30 Minute Zuppa Toscana Olive Garden Copycat Recipe
The most popular soup at Olive Garden can now be made at home in just 30 easy minutes. Spicy sausage, heavy cream and kale are a wonderful combination in this soup. Serve with buttery breadsticks.
Servings: 6 portions
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 lb ground spicy Italian sausage
- 6-8 slices bacon
- 1 large white onion, finely diced
- 5 large cloves garlic, finely minced
- 2 tsp red pepper flakes plus extra for topping soup bowls
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- 2 tablespoons flour or cornstarch
- 48 oz chicken stock 1 1/5 cartons
- 4 medium russet potatoes
- 1 bunch of kale de-stemmed and roughly chopped
- 1 1/3 cup heavy cream
- 1/2 cup fresh grated parmesaen cheese
- frozen buttery breadsticks or texas toast optional
Instructions
- Over medium-high heat, add oil to a large pot or dutch oven. Brown sausage, crumbling into small pieces as it cooks through. Remove sausage to a plate, draining oil with a slotted spoon.
- Fry bacon is residual sausage grease until crisp, then remove to plate with the sausage and (once cooled) chop into small pieces. Drain most of the oil, leaving 2 tablespoons behind in the pot.
- Add onion to pot and cook 5 minutes, adding garlic the last minute. Add the red pepper flakes, garlic powder and season well with about 1 1/2 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper.
- Sprinkle flour over onion and garlic in pot, then stir to combine and allow it to heat for about one minute. Pour in chicken stock, stirring as you pour. While the stock is heating, peel potatoes and slice into thin rounds about 1/4 inch thick, then slice in half. Add in potatoes to pot and bring to a gentle boil.
- Boil for 15 minutes or until potatoes are fork-tender. Add the cooked sausage and most of the bacon back into the skillet. Add the kale and then the heavy cream. Cook for another 5 minutes until the kale has softened.
- Taste and season with additional salt, pepper, garlic powder and red pepper flakes if desired. Top each bowl with remaining bacon and freshly grated parmesan. Enjoy!
Notes
My version of this Zuppa Toscana soup is pretty spicy. If you prefer less heat, just half the amount of red pepper flakes.
Nutrition
Calories: 310kcal