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Homemade Zuppa Toscana

Yields 12 cups
Prep Time20 mins
Cook Time1 hr
Total Time1 hr 20 mins
Course: Soup
Cuisine: Italian
Keyword: bacon, cozy, high protein
Servings: 6
Calories: 550kcal

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

Macronutrients: 38g carb, 34g fat, 29g protein
  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. Kale keeps best in this soup, but you can always sub spinach if you'd prefer.