Creamy sausage and potato soup. This recipe is very similar to the one served in a well known restaurant.
As a retired test kitchen chef, I am bound to dabble. So after reading all the reviews, I set to work to make a lower fat version and still maintain taste. I had researched the Top Secret version and felt I could even drop fat content on that one too. 1. I used hot italian turkey sausage. Yes it came in links, but I squeezed out the meat and cooked it. Then roll in paper towels to get out any remaining fat. 2. Bacon and Onion should be cooked separately, then blended in at the last minute to meld flavors. 3. I dropped the water content, got rid of the cream and used entirely fat free half and half from the dairy section. Brilliant stuff and works well in this recipe. Smooth, rich, not too thin consistency 4. Some brave souls prefer to add pepper at this point, but I say "to taste" 5. I prefer the texture of Youkon Gold potatoes, but any young new potato with the skins on is great. If you like earthy, you can use russets. I have never been a fan of dirt so I stick with thin skins. So play, enjoy! And don't forget the Romano!
Read MoreMy family weren't fans, but it had good flavor. I don't discourage people from trying it. I just think that it didn't meet my family's taste.
Read More As a retired test kitchen chef, I am bound to dabble. So after reading all the reviews, I set to work to make a lower fat version and still maintain taste. I had researched the Top Secret version and felt I could even drop fat content on that one too. 1. I used hot italian turkey sausage. Yes it came in links, but I squeezed out the meat and cooked it. Then roll in paper towels to get out any remaining fat. 2. Bacon and Onion should be cooked separately, then blended in at the last minute to meld flavors. 3. I dropped the water content, got rid of the cream and used entirely fat free half and half from the dairy section. Brilliant stuff and works well in this recipe. Smooth, rich, not too thin consistency 4. Some brave souls prefer to add pepper at this point, but I say "to taste" 5. I prefer the texture of Youkon Gold potatoes, but any young new potato with the skins on is great. If you like earthy, you can use russets. I have never been a fan of dirt so I stick with thin skins. So play, enjoy! And don't forget the Romano!
Excellent recipe. I have made this so many times here is what I have changed: Cook the bacon separately from the onions to avoid burning. Use six chicken bullion cubes. Use 1/2 cup of cream. Increase the water to 1 1/2 quarts. Use 1/2 pound of mild ground italian sausage and 1/2 pound of spicy ground sausage instead of the sausage links.
This is a fantastic recipe...and it's even tastier and easier made in a crock-pot! Thought I would share with you haw I did it. I baked 4 Italian Sausages in the oven until the were done. Meanwhile, I cooked the bacon pieces and removed them from the skillet along with most of the grease. I sauteed the onion and garlic in the remaining Tbs or so of bacon fat. I also added one carrot, diced. I added the sauteed vegetables along with the diced potatoes to a 3 and 1/2 quart crock-pot and covered with two cans of chicken broth and one can of beef broth, some of which I used to deglaze the skillet. When the sausages were done, I sliced them and added them to the pot. I let the pot simmer on low for about 6 hours. When we got home, I turned the pot to high and added the chopped kale and cooked bacon and let them cook for about 15 minutes while I made some garlic bread. When we were ready to serve, I poured a Tbs or so of cream into each bowl and ladled in the soup. Fantastic and so easy!
When I make this soup I have my hubby in mind. He loves the Zuppa Toscana soup at a popular italian restaurant..(yeah..I'm sure you know which one I'm talking about). I like to use the "hot" italian sausage and fresh spinach instead of kale. I cut my bacon with scissors and fry it by itself. Then I use the bacon grease to saute the onions. There have been occasions when I didn't have any cream on hand, and so I used either half and half or whole milk with a little butter. I also have replaced half of the water called for with chicken broth..and it's great. Thanks Nancy.
i used to work for the olive garden and i thought their soup was good. but i have been proven wrong. this is AMAZING. i LOVE IT!!! i will make this again and again.
