Zuppa Toscana (Olive Garden Copycat)

Square overhead photo of zuppa toscana with sausage, potatoes, and kale in a creamy broth, in a white bowl on a bed of greens.

5 from 36 votes

Zuppa Toscana (Olive Garden Copycat)

The Olive Garden's famous Zuppa Toscana is so easy to make from scratch at home with only a few ingredients! A creamy, gluten-free soup with Italian sausage, potatoes, and kale.

Prep Time10

Cook Time25

Total Time30

Course: Soup

Cuisine: Italian

Servings: servings

Calories: 398kcal

Author: Elizabeth Lindemann

Ingredients

1 lb. Italian sausage sweet, mild, or hot is fine, casings removed if in links
1 large yellow onion diced
1 lb. red potatoes washed well but unpeeled, diced
4 cups low sodium chicken stock/broth
2 cups milk see notes for using half and half or heavy cream
2-3 cups roughly chopped kale and/or spinach
kosher salt and black pepper to taste

Instructions

Brown 1 lb. Italian sausage in a large pot, such as a Dutch Oven, over medium heat until fully cooked, breaking up into small pieces as it cooks (5-10 minutes).
Add the diced 1 large yellow onion and sauté until softened (about 3 minutes).
Add a little bit of the chicken broth and scrape up any stuck-on bits from the bottom of the pot. Then, add the diced 1 lb. red potatoes and the rest of the 4 cups low sodium chicken stock/broth; bring to a boil, cover, and simmer for approximately 15 minutes (or until potatoes are cooked).
Optional: to give some thickness and body to the soup, use a potato masher to mash up some of the potatoes directly in the pot.
Add 2 cups milk, 2-3 cups roughly chopped kale , and kosher salt and black pepper to taste and heat until kale wilts and soup is heated through, approximately 5 minutes. Enjoy!

Video

Notes

This soup reheats well if you want to make it in advance, or enjoy it as leftovers.
As for freezing, the texture of the potatoes will change a bit if you do this. That's never stopped me, though!
To use half-and-half or heavy cream instead of milk, don't use as much since it's so heavy and rich. For half-and half, use 1 cup (and use 1 more cup chicken broth or add 1 cup of water), and for heavy cream I'd only use 1/2 cup here (and supplement with 1 1/2 cups more broth or water).
For a dairy free version, try using a can of full-fat unsweetened coconut milk instead of milk.

Nutrition