Nailed It! Our Very Best (Yes, Olive Garden Copycat) Zuppa Toscana Soup Recipe
Our zuppa toscana recipe is as close to what you’d get at the Olive Garden as we could make it. Except that—dare we say it?!—this soup tastes even better, because homemade soup always does! Meaty and creamy, garlicky and rich, our zuppa toscana recipe hits just about every spot you can think of. On a wintery night, cozy up to a big, luxurious bowl of this soup—it’s a one-pot meal, for sure—and enjoy bite after bite of indulgent, homemade zuppa toscana bliss.
What Is Zuppa Toscana?
Loaded with crisp bacon, Italian sausage, cream, garlic and parmesan cheese, plus a few veggies thrown in for good measure— zuppa toscana is basically everything great on earth, cooked together in one big delicious pot. “Zuppa Toscana means “Tuscan soup”, and as for the origins of the recipe, well, the soup that the Olive Garden serves is a very American derivative of a Tuscan soup, and it’s honestly not too similar to any soup that you’d traditionally be served in Tuscany. But that’s OK! While we love authentic Italian food as much as the next, there’s plenty of room in our hearts (and stomachs) for Italian-American riffs, too. Particularly when they’re this yummy.
Zuppa Toscana Ingredients
We love the way that a hint of heat balances out creamy soups—you might remember that we like to put jalapenos in our salmon chowder—and so we’ve taken some minor liberties to improve upon the Olive Garden’s zuppa toscana. Both chili powder and red pepper flakes add a nice little warmth to the creamy soup base, and if you use spicy Italian sausage instead of mild, well, you’ll be gobbling up a pretty darn spicy soup! That said, you can control the heat easily. If you prefer things on the mild side, just skip the pepper flakes and use mild Italian sausage. Your zuppa toscana will still be super delicious.
- Bacon
- Olive oil
- Italian sausage
- Yellow onion
- Garlic
- Chicken stock
- Chili powder
- Russet potatoes
- Zucchini
- Heavy cream
- Kale
- Parmesan cheese
- Red pepper flakes
How To Make Zuppa Toscana from Scratch
With super-flavorful ingredients like herby, Italian sausage and salty bacon, it’s almost impossible to mess up this easy zuppa toscana recipe. Truly! You just can’t go wrong when you combine cream, bacon, potatoes and cheese, right? Here’s how easy it is to make:
- Cook the bacon and resist the urge to eat it all. Stop it! Put down the bacon. It’ll be worth the wait. Save a bit of bacon fat to use as a base for the soup.
- While you fry the bacon, cook the sausage. Don’t just brown it, cook it all the way through!
- Fry the onion in bacon fat in a Dutch oven or stock pot. Add the garlic after a few minutes.
- Stir in chicken stock, and add chili powder, potatoes and zucchini and bring the whole pot to a boil. Now it’s starting to feel like there might actually be zuppa toscana in your future!
- Simmer until the potatoes are tender.
- Stir in cooked sausage, cream, kale, some parmesan and most of the bacon.
- When the kale is wilted, the soup is done! Garnish with more bacon, parmesan cheese, and red pepper flakes.
Tools You’ll Need
More Hearty, Creamy Soup Recipes
Call It a Copycat Recipe, Call It Just Darn Delicious—Whatever You Call It, Make It!
We hope you’re as head over heels for our zuppa toscana recipe as we are—and with ingredients as dreamy and over-the-top as these, we’re not sure how you won’t be. If you make it, we’d love to hear about it! Share a photo and tag us on Instagram using @themodernproper and #themodernproper so that we can see your stuff! Happy eating!