I make this soup often, & my children LOVE it! I use ground Italian sausage (so that there is no need to deal with the casing), and I just brown it along with some cayenne pepper (for a kick) and then drain it. I also drain all but 1 tbsp. of the bacon grease and add a pinch of crushed red pepper. I used to frequent Olive Garden to get this soup, but it is just so much better homemade, not to mention fresher (you know how sometimes you get that bad waiter/waitress that gives you a bowl of kale)! YUM!! Thanks Nancy!
I love this soup! I make it every year upon request from the family. I would suggest cooking the bacon first, remove, then cook chopped onions in bacon grease. Otherwise, onions burn before bacon is cooked. Great recipe!!
Okay, I had to rate this recipe again just to say that I had to give the recipe to my son-in-law who went nuts over this soup after I sent home with him and my daughter. Any time I offer a frozen container he is thrilled. I do find I like the texture better after the soup is cooled and then reheated. Also, I always use the entire bunch of kale and mild italian sausage which I think is wonderful. Family or entertaining this is fabulous!
DELISH! I was so excited to try this soup and it exceeded all my expectations! It is a wonderful copy of the restaurant soup, which is one of my all time faves! I omitted the sausage, since i'm not a sausage fan and increased the bacon. I also used spinach instead of kale since for some odd reason my grocery store doesn't carry kale, but it didn't really change the taste at all. I highly recommend this soup, it was wonderful!
Great recipe!! The only thing I do differently is I fry the bacon in the pot first, THEN add the onion to the grease after I remove the bacon. (If I fry the onion and bacon together, the onion starts to burn before the bacon is cooked.)
This soup is greatly enjoyed by everyone in the family. Baking the sausage was a great effort-saver. I used half and half instead of cream. And I doubled the recipe except for the bacon and it was GREAT!
WOW! I don't know how this is even legal!!!!! I love it! I used 1 hot italian and one mild italian link, LOTS OF KALE, russets, more broth than called for, and more heavy cream than called for. Lots of garlic salt too, because I'm a garlic salt fanatic. Now I don't have to go to a certain restaurant and spend $40 dollars just for this soup! I can finally order salad with my meal again cause I'll always have this on hand at home!!!
Excellent everytime I make it! Very forgiving. I always use Italian sausage since it adds some spice. I use red potatoes with the skin left on. I do not drain the bacon fat - there is so much flavor there. I use a little extra garlic. Kale is definately the green of choice. It adds the RIGHT flavor. Cabbage or spinach just don't cut it. I use Swansons chicken broth instead of chicken base, it seems to be a little less salty. Add black pepper at the end to taste! MMmmmmm MMmmmmm - Thanks Nancy for the recipe!!
This is so funny, because I got this recipe from a friend years ago. It's like exactly the same! She must have gotten it off here. hehehe In any case this gets rave reviews from everyone I've ever served it to. Recommendations ... cut the stem out of the kale, otherwise it's like bark (since the Kale steams for only 5 minutes), very unpleasent. BUT if you REALLY want to keep it, cut the stem up nice and small, leaving the leaves till later, and add them to the soup RIGHT at the beginning with the water, and it'll cook! Blend right in; you won't even notice! You can use actual chicken soup stalk. If you do, just measure the same amount as you would water, and don't bother with the bullion. I personally like to add 1/2 a cup of cream ... it's not really an absolutly limited item. You can add more if you REALLY want to. OH .. it freezes well! :)
Followed the recipe, BUT using low-fat ingredients. I used turkey bacon, turkey sausage crumbles, half-and-half. Seriously, it is just as good. We had this the other night at a friend's house, and you can't really tell the difference in the one that I made tonight. Absolutely loved it and we can now have it more often since we can make it healthier.
Just like Olive Garden... I used 5 links of Johnsonville mild Italian sausage, casings removed, browned & drained of grease. 4 large russet potatoes skins on sliced into half circles. 1 large diced onion. 1 jar of Hormel "real" bacon bits. 2 tbs minced garlic, 6 cups of kale, 32 oz box of chicken broth, 3/4 - 1 cup of fat free half & half & water to desired consistency/taste. Added salt, cracked black pepper and crushed red pepper flakes for that zip! This fed a family of 6 with garlic bread on the side. To make it a little thicker I took a potato masher and mashed up some of the potatoes. This is a new family favorite.
