Zuppa Toscana is the creamy Italian-American sausage, potato, and kale soup popularized by Olive Garden. My Tuscan-inspired version skips the bacon and adds cannellini beans and lacinato kale (cabolo nero) for a hearty one-pot dinner ready in under an hour.
If you love soup like zuppa toscana, you'll love some of our other favorite soups, like Pasta Fagioli with Spinach, Italian Wedding Soup, and Classic Italian Minestrone.
This is not traditional ribollita or minestra di pane. It keeps the comforting sausage-and-potato base people expect from American Zuppa Toscana while incorporating beans and cavolo nero commonly used in Tuscan cooking.
A Quick Look at The Recipe
- ✅Recipe Name: Zuppa Toscana
- ⏲️Ready in: 1 hour
- 👪Makes: 6 servings
- 📋Main ingredients: Sausage, potatoes, kale.
- ⭐Why You'll Love This Recipe: It improves upon the popularized Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana with higher quality ingredients more consistent with Italian-American culture.
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Why this Recipe
This is my Tuscan-inspired version of the creamy Italian-American Zuppa Toscana most Americans recognize. It is not traditional ribollita or minestra di pane, but it incorporates Tuscan ingredients such as cannellini beans and cavolo nero while keeping the sausage, potatoes, and cream people expect in Zuppa Toscana.
Our take on Zuppa Toscana is uniquely delicious because we remove one overpowering ingredient that makes the meal outstandingly "American". Bacon. Bacon completely overtakes the flavor of this dish with its smokiness, and while that is consistent with the Olive Garden recipe, I find that our version is much more subtle and lets the sausage flavor the soup. Beans, greens, and olive oil give the soup a more traditional rustic flavor associated with Tuscan cooking.
This recipe works for us because it is a one-bowl dinner. It's hearty enough to serve as a meal, it's done in one pot, and it only takes an hour to make. It is the same kind of one-pot meal as Beef and Barley Soup with Mushrooms or One-Pot Lasagna Soup, and in my opinion, it's even better than the Olive Garden version.
Ingredient Notes and Substitutions
- Potatoes. We use baby gold potatoes because they're waxy and can hold their shape while still releasing starch from their cut edges that gives the soup its creamy texture.
- Cannellini Beans. Cannellini beans add heartiness and body to this soup while still holding their shape. White northern beans or kidney beans can be substituted. We also use them in White Bean Lentil Soup and Escarole and Bean Soup.
- Sausage. Mild Italian sausage adds fennel, garlic, and a savory pork flavor without making the soup spicy. You can mix your own Homemade Italian Sausage Seasoning with ground pork as well.
- Lacinato Kale. Lacinato kale or Tuscan kale (cavolo nero) is more tender and less bitter than curly kale, which makes it perfect for this soup, without taking over the texture or flavor. It's why we use it when braising it in our Italian Lacinato Kale Recipe. Remove it from the stem before adding it, and if you're less adventurous, you can substitute spinach or escarole.
*Please see the recipe card below for more information on ingredients.
How to Make Zuppa Toscana
The steps below correspond to the numbered photos.
Step 1: Remove the sausage from its casing. Bring a large Dutch oven to medium-high heat. Add 2 tablespoon of olive oil to the pot. Place the sausage in and sear undisturbed for 3 minutes to develop a golden-brown crust. Then use a wooden spoon to break apart the sausage and stir occasionally until browned, about 5 minutes. Remove the sausage and set it aside.
Step 2: Lower the heat to medium-low and add 1 more tablespoon of olive oil. Add the onions and sauté for 5 minutes, until softened.
Step 3: Then add the carrots. Stir until the onions are translucent and the carrots are softened, about 5 more minutes. Season with 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon pepper, 1 teaspoon dried parsley, and ½ teaspoon dried oregano.
Step 4: Add garlic and sauté for 1 more minute.
Step 5: Add the stock and raise the heat to high. Bring the soup to a boil. Stir well.
Step 6: Add the potatoes to the soup once it is boiling and lower the heat to medium. Gently simmer for 15 minutes.
Step 7: Stir in the sausage and beans and simmer for 10 more minutes, or until the potatoes are fork-tender.
Step 8: Add the kale on top and cover the soup for 3 minutes. Remove the cover and stir the kale into the soup.
Step 9: Turn off the heat and stir in the heavy cream. Serve hot!
Serve Zuppa Toscana with crusty Italian bread or Cast Iron Focaccia Bread and Parmesan cheese. This soup is even better on day 2, as the starch from the potatoes thickens it into it more of a stew texture.
If you love a nice thick soup, try Sausage and Lentil Soup too!
