakes, onion/garlic powder, italian seasoning) and added a big handful of REAL parmesan cheese (not shaker stuff) at the end.
WONDERFUL! Even my hubby who doesn’t believe soup is a meal loved this. Served it with breadsticks. Can’t wait to warm up the leftovers tomorrow.
I agree it needs some spice. Added twice as much garlic, then cayenne, then garlic salt. Will try the parmesan. You can’t go wrong with cheese!
This is happening soon!
Looks so good! I’m starting my grocery list now. Thanks.
I’ve made this recipe so many times. Thank you!!!!!
I can’t even begin to tell you what a hit this was. Talking about possible additions here with a friend and he said “Don’t change a thing. Never change a thing.” =D We both agreed that a tad more spinach might be in order, though. This will be my contribution to an Easter meal tomorrow. Found you on pinterest, BTW and so happy I did. Thank you! 🙂
We loved this soup! Thanks for the recipe.
Thank you so much for this copy cat recipe!! You are amazing. My husband does not like spice so I used half regular!! it was delish, thanks again.
One thing missing from the recipe to make it just like olive garden’s : fennel. You can go to the expense and time of buying, cleaning, dicing a little fennel, or you can add 1 delicious drop of doTERRA Fennel essential oil. Really adds the crowning touch to this delicious soup.
Making this right now, but trying to do the low carb thing. no potatoes, and using fat free cream. Smells and tastes amazing! Used lots of kale, some chili flakes and fresh parsley.
I just made this soup. What a HIT!!! love it!!!!
Made this soup last night for my boyfriends mom. (She’s very critical about everything) But she slurpped every drop and had seconds. She said “its pretty good.” Doesn’t sound like much but from her its a high compliment indeed! It was a super easy recipe. I used six cups of broth though. Delicious! Boyfriend loved it too. Made me stop eating (I had 3 bowls lol) so he has some for lunch. Big hugs thanks sooo much!!
🙂
Chung-Ah,
I had saved this recipe several weeks ago and today I made it for my husband. We’ve been married for 65 years and I still love cooking for him. When we go to the Olive Garden he always gets the Soupa Tuscana and I get something different because I’m not a big sausage eater. I used the Johnsonville Spicy Sausage and took the meat out of the casing. I also used a little more chicken broth because he likes a lot if broth, I just thickened it a little using some of the cream and cornflower. He absolutely wents nuts over it. He said it had a lot more flavor than the Olive Gardens. I also made breadsticks from scratch, so he felt like a King. I did taste a little if it and I agree I think it’s much better than the original. Thank you for sharing.
Carolyn, I am so glad you were able to give this a try. And I am so jealous of the homemade breadsticks. I definitely need to do that the next time I make this!
It’s actually Kale and not Spinach.
Carol, yes, the original version does use kale. But as I mentioned in the previous comments, I am not the biggest kale fan, hence the use of spinach. There is no right or wrong answer here – it’s all based on personal preference.
Making this tonight! I love bacon in anything and will add it here as well but, does the original OG recipe use it?
To my understanding, Olive Garden does include the bacon in their version. Either way, I still recommend adding it in because after all, everything is better with a little bit of bacon!