I worked at Olive Garden for over 4 years so I know their Zuppa Toscana inside and out. This is the closest recipe I've found. I made this last night and it turned out great. I used hot italian sausage instead of smoked. I rememved it from its casing and cooked it on the stove, ground up. Thats how the soup is at the OG. I also used 4 cups of chicken stock instead of chick soup base because thats what i had on hand. If you add just a pinch or two of red pepper flakes you have yourself the exact soup from The Olive Garden, in my opion. Try it, you wont know the difference!!
The flavor of this soup was wonderful, and pretty close to TOG's soup, but I did make a few changes to the recipe that I think helped & made it a little closer to the restaurant's recipe: I used chicken broth instead of soup base (also upped the broth by 1 1/2 cups and used 1/2 cup whipping cream instead of 1/3) and used a spicier italian sausage (browned in a skillet) instead of baking smoked sausage in the oven. I also felt the quantity of sausage was a little much in relation to the other ingredients so I only used about 10 oz. instead of 16.
Excellent! Used hot italian sausage and added lots of red pepper flakes. I like spicy! Used chicken broth instead of stock and water and used fresh baby spinach instead of kale. I have never had this soup at OG so I can't compare, but I am going to order it the next time I go to see if mine is better :) Very hearty soup full of flavor. Will definitely make again. A keeper for sure!!
This was a great outline for a recipe. I wanted to make it more authentic and lower in calories. I used turkey Italian sausage and half and half instead of heavy cream. It was perfect and tasted almost exactly like Olive Garden's Zuppa Toscana! My whole family enjoyed it, and it had only 241 calories per serving rather than 380 as listed!
I fixed it according to directions. I found it to be sort of bland. It was easy to doctor though. I added salt to taste, Italian seasoning, diced tomatoes and cannellini beans. Then let it simmer in the crock pot most of the day.
Oh MY! This is my favorite soup when our office goes out for lunch at that over-priced italian restaurant. I always go with the "soup, salad, and breadsticks" just to enjoy this soup. I made this recipe last week and will make it again, and again, and again! I think this actually had a better flavor than the restaurant version. I had also never cooked with Kale before, but as much as my 4-year old loved it, I will add more next time. This goes into my permanant recipe file!
Had this soup in my favorite restaurant, & this recipe is even better.
I don't usually rate recipes on here, but I have now made this so many times -- to rave reviews and empty bowls -- that I felt it was only fair to rate it (and rate it well!). This dish is easy to make, delicious to eat, and is a staple in my house. I make it exactly as suggested. Love it!
This is VERY EASY to make. This recipe is much better than The Restaurant's version. I used to go to The Restaurant just to get this soup. Now that I make it at home, I don't even bother ordering it there (this version is creamier and more substantial). I don't recommend making this soup when you've worked particularly hard on a main dish. Everyone will stuff themselves on the soup!
This recipe is outstanding! The only thing that I changed was the amount of sausage. I used only half the amount called for. A whole pound was too much. I usually double the recipe, except the sausage, because my family loves it so much. Thanks, Nancy.
Great recipe, Here is what I have changed, I substitute bulk Italian sausage, 1/2 mild, 1/2 hot, for the links. I cover the bottom of my frying pan in wine, then saute the sausage, onion, and garlic together. I also use evaporated milk in place of the heavy cream. I also used yellow potatoes. Everyone seems to love this soup.
This is a good recipe, very similar to the one from a very well known restaurant. I did however change just a few things. I have always used hot sausage in my zuppa toscana and I think it adds that much more flavor. I always make a large pot of this so potatoe wise I use about three pounds. The longer you cook it the more the potatoes fall apart of course. So, when I make this its normally on the stove for about 3 hours. More potatoes are a definite. The heavy cream is a personal preference as well, I tend to add a little more, so its extra creamy. Overall its a good recipe. My husband loves this so will of course continue making it.
My family weren't fans, but it had good flavor. I don't discourage people from trying it. I just think that it didn't meet my family's taste.
