Copycat Zuppa Toscana
The Olive Garden favorite: spicy Italian sausage, potatoes, and kale in a creamy broth, rebuilt on chicken sausage with a milk-and-parmesan finish instead of a pint of heavy cream. All the comfort at roughly a third of the restaurant calories.
Method
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Cook the bacon in a large pot over medium until crisp. Add the sausage and brown hard, breaking it into rough chunks, 6 to 8 minutes.
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Add the onion, garlic, and chili flakes and cook 3 minutes.
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Add the potatoes and broth, bring to a simmer, and cook 12 to 15 minutes until the potatoes are tender.
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Stir in the kale for 3 minutes until wilted.
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Whisk the cornstarch into the milk, stir it in, and simmer 2 minutes until the broth turns lightly creamy. Off the heat, stir in the parmesan.
💡 Tip: Off the boil for the cheese. High heat makes parmesan clump instead of melt.
Notes
Raw Italian-style chicken sausage, squeezed from its casings, is the whole flavor base. Do not substitute plain ground chicken without adding fennel, garlic, and chili.
Browning the sausage hard builds the fond that flavors the broth.
The parmesan goes in off the boil so it melts silky instead of clumping.
A little bacon is traditional; it is in the build and the macros, not an ambush.
Nutrition Information
| Calories | 310kcal |
| Total Fat | 12g |
| Total Carbohydrates | 27g |
| Protein | 26g |
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Frequently Asked Questions
How close is it to Olive Garden's?
Same skeleton — spicy sausage, potato, kale, creamy broth, bacon. Theirs runs on pork sausage and heavy cream at around 800+ calories for a dinner portion; chicken sausage and a milk-parmesan finish land this at 310 without changing what the spoon tastes like.
Can I make it in the slow cooker?
Brown the sausage and bacon first — that step is non-negotiable for flavor — then everything except the kale, milk, and parmesan goes in for 3 hours on high or 6 on low. Stir those three in for the last 20 minutes.
Does it freeze?
The base freezes well for 3 months. Dairy-finished soups can split when thawed, so if you are cooking for the freezer, hold the milk and parmesan and add them fresh on reheat.
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