Olive Garden Soup Recipe – How To Make Zuppa Toscana Soup At Home

Are you looking for an Olive Garden Soup Recipe? If you have ever been to Olive Garden and tried the Zuppa Toscana soup, you will know just how delicious this soup is.

But, you do not need to break the bank and go to Olive Garden all the time! 

You can actually make this soup at home! Are you surprised? Well, you should be! This is a delicious soup that is based on an Italian recipe, so you know that it will be delicious and packed full of flavor. 

It is far easier than you might think to make this delicious soup, and all without breaking the bank! All you need to do is read this recipe, and you will be able to make and enjoy this phenomenal recipe. 

Are you excited to get started? Let’s dive right in!

The basics of how to make this delicious copycat Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana Soup are as follows:

1. Chop and fry your bacon until it is crispy. 
2. Dice and fry your onion and garlic before frying them in bacon grease. 
3. Cook your ground sausage and drain the fat. Keep two tablespoons for later. 
4. Add your chicken broth, potatoes, salt, red pepper flakes, and seasoning. 
5. Allow your soup to start boiling, then allow it to simmer for fifteen to twenty minutes. 
6. Add cornstarch slurry, bacon, and kale. Stir everything together until combined. 
7. Let your soup cool down and sprinkle parsley on top before you serve.

If you want to learn more about making this delicious copycat Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana soup, you need to read on.

There are a lot of nuances that cannot be conveyed in a quick answer. But, we go over everything you need to know, down below. So, carry on reading!

What Do You Need To Know Before You Start Cooking?

Before you do anything, there are a few things you need to know about this recipe. You will spend about twenty minutes prepping the ingredients, and about thirty-five minutes cooking.

Overall, you can spend up to an hour and fifty-five minutes making this delicious Zuppa Toscana soup. This recipe in particular makes enough for six servings.

But, if you need more, you can easily double the ingredients. 

As for the nutrition, a single serving of this soup will be about 525 calories in total. So, if you are watching your weight, this soup may be a little heavy for you.

In one serving of Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana soup, there are the following quantities of different nutrients: 

• Fat – One serving contains thirty-three grams of fat.
• Saturated Fat – Eleven grams of saturated fat in one serving. 
• Trans Fat – One serving has 0.02 grams of trans fat. 
• Polyunsaturated Fat – There are five grams of polyunsaturated fat in a serving. 
• Monounsaturated Fat – One serving of soup has fourteen grams of monounsaturated fat. 
• Cholesterol – There are seventy-five milligrams of cholesterol in a serving. 
• Sodium – One serving contains 1931 milligrams of sodium. 
• Potassium – In one serving there are about 1099 milligrams of potassium. 
• Carbohydrates – There are only thirty-nine grams of carbohydrates in one serving. 
• Fiber – About four grams of fiber is in one serving of soup. 
• Sugar – There are three grams of sugar in one serving of this soup. 
• Protein – In one serving, there are only twenty grams of protein. 
• Vitamin A – One serving has about 4538 IU per serving. 
• Vitamin C – There are about fifty-four milligrams of vitamin C in a serving of this soup. 
• Calcium – In one serving, there are 167 milligrams of calcium.
• Iron – One serving has three milligrams of iron per serving. 

Remember that these values are only approximations. The number may go up or down depending on what ingredients you use.

But it does give you an idea of what you can expect if you are concerned about the nutritional value of this delicious soup. 

What Ingredients Will You Need?

Before you can start cooking, you are definitely going to need a few things! Luckily for you, we know just how to make this delicious soup.

This is why we have listed all the ingredients required to make your own delicious Zuppa Toscana soup at home! Check out the list down below to learn more:

• Bacon – You need just four ounces of bacon that have been finely chopped. 
• Italian Sausage – To make this dish, you need one pound of Italian sausage. 
• Russet Potatoes – For this recipe, you need two pounds of cubed russet potatoes. 
• Sweet Onion – One small onion is required for this recipe. Chop up your onion finely. 
• Red Pepper Flakes – A quarter or a half teaspoon of red pepper flakes are required. 
• Garlic Cloves – For this recipe, four cloves of minced garlic are required.
• Chicken Broth – You will need six cups of chicken broth with regular sodium. 
• Salt – You need just a pinch of salt for this recipe. 
• Black Pepper – For this recipe, you need a one-quarter teaspoon of black pepper. 
• Milk – One cup of milk, half-and-half, oat milk, or soy milk is required for this recipe. 
• Cornstarch – You will need a one-quarter cup of cornstarch to make this soup. 
• Kale – This recipe requires four cups of kale that has been sliced.

These ingredients are all super easy to find, so you should not have any trouble sourcing them to make your own copycat Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana Soup. 

Step-By-Step Instruction For Making Zuppa Toscana

In this section, we are going to go over the steps you are going to need to follow in order to make this delightful soup. It is super easy to do! So, make sure to check out the steps down below!

Step 1 – Get Your Ingredients Prepped

Before you can do anything, you need to make sure to prep your ingredients. Grab a sharp knife and mince your onions and garlic. Chop them super finely! 

Once that is done, cut your potatoes into little cubes. Take care not to slice them too big or too small. If they are too big, they may not cook through, if they are too small they might fall apart in the soup. 

Now, chop your bacon into small cubes. This can be tricky! So, make sure that the knife is sharp before you start slicing your bacon into little chunks. 

Step 2 – Fry Up Your Bacon

In a little pan or Dutch oven, heat up some oil on a medium heat. Once the pan is hot, add the bacon and cook it for between seven and eight minutes, or until the bacon is nice and crispy.

