Growing up my ideal day was when my mom and my best friends had “girls days”. The main stop was going to Olive Garden for lunch. This was like going out to a michelin star restaurant in my head at the time. Then after Olive Garden we would go to the mall, get cookies and do a lot of window shopping.
This is going to sound so weird and expose how weird of a child I was, but I would literally stuff breadsticks into my “backpack purse” to take home. Please tell me someone remembers these I was literally obsessed. So yes as a middle schooler I was walking around the mall after lunch probably smelling like Olive Garden breadsticks. My best friends and sister did this with me too guys…don’t judge us too much!
My mom would always get the soup and salad at Olive Garden, so the Zuppa Toscana is a crowd favorite. As I have mentioned before it is hard to get my husband on board for soup, but this is even one of his favorites as a soup hater. The potatoes are so tender and melt in your mouth. The broth is rich and creamy, and what could be better than italian sausage and bacon all in one dish!
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Why You’ll Love This Soup
How to Make This Amazing Soup
Please see recipe card at the bottom of this post for the full recipe details.
Stove top version:
- Bacon. Start by cooking a pack of bacon using your preferred method.
- Brown the sausage. In a large cast iron pot brown your sausage over medium heat, this should take about 6-7 minutes. Remove the sausage with a slotted spoon and set aside. Keep the grease in the pot.
- Sauté. In the same pot add in diced onions and sweat them for about 10 minutes stirring occasionally. After 10 minutes add in the minced garlic.
- Potato time! Now to the pot add in the potatoes, broth, water, and bouillon to the pot and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for about 10 minutes until the potatoes are tender. Season with italian seasoning, red pepper flakes, and salt and pepper as needed. Stir in the spinach, heavy cream, and browned sausage. Simmer for another 5 minutes until the spinach is wilted.
- Serve! Top with bacon crumbles and parmesan cheese. Eat alongside bread and enjoy!
CrockPot Version:
- Bacon. Start by cooking a pack of bacon using your preferred method.
- Brown the sausage. In a skillet over medium heat brown the sausage. This should take about 6-7 minutes. Remove the sausage using a slotted spoon and set into the crockpot. Keep the grease in the pan.
- Sauté. In the same pan add in the onions. Sweat the onions for a 2-3 minutes. Just enough to let the onions soak up that sausage flavor and get any bits that were stuck to the pan.
- Crockpot! To the crockpot add the potatoes, sautéd onions, minced garlic, chicken broth, water, chicken bouillon, and seasonings.I added half of the bacon in at this point for flavor, but feel free to leave it all for topping. Set the crockpot on low and cook for 5-6 hours.
- Cream time! About 20 minutes before serving, add in the spinach and heavy whipping cream. Stir and let cook for 20 more minutes.
- Serve! Serve the soup sprinkled with bacon crumbles, and parmesan cheese. Serve with bread and enjoy!
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Zuppa Toscana Soup (Olive Garden Copycat)
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Start by cooking your bacon using your preferred method. I cook mine in the oven I find this easiest.
- Next in a large cast iron pot brown your sausage over medium heat. This should take 6-7 minutes stirring occasionally. Remove the sausage with a slotted spoon and set aside. Keep the grease in the pot.
- In the same pot add in diced onions and sweat them for about 10 minutes stirring occasionally. Then add the minced garlic and cook for another minute.
- Now to the pot add in the potatoes, water, broth, and bouillon to the pot and bring to a boil. Add in the spices and season with salt and pepper and stir well. Cook for around 10 minutes until the potatoes are tender. I dice the potatoes into about 1 inch cubes so they don't take too long to cook. Cook for a few more minutes if your potatoes aren't done yet.
- Next, stir in the spinach, heavy cream and browned sausage. Simmer for another 5 minutes until the spinach is wilted. I believe Olive Garden uses kale, but my husband is not a fan so we opt for spinach, but feel free to use kale here!
- Serve with tons of parmesan cheese and crumbled bacon. Eat with crusty bread and enjoy!
- Start by cooking your bacon using your preferred method. I cook mine in the oven I find this easiest.
- In a skillet over medium heat brown the sausage. This should take about 6-7 minutes. Remove the sausage using a slotted spoon and set into the crockpot. Keep the grease in the pan.
- In the same skillet add in onions. Sweat the onions for a 2-3 minutes. Just enough to let the onions soak up that sausage flavor and get any bits that were stuck to the pan.
- Now time to add everything into the crockpot. Add the potatoes, sautéd onions, minced garlic, chicken broth, water, chicken bouillon, and seasonings.I added half of the bacon in at this point for flavor, but feel free to leave it all for topping. Set the crockpot on low and cook for 5-6 hours.
- 20 minutes before serving add in the spinach and heavy cream. I believe Olive Garden uses kale, but my husband is not a fan so we opt for spinach, but feel free to use kale here!
- Time to serve! Serve with parmesan cheese, crumbled bacon, and crusty bread. Enjoy!
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