The server sets down a shallow white bowl and the broth is thicker than you expected. Sliced potatoes, crumbled sausage, dark green ribbons of kale, a slick of orange fat on top from the spicy sausage. People order it in February and they order it in July. Olive Garden has never published the ingredient list for it, which is why home cooks have been taking the thing apart since at least 2010. The soup is Zuppa Toscana, and the version you build in a Dutch oven at home, start to finish in about an hour and ten minutes, lands close enough that you will stop ordering it out.
What Olive Garden Will Say Is In The Bowl
The chain’s own description of the soup is short: “Spicy Italian sausage, fresh kale and russet potatoes in a creamy broth.” That is four ingredients and a texture. It is the only soup on Olive Garden’s gluten-sensitive menu, which rules out a flour roux, so the body in that broth is coming from cream and from starch released by the potatoes.
Bacon never appears in that description, yet nearly every copycat recipe includes it. Cooks who have sat down with a bowl and paid attention report a smoky, faintly sweet edge in the broth that sausage alone does not produce. Leave it out and your pot tastes flat by comparison, so put it in.
Olive Garden has been open since 1982, starting in Florida, and staff say the soups are made every morning using fresh vegetables. The name points at Tuscany, but the heavy cream, bacon, potatoes and sausage make this an American build. Nobody in Italy is serving this. It is still very good.
The Shopping List That Gets You Closest
Eight bowls come out of this pot: 6 ounces of chopped bacon, 1 pound of hot Italian sausage, a whole head of garlic, one medium onion, 6 cups of chicken broth, 4 cups of water, 5 medium russet potatoes, one bundle of kale, and 1 cup of heavy whipping cream. Salt, black pepper and grated Parmesan finish it.
The water is there to keep the broth from turning into gravy, but it is also the one place the recipe gives you room to improve. Swap some or all of that water for more stock and the finished soup tastes richer and more restaurant-like. Homemade stock is better than anything in a carton, and low-sodium broth lets you salt it yourself at the end, which matters once the bacon and sausage have both given up their salt.
Hot Italian sausage is the correct call if you want the restaurant’s version. Mild sausage with a pinch of crushed red pepper flakes gets you most of the way there and keeps kids at the table. You can always spice up individual bowls later.
Do Not Cut The Garlic Down
A full head of garlic, roughly 10 large cloves, goes into an 8-serving pot. That number scares people and it should not. The garlic gets softened in the bacon fat and then simmers for twenty minutes in broth, which strips out the raw bite and leaves a deep savory background note you cannot get from two cloves.
Mince it fine or press it. Big chunks of garlic bobbing around in cream broth are unpleasant to bite into, and you want the flavor dissolved into the liquid rather than sitting in it. Jarred garlic will work in a pinch, but fresh is the difference between a decent pot and one people ask about.
Brown The Meat First, Then Rinse It
Cook the bacon in a 5.5-quart Dutch oven over medium-high heat for 5 to 7 minutes, until it is browned, then lift it out onto a paper-towel-lined plate. Spoon off most of the fat, leaving about a tablespoon. Brown the sausage in that fat for about 5 minutes, breaking it apart with a spatula as it cooks, and set it aside too.
Dumping raw meat straight into broth is the single most common way this soup goes wrong. Browning triggers the Maillard reaction, which is the whole reason the finished broth tastes like it simmered all day. Skipping that step gives you boiled sausage in milky water.
Two tricks are worth stealing. Rinsing the cooked bacon and sausage under cold water in a strainer washes away the excess grease, so the finished soup does not develop an oil slick on top, a step worth taking if your sausage runs fatty. And a potato masher dragged through the browning sausage breaks it into fine crumbles instead of golf balls, which is closer to the restaurant’s texture.
Onion goes in next, about 5 minutes over medium heat until soft and golden, then the garlic for one minute. Use yellow or white onion. Red onion tastes fine but tints the broth a color you will not like.
Russet Potatoes, Sliced Thin
Russets are named on the menu and russets are what you should buy. Peel them or leave the skins on for a more rustic bowl, then cut them into pieces about a quarter inch thick. Thin slices cook fast and break down slightly at the edges, which thickens the broth for free.
