Zuppa Toscana
Creamy Italian soup filled with sausage, potatoes, and kale like Olive Garden serves.
Servings: 9 Servings
Calories: 364kcal
Ingredients
- 1 pound Italian sausage
- 8 slices of bacon thin, diced
- 3/4 cup of diced onion about half of a large onion
- 2 cloves garlic finely minced
- 8 cups chicken broth
- 1 cup half and half
- 6 cups potato slices
- 6 cups kale leaves ribs removed and torn into bite-size pieces
Instructions
- Crumble the Italian sausage in a soup pot and cook over medium-high heat until cooked completely an remove from the pan and set aside.
- Add the diced bacon to the pan and cook until brown and remove from the skillet and set aside with the Italian sausage.
- Reserve about 2 tablespoons of fat in the pan and discard the rest.
- Add the onions and garlic to the remaining grease in the pan and cook until slightly wilted, about 3 to 4 minutes, stirring frequently.
- Add the Italian sausage, bacon, and chicken broth to the pan and bring it to a simmer.
- Once the broth is simmering, add the potatoes and continue to simmer until the potatoes are fork tender. This will take 5 to 10 minutes depending on the thickness of your potatoes.
- Add the kale and simmer until the kale is bright green and softened.
- Add the half and half and simmer until the soup is hot.
- Remove from the heat and serve.
Notes
I prefer sweet Italian sausage but regular and hot also work. Using hot sausage will make your soup spicier, so taste before adding red pepper flakes.
Italian sausage links can be pre-cooked in the oven or in a skillet, allowed to cool and sliced.
Do not overcook the garlic. Burnt garlic will make the entire pot of soup bitter.
Heavy cream can be used instead of half & half, just be sure not to boil the soup after adding it. It could curdle.
I use russet potatoes with the skins on. Waxy potatoes such as red or yellow can also be used. If you want to keep the skin on, make sure to scrub them well to remove all the dirt.
Kale can be substituted with escarole.
Italian sausage links can be pre-cooked in the oven or in a skillet, allowed to cool and sliced.
Do not overcook the garlic. Burnt garlic will make the entire pot of soup bitter.
Heavy cream can be used instead of half & half, just be sure not to boil the soup after adding it. It could curdle.
I use russet potatoes with the skins on. Waxy potatoes such as red or yellow can also be used. If you want to keep the skin on, make sure to scrub them well to remove all the dirt.
Kale can be substituted with escarole.
Nutrition
Serving: 2cups | Calories: 364kcal | Carbohydrates: 32g | Protein: 14g | Fat: 21g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Cholesterol: 49mg | Sodium: 1171mg | Potassium: 1158mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 4557IU | Vitamin C: 98mg | Calcium: 138mg | Iron: 3mg
