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Olive Garden Zuppa toscana

Healthy Zuppa Toscana

This 5-star Healthy Zuppa Toscana Soup is a lightened-up Whole30 version of the popular Olive Garden favorite. Each bite in this dairy-free Zuppa Toscana soup includes lean Italian turkey sausage, creamy potatoes, and hearty kale; it's delicious and better than the restaurant version.
5 from 26 votes
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Course: dinner recipe, Soup
Cuisine: American, Italian
Keyword: healthy zuppa toscana, olive garden zuppa toscana, paleo zuppa toscana, whole30 zuppa toscana, zuppa toscana
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Total Time: 55 minutes
Servings: 8 people
Calories: 310kcal

Equipment

  • 5 1/2 quart dutch oven or soup pot

Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 pound ground Italian turkey or poultry sausage or 6 links with casings removed
  • 1 medium onion chopped
  • 6 cloves garlic finely minced. You'll get about 2-3 teaspoons of minced garlic.
  • 1 teaspoon dried basil
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 1 teaspoon dried thyme
  • 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
  • 2 lbs yellow or russet potatoes skins removed and cut into bite-sized pieces.
  • 4 cups chicken broth
  • 2 cups unsweetened coconut milk (carton) you can substitute any milk, half and half, or cream.
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 3-4 cups chopped kale
  • salt and black ground pepper

Instructions

  • Heat the olive oil in a large soup pot and cook the italian sausage until no longer pink. As it's cooking use a spoon or spatula to break into small pieces.
  • Add the onion, garlic, basil, oregano, thyme, and crushed red pepper flakes to the sausage and cook that 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 and then simmer until potatoes are soft - 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.

Video

Notes

** The coconut milk in this recipe is a carton of coconut milk, not canned. You can find it in the dairy section next to milk.
** serving size is about 1 1/4 cups.
Storage Tips
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 dairy separating or curdling, and I think this is because it includes more broth than dairy. 
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.

Nutrition

Serving: 1g | Calories: 310kcal | Carbohydrates: 34g | Protein: 23g | Fat: 8g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 9mg | Sodium: 216mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 6g