This Zuppa Toscana copycat recipe from Olive Garden is actually better than the original! It has a creamy both base and is loaded with sausage and potatoes.
Zuppa Toscana Copycat
Zuppa Toscana is one of our favorite soups at Olive Garden, and this copycat recipe is spot on. It is the perfect for the cold days of fall and winter, but really it is great any time of the year. The soup is a creamy and hearty with a bit of a kick. If you like some heat in your soup, be generous with the red pepper flakes. For a more mild flavor, a little goes a long way. If you like Olive Garden’s Zuppa Toscana, you are going to love this (I think it tastes better than Olive Garden’s — it is more creamy and flavorful). This goes PERFECTLY with our Our Version of The Pizza Factory’s Breadtwists recipe.
Don’t be scared of the kale in this soup. It is so good cooked and really adds to the flavor and texture of the soup. It is one of my favorite parts. I love when I can get a spoonful of sausage, potato, and kale all in the same bite. This may be a weird family thing, but I also love crunching saltine crackers over this soup. Seriously, don’t knock it till you try it, it’s actually really good!
Other Olive Garden Copycat Recipes
If you like this soup, you should try the Olive Garden’s Pasta E Fagioli Soup. This is another Olive Garden copycat soup recipe. It is an hearty, Italian seasoned soup that is also made in the Slow Cooker.
More Slow Cooker Soups to Try
- Slow Cooker Chicken and Rice Soup: Chicken and Rice Soup warms you up on cold fall and winter days. It is also ideal for busy days. The ingredients go into the Slow Cooker in the morning and a nice, hot meal awaits in the evening.
- Slow Cooker Split Pea Soup: There are so many different vegetables in this Slow Cooker Split Pea Soup. It is very healthy and hearty.
- Slow Cooker Cheese Tortellini Soup: This Cheese Tortellini Soup is a flavorful, easy slow cooker meal. Tortellini, sausage, and spinach in a creamy tomato soup and slow cooked to perfection.
- Slow Cooker Vegetable Beef Soup: This is one of the easiest soups you will ever make. It is filled with flavorful meat and vegetables. Everyone loves it.
How to Make Zuppa Toscana Copycat
Ingredients
- 42 oz chicken broth
- 2 cups whipping cream
- red pepper flakes to taste
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1/2 lb bacon cooked and crumbled
- 4 cups kale chopped
- 1 lb Johnsonville mild Italian ground sausage
- 3 medium potatoes scrubbed and cut into small slices
Instructions
- Heat a fry pan to about medium heat. Shape the sausage into small rounds and brown stirring frequently.
- Then remove to a plate lined with paper towels to de-grease.
- Put everything except for the potatoes together in a large crockpot and cook on high for 3 to 4 hours.
- Add potatoes the last 40-60 minutes (if you add them too soon they will get too soft). Serve with breadsticks.
Equipment
- Crock Pot Slow Cooker
Melissa says
WOW – SO delicious! My family loves this recipe, thanks so much!
Lily says
This was such an amazing family dinner, we served it with garlic bread and loved it.
Ashley F. says
We can not get enough! It’s so flavorful and hearty! My kind of comfort food!
Jacque Hastert says
I can’t wait to give this a try at home. I always order this when we go out to eat no matter the time of year. Thanks for sharing!
Shelley says
Oh my goodness … even better than the original?!? Sign me up! And thanks for the great tip on adding a bit more heat to the soup, by being more generous with the red pepper flakes – my guys both like their food spicy, so that’s a super helpful suggestion!
Beth Sachs says
Such a hearty and filling soup and perfect for those cold winter days coming soon!
Angela says
This is sooo good! Way better than Olive Garden in my opinion. I know I’ll be making this all season long. Thanks for sharing!
Alison says
This recipe is so easy, and tastes even better than Olive Garden’s version! A great fall and winter recipe!
Donnetta says
Do you have the calories and fat for this recipe? Thanks.
Erica says
We don’t. You could probably check it on the Olive Garden website or check a calorie counter online… hope this helps!
KaeCee says
Hi! I am wondering if anyone has tried using coconut/almond/soy milk in place of whipping cream. Did you notice a difference? Thank you!
Emily says
We haven’t, has anyone else?
