Healthy Zuppa Toscana

Reasons you’ll love this recipe.

• Easy to prepare. Everything goes into one soup pot!
• Nutritious. This healthy Zuppa Toscana soup is filled with lean protein, high-fiber kale and potatoes, and a dairy-free creamy base made without heavy cream or half and half. It’s also gluten-free Paleo, Whole30, and, with a couple of swaps, Keto-friendly.
• Delicious! This copycat Zuppa Toscano consistently gets 5-star ratings from readers! It’s super tasty without all of the fat and calories.
• Make-ahead. This creamy potato sausage soup can be made on Sunday for the week or frozen for a quick lunch or dinner later on.

Ingredients

Here are all the ingredients you’ll need to make a pot of this tasty, healthy Zuppa Toscana soup. For the full instructions, see the recipe card.

• Italian turkey sausage. You can either purchase ground Italian sausage or poultry links. If you get links, then remove the casing before using the sausage in the recipe. 
• Onion and cloves of garlic. The starting foundation for this healthy Zuppa Toscana.
• Dried basil, oregano, and thyme. This seasoning blend adds the perfect layer of flavor to this soup. You can also use a teaspoon of this homemade Italian seasoning mix.
• Crushed red pepper flakes. This gives the soup a nice spicy kick.
• Potatoes. A classic Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana soup uses russet potatoes. However, Yukon gold potatoes, also called yellow or butter, are my favorite to use in this soup recipe. I’ve used both many times, and I prefer yellow over russet because they have a creamier buttery texture. Russets tend to get grainy. However, both will work.
• Unsweetened coconut milk. Instead of heavy cream or half and half, I used unsweetened coconut milk. It adds the perfect creaminess to this soup without the extra saturated fat, cholesterol, and calories. Use the coconut milk found in the dairy section not the canned coconut milk.
• Fresh kale. You can purchase cleaned and chopped kale bags from the produce section to save time. If you buy whole kale leaves, then clean the leaves thoroughly and remove the stem before chopping. You can also use frozen kale. Here are my instructions for freezing kale if there are leftovers.

How to Make Healthy Zuppa Toscana Soup

Start by heating olive oil in a large soup pot on the stove top and cook the Italian sausage over medium-high heat until it is no longer pink. Use a large spoon or spatula to break the sausage into small pieces as it cooks. Because you’re using poultry sausage, you won’t need to drain any grease. 

Add the onion, garlic, basil, oregano, thyme, and crushed red pepper flakes to the sausage and cook for 5 minutes or until the onion and garlic start to soften.

Stir in the potatoes, chicken broth, and coconut milk and bring to a boil.

Then reduce to a simmer over medium heat until potatoes are fork tender – this takes about 15-20 minutes. Give the soup a taste, and then add in the salt.

Stir in the kale and cook for another 15 minutes or until the kale is tender. Season with more salt and black pepper if needed. Serve hot!

Serving suggestions

This Whole30 Zuppa Toscana soup is a meal in itself, but if you want some different sides, then try these ideas:

• Gluten free Caesar salad or another green salad.
• Roasted broccoli, Italian roasted veggies, or roasted asparagus.

Cooking Tips

• Leave the skin on the potatoes. I’ve made it both ways, and both are tasty. Make sure to clean the potatoes thoroughly to remove any dirt or debris.
• Adjust the spice level. If you like a spicier soup, add extra crushed red pepper flakes. You can also control the spice by using either mild or hot Italian poultry sausage. Remember that using hot Italian sausage, you might not need crushed hot pepper flakes. It depends on how spicy you want the soup.
• Adjust the consistency of the soup. If the soup seems too thin, mash up some potatoes to thicken it up. On the flip side, if it starts to thicken up as it sits, you can stir some chicken broth to loosen it up.

Variations

• If you don’t want to use kale, then baby spinach, Swiss chard, or other greens will work fine as a substitute.
• You can also use almond or other non-dairy milk, but coconut milk provides a creamy texture; the others don’t. Or swap in dairy milk or half and half if you don’t need a dairy-free soup.
• To create keto-friendly Zuppa Toscana recipes, swap in cauliflower florets for potatoes.
• For extra flavor, add in bacon or pancetta. Cook 4-6 slices of bacon, remove it from the pan, and set it aside. Crumble it once it cools. Drain most of the bacon grease, cook the sausage, and continue with the rest of the recipe. After the soup cooks, stir in the bacon, saving some to sprinkle on top.
• Instead of turkey sausage, you can use pork sausage, ground chicken, or ground turkey. Of course, keep in mind this will change the soup’s flavor.
• Bulk up the veggies. You can add celery, carrots, and other vegetables to this soup.

Storage Tips

Zuppa Toscana gets better by the day, so it’s a great soup to make on Sunday for lunch or dinner all week. Or freeze it to have dinner ready for later on.

For the week. After the soup cools, place it into an airtight container and refrigerator for up to 4 days. I like to use individual containers to keep portions under control and also so I can quickly heat and eat.

For the freezer: I’ve frozen this Zuppa Toscana recipe numerous times. I’ve never had a problem with the coconut milk separating or curdling.

After the soup cools, place it into containers leaving an inch from the top for expansion. Store in the freezer for up to 3 months. I also love to use Souper Cubes 1-cup portion silicone trays to freeze this and other soup recipes. You can get more tips in my how-to-freeze soup tutorial.

More Healthy Soup Recipes

If you are looking for a couple of more healthy and delicious soup recipes, take a look at this list:

• Cheeseburger Soup
• Buffalo Chicken Soup
• Pizza Soup
• Healthy Potato Soup
• Broccoli Cheese Soup
• Healthy Stuffed Pepper Soup
• Chicken Tortellini Soup

See all of my healthy soup recipes.