This was very good after I made some adjustments after reading others reviews. I used some hot, as well as some smoked turkey sausage that is made locally here where I live - its the best! I first cooked the sausage, removed from the casing, in a skillet w/ 2 strips of cut up bacon, and drained it well, as opposed to baking it. I also used baby spinach inplace of kale, and half n half in place of cream. I then microwaved about 6 slices of bacon and crumbled and set aside. After soup was ladled, I topped it w/ grated Asiago cheese and the crumbled bacon. Everyone here loved it - we all thought that the HOT sausage was perfect to give it some kick.
This recipe was the bomb!!!! It was the best...I even agree with one other rater that said it is better than the one from OG. The Kale is much fresher than the one at OG. You can actually notice that it's Kale rather than spinish. I did add more potatoes and add more chicken broth. The flavor with the bacon and italian sausage was great. I love it. My bf loved it too...we finished the whole pot that night. Mmmmmmmmm!!!! Can't wait to make it again.
My husband loved this recipe. I added about 8 ounces of drained kidney beans to make it more hearty. I thought the soup was a little salty. I bought the chicken soup base just for this recipe but next time I will make it with canned broth. The suggestion to add red pepper flakes is a great kick. I will make this again. I would have rated 4.5 if I could have.
This is my all time favorite soup! I've been making it for a couple of years now. It was a hit with my best friend and her husband. I always use more cream than called for, but thats just me! I'll be making it again to take to work in a few days. Don't hesitate to make it, you'll love it.
This soup is great comfort food for cold winters! It's very close to the Olive Garden's recipe. I use spicy Italian sausage to give it kick and skip the bacon. If you're looking for a skinnier version; leave out the bacon, add more kale and use half & half instead of cream. Makes me crave the cool seasons so I can make it again!
Mmmmm. Had lots of kale from our summer CSA to use up and this was a hit. The kale shrinks quite a bit so it's a great way to use it, but do tear small so that it's not such a mess to get into your mouth. Big hit with my husband.
We used smoked sausage similar looking to Keilbasa... I think that's not what the recipe calls for, but the kids liked it. I might try it with Italian sausage later. Also, I didn't have chicken soup base, so I just added the amounts of water and chicken base that it called for and did half chicken broth and half water. I think it gave it much more flavor. We didn't add any salt until the very end (and added a little bit of the bacon grease). I cooked the bacon on a cookie sheet lined with aluminum foil in the oven... it gets crispier that way... and cooked the onions (used red onions) with a bit of olive oil on the stove with the garlic, just a low simmer to tender them b/4 adding them to the soup. We had also made homemade artisan bread and had it to dip in the broth, it went together fabulously!! Wonderful meal!
This is a quick and easy soup to make. It was my first time making it and i was thrilled to find it turned out exactly like the restaurant soup. The only changes i made was to use hot sausage links instead of the smoked ones. I took off the casings from the links and crumbled the meat into a frying pan. I added crushed red pepper flakes as well for extra flavor and spice. I also used real bacon bits from a can and added them when the onions were already getting soft. It really saved time and work. Instead of the chicken base i used 10 cups of water and 6 bouillon cubes. The result was great! I will defineatly make this again.
Great recipe, both my hubby and I marked it as a keeper. I used hot italian sausage crumbled and browned on the stove, 2 T. sodium free chicken soup base with 6 cups of water, 8 small red potatoes - chunked w/ the skin on, baby spinach, and double the cream. I thought I had drained the sausage well, but not well enough, the soup was kind of greasy, next time I will probably rinse with hot water as well. I am going to cook the onion and garlic in the bacon fat, but leave the bacon out of the soup, since it was soggy and didn't add to the overall flavor. I also thought it was very thin, so next time I plan on thickening with a roux and using evaporated milk instead of heavy cream.
Great soup..However after making it a few times I have learned a couple things. Adding some dried crushed red pepper flakes gives it more of a kick similar to olive garden's. Secondly to keep the broth that nice white color, after cooking bacon and sausage rinse them off well with water to drain off oils/fats which create a funky orange color in your broth.
