Instant Pot Zuppa Toscana

Instant Pot Zuppa Toscana Soup is a creamy, hearty soup made with bacon, sausage, kale, and potatoes that will be on your table in just under 30 minutes.

Pair this copycat Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana with Garlic Toast and a Tossed Greek Salad for an easy and delicious family meal that everyone will love!

Olive Garden Copycat Recipe

Back in college one of my favorite cheap meals was Olive Garden's soup and salad special. While I loved those garlic breadsticks, I really loved Olive Garden's Zuppa Toscana.

It is a rich soup made with bacon, sausage, cream, and kale. Rich, creamy, and oh so satisfying!

I have to be honest in saying that I have not had the soup and salad special in decades, but I still enjoy making Zuppa Toscana at home--especially when it is so easy to prepare in the Instant Pot.

But not only is this Instant Pot Zuppa Toscana is easy to make, but it is also a family favorite. Which is great, as long as I know not to count on leftovers the next day--my family devours every last drop of this hearty soup!

Notes on Key Ingredients

• Sausage: Use any ground Italian style sausage you like--chicken, turkey, or pork.
• Bacon: Bacon gives this soup an incredible smokey flavor. However, you can omit the bacon. In place of rendered bacon grease, use olive oil to saute the sausage and onions.
• White Wine: A dry white wine adds a bit of sharpness and depth of flavor to the Zuppa Toscana. For a dry wine, use Chardonnay or Pinto Grigio.  Feel free to use additional stock in place of wine.
• Chicken Stock: Either homemade stock or store-bought stock is fine for this recipe, but I do recommend low sodium.
• Potatoes: Use russet, red, or yellow potatoes for the soup. There is no need to peel the potatoes, just scrub well before adding.

Step-by-Step Directions

• Turn pressure cooker to saute and allow to heat up.
• While Instant Pot is heating up, chop bacon into small chunks.
• Add the bacon to the inner pot and saute until browned and crispy.
• Remove bacon from Instant Pot with a slotted spoon and place it on a paper towel-lined plate.

• Add the sausage and onions to bacon grease and saute until the sausage is browned and onions are softened.
• Add in the garlic and saute for a minute longer.

• Add the wine, or chicken stock if not using wine into the inner pot and use a wooden spatula to scrape off all the browned bits on the bottom of the inner pot.
• Leave on saute function for 2-3 minutes, to allow the alcohol to cook off and then turn the Instant Pot off.
• Add in the chicken stock, potaotes, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, and kale and give everything a good stir.

• Set to cook on high pressure for 5 minutes.
• 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!
• Once the pressure has been released, open up the Instant Pot and stir in the cream.
• Place the lid back on the pressure cooker for 3-5 minutes to just warm through.

• Then serve the soup topped with the reserved cooked bacon and Parmesan cheese if desired.

Recipe Tips and Notes

• Leftovers: Leftover cooled soup can be store in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. This is one soup that does not tend to freeze well as the cream may separate and the potatoes get mushy.
• Spice Level: If you don't like spicy soups, omit the red pepper flakes or decrease by half for a more mild zing.
• 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.
• Spinach: While not traditional, feel free to substitute baby spinach for kale and then just stir into the soup when adding the cream.
• Lower Fat Option: If you would like to lighten-up this soup, drain off the grease after browning the sausage and use milk or half and half in place of heavy cream. But for a soup that tastes like Olive Garden's Zuppa Toscana, do not drain off the grease and heavy cream is best.

More Instant Pot Soup Recipes

• Instant Pot Potato Soup
• Instant Pot Chicken Noodle Soup
• Instant Pot Butternut Squash Soup
• Instant Pot Lasagna Soup
• Instant Pot Beef and Barley Soup

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