Have you tried Olive Garden soups? I’m willing to bet everyone has at least once, and if you’ve tried Olive Garden’s Zuppa Toscana Soup, you already know how delicious it is. I tend to call it Olive Garden’s Sausage Soup, or Zuppa Soup when I can’t remember the name, but it’s all the same. No matter what you call it, Olive Garden’s Zuppa Toscana Soup is delicious, so we decided to make a copycat version that will allow you to make it at home any night of the week.

This recipe can be prepared either on the stovetop or in the slow cooker, so cooking times will vary from 30 minutes on the stovetop to 5 hours in the slow cooker. It’s always nice to have options so that whether you have a busy day out or an easy day at home, you can still enjoy your favorite soup!

Looking for another favorite soup recipe that can also be made on the stovetop or in the slow cooker? Minestrone Soup is a great one that has multiple ways to prepare it. It’s one of those traditional soups that you’ll be sure to make again and again. Here’s our version of Easy Minestrone Soup or Slow Cooker Minestrone Soup.

Now, let’s talk about ingredients and instructions for making Zuppa Toscana soup at home.

Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana Copycat Recipe – Ingredient Notes:

• Italian Sausage- you will need one pound, but if you are looking to make it a little lighter, you can substitute either Italian chicken sausage or even ground chicken.
• Yellow onion – if you don’t have onion on hand or are looking for a more mild taste, you can use shallots instead.
• Red pepper flakes – this just gives a very mild kick to the soup, but you can certainly omit this if you’d like.
• Russet Potatoes – you will be using 1 1/2 pounds (about 4 medium potatoes), but you could definitely switch them out for Yukon Gold Potatoes. You’d want to use about 5-6 Yukon Gold potatoes.
• Heavy cream – if you don’t have heavy cream or you are looking to lighten up the soup a little, you can use milk instead. It won’t be as creamy as it would be with the heavy cream, but it’ll still taste similar.
• Kale – kale is what is traditionally used in Zuppa Toscana Soup. A good substitute would be spinach, however you can omit the kale altogether if you wish.

Zuppa Toscana Stovetop Instructions

As mentioned, you can either make this soup on the stovetop or in the crock pot. If you’re making it on the stove, make sure to use a nice deep stock pot.

• Add the Italian sausage to a deep stock pot and cook until well- browned, about 6-8 minutes, making sure to crumble the sausage as it cooks.
• Add in the onion and cook, stirring frequently, until they become translucent, about 3-4 minutes.
• Add the garlic and red pepper flakes, and cook an additional minute, until the garlic is fragrant.
• Add potatoes and chicken stock and cook util the potatoes are tender, about 10 minutes.
• While waiting for the potatoes to cook through, heat a separate skillet over medium-high heat and cook the bacon until crispy. Once crispy, allow to cool and then crumble. An alternative way to prepare the bacon is in the oven. Here are our instructions forhow to bake bacon in the oven.
• Stir in the crumbled bacon and kale and cook until the kale begins to wilt, about 1-2 minutes. Stir in the heavy cream until heated through, about 5 minutes.
• Add additional salt and pepper to taste.
• Garnish with fresh grated parmesan cheese.

Zuppa Toscana Crock Pot Instructions

• Add the Italian sausage to a large skillet and cook until well- browned, about 6-8 minutes, making sure to crumble the sausage as it cooks.
• Add in the onion and cook, stirring frequently, until they become translucent, about 3-4 minutes.
• Add the garlic and red pepper flakes, and cook an additional minute, until the garlic is fragrant.
• Cook the bacon, either in the oven mentioned above or in a separate pan, then crumble or cut into small bite sized pieces
• In your crock pot, add sausage mixture, cooked and crumbled bacon, chicken broth, and salt and pepper to taste. Add in raw potato slices. Stir to combine.
• Cook in the crock pot on low for 4-5 hours, or on high for about 2 hours, until the potatoes are tender. Stir in the heavy whipping cream and kale, and cook for about 10-15 additional minutes.
• Add additional salt and pepper to taste.
• Garnish with fresh grated parmesan cheese.

Olive Garden Soups are some of our favorites, and this Zuppa Toscana soup is no exception. Copycat recipes are fun to make, and we hope you enjoy this! Some of you may remember year ago that Olive Garden had a Chocolate Lasagna on their menu. While our Chocolate Lasagna recipe is not an Olive Garden copycat, it’s amazing, and would be a fun dessert option after making this soup.

Looking for other copycat recipes to make? We’ve got two more including this Smoked Mozzarella Fonduta Olive Garden Copycat (this appetizer is EVERYTHING!!!) and this Olive Garden Salad Dressing Copycat (that salad dressing! Always a fave!).