I really enjoyed this soup. It is a great way to enjoy this soup when you cannot make it to the nearest chain restaurant to enjoy it or to surprise your husband with a favorite at home!!!!
Rave reviews all around! This is what worked for me: 16oz spicy sausage; 1 large potato & about 7 fingerling potatoes; 1 onion; 6 slices bacon cooked separately n crumbled; 2 1/2 teasp minced garlic; 1 bunch kale (washed n torn w/out stems); 2 cups chicken stock (the one i had was low sodium); 3 cups water (w/ room for adjusting); 3/4 cup half; 1/2 cup lactaid milk (for the lactose intolerant-i found that since lactaid has the enzyme that breaks down lactose, when added to a recipe that calls for creams, cheeses, etc., it makes it easier on people that are mildly lactose intolerant); 1 teaspn salt,pepper,& red pepper flakes (all to taste); and 2 or 3 slices of pepper jack cheese =); shredded parmesan for serving. ~~bake sausage @ 300 for about 25 min; cook onions in about 1 tblspn butter; add garlic and cook an additional minute; add chicken stock, water, potatoes & simmer for 15 min; add crumbled bacon, sausage, kale, 1/2&1/2, milk, salt, pepper, red pepper & simmer additional 5-10 min; add pepper jack and heat through; serve with shredded parmesan; stuff face; pass out from food coma ^_~ have with bread sticks (just like O.G.) for a great lunch.
I loved this soup. I followed exactly, except sub homemade chicken broth for soup base and water. I have so much Kale in the garden this will be a staple during cooler times.
Really great recipe. I adapted slightly as we are vegetarian. Use vegetable broth, no bacon and use lightly sauteed tofurky kielbasa sausage. Delicious!
Very easy to make, can use "hot italian sausage" and remove skin. My son's favorite soup!!!
AWESOME!
Used both kielbalsa and italian sausage. Had to add more broth and heavy cream. Also added a small amount of garlic salt, red pepper flakes, and seasoned salt. Served with bruscetta. Needs time for the potatoes to get softer. My husband said it tasted just like the restaurant version. Excellent!
Closest thing to the restaurant's version! Very good! I doubled the broth, onion, bacon & garlic. 1 lb. sausage is plenty and you get twice the soup!!! My 2 year old ate it all, but the kale, cuz it's green. Definately make it again! Also: Add pepper. DO NOT ADD ANY SALT! Very salty.
Delicious! Thanks to everyone for the great tips to make this recipe even better. I doubled this recipe so that I would have plenty of leftovers to freeze. I used 1 16oz zesty hot bulk sausage and 1 16oz regular bulk sausage (the restaurante uses the crumbled also). I cooked the onion and garlic (extra garlic) seperate from the bacon. I did use about 2 Tbsp of the bacon grease to cook the onion and garlic. I rinsed the sausage and bacon after cooking to prevent the greasiness other reviewers talked about. I used chicken broth and water instead of base. I also used red potatoes and added extra. I did mean to add red pepper flakes when cooking the sausage but forgot. I added it at the end to the soup and it was still perfect. The red pepper is key to making this taste like the restaurant version. Delicious!!
Yum! This was wonderful. I didn't change a thing this time (other than a handful of fresh italian parsley), but I'm sure there are lots of variations that would be good. A keeper.
Good soup. I used sweet Italian sausage for this and did not have any heavy cream so I used about half tablespoon of butter when cooking the onion and bacon then added a can of evaporated milk at the end, to replace the cream. I also added black pepper, white pepper, and a bit of oregano. The thing that made this soup a warm spicy treat that spreads warmth through your body but doesn't burn your mouth was some nice Hungarian paprika, get the good stuff and it will give this soup a wonderful mellow savory heat.
Good soup. I've never had the soup at Olive Garden, so can not compare. I will make again but, will not add the cream and sausage unitl after the kale is done. The sausage cooked too long and lost some of it's flavor. Also, I used hot Itialian turkey sausage.
