RecipesCharles Sieg

Zuppa Toscana

An Olive Garden copycat: mild and hot Italian sausage, russet potatoes, and kale in a creamy chicken broth.

Zuppa Toscana: A deep white bowl of creamy soup with browned crumbled sausage, thin half-moon slices of potato with the skin on, and ribbons of dark green kale, a few red pepper flakes on the surface and a spoon resting in the bowl
Total time
1hr 5min
servings
10

Method

A line, step, tool, or note tagged Filled in was added by the editor because the original left it out.

  1. Brown all of the sausage.
  2. Chop the onion and cook until translucent.
  3. Add the garlic and a pinch of red pepper flakes and cook for 1 minute, until fragrant.
    Filled in
  4. Pour in the chicken broth and bring it to a boil. While it heats, slice the potatoes into thin half moons.
    Filled in
  5. Add the potatoes and simmer until they are tender, 15 to 20 minutes.
    Filled in
  6. Stir in the kale and cook until it wilts, about 5 minutes.
    Filled in
  7. Turn the heat to low, stir in the cream, and warm it through without letting it boil. Season with salt and black pepper.
    Filled in

Notes

Tips

  • The original stops after the onion. The remaining steps are filled in the way the soup is usually finished: broth, potatoes, kale, then cream.
    Filled in
  • Use one large pot for everything. Take the sausage out of its casings, break it up as it browns, and cook the onion in the same pot.
    Filled in
  • Kale is not on the original ingredient list. It is filled in because the restaurant’s own description of the soup names it.
    Filled in
  • For a thinner soup, use the full 64 ounces of broth. With 32 ounces it eats more like a stew.
    Filled in

Substitutions

  • Published descriptions of the restaurant’s soup include bacon, which this recipe leaves out. To add it, crisp 4 chopped slices in the pot before the sausage and stir them back in at the end.
    Filled in

Nutrition Facts

10 servings per recipe

Serving sizeabout 1 1/2 cups

Amount per serving

Calories470

% Daily Value*

  • Total Fat 31g40%
  • Saturated Fat 13g65%
  • Trans Fat 0g
  • Cholesterol 90mg30%
  • Sodium 1,320mg57%
  • Total Carbohydrate 30g11%
  • Dietary Fiber 3g11%
  • Total Sugars 4g
  • Includes 0g Added Sugars0%
  • Protein 18g
  • Vitamin D 0.4mcg2%
  • Calcium 100mg8%
  • Iron 3.2mg20%
  • Potassium 860mg20%

* The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a serving of food contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.

How this label was figured
Ingredient lineCountedUSDA foodNote
1 lb. of mild Italian sausage454 gSausage, Italian, pork, mild, raw
1 lb. of spicy/hot Italian sausage454 gSausage, Italian, pork, mild, raw
1 yellow onion110 gOnions, raw
Garlic, paste or cloves12 gGarlic, rawFigured at 12 g.
Red pepper flakes0.9 gSpices, pepper, red or cayenneFigured at ½ tsp.
Salt6 gSalt, tableFigured at 1 tsp.
Black pepper1.2 gSpices, pepper, blackFigured at ½ tsp.
32-64 oz chicken broth1,493 gSoup, chicken broth, ready-to-serveFigured at 48 fl oz, the middle of the range.
1 cup of heavy whipping cream238 gCream, fluid, heavy whipping
3-4 large russet potatoes1,292 gPotatoes, russet, flesh and skin, raw (Includes foods for USDA's Food Distribution Program)Figured at 3½, the middle of the range.
1 bunch of kale, stems removed and leaves chopped170 gKale, raw
  • The broth is figured at 48 ounces and the potatoes at 3 1/2 large russets, the middle of each range.
  • The label counts all of the sausage fat. Draining the pot after browning lowers the fat and calories.
  • Garlic is figured at 4 cloves, red pepper flakes at 1/2 teaspoon, salt at 1 teaspoon, and kale at 6 ounces of leaves.
  • The USDA lists no trans fat for chicken broth, so that line counts none from it.
  • The USDA lists no vitamin D for Italian sausage, so that line counts none from it.

A Tuscan name on an American soup

The name means Tuscan soup, but the sausage, potato, and cream version is Olive Garden’s, and it is not what Tuscany eats.

“Zuppa toscana” just means “Tuscan soup.” In Italy the soup is also known as minestra di pane, “bread soup,” and Wikipedia gives its most common ingredients as cannellini beans, potatoes, and kale. Wikipedia, citing the older generation, says its ancestor began as a way to use up leftover stale bread.

The soup most Americans know by the name is Olive Garden’s, which Wikipedia calls “a very different soup”: “Rather than being based on beans, it is made with Italian sausage, red pepper, onion, bacon, garlic, chicken broth, cream, potatoes, and kale.”

The Daily Meal puts it more bluntly. The restaurant’s version is “highly Americanized,” it writes, and “you won’t see it on Tuscan dinner tables or in restaurants in Italy.”

Olive Garden was founded on December 13, 1982, in Orlando, Florida, as part of General Mills, and has belonged to Darden Restaurants since 1995. Mashed quotes the restaurant’s own description of the soup: “Spicy Italian sausage, fresh kale and russet potatoes in a creamy broth.” This recipe is built on the same four things.

Sources

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