Add them once the broth and water have come to a boil and cook for 13 to 14 minutes, until a fork slides in with no resistance. Pull them at that point. Potatoes that cook another ten minutes turn into mush and cloud the soup.
Yukon Golds are the one defensible substitute. They hold their shape better and give a creamier bite, which makes them the smarter choice if you are cooking a batch to portion out for the week. For a dead-on match to the restaurant texture, stay with russets.
The Kale Goes In Near The End
Strip the leaves off the stems and chop them. Six cups looks like far too much kale for one pot and it is not. Kale collapses to a fraction of its volume in hot broth, and the tough ribs stay chewy, so pull them and throw them out.
Stir it in during the last few minutes along with the browned sausage, bring everything back to a light boil, and stop there. Kale that boils for twenty minutes goes gray and slimy. Added late, it stays bright green with a little chew left in it.
Curly green kale is the common supermarket bunch and almost certainly what the chain uses. Lacinato, also sold as Tuscan or Dino kale, is more tender and cooks faster. Baby kale skips the chopping entirely. Spinach and Swiss chard both work if kale is not your thing, stirred in at the very end since they wilt in seconds.
Cream Goes In Last
One cup of heavy whipping cream turns the broth from soup into Zuppa Toscana. Stir it in at the end, bring the pot back up to heat, taste for salt and pepper, and take it off the burner. Light cream works, half and half gives you a thinner broth, and milk is a step too far. Whole milk does not carry the richness and it is the first thing people notice is missing.
Garnish the bowls with the reserved bacon and freshly grated Parmesan, not the shelf-stable kind in the green can. Sourdough or crusty French bread on the side does what the breadsticks do at the restaurant.
Slow Cooker And Instant Pot Versions
Brown the sausage and bacon first no matter which appliance finishes the job. In a 6-quart pressure cooker, brown everything on sauté, deglaze with the broth so you do not trip the burn warning, add the potatoes, then cook on high for 15 minutes with a quick release. Stir in the cream and kale afterward and let it sit on keep warm for 10 to 15 minutes while the residual heat wilts the greens.
Red potatoes are the better pick under pressure because they hold their shape. Russets fall apart and thicken the pot, which some people want and some people do not.
For a slow cooker, add everything except the cream and kale and run it 5 to 6 hours on low, then stir those two in and give it 30 minutes on high. If the result is thinner than you want, prop the lid open and simmer it down, or whisk a tablespoon of cornstarch into two tablespoons of cold water and stir that in.
Swaps Worth Making
Cauliflower florets stand in for potatoes if you are keeping carbs down, cooked just until tender. Full-fat canned coconut milk replaces the cream for a dairy-free pot, added at the very end and heated through only. Italian turkey sausage makes a leaner bowl without wrecking the flavor, since the bacon is still doing work in the background.
A can of drained white beans stirred in near the end makes the pot heartier and stretches it further. Pillowy gnocchi in place of the potatoes is a different soup entirely, and a good one on a weeknight. A splash of cider or white wine vinegar at the finish sharpens the whole pot if it tastes heavy.
Leftovers, And Whether It Beats The Restaurant
Get it into the fridge within two hours, in shallow containers, and eat it within 3 to 4 days. Freezing is not recommended. Cream splits and potatoes go grainy, and there is no fixing either one. Reheat on the stove or in the microwave until it hits 165°F all the way through.
A bowl at the restaurant ran around $5 in 2022, with prices varying by location, and that is before tax and tip. This pot makes eight bowls out of a pound of sausage, six ounces of bacon, five potatoes and a bunch of kale. Better sausage, more garlic, less salt, and nobody asking if you want more breadsticks. The home version wins.
Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana Copycat
Course: SoupCuisine: Italian8
servings35
minutes35
minutes458
kcalThe creamy sausage, potato and kale soup Olive Garden won’t print the recipe for, rebuilt at home in one pot.