This is my favorite OG soup and now to have it at home is great! I made a huge batch and used canned chicken broth (5 cans), 2 bunches of kale no stems, and left over turkey bacon. Now to see if the the picky eaters will enjoy it, I sampled it and yummm!!!
Easy recipe to make. I used hot sausage and spinach. My family thought it was great. Will make it again.
Easy and delicious! We used fresh spinach in place of kale and chicken and herb sausages in place of smoked sausages. Yummy!
i love this soup! whats great is i can use the lower fat sausage and fat free half and half and it still tastes really good!
I make this several times a month - especially during the cold months. I make mine with these small changes: I put bratwurst in mine; omit water - using only chicken broth, 1/2 & 1/2 instead of cream; and spinach instead of kale and use 5 -6 potatoes instead of 2 - makes it chunkier. I also throw mine over a bed of lettuce to boost up the veggies I consume in a day. I LOVE THIS RECIPE!! Can not wait till hubby comes home from war - he will love it but I will throw it in a bread bowl for him.
this recipe was awesome. I think that it tastes better then the original verison of the soup. I also read the reviews which I also do before starting a recipe on this site(its so helpful) ans did the turkey hot sausage. Just delightful!!! Although its my husbands favorite soup at olive garden so we'll see when he gets home if it ranks better...
I made a big pot of this soup the other night & it turned out great! I added fresh mushrooms & used baby red potatoes to add additional color to the green kale. Served it with crusty french bread.
This is a dead ringer. I used to work for a certain nameless restaurant that served a soup just like this, and this recipe is spot on to it. This is my favorite soup served at that nameless restaurant so I had to try this recipe. This was a huge hit and so easy to make. I made a few changes...first, I didn't bake sausage links I just bought ground Italian sausage and browned it with the onions, two, I cooked the bacon seperate so I wouldn't have to pick it out of the onions as the recipe suggests, three, I added a whole can of chicken stock, four, I added more cream, five, I added a pinch of thyme and basil (not in the nameless restaurants soup...but I like those flavors so I added it to mine). Really great soup that I will for sure make again.
I loved it! This is my favorite soup at Olive Garden and the thought of making it at home with my husband's homemade Italian sausage was over the top! I didn't think it would taste the same but it did. I like to thicken the broth a bit with a couple of teaspoons of cornstarch in cold water, then add to the soup. YUM...... Not quite as good leftover though. Best on the first day!
absolutely love it , the only thing i change was from smoked sausage to hot sausage. this is my 1st time making it is fast and easy 2 make
Made the soup today and it was great. Fried the bacon first and then use about tbsp of the bacon fat to fried the onion. Followed another reviewer's suggestion and add a tbsp of half & half cream to each bowl before ladeling in the soup (vs adding it to the soup) as not everyone was eating at the same time. Also add more chicken broth near the end as a lot of the liquid evaporated during the simmering (could be due to the high heat). The family loved it. I did find it a bit salty so will probably add more water instead of chicken broth next time. Thanks for the recipe.
Very yummy on such a cold and rainy day. I used pre-cooked smoked sausage like Hillshire Farm or Eckrich, cut them as directed, but browned in soup pan, removed cooked sausage, then browned the onion and garlic in the same pan. I used baby spinach and baby kale from a bagged salad and milk (it's what I had on hand). In the interest of sodium, I only used 3 tsp of the chicken bullion and only a bit of left over cooked bacon I had. Came out wonderfully! Thank you for a great soup recipe!
tasty and hearty. I felt the meat to veggie ratio was way too heavy, though, so I tripled the portion of kale. I also used Italian sausage (removed the casing) instead of smoked sausage As others suggested, I cooked bacon separately from onions (I cooked onions in the bacon grease)
LOVED this soup. I had been wanting to make this for a long time and finally did. Every time I go to the OG for dinner or lunch I get this soup. I have to agree with some of you others out here that the homemade version is as good or better. I used a combo of Johnsonville regular italian and spicy sausage. I took them out of the casings and browned them in a pan with garlic. I also used chicken broth from the box and two whole bunches of kale which I would do again. I won't however use as much sausage next time as every bite had an enormous amount of sausage and it became just to much. That's my only complaint about this soup and it's a self imposed one so I learned from it. It was probably more than 16oz. I used 7 total fat links. Husband totally went nuts over this!! Loved the kale and just kept adding a handful at a time until it wilted enough to put more in. Will most definately make this again.
