Real Recipes From Real Home Cooks ®

copykat zuppa toscana-my way!

Recipe by
Janice (Jan) Barlow
Rochester, NY

My husbands favorite soup is the Zuppa Toscana at Olive Garden. I found the copycat recipe and have pinched and tweeked it until I found the right flavors and surprised him with the soup for dinner. It is now a staple in the house as well as a 1st course for dinner with company.

yield 15 to 20 cups
prep time 45 Min
cook time 1 Hr 25 Min
method Stove Top

Ingredients For copykat zuppa toscana-my way!

  • 6 slice
    thick bacon, cut into smaller pieces
  • 1 lb
    chicken italian sausage (sweet) bulk or out of casing
  • 5
    unpeeled large baking potatoes cut into 1/2" cubes
  • 6 clove
    garlic, finely minced
  • 1 lg
    white or sweet onion, finely diced
  • pinch
    crushed red pepper flakess
  • fresh ground paper
  • kosher or sea salt
  • 2 32 oz box
    chicken brother (lo sodium)
  • 1-2 Tbsp
    dry chicken boullion if needed for taste
  • 6-8 c
    curly kale-stems removed, tear roughly the leaves
  • 1 c
    heavy cream

How To Make copykat zuppa toscana-my way!

  • 1
    Before starting, prep all the ingredients-have garlic and onion chopped; potatoes cut; kale measured,bacon cut, sausage out of casing. This goes pretty quickly so it's best to be prepared, Also, if preferred, buy low sodium chicken broth and other ingredients that might be hi in salt as the chicken boullion
  • 2
    Cook bacon in large pan or dutch oven over medium heat, stirring until bacon is crisp (5-7 Minutes). Remove to a dish lined with paper towels In the drippings cook the sausage, breaking up the pieces until no longer pink (6-8 minutes). Put that on the paper lined dish with the bacon and set aside
  • 3
    Add Garlic and onion to drippings and brown slightly, then add potatoes, stirring occasional until slightly softened. Season with the red pepper, ground pepper, salt, and chicken broth. TASTE this and see if you need to add some boullion (dry) for flavor. Increase heat to high and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium, simmering until potatoes are tender and cooked thru, approximately 15 minutes
  • 4
    Add the kale, bacon and sausage and cook over medium heat until kale is tender. Midway thru cooking add the heavy cream., and continue to cook until kale is tender. This should take about 5 minutes
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