Pro-tips
- Sear the sausage to let the sausage develop a crust, but also to build a fond on the bottom of the pot. These brown bits will loosen when you add liquid and give the entire soup a deeper, more savory flavor.
- Skim fat from the pot if the sausage leaves a lot of fat after searing. Leave 1-2 tablespoons behind to sauté the carrots and onions.
- Add the carrots after the onions are softened so that they hold their texture in the soup and don't become mushy.
- Test your largest potatoes with a fork to make sure they are ready before you add the kale. The fork should enter easily with some slight resistance in the center.
- Add the heavy cream off the heat so that it doesn't curdle. Pour it in slowly while the soup is no longer bubbling, stirring until the soup becomes a pale color. If you stir it in while the soup is too hot, the soup will become grainy.
FAQs about Zuppa Toscana
It literally translates to Tuscan Soup. Although it translates to Tuscan soup, it is an American soup popularized by Olive Garden, whereas traditional Tuscan soups are ribollita or minestra di pane.
No, the soup will still be tasty without it. It just won't be, well, as creamy. Zuppa Toscana has a specific creamy and brothy texture because of the starchy potatoes and heavy cream.
Yes, but not well. Potatoes will break down upon reheating, and heavy cream will separate slightly. As long as you're not worried about texture, you can freeze.
I don't like the way bacon gets soggy in soup, so if I'm going to start with a cured or uncured meat like bacon, I would choose pancetta, which is savory and salty without the smokiness.
More Italian Classics!
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Zuppa Toscana
Equipment
- 1 Large Dutch Oven
Ingredients
- 1.25 lbs sweet Italian sausage
- 3 carrots, sliced
- 1 onion, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1.5 lbs baby dutch yellow potatoes
- 3 cups tuscan kale, chopped about 1 head
- 8 cups chicken stock
- 1 cup water
- 1 14 oz can cannellini beans, rinsed
- ⅔ cup heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- 3 tablespoon olive oil
Instructions
- Remove the sausage from its casing. Bring a large Dutch oven to medium-high heat. Add 2 tablespoon of olive oil to the pot. Place the sausage in and sear undisturbed for 3 minutes. Then use a wooden spoon to break apart the sausage and stir occasionally until browned, about 5 minutes. Remove the sausage and set it aside.
- Lower the heat to medium-low and add 1 more tablespoon of olive oil. Add the onions and sauté for 5 minutes. Then add the carrots. Stir until the onions are translucent and the carrots are softened. Season with 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon pepper, dried parsley, and dried oregano. Add garlic and sauté for 1 more minute.
- Add the stock and raise the heat to high. Bring the soup to a boil. Stir well, then add the potatoes and lower the heat to medium. Simmer for 15 minutes.
- Add in the sausage and the beans and simmer for 10 more minutes, or until the potatoes are fork-tender.
- Add the kale on top and cover. The kale will wilt in about 3 minutes, then stir the kale into the soup.
- Turn off the heat and stir in the heavy cream. Serve hot!
Video
Notes
- Sear the sausage to let the sausage develop a crust, but also to build a fond on the bottom of the pot. The fond will flavor the soup with a savory flavor throughout the soup.
- Skim fat from the pot if the sausage leaves a lot of fat after searing.
- Add the carrots after the onions are softened so that they hold their texture in the soup.
- Test your potatoes with a fork to make sure they are ready before you add the kale.
- Add the heavy cream off the heat so that it doesn't curdle.
Nina grace deflora says
Amazing! I made it today! Thank you for the recipe!
Linda Magnotta says
Thanks again for yet another delicious recipe. So flavorful and hearty, simple and quick to make. My family loved it.
Linda Magnotta says
Five stars for sure! Very flavorful and hearty, so simple and quick. My family loved it. Thanks again for another delicious recipe.
Becky says
This soup is delicious! No one notices the Kale! Even my husband who prefers noodles and rice soups liked it! I doubled the recipe and served 7 and had leftovers for everyone to take some home! Only thing I wish it said how many cups of Kale as i bought two bunches and only used about half.
Vinny says
Hey Becky! Glad everyone loved the soup. I Use 1 whole head of Tuscan (lacinato) kale. It's probably 3 handfuls of kale. I definitely suggest Tuscan kale though, it's a lot smaller than heads of curly kale.
Patti says
Absolutely delicious! Thank you for the recipe.
Aracelis says
Instead of kale can l use Spinach.?
Vinny and Marisa says
Yes spinach or escarole would be great substitutions
Angelina Marie Padilla says
made this tonight... it was fantastico!!
thank you Vinny,
Angelina
Amie says
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site is excellent, let alone the content!