Pretty darn good, and easy peasy. I used spinach for kale, and Aidell's Habanero Chicken Sausage. BF loved it.
This soup is stupendous!!! It turned out great the first time I made it. I'm not a big fan of Kale, so I substituted cabbage instead.....Way Better!!! I also used hot Italian sausage. Yummy!!!
Just like at the fancy Italian restaurants! Didn't sound pleasing to my boyfriend, but when he smelled it cooking, he couldn't keep his spoon out of the pot! Highly recommended!
This is sooooo delicious. I love the Zuppa Toscana at Olive Garden, and think that this was equally good, if not better. I strayed from the recipe a teeny bit. I cooked the bacon, sausage, and onions at same time in frying pan. (In the future I'll do the onions separately, as they seemed to cook quite a bit faster than the two meats.) I used Jimmy Dean ground sausage, about 3/4 lb. I chopped up the bacon before cooking it. Next time I will consider using 4 cups chicken broth in lieu of the chicken soup base and quart (4 cups) of water. I had never heard of chicken soup base before, and wasn't sure what the impact would be of the substitution, so I stuck with the recipe this time around. Next time I'll add fresh mushrooms, too. No additional seasoning was necessary. The soup was absolutely fantastic.
I made this soup for one course of a dinner party.. Everyone loved it! It is a great soup - the sausage gives it great flavor and the kale makes it pretty. I agree with the previous review don't hesitate to use this recipe with your family or guests..it will be a huge hit!!
My Husband loves the OG Zuppa Toscana, so I decided to make this for him. He loved it and says he actually thinks it is better than the OG! We multiply the servings by 6 and make a huge pot to divide to freeze! Great to make for friends and new mommas! Make a fresh loaf of bread and you have a wonderful meal!
Love this!
I used lean italian seasoned ground turkey instead of the sausage. I also used a little less cream and turkey bacon to cut down on the fat and calories a little. Great recipe. Will definately have to make again!
awesome! I use turkey or chicken italian sausage. cook the bacon first, remove then cook the onion in the bacon drippings, adding the garlic the last couple of minutes. I also used half and half rather than cream. Yum!!
This soup is incredible. I made a few minor changes: 1. used mild Italian turkey sausage that I removed the casings, crumbled and cooked on the stove. 2. cooked the bacon and onions separately 3. used fresh spinach with the stems removed instead of kale b/c the grocery store was out of kale 4. used half and half instead of cream Wonderful and will definitely be making again.
I love this recipie. I omitted the onion and chicken base, and used 3/4 cup cream, it was fantastic! The ultimate comfort food, very simliar to a "popular italian restuarant" I think everyone knows what that is. I would give this recipie more stars if I could, thanks!!
Awesome! This soup tasted even better than I expected. Everyone in my family loved it also.
This just might be my favorite soup ever! I often make it with low-sodium chicken broth instead of the base, and simply add milk instead of the cream, but this recipe is so good you wouldn't know the difference! It took a little tweaking to get it just how it is in the restaurant, but when I asked a waitress, she gave me a juicy tip: add some flavorful dry wine to the soup to give it that extra umph. If you have any doubts about this recipe at all- don't, just make sure you cook all the "bitter" out of your kale and you're good to go!
The only thing I would add is "cook the h*** out of the sausage". That was first thing the manager at OG said when we asked how to make this soup!
I followed the recipe as written the first time I attempted it. I did not care for the flavor from the smoked sausage links at all (reason for my low rating). I used bulk ground italian sausage for my second attempt and the flavor was much better, and closer to the restaurant version. I now make a version that is a cross between this recipe and another recipe from this site (the "Super-Delicious Zuppa Toscana" recipe) using half mild Italian sausage and half spicy Italian sausage.
This is a nice and simple recipe that packs a lot of flavor. I subbed spinach and half & half and omitted the bacon as that's what I had on hand. Good stuff!
