I first tried Zuppa Toscana at Olive Garden Restaurant. It is such a delicious hearty soup made of Italian sausage, potatoes, and kale, enhanced with garlic and spices, and mmm… so good. I would often crave this soup on a weeknight, when its just impossible to go out. Good news are, this recipe is quick and easy, and the soup is ready just under 30 minutes from start to finish!
When I decided to recreate this recipe, I tried several versions, using bacon, substituting chicken broth with vegetable broth, adding onions, but I settled with this recipe, as I think its the closest to our favorite Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana which we all love so much. So I hope you’ll find this recipe useful in your kitchen, and I would love to hear your thoughts about it, whether you find it similar to Olive Garden version or not. Happy Cooking!
Ingredients:
- 2 cups Italian Sausage
- 1/4 teaspoon red chili pepper flakes
- 7-8 red baby potatoes, quartered
- 3-4 garlic cloves, minced
- 4 cups (32 ounces) chicken broth or stock
- 8 cups hot water (not pictured)
- 1 cup heavy cream or half & half
- 2 cups fresh kale
- 2 tablespoons salt
- pepper to taste
In a large saucepot, with some olive oil, brown Italian sausage with red chili pepper flakes over medium-high heat. Add quartered potatoes and minced garlic, chicken stock and hot water, bring to boil, season with salt. Reduce heat to medium, cover and cook until potatoes are ready, about 15 minutes.
Now, add heavy cream, and kale. Over medium-low heat bring it to light simmer. Turn the heat off, and season with pepper.
Serve immediately. Enjoy!
ZUPPA TOSCANA RECIPE
By: VerasCooking.com
Ingredients:
- 2 cups Italian Sausage
- 1/4 teaspoon red chili pepper flakes
- 7-8 red baby potatoes, quartered
- 3-4 garlic cloves, minced
- 4 cups (32 ounces) chicken broth or stock
- 8 cups hot water (not pictured)
- 1 cup heavy cream or half & half
- 2 cups fresh kale
- 2 tablespoons salt
- pepper to taste
Instructions:
- In a large saucepot, with some olive oil, brown Italian sausage with red chili pepper flakes over medium-high heat.
- Add quartered potatoes and minced garlic, chicken stock and hot water, bring to boil, season with salt. Reduce heat to medium, cover and cook until potatoes are ready, about 15 minutes.
- Now, add heavy cream, and kale. Over medium-low heat bring it to light simmer. Turn the heat off, and season with pepper.
- Serve immediately.
Enjoy!
Vera, what kind of italian sausage works best?
In this recipe, I used fully cooked Italian sausage that required browning only. You can use any spicy or mild Italian sausage, just slice it and cook until golden brown. The cooking time will be a little longer though. I tried with both kinds, the results are same. Hope this helps.
Can you buy a fully cooked sausage at Winco? How the package looks like?
The one I used in this recipe was italian sausage crumble that I bought from Cash&Carry. It was in a big clear package with the label looking like italian flag. I’m not sure if Winco carries it. I know that Costco carries a good variety of sausages, that’s where I shop as well.
Oh, thank you very much. WinCo Foods is very close to my house so I went there today and bought a couple of small italian sausage packages. Will use a fully cooked sausage next time with soup.
Alla, just buy mild Italian sausage in bulk, sold in any grocery store in meat section. I made this soup today, cannot stop eating it. No need to go to Olive Garden……. Thank you Vera for sharing this recipe.
Lyuba, thank you for the good review 🙂 I’m so happy you liked the soup.
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