Ingredients
6 oz bacon, chopped
1 lb hot Italian sausage, casings removed
1 head of garlic (about 10 large cloves), peeled and minced or pressed
1 medium onion, finely diced
6 cups chicken broth or chicken stock
4 cups water (or more stock for a richer broth)
5 medium russet potatoes, peeled and chopped into 1/4-inch thick pieces
1 bundle kale, leaves stripped from the stems and chopped (about 6 cups)
1 cup heavy whipping cream, plus salt, black pepper and grated Parmesan to serve
Directions
- Put the chopped bacon in a large pot or 5.5-quart Dutch oven over medium-high heat and cook 5 to 7 minutes, stirring now and then, until browned. Lift it out onto a paper-towel-lined plate and set it aside for garnish. Spoon off the excess fat, leaving about 1 tablespoon in the pot.
- Add the Italian sausage to the same pot and brown it for about 5 minutes, breaking it into fine crumbles with a spatula or a potato masher as it cooks. Move it to a paper-towel-lined plate. If your sausage is very fatty, rinse the cooked meat briefly in a strainer under cold water so the finished soup does not develop an oil slick.
- Add the diced onion to the drippings and cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until soft and golden at the edges. Stir in all of the minced garlic and cook 1 minute more, just until it smells strong. Keep it moving so the garlic does not scorch and turn the pot bitter.
- Pour in the chicken broth and water and raise the heat to bring everything to a boil. Scrape the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon as the liquid heats so the browned bits lift off into the broth. That fond is where most of the flavor lives.
- Add the sliced potatoes and cook 13 to 14 minutes, until a fork slides through a piece with no resistance. Do not walk away and let them go much longer. Overcooked russets break down completely and cloud the broth.
- Stir in the chopped kale and the cooked sausage and bring the pot back to a light boil. The kale will look like far too much and will collapse within a couple of minutes. Pull it off the heat while the leaves are still bright green.
- Stir in the heavy whipping cream and bring the soup back up to a boil. Season with salt and black pepper, tasting as you go, since the bacon and sausage have already salted the broth. Remove the pot from the heat as soon as it is seasoned the way you want it.
- Ladle the soup into bowls and top each one with the reserved crispy bacon and freshly grated Parmesan. Add red pepper flakes at the table for anyone who wants more heat. Serve with thick slices of sourdough or crusty French bread.
Notes
- Hot Italian sausage gives the restaurant’s kick. Mild or medium sausage plus a pinch of crushed red pepper flakes gets you close and keeps it kid-friendly.
- For a low-carb pot, use cauliflower florets in place of the potatoes and cook just until tender. For a dairy-free pot, swap the cream for one can of full-fat unsweetened coconut milk, added at the very end and heated through only.
- Refrigerate within two hours in shallow containers, up to 3 to 4 days. Freezing is not recommended, since cream and potatoes both suffer. Reheat until it reaches 165°F throughout.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Does the real Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana have bacon in it?
A: The chain’s own description lists spicy Italian sausage, fresh kale and russet potatoes in a creamy broth, with no mention of bacon. Cooks who have tasted the soup closely pick up a smoky, slightly sweet note that sausage alone does not explain, and nearly every copycat recipe includes it. Use it.
Q: Can I use milk instead of heavy cream?
A: You can, but the broth comes out noticeably thinner and less rich. Half and half is the better compromise if you want something lighter than cream. Full-fat canned coconut milk is the move for a dairy-free version, stirred in at the end just to warm through.
Q: Why did my kale turn gray and mushy?
A: It cooked too long. Kale goes in during the last few minutes, after the potatoes are already fork-tender, and needs only a light boil to wilt. Pull the tough stems before chopping, since they stay chewy however long the pot simmers.
Q: Can I make this in a slow cooker or Instant Pot?
A: Yes, but brown the bacon and sausage first either way. In a slow cooker, add everything except the cream and kale and cook 5 to 6 hours on low, then stir those in and cook 30 minutes on high. In a 6-quart pressure cooker, cook 15 minutes on high with a quick release, then stir in the cream and kale and let it sit on keep warm for 10 to 15 minutes.