Excellent! I did find that like several people mentioned that you should cook the bacon seperately. I also used more cale and potatoes than the recipe called for. I also didnt know to take the casing off of the sausage (will do that next time) It was kind of a lot of work but very much worth the end result!
Wow! I was looking for a recipe for kale that I thought my hubby might try. This is it. Used turkey smoked sausage and fat free half & half but otherwise kept the recipe the same. The hardest part was only having one bowl!
AWESOME soup! I LOVED it. I am a soup person, and am always looking for a new soup recipe. This tasted JUST like Olive Garden's Zuppa Toscana! Definately making this again, and again!
Wonderful recipe - better than the restaurant's version. More ingredients and fresher taste! I used bulk italian sausage instead of the links, easier to work with and didn't have to use the oven. Drain very well, though, or the sausage will add more fat to the soup! This and a salad are a wonderful meal!
I love this recipe!! Some changes: I usually omit the bacon and use half & half instead of heavy cream. I also use the "hot" style italian sausage, and usually add a couple of shakes of red pepper flakes to the soup (we like it hot!) I have made this so often, and though it's probably not the healthiest thing we could eat, it sure is good. Thank you for sharing. :)
Scrumptious! This was fairly easy to make and delicious. We thoroughly enjoyed it.
My family loves this soup! I have made it several times and just realized I never rated it. I like changing it up with regular or spicy Italian sausage. I always tend to overcook the potatoes or maybe I slice them to thin but it still tastes delicious!
Instead of using smoked sausage I decided to substitute Johnsonville Italian sausage. To cut down on the fat I baked my bacon in the oven and drained it on paper towels and just used a little bit of the grease to saute my onions. This turned out good but next time I make it I will leave out the soup base and water altogether and just use a low sodium chicken broth. I'm sure smoked sausage would be good in here too but I prefer the Italian sausage in this type of soup.
I'd give it 4.5 stars if I could. There are a couple changes I've had in other Tuscan style soups that I think yield a better product than this one. #1-Hot or Mild Italian Sausage (as opposed to smoked sausage which is not the same thing). #2 - Crushed red pepper to add heat & fennel seed to add that fennel flavor. Red pepper and fennel are prominent flavors in Italian sausage and I missed them here. With that said though, as a *smoked sausage and potato soup* rather than a *zuppa toscana* this is great! Thanks for the recipe!
This recipe is good! However, word to the wise, it does take a long while to prepare (cutting the sausage, crumbling the bacon etc). I used half & half rather than cream (fat-free!) I also used Spicy Italian Sausage- this adds a very spicy bite (do it if you like bite, don't if you don't like spicy spicy!) I also added chopped carrots. This added more color. Finally, I used fresh spinach rather than Kale (couldn't find Kale at the store). All in all, this soup tastes very authentic!
Great Soup and great way to use kale if you have someone who doesn't like it. I Froze the leftovers and it was just as good later!
This was very tasty! My rating isn't very fair because I did have to alter the recipe a little to accommodate dietary restrictions (no pork). I used 1 pound soy sausage and omitted the bacon. I sauteed the onion and then added the garlic... I doubled the broth (as we like a lot of soup) and cooked the potatoes until tender. Added the "soysauge", kale, and cream and simmered for 10 minutes. Seasoned with freshly ground black pepper, salt and a dash of chili powder. It was delicious - even more so the next day (soups almost always taste better the next day).
Very good. I've been looking for a recipe to duplicate what we get at the popular Italian restaurant -- not exactly what I expected, but close. I used italian sausages as suggested in an earlier review -- next time I will probably cut back a little on the meat (that was a lot)and I will lightly grease the pan before I bake the sausages as they stuck to the pan a bit. Thanks for a great recipe, Nancy.
Amazing. Never had the soup in the popular resturant. I baked the bacon (that's the way I prefer to make bacon) and sauteed the onion with the sausage. (I used ground pork sausage rather than the links. I used chard, thought I had kale. Thought it tasted fine with the chard, but have only tried this once. Definetly going to make this one a lot!!!
