Loaded with sausage, bacon, potatoes, spinach, and cream, this classic Italian Zuppa Toscana recipe and Olive Garden soup copycat is pure comfort in a bowl!
Some of our other popular restaurant copycat recipes include, Pasta Fagioli, Toasted Ravioli, and Disney Dole Whip. You can make them better at home for a lot less money!
Zuppa Toscana is one of Olive Garden’s most popular recipes, and probably their most popular soups. This homemade Zuppa Toscana recipe is a copycat version, loaded with Italian sausage, crispy bacon, spinach (instead of kale), potatoes, and a creamy broth. It’s completely irresistible!
What is Zuppa Toscana
Zuppa translated is soup and Toscana means Tuscan – so, Tuscan Soup! However, this is actually not a traditional soup from Tuscany, but rather a soup that was simply created and made very popular in America by the Olive Garden restaurant chain. They make it with sausage, bacon, potatoes, and kale.
Zuppa Toscana Recipe
The list of ingredients for this soup is incredibly short, but you’d think it was a mile long considering how flavorful it is. Here’s the rundown:
- Browned, crumbled Italian sausage
- Crispy, salty bacon
- Sautéed sweet onion and garlic
- Cubed, tender potatoes
- Beautiful green baby spinach
- Low-sodium chicken stock
- Heavy cream
- Salt and pepper
How to Make Zuppa Toscana
This soup is all made in one pot and so easy! Here’s a brief summary. (Skip to the end for the complete printable recipe.)
- Cook the bacon until crispy; transfer to a paper towel-lined plate.
- Saute the sausage and onion in some of the rendered bacon fat until no pink remains. Add in the garlic. Drain off excess fat.
- Pour in the chicken stock and add the potatoes; bring to a boil and then reduce heat to a gentle simmer.
- Cook until potatoes are tender.
- Stir in the spinach until it just begins to wilt.
- Return bacon to the pot, along with the cream. Heat through.
- Season with salt sand pepper.
- Serve with some crusty bread and enjoy!
That’s it!
Recipe Variations
- Swap out the spicy Italian sausage for a mild or sweet variety.
- Use refrigerated diced potatoes if you’re short on time.
- Instead of spinach, use kale, which is what Olive Garden uses.
How to make Zuppa Toscana Healthy
- Make it keto-friendly by swapping out the potatoes for chopped cauliflower florets.
- For a dairy free (whole 30) version, substitute the heavy cream for a 15 ounce can of full fat coconut milk (using the solid white cream portion only.)
- Remove excess grease at the end of cooking by letting it cool for about 15 minutes and then slowly skim off the top layer of grease.
Can You Freeze Zuppa Toscana Soup?
Due to the heavy cream component, this soup is not ideal for freezing. Dairy tends to separate after thawing, leaving a less than desirable taste and texture. If you really want/need to freeze it, I suggest doing so before adding the cream and spinach and simply add those ingredients in after reheating it before serving.
What to Serve with Zuppa Toscana soup?
This soup is very hearty on its own and doesn’t need much else, but we often enjoy it with homemade garlic bread to mop up the last dribbles in the bowl.
Pure comfort in a bowl and will hit the spot on a cold night!
Watch the Video
Other Soup Recipes We Love!
- One-Pot Beef Stroganoff Soup
- 15 Minute Tomato Tortellini Soup
- Slow Cooker Taco Soup
I hope you love this delicious and easy recipe – be sure to give it a review below! Also don’t forget to follow Belly Full on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and YouTube!
Zuppa Toscana
Ingredients
- 5 slices bacon , diced
- 1 pound spicy Italian sausage , casings removed
- 1 small sweet onion , diced
- 3 cloves garlic , minced
- 32 ounces low-sodium chicken stock
- 3 medium russet potatoes , peeled and diced small (about 1/2-inch cubes)
- 3 cups baby spinach
- 3/4 cup heavy cream
- salt and pepper , to taste
Instructions
- Heat a large pot over medium-high; add bacon and cook until crispy, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate.
- Drain off all but one tablespoon of the rendered bacon fat; add sausage and onion to the pot and cook until pork is no longer pink and onion is translucent, crumbling up the pork and stirring frequently, 3-5 minutes. Add in garlic and cook for 1 minute. Drain excess fat.
- Pour in chicken stock and bring to a boil. Add potatoes; reduce heat to a medium simmer for about 12 minutes until potatoes are tender.
- Stir in spinach until it begins to wilt.
- Return most of the bacon back to the pot (reserving some for garnish) and stir in heavy cream until heated through, 2-3 more minutes.
- Taste and season with salt and pepper.
- Serve with some crusty bread and a little reserved crumbled bacon!
Video
Nutrition
Other Notes
I made this soup tonight; never having tasted the Olive Garden one, I can’t compare. But this was so good, I reheated some for my midnight snack! I didn’t have all the ingredients on hand so subbed caraway seed for fennel seed, and chilli chevups (skinless beef sausage) for the Italian sausage. I also added Italian herbs, thyme, oregano and parsley. Probably had an extra garlic clove. This soup is good and easy! Just do it! Served with some parmesan toast – mmm!
It’s actually been WARM here lately (probably not by your standards, but still) so soup hasn’t been on my mind too much…though you have changed all that. This looks like a huge bowl of comfort.
This soup was fantastic, whole family loved it! No changes needed.
I’ve made this soup many times – so good! Perfect rainy day food!
This soup is so beautiful and tasted way better than Olive Garden. Thank you for the recipe!