Name: Instant Pot Zuppa Toscana Soup
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 30 min
Ingredients: 3 slices thick-cut bacon (chopped); ½ pound Italian Sausage (casings removed); 1 small onion (minced); 4 cloves garlic ( minced); ½ cup dry white wine (optional); 4 cups low-sodium chicken broth; 5 medium russet potatoes (cut into 1 inch chunks); ½ teaspoon kosher salt; ¼ teaspoon black pepper; 1 teaspoon red chili flakes (optional); 3 cups fresh kale (chopped and stems removed); 1 cup heavy cream

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If you love Olive Garden's Zuppa Toscana Soup, you will love this recipe for Instant Pot Zuppa Toscana. This copycat soup recipe is made in under 30 minutes and is richly flavored, hearty, and absolutely soul-satisfying!

Instant Pot Zuppa Tosacana Soup in cream bowl topped with bacon.

Does anyone remember the days when Olive Garden offered all-you-can-eat soup, salad, and breadsticks? It was a dream come true for broke college kids, myself included.

And while I haven't stepped foot inside an Olive Garden in decades, my love for their minestrone, Zuppa Toscana, and breadsticks still runs deep! That is why I am absolutely thrilled to share with you this recipe for Instant Pot Zuppa Toscana Soup. Along with my recipe for Instant Pot Minestrone, this recipe proves homemade trumps Olive Garden!

Reasons To Love Instant Pot Zuppa Toscana

Better than Olive Garden. While the flavor is reminiscent of Olive Garden's Zuppa Toscana, this homemade version trumps the restaurant's version. It uses quality, fresh ingredients, which in turn, delivers the best flavor!
Lower in Fat and Sodium. This is not a light soup, yet Instant Pot Zuppa Toscana is lower in fat and sodium than when you get the soup out.
Bacon. Need I say more? The bacon, along with the Italian sausage gives this soup smokey undertones to make this soup irresistibly good.
30-Minute One-Pot Dinner Recipe. Thanks to the Instant Pot, you can enjoy this copycat recipe in under 30 minutes, making it the perfect easy dinner recipe to enjoy any night of the week.

Notes on Ingredients & Equipment

Ingredients for Zuppa Toscana labeled on white counter.

Bacon: Use thick-cut, pork bacon for the best flavor.
Sausage: Use any ground store-bought or homemade Italian sausage you like. Chicken, turkey, or pork Italian sausage all work well.
Aromatics: Adding garlic and minced yellow onion to the soup helps to build layers of flavor.
White Wine: Use a dry white wine, such as Chardonnay or Pinot Grigio, to add sharpness and depth of flavor to the Zuppa Toscana.
Chicken Stock/Broth: Use low-sodium store-bought or homemade chicken stock.
Seasonings: This soup develops intense flavor thanks to the bacon and sausage. Therefore, you only need kosher salt and a pinch of red pepper flakes to season the soup.
Potatoes: Russet, red, or yellow potatoes all work in Zuppa Toscana. There is no need to peel the potatoes, just scrub them well before adding.
Kale: Be sure to remove the thick, hearty stems of the kale before adding it to the soup.
Cream: Use heavy cream to give the soup a creamy finish and tone down the spices added to the soup.
Instant Pot: This recipe works with either a 6-quart Instant Pot or an 8-quart Instant Pot. If you are using a 3-quart Instant Pot, it is best to cut the recipe in half but leave the cooking time the same.

Substitutions/Modifications

No bacon? In place of rendered bacon grease, use olive oil to saute the sausage and onions and simply omit the bacon from the recipe.
Swap kale for spinach. While kale is customary in Zuppa Toscana, feel free to use spinach if that is what you have on hand. However, unlike kale, spinach does not need long to cook. Simply add the spinach to the soup when adding the cream.
Don't cook with alcohol? Use additional stock in place of wine.
Use frozen kale. Feel free to use defrosted and drained kale in place of fresh kale. You don't want to add frozen kale directly to the soup, as the water content from the kale will water down the flavor.

Tips for Making Instant Pot Zuppa Toscana

The following tips are provided to help you achieve perfect results. You will find the detailed instructions in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.

Use the bacon grease to saute the sausage and onion. A little bit of bacon grease goes a long way to adding incredible flavor to the soup. It will add rich, smokey undertones to replicate the flavors known and loved in Olive Garden's Zuppa Toscana.
Deglaze the inner pot. After sauteing the bacon and sausage, add the wine, or a bit of stock to the inner pot and use a wooden spatula to scrape off all the browned bits on the bottom of the inner pot. This is a crucial step in preventing a burn notice.
Let the pressure release naturally. Once the cooking time has elapsed, let the pressure release naturally for AT LEAST 15 minutes! To do a quick release of pressure would result in hot liquid spewing all over your kitchen!
Finish with cream. Adding cream after pressure cooking will help to thicken up this soup and make it oh so rich and creamy!

Cream added into Zuppa Toscana in Instant Pot.

Serving Suggestions

Instant Pot Zuppa Toscana is the perfect soup to cozy up to on a cold winter's night! Serve this soup with a side of Homemade Italian Bread or Dutch Oven Bread for dipping and a Caesar Salad to round out the meal. And don't forget to top your bowl of Zuppa Toscana with the crispy bacon and parmesan cheese!

More Instant Pot Soup Recipes

I hope you enjoy this recipe for Instant Pot Zuppa Toscana and I would love for you to take the time to leave a comment and/or review.