Once the bacon has cooked through, use a slotted spoon to scoop out the bacon and place it on a paper towel. This will help to get rid of some of the grease on the bacon. 

Step 3 – Sauté Your Onion And Garlic

In the same pan or Dutch oven you fried your bacon in, add the onion to the pan. Use the bacon grease to fry your onions.

To fully sauté your onion, you should be cooking them for between two and three minutes. Once your onion is nice and fragrant, add your garlic to the pan and sauté both ingredients for about thirty seconds. 

Step 4 – Pan Fry Your Meat

Before cooking the meat, either scoop it out and put it in a bowl or push it to one side. Add your ground sausage to the pan and allow it to cook for between seven and eight minutes.

When the meat is no longer pink, you will know that it has cooked through completely. 

If the meat is stuck together, you can use a potato masher to break it apart. This will reduce the risk of any large chunks.

Once the meat has been cooked, drain the excess oil and fat. Make sure to keep about two tablespoons handy for later on!

Step 5 – All Your Other Ingredients

Once the grease has been drained, add your chicken broth, potatoes salt, red pepper flakes, black pepper, onions, and garlic to the pan.

Stir everything together until it has completely combined. 

Turn your hob up to a high heat and allow the mixture to come to a rolling boil. Once this happens, lower the temperature to a medium-low heat and put the lid on the pot.

Let your soup simmer at this temperature for between fifteen and twenty minutes, or until the potatoes are nice and tender. 

Step 6 – Add The Slurry, Bacon, And Kale

With that, there are just a few things left to get your soup ready to eat! Mix cornstarch with some warm milk until it is perfectly smooth.

Take care to avoid any clumps in this mixture before you move on. Now, carefully pour your slurry into the soup and stir it thoroughly. Once it has thickened up a bit, add your chopped kale, and bacon to the pot. 

Now, allow your soup to rest for a few minutes before you serve it, garnished with a delicious smattering of fresh parsley.

If you want a little extra flavor, you could add a sprinkling of Parmesan to the top of the soup. 

Tips And Tricks For Making This Tasty Soup

Making this soup might be easy, but there are some tips that can make your life a lot easier. So, in this section, we are going to go over a few things that you can do to make cooking this soup a LOT easier. 

• Chop The Ingredients Finely – Take the time to chop up all your veggies and other ingredients into small pieces. This will help your ingredients to cook through evenly in the soup. 
• Take Your Time – There might be a lot of steps that you need to follow. But it is important that you follow each step carefully. Especially if you want the perfect soup.
• Russet Potatoes – While you can use any potatoes you like, russet potatoes have the best authentic texture. 
• Don’t Be Scared to Add Spice – If you like your meals extra spicy, don’t be afraid to add more spice to this soup. 
• Sides – You can enjoy this salad on its own, but you can also enjoy it along with some breadsticks or a green salad. It is totally up to you!
• Prep Ahead of Time – Prepping ahead of time can make cooking this soup on the day much less time-consuming. You could chop your veggies one to two days ahead of time. 

How Do You Properly Store Your Leftovers?

If you have made too much Zuppa Toscana soup, you are likely going to find yourself with some leftovers.

The question now is, how can you store these leftovers safely? Well, that is what we are going to go over in this section. 

• Refrigerating Your Leftovers  – Before you store your soup, you need to make sure that it has cooled to room temperature. Pour the soup into an airtight container and store it in the refrigerator. Your soup will be good for three to four days. 
• Freezing Your Leftovers – If you want to enjoy your soup in a few weeks, you might want to freeze it. Allow your soup to be refrigerated for eight hours before you put it in a freezer-safe and air trite container. Your soup should stay good for four months or more. 
• Reheating Your Leftovers – When you finally want to enjoy your leftovers, you are inevitably going to need to reheat it. To do this, simply pour the soup into a pan on the stovetop and allow it to heat up. You could alternatively use a microwave if you need a quick meal. 

As long as you are careful with storing your Zuppa Toscana soup, you should be able to enjoy it days or even weeks after it has been made. 

What Other Soups Should You Try Making at Home?

If you want to enjoy soup sometime in the near future, but don’t feel like making Olive Garden’s Zuppa Toscana at home.

You should absolutely check out some of the other delightful recipe options. One of the most popular soups out there are as follows: 

• Italian Wedding Soup by Once Upon a Chef
• Stuffed Bell Pepper Soup by Cooking Classy
• Instant Pot Chicken Tortilla Soup by Feasting at Home
• Irish Beef Soup by Irish Central
• Instant Pot Loaded Potato Soup by Belle of the Kitchen
• Chicken Noodle Soup by BBC Good Food

There are loads of other delicious soup recipes out there that you may find will suit you better than any of the soups listed above. So, do a little research, and you are sure to find something that you like. 

Final Thoughts

We hope that you have enjoyed reading this article and learning about how to make your very own delicious copycat Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana Soup.

It really is super easy to make. So, you should be able to make and enjoy a delicious and famous Olive Garden-inspired soup at home, regardless of how good you are at cooking. 

If you have enjoyed this article, you should absolutely peruse the rest of our website. We have loads of fantastic and interesting articles there.

You are sure to find something there that will be captivating to read. You never know, you might find something that will help you and make your life easier. Take a moment and check it out! 

Thanks for reading!

Frequently Asked Questions

In this section, we are going to answer some of your most commonly asked questions regarding Olive Garden and making your own copycat Olive Garden-inspired Zuppa Toscana Soup.