Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana Soup

Karen Anne Newton RN's Note:

This is The Olive Garden's recipe, from their cookbook. It has been cut down to make a more reasonable size. I have made this for several years, and everyone who has tasted it, loves it. It is a hearty meal in itself, or it can be served with salad and bread. This is especially good on a cold winter night ! ***I have edited the cooking order to make the preparation time shorter.***

• Total Time: 45 mins
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 30 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 12

• 10 cups water
• 7 chicken bouillon cubes (not granules)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes
• 2 teaspoons garlic paste
• 1 lb russet potato, peeled and sliced (Or cubed. About 3 large)
• 1 lb ground Italian sausage
• 1 large white onion, diced
• 1 bunch fresh kale, torn in small pieces (or 16 oz. bag of prewashed and cut Kale. Discard stems)
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 6 tablespoons oscar meyer bacon bits

Directions:

1. In a large stockpot, put water, bouillon, salt, red pepper flakes, garlic, and potatoes. Cook on medium heat, stirring occasionally.
2. Sauté the sausage and onion in a skillet, until the sausage is brown, then add it to the stockpot, along with the Kale. Simmer for 20 - 30 minutes, or until Kale and potatoes are tender.
3. Add the cream and bacon bits, and simmer for about 10 minutes.
4. Notes:.
5. I use 10 medium size potatoes.
6. Half and Half can be substituted for the heavy cream if desired.
7. Kale can be found in the produce department of most grocery stores.
8. The soup at The Olive Garden is not thick. If you wish yours to be more like a cream soup, simply simmer it longer, and mash some of the potatoes in the pot with a wooden spoon, and stir frequently until of the desired consistency.

Reviews

[MmmrsBe]

This soup was amazing! I fried up some real bacon instead of bacon bits and chopped them up finely and it tasted fabulous! My husband takes us out to Olive Garden all the time just for this soup he's obsessed and this recipe was even better than Olive Garden's he said! Very satisfying I served it for dinner with a salad and dinner rolls and everyone was happy, a definite new favourite in my family! Thanks for sharing!

[Chef #1207062]

I am a beginner cook but I was able to make this and it turned out tasting EXACTLY like the soup at Olive Garden. I followed the directions word for word and thought it would have too much meat, etc in it but in the end, it was perfect-o.

[Chef #2162037]

This was even better than Olive Garden's. But I must say this soup is dangerous to have in the house as we cannot stop eating! I can't believe how amazing this came out