Community Pick
Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana Soup
photo by alenafoodphoto
- Ready In:
- 45mins
- Ingredients:
- 11
- Serves:
-
12
ingredients
- 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
- 4 ounces bacon bits, Hormel is good
directions
- In a large stockpot, put water, bouillon, salt, red pepper flakes, garlic, and potatoes. Cook on medium heat, stirring occasionally.
- 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.
- Add the cream and bacon bits, and simmer for about 10 minutes.
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Notes:
- I use 10 medium size potatoes.
- Half and Half can be substituted for the heavy cream if desired.
- Kale can be found in the produce department of most grocery stores.
- 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.
Questions & Replies
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This recipe looks great! I have a few questions: Do you really only call for 1 bacon slice, or is this a typo? I have everything ready to start chopping and I'm thinking I'll just alter the bacon to a 1/2 lb (?). Also, I looked for 16 oz of bagged kale and that seemed like a LOT, considering one bag is 5oz. Is that also a typo? Fortunately they had kale bunches so I went with that. However, I second guessed how many bunches to get because I was comparing to 16 oz.
Reviews
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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!
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This is our favorite soup! I have a steaming bowl in my hand right now, so comforting!! I do cut back on the water a bit, maybe 5 cups, and 4 bullion cubes. I also used 1/2 box of chopped spinach instead of kale, that's hard to find in our small town. We like spicy so yes, a tsp. or so of chili flakes is a must! :) yummy
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Okay, I don’t do kale. At the Olive Garden I sit and pick it all out all the kale, and by then it’s cold. So, I had chicken stock and not bullion. I used 48 plus 32 ounces of stock, a handful of finely diced fresh chives, a handful dried onions, a handful of dried parsley, a whole pound of bacon (to replace the kale for volume), and because half and half only comes in a 16 ounce container, 2 cups of 1/2 and 1/2. The sausage I used was Jimmy Dean Hot. My husband said it was the best soup he has ever, ever had. The broth is much more complex, savory, and delicious than Olive Garden’s. It really came out well. Wishing everyone good food and good company with which to enjoy it !
see 47 more reviews
Tweaks
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Replace the potatoes with cauliflower and the soup becomes Keto-friendly. I personally like it better that way. Oh, and I use two bunches of kale instead of one. it might seem like a lot, but it will wilt down quite a bit. Just use a large stock pot and push it down under the liquid to speed up the process.
see 5 more tweaks
RECIPE SUBMITTED BY
Karen Anne Newton RN
Cumberland Furnace, Tennessee