Nell says
I love this soup! I order it for lunch all the time with a Peach Bellini tea or the frozen Peach Bellini.
Kristina says
Thank you for posting this. I followed this recipe to the ounce and it was a total success.
Katy says
Hi, what kind of potatoes did you use? I wasn’t sure whether to use red potatoes, Yukon, or russet!
Emily says
I use russets
Johanna says
Sometimes I use cannelloni beans instead of, or even with the cut up potatoes. Would use less potatoes if I do that. And I do like a bit of diced toms and parsley in it too. .Wonder what the calorie count would be with this Fab soupI sprinkle with parmesan when I serve it. Also, Trader Joes has wonderful breadsticks, if you don’t want to do it from scratch.
Judy says
I made this for dinner to night. I did not use a crock pot. From start to finish it was done in less than an hour. It tasted great. My husband who said he was not very hungry because of a big lunch had two bowls.
Johanna says
I agree, Judy. It’s almost easier to do it in the hour than in a crock pot.
Amanda says
Made this in a crockpot tonight while getting ready for Halloween and added the cream at the end. What a great soup recipe! I am officially in love with your website and going to try all the recipes/
Kat says
I am going to try it in the crockpot, but not add the cream until the last few minutes. I think to freeze it, I would take out half before I add the cream, freeze that portion. When you reheat it, add the cream. I do that with chowders and it seems to work pretty well.
Claire Harper says
Could this become a freezer meal by any chance and how would I go about that?
Emily says
Unfortunately, I don’t think this one would do great as a freezer meal.
Maggie says
Absolutely fabulous soup! My finance says it’s the best soup he’s ever tasted. I’ll be making it again real soon! Thanks for the recipe.
Tammy says
Olive garden uses cavallo greens so those can be used if you can find them.
Sonya Grady says
Best soup I’ve ever “made up” . I enjoy cooking and make up all my own recipes. This is a must try soup. Everyone loves it, especially my son. I hope you enjoy it too. 😉
chae says
This soup recipe is awesome I loved it. I had never had it before but I will definately have it again. Thank you for sharing this recipe. It was great.
Deena says
Made this last week and it was amazing! Looked forward to the leftovers the next day for lunch. I didn't have Kale so I used spinach. Making it again tonight with the kale.
Callie Stewart says
I just made your soup and Will and I loved it! Thanks for making me feel like a good cook. 🙂 We miss you guys!
Josh&Sharsti says
best winter soup ever! My husband loved it too, which is great because he usually isn't a soup guy. (I think it was the sausage that did it for him). Great job! I love your recipes. I made the bread sticks too, and it was delicious!!
Josh&Sharsti says
best winter soup ever! My husband loved it too, which is great because he usually isn't a soup guy. (I think it was the sausage that did it for him). Great job! I love your recipes. I made the bread sticks too, and it was delicious!!
Erica says
@ Denise –
Any time! Thanks for the compliments! We will do our best to keep the recipes comin'!
Denise says
Thanks for your fast response!! I will will add the cream later on in the process, thanks for the clarity! I've made Zuppa before, but with a different recipe, so I want to try this one and compare! You have a very good tasting blog! Thanks for sharing your talents with us!
Erica says
@ Denise and Nathan –
I know that with cream soups, sometimes they turn out grainy when you add the cream or cheese too soon or if you bring it to a boil. The 20 min. thing was just a suggestion so there is a better chance of it holding it's creaminess. It is a consistency thing. I would say this makes about 4-6 servings.
Good luck and let me know how it turns out!
Thanks!
Erica
Denise and Nathan says
Curious how many servings this makes?? Also, saw your recommendation above with adding the cream 20 minutes before. By doing that does it alter the taste, consistency, or what? Looks yummy, thanks for sharing!
Erica says
Kyrstin– Did you do this in a crockpot? Here is my advice to you.. and I will probably change it here on the recipe.. but add the cream just like 20 minutes before serving. That might make a difference.
Kyrstin says
No unfortunately it's entirely separated. I've just tried straining out the curdles but no luck. I will attempt to try it again in the future with whipping cream. There is no saving this batch. Thanks for your help!
