Sound the alarm, because soup season is officially here!!! I love soup. On an emotional level, it’s comforting and soothing on a cold dark night. On a practical level, all soup is essentially pottage with varying amounts of planning. Soup is such a great way to use up what you’ve already got, and for that reason alone it will always be one of my favorite things to make.
One of my all time favorite soups is Zuppa Toscana, which I grew up eating at The Olive Garden. I never particularly enjoyed their pasta dishes, but man oh man that soup and breadstick combo was killer! The rich, creamy broth with a little spicy kick from the crushed red pepper flakes… The soft russet potato, crunchy kale, and salty meats…That soup was a real treat. When I got to adulthood and had my own budget and kitchen to work in, I realized that it really shouldn’t be that hard to make at home. Turns out I was right, and now I’d rather have this recipe for Homemade Zuppa Toscana that the restaurant version any day. It’s a bit healthier, more filling, and in just an hour and a half I can make enough to last for a whole week.
Tell me down below how this recipe compares to the restaurant version!
What's Zuppa Toscana?
Zuppa Toscana translates in Italian to, “Tuscan Soup”. Sounds pretty vague to me, in essence this soup originated in Tuscany and is what inspired the very well known Olive Garden version. Upon doing some research, it appears that the original Italian version of this soup was a big heartier, including the well known ingredients like kale and sausage, but also white beans, celery, onion, and zucchini. To contrast, the chain restaurant version is a bit lighter, containing just sausage, bacon, onion, potato, and kale.
My version of this is sort of a compromise between the two: it’s not a super hearty stew, but it’s also fairly robust and filling. I’ve swapped russet for red potatoes, adopted a base of celery and onion (something I like to build every soup with), thrown broccoli into the mix, and added bacon because…I mean, do I need a reason?
Ingredients
- Kale
- Sausage
- Potato
- Bacon
- Onion
- Broccoli
- Garlic
- Broth
- Milk
- Celery
- Mushrooms
- Seasonings
. Because 5 cups is a lot of kale, feel free to buy the pre-shredded kind in the big bags. Keep in mind that the producers of that product don’t remove the stems from the leaves, so if you are fine with super fibrous kale stems in your soup, power to you. If not, either stick to de-stemming fresh kale bunches.
. This recipe is definitely decadent, so if you’re looking to lighten it up a bit then try using half the bacon and switching from pork sausage to Italian seasoned ground turkey.
. Because of the salty meats in this soup, low sodium chicken broth is recommended. If all you have is regular chicken broth, consider adding half stock and half water.
. This soup is fairly customizable, so remember, if something doesn’t work for you in this, swap it out! You can try spinach instead of kale, russet instead of red potatoes, etc.
How to Make This Soup
To make this soup, start off with partially cooking your sausage. While it cooks, break it up into smaller pieces so you don’t have huge chunks. It will continue to cook in the soup later, which is why you can just par cook. While is cooks in, start to sweat the onion and celery in a large pot on medium heat. This will soften the veggies a bit and create a wonderful smell in your kitchen. When the sausage is finished cooking, make sure to drain out any fat by placing it in a strainer and letting it rest there. To the sweating produce in the large pot, add in some prepped potatoes, garlic, shrooms, red pepper flakes, and Italian seasoning and give it a good stir.
Let that cook another few minutes, then add the sausage in and pour on the chicken broth. Cook for about 10 minutes or so to heat through. While it heats, it will soften and cook the ingredients fully. If you haven’t cooked your bacon in advance, do it now. You want it decently crisp because the soup will soften that as well. Once it’s cooked, let it cool on a rack or in the strainer. While it cools, attend to your soup. Remove the pot from the heat and add in both milk and kale and stir. Chop or break the bacon into bits, then stir that in as well and let it sit for about 30 minutes before serving.
What to Pair this With
This soup is fairly hefty on it’s own, so it doesn’t really need a pairing, but if you’re looking to make this an appetizer or side instead of the main event, you could pair it with a large Kale Caesar Salad (linked), or some cheesy garlic bread.
Homemade Zuppa Toscana
Ingredients
- 1 lb mild Italian sausage
- 1 cup celery, chopped
- 1 large yellow onion, chopped
- 1 1/2 lb red potato, cut into even chunks
- 1 large broccoli head, including the stalk, chopped
- 5 crimini mushrooms, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tsp red pepper flakes
- 1 tbsp Italian seasoning
- 6 cups chicken broth, low sodium preferred
- 1/2 lb bacon, cooked and chopped
- 2 cups whole milk
- 5 cups kale, de-stemmed and shredded
Optional Toppings
- fresh parsley
- parmesan cheese
Instructions
- In a large pan, par cook the sausage.
- While it’s cooking, heat 1 tbsp olive oil on medium in a large pot. Stir in celery and onion.
- When sausage is browned on the outside, drain by pouring into a metal strainer and set aside.
- Next, add chopped potato, garlic, mushroom, and seasoning to the oiled pot and cook another 2-3 minutes. Stir in chicken broth and sausage. Heat through.
- While soup is heating, cook bacon. You want it decently crisp since it’s going to sit in soup. Let it dry and cool in a stainer or a cooling.
- While bacon is drying and cooling, turn heat off and add milk and kale. Stir.
- Lastly, either with a knife or hands, rip or chop bacon into small pieces and add to soup. Let sit at least 30 minutes before serving.
Notes
- You can sub heavy cream for the milk (I did this once and it was hecka tasty), but keep in mind the fat and calorie content will skyrocket.
- If you're looking for a lower calorie, lower fat version of this soup, use 1/4 lb bacon instead of 1/2 lb. If you want you can also sub the Italian sausage, which is typically pork, for Italian turkey sausage instead.
- Kale keeps best in this soup, but you can always sub spinach if you'd prefer.