This Instant Pot Zuppa Toscana will be your new favorite cozy soup. Make this easy zuppa toscana recipe in less than an hour.
Weeknight-easy
Instant Pot fast
You’ll Learn: How to build deeper flavor with simple layering
Worth It: It builds a freezer stash for stress-free meals later
Bonus: One-pan approach for easy cleanup
Why You’ll Love this Recipe:
- Easy weeknight dinner – this flavorful and comforting soup is a wonderful weeknight dinner. Cook it in a pressure cooker to take it from ingredients to table top in just 40 minutes!
- Perfect Olive Garden copycat recipe – If you’re a fan of the zuppa toscana from the Olive Garden, then you need to try this recipe. It has the same flavor profile, but I think it tastes even better!
- Freezer friendly! – Who doesn’t love a comforting winter soup! I love to freeze half of the recipe for later. It defrosts wonderfully and then I season to taste and top with some parmesan cheese and red pepper flakes.
Serving Suggestions
The best part about this instant pot zuppa toscana recipe is that it is a full meal in one pot. I like to keep it simple and serve it with a little bit of freshly grated parmesan cheese and fresh cracked black pepper.
It is always good for serve this soup with a fresh roll or some crusty Italian bread. I usually pair it with a slice of my overnight bread recipe.
If you want to serve this instant pot zuppa toscana soup with a simple side salad, I recommend using this apple cider vinaigrette to compliment the soup.
Ingredients
- Bacon – sauté bacon until crispy and then use that bacon grease to add extra flavor to the other ingredients.
- Italian sausage – hot or mild or a mix of the two. Remove casing from the sausage links prior to sauteeing.
- Garlic and yellow onion – minced garlic and diced yellow onion add lots of flavor to the base of this soup.
- Olive oil – add extra oil to the instant pot as needed when sauteeing the ingredients.
- Chicken broth and water – these are used together to make the brothy based of the soup
- Russet potatoes – peel and cube potatoes and add them to the soup while cooking under pressure. They end up tender and filled with the flavor of the broth
- Kale and heavy cream – classic zuppa toscana ends with stirring chopped kale and heavy cream into the soup until the kale wilts.
- Salt and pepper – season as needed with salt and pepper.
Ingredient substitutions
For the sausage, I like to use a blend of hot and mild pork sausage cut out of the casings. OR you can use any type of ground sausage that you like.
Substitute the chicken broth with any type of broth like vegetable, beef or turkey broth. Feel free to use any kind of potato. You could even use sweet potatoes for a hint of sweetness in the soup.
I like to use fresh curly kale, but you can use baby kale, baby spinach or even collard greens in place of the kale. Be sure to chop any larger leaves before adding to the soup.
To make this soup dairy-free, replace the heavy cream with full fat coconut milk, coconut cream and cashew cream.
How to make Instant Pot Zuppa Toscana
Step 1: Saute bacon, sausage, garlic and onion
To begin, turn instant pot on to saute mode and cook diced bacon until golden brown. Remove from the instant pot and add sausage. Cook until just browned and remove from instant pot.
Then, add olive oil to instant pot along with garlic and onion. Saute until soft and fragrant. This will only take a minute. Season with salt and pepper and turn saute mode off.
Step 2: add other ingredients and cook under pressure
Next, pour chicken broth, water, cooked bacon, cooked sausage, and cubed potatoes into instant pot. Close the lid and set valve to sealing.
Then, cook on high pressure for 10 minutes. After the instant pot beeps that it’s done cooking, manually release press and open the top.
Step 3: Stir in heavy cream and kale
Finally, set instant pot to keep warm and stir in heavy cream and kale. Stir until kale is wilted.
Serve with parmesan cheese and fresh cracked pepper.
Can i make this in a crock Pot?
Yes, you can make zuppa toscana in a crockpot. Just brown the bacon and sausage on the stove top.
Then, add all ingredients except kale and heavy cream to a crock pot. Cook on low for 5 and a half hours.
Stir in kale and heavy cream and cook for another half hour before serving.
Storage, freezing and reheating
Allow the zuppa toscana in instant pot to cool completely. Then, transfer to an airtight container and store in the fridge for up to 4 days.
This is a perfect soup to freeze for later. I like to use souper cubes to freeze and store for up to 3 months.
Reheat the soup in a sauce pan on the stove over medium low heat until warmed through. Feel free to add extra chicken broth when you reheat to refresh the soup.
Check out these other cozy soup recipes
You can find the full recipe below. If you make this recipe, please rate and review it in the comments, or share it with me on Instagram!
You can find the full recipe below. If you make this recipe, please rate and review it in the comments, or share it with me on Instagram!
Email Recipe for Later
Recipe
Instant Pot Zuppa Toscana
Ingredients
- 6 strips of bacon – diced
- 1 lb Italian sausage – mild or hot with casings removed
- 1/2 tbsp olive oil
- 3 cloves garlic – minced
- 1 yellow onion – finely diced
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1 quart of chicken broth
- 2 cups water
- 4 large russet potatoes – peeled and cubed
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 4 large handfuls of chopped kale
Instructions
Instant Pot Instructions
- Turn instant pot on to saute mode and cook diced bacon until golden brown. Remove from the instant pot and add sausage. Cook until just browned and remove from instant pot.
- Add olive oil to instant pot along with garlic and onion. Saute until soft and fragrant – this will only take a minute. Season with salt and pepper and turn saute mode off.
- Pour chicken broth, water, cooked bacon, cooked sausage, and cubed potatoes into instant pot. Close the lid and set vent to sealing.
- Cook on high pressure for 10 minutes. After the instant pot beeps that its done cooking, manually release press and open the top.
- Set instant pot to keep warm and stir in heavy cream and kale. Stir until kale is wilted.
- Serve with parmesan cheese and fresh cracked pepper
Stove Top Instructions
- Heat large pot over medium-low heat and add the chopped bacon. Cook until browned about 5-7 minutes. Remove the bacon from the pan, but leave the bacon grease behind.
- Onions and garlic to the pot and saute until soft and fragrant – about 5 minutes. Push them to the side of the pot and pour in the sausage with casings removed. Brown and break sausage into crumbles. Mix with onions and garlic and season with salt and pepper.
- Pour chicken broth, water, cooked bacon, and potatoes into the pot. Bring to a boil, cover and reduce to a simmer. Simmer 30 minutes.
- Turn off heat, but leave pot on stove. Stir in the chopped kale and heavy cream. Stir until kale is wilted. Serve with fresh cracked black pepper and parmesan cheese.
Recipe Notes
- Freezer instructions: Allow soup to cool completely. Transfer to a freezer safe container like a Souper Cube or deli container. Defrost and reheat or reheat from frozen on the stovetop in a sauce pan over low heat – stirring regularly until warmed through.
- *** To make this recipe in a crockpot or slow cooker, brown bacon and sausage on the stove top. Then, add all ingredients except kale and heavy cream to a crock pot. Cook on low for 5 and a half hours. Stir in kale and heavy cream and cook for another half hour before serving
- I like to use a mix of mild and hot Italian sausage for this recipe, but you can use all mild or all hot.
Nutrition Information
This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.
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