This easy recipe for Instant Pot Zuppa Toscana is a great copycat for the Olive Garden soup. Loaded with Italian sausage, bacon, and kale!
Paid links used in this post. Read more about my link usage policies.
💚 Why You'll Love This Sausage & Potato Soup Recipe
- Super Quick - From fridge to table in under an hour.
- Loaded with Flavor - Get Italian Sausage, bacon, a rich creamy broth, and bright kale in each bite!
- Great way to add veggies
- Tastes just like the Olive Garden Soup
As many of you who have checked out my freezer meal boot camps know, I have quite a few copycat meals in my meal plans. I love taking popular restaurant meals and giving them my own unique spin. Bonus points if I can make them freezer and Instant Pot-friendly!
One of my favorites (and apparently one of the reader favorites too) is Instant Pot Zuppa Toscana soup. It's the copycat of Olive Garden's famous soup and tastes just like the real thing if I do say so myself. It's so incredibly easy to make at home too. This one has one of the smallest ingredient lists of my Instant Pot recipes, but still packs a huge flavor punch!
Whether you make this one fresh or as a freezer meal, I think you guys are going to love how rich and comforting it is. I also rely on this one when I need a super quick meal. The instructions are incredibly simple and fast.
🥔 What is Zuppa Toscana?
Zuppa Toscana, translated from Italian, literally means "Tuscan soup." It's a creamy soup that's absolutely loaded with big flavors like bacon and sausage. You're also going to get a great serving of veggies from this soup. It has kale, potatoes, and onions (we're considering those a veggie, right? 😉).
If your family is into big, bold flavors, this is the soup recipe to try. You'll notice in the recipe that I don't even use salt - it doesn't need it! The flavors of Italian sausage and bacon give the whole thing a smokey, spicy taste.
🥬 Ingredients for Zuppa Toscana
- Italian sausage - I wouldn't use any other kind of sausage; the Italian variety gives it a ton of flavor that works so well with the rest of the soup.
- bacon - This should be cooked to crispy and crumbled.
- onion - You can use yellow or white onion. It's important that the pieces of onion aren't too big (you wouldn't want a huge bite of onion in your soup).
- garlic - Same idea as the onion; make sure the garlic is minced well to avoid big clumps.
- chicken broth - If you happen to have stock or bone broth on hand, even better!
- red potatoes - Any potatoes will work in this recipe; I prefer red potatoes because they don't require peeling and they're easy to chop into bite-sized pieces. Something like a russet potato would need to be peeled.
- kale - This will only be added at the end so it stays a little crunchy and bright green. If added before you pressure cook, it turns into an over-wilted mess!
- half and half - Use heavy cream instead of half and half for an extra rich flavor.
Variations & Additions
I'm a big believer in using what you have. You could make a few subs in this soup that still work perfectly.
- Use spinach instead of kale.
- Top with red pepper flakes for a little bit of heat.
- Top with parmesan cheese for a more distinct bite.
- Load it up with more veggies! You could add broccoli, cauliflower florets, carrots, celery, or even mushrooms.
Related: if you love easy Instant Pot recipes, make sure to check out this Instant Pot Cheesy Chicken & Rice Casserole or Crack Chicken!
👩🏻🍳 How to Make Zuppa Toscana in the Instant Pot
Step 1: Brown the bacon and Italian sausage.
Turn the Instant Pot (or other multi-function pressure cooker) to sauté mode. Once warm, add Italian sausage and cook for 3-4 minutes, until browned. Then, add bacon and brown for an additional 3-4 minutes.
Step 2: Add onion & garlic.
Once meats are browned, add chopped onion and minced garlic. Cook for 2-3 minutes, until onion is browned and translucent.
Step 3: Add chicken broth & Potatoes.
Add chicken broth. Use a wooden spoon to scrape up all of the browned bits from the bottom of the pan. (These are what make the soup extra yummy!)
Add sliced red potatoes to the pressure cooker.
Step 4: Pressure cook & finish.