Erica says
Hi Kyrstin–
I have never seen it curdle before. I know I have done 1/2 half and half and 1/2 cream.. but not entirely half and half.. either way it shouldn't really separate. Did yours look like the picture above? It doesn't really come out as a creamy consistency, it is more of a milky/watery consistency. I don't know if that made ANY sense at all but that is the best I can describe it. I am baffled if it curdled.. that is really weird.
Kyrstin says
Hi Erica! I am in the process of making this soup, I subbed half and half for whipping cream and the cream is almost curdled/separated from the remainder of the stock… Any ideas what I may have done wrong? Or is this normal? Thanks 🙂
Erica says
Thanks Darla! If you have any more questions feel free to ask! I'm always happy to help! 🙂
Artistic Accents by Darla says
Ok, thanks Erica! I'll do it right 🙂
Love this site!
Erica says
@ Darla— I wouldn't do coconut milk… but that's just me! If it were half-and-half, I would say "sure" but I don't know if coconut milk will taste that great.
Artistic Accents by Darla says
I'm so excited to try this and 'thought' I remembered to pick up all the ingredients but forgot cream 🙁 I might try a can of coconut milk instead ? or will I ruin it completely?
Erica says
@ Allison– That is SO cute!!!! haha I am so glad that she liked it! What a cutie!
Alison says
Made this tonight along with your breadtwists. My daughter asked if we could have it for every meal and that when she is a Mommy she is going to make it for her children 🙂
Shannon says
This recipe is so delicious… we made a few adjustments, but now we can't even enjoy the olive garden version because this one tastes so much better!
Cow and Pig Designs says
This is my favorite soup EVER!!
Jess says
I made this last night for my family and it was sooooo delicious!! My husband loved it AND MY TWO YEAR OLD ATE ALL OF IT!!! Needless to say, I will be making this again. Thank you, Thank you!!
Collin says
Incredible recipe, I used regular Johnsonville Italian sausage but only put in half as much, which ended up being perfect. I also made the breadtwists with a little wheat flour. My family was raving about it the whole week
StakerFamily says
Made this last night with the AWESOME bread twist recipe. It was very simple and so good. Perfect recipe for a cold evening. I loved it. Can I say the breadsticks have to be one of the easiest recipes for homemade "bread" ever. Love that you can just whip them up after adding potatoes to the soup and it is all done at the same time 🙂 Love your site!
Erica says
Kale is usually found by the spinach or lettuce. It looks similar to your leafy green lettuce but feels more stiff. A store employee at your local supermarket could probably point you in the right direction. As far as I knoe, there aren't any great substitutions for kale. Hope you are able to find it!
-Erica
gabby says
Hi your recipes look very yummy !!!
I just have a question what's kale? can I substitute for something else?
I don't know if I can find it here in Mexico , so please let me know
thanks for sharing your recipes!!!!
EBWalker says
No- Olive Garden's does not have bacon. That is just Erica and Jared's version.
mary says
I disagree with Bacon not being added to olive gardens. When I order this soup from there,there is always Bacon pieces.
jena says
there is crumbled bacon in olive gardens recipe
Tatanya says
There isn’t bacon. -OG fired employee
lynn Gregory says
I would love to have the recipe.
Thanks for breaking it down into family size. This is my very favorite soup.
Lynn
Samantha says
Could I get a copy of the recipe please? Guess whats for dinner tonight…..
Claire says
Does Olive Garden's have bacon? I am just wondering because that is about the only ingredient I don't have and we usually use turkey bacon, which doesn't crumble very well so I'm wondering if it will make much of a difference if I don't even use it. Thanks!
Erica says
@Robert & Stacey – The cans are about 14oz.. the whipping cream is the liquid kind that you find in the cartons back by the milk. Hope this helps! – Erica
Robert and Stacey Hall Family says
How big is the cans of broth, or can you tell me how many cups? And when you say whipping cream, is that like the liquid or the actual like cool whip?
Liesel Haight says
I use heavy whipping cream out of the cartoon. If I want to cut down on the calpries I just switch it out for fat free evaporated milk 🙂
byumomof4 says
This soup is over-the-top delicious!!
I have made it several times for my family, and it gets devoured!! (and if there are leftovers, they just taste better 😉
I have also made it vegetarian, too…
Trader Joe's vege broth and no sausage. (YUM!!!) My family loves it just as much!!