Lock on the lid to the sealing position and set Instant Pot for manual, high pressure, 15 minutes. Quick release the remaining pressure as soon as cooking cycle ends by turning the valve on top.
After removing the lid, add half and half and kale. Stir well and allow kale to mellow for 10-15 minutes before serving.
⏲️ Alternate Cooking Directions
This recipe can also be made in a Crock Pot slow cooker or the stovetop.
Crock Pot Method
Brown sausage and bacon; add to the Crock Pot. Add remaining ingredients (minus half & half and kale) and cook for 6-8 hours on low. One hour before serving, add half & half/kale.
Stovetop Method
Brown the meats, onion, and garlic. Then, add chicken broth and potatoes and simmer for 30-45 minutes. Add half and half and kale 15-20 minutes before serving.
🎥 Step-by-Step Recipe Video
🥣 How to Serve
This soup is best served warm, within 15-20 minutes of finishing the cooking process. It can be served later than that, but I like to make sure the kale stays nice and bright.
I love serving this one with cheddar garlic biscuits. I just use the pre-made mix from the store!
🧊 How to Make This a Freezer Meal
This soup makes a really great freezer meal! If you're using the freezer option, add the following ingredients to your container:
- 1 lb Italian sausage, cooked and crumbled
- 6 oz bacon chopped into 1" pieces, cooked
- 1 cup onion chopped (about ½ onion)
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 2 lbs red potatoes, sliced and blanched (boiled) for 1-2 minutes
When you're ready to serve, add the frozen meal and 2 cups of chicken broth to the Instant Pot. Cook for 15 minutes on manual and add 2 cups of half and half and 3 cups of kale at the end. This makes for such a simple weeknight dinner!
🍲 Leftover Storage
This soup can be stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container for 3-4 days after cooking. Make sure the storage container is airtight. Those smells will mix with other foods, and the result is not pretty or tasty!
If needed, you can also freeze leftovers in serving-size blocks (I love Souper Cubes for this).
🤝 More Helpful Recipe Notes
- I use a 6-quart Instant Pot. It is totally fine to make this recipe in an 8-quart pressure cooker, but I wouldn't go smaller than the 6-quart model if preparing this soup.
- I like using a wooden spoon to scrape up all of those yummy browned bits before pressure cooking.
Hope you love this easy weeknight dinner idea! If you try it, make sure to ⭐️ rate and review the recipe below. Also, make sure to follow along for the latest recipes!
Instant Pot Zuppa Toscana
Affiliate links used.
Equipment
- Wooden Spoon
Ingredients
- 1 lb Italian sausage
- 6 oz bacon chopped into 1" pieces
- 1 cup onion chopped (about ½ onion)
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 2 lbs red potatoes sliced
- 3 cups kale roughly chopped
- 16 oz half and half
Instructions
- Turn the Instant Pot to sauté mode. Once warm, add Italian sausage and cook for 3-4 minutes, until browned. Add bacon and brown for an additional 2-3 minutes.
- Add onion and garlic to meat. Cook for 2-3 minutes, until onion is browned and translucent.
- Add chicken broth. Use a wooden spoon to scrape up all of the browned bits from the bottom of the pan.
- Add sliced red potatoes to the Instant Pot.
- Lock on the lid and set Instant Pot for manual, high pressure, 15 minutes. Quick release the remaining pressure as soon as cook cycle ends.
- After removing the lid, add half and half and kale. Stir well and allow kale to slightly cook for 10-15 minutes before serving.
Notes
- I love serving this soup with cheddar garlic biscuits (just use the premade mix from the grocery store) or a salad.
- Soup stores well in an airtight container. Keep in the fridge for 3-4 days after preparing.
- You can also freeze this soup. Cook as directed, thawing and serving when needed.
- Mix it up by using spinach, broccoli, cauliflower, or mushrooms. You can also use breakfast sausage in place of Italian sausage, or heavy cream in place of half and half for a richer flavor.
