Instant Pot Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana Italian Soup is better then the restaurant and on your table in less than 30 minutes. Use Radishes instead of Potatoes to make it Low Carb and Keto!
Instant Pot Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana Italian Soup
Using your Instant Pot, Ninja Foodi or Pressure Cooker, Instant Pot Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana Italian Soup can be on your table in less than 30 minutes!
In 1990, I taught aerobics at Slimmons, Richard Simmons studio in Beverly Hills and after Sunday’s class, some of us would go to lunch and a movie or shopping. At least once a month we would land at The Olive Garden. Soup, salad and breadsticks. I always ordered minestrone and others got the Zuppa Toscana.
This recipe is like the Olive Garden Garden Zuppa Toscana on steroids!
Cast of Ingredients for Pressure Cooker Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana Italian Soup
I’ve never enjoyed the food at Olive Garden, other than what I have mentioned above. Frankly, I am not sure how that chain stays in business. (OMG, did I say that?) That being said, my Instant Pot Italian Chicken Olive Garden recipe is fantastic. Clearly, because of the dressing and everyone loves an Olive Garden salad.
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Ingredients for Instant Pot Zuppa Toscana
- Bacon
- Onion
- Hot Sausage
- Garlic
- Red or Russet Potatoes
- Heavy Cream
- Chicken Broth
- Kale
The original Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana Italian Soup uses mild sausage and red pepper flakes, but you can get the same effect using hot sausage only.
Sausage Cooks with Onions
There are two ways to cook the bacon.
How to Cook Bacon for Instant Pot Zuppa Toscana
- Use a Mealthy Crisplid and cook the bacon in the basket.
- The bacon can be sautéed right in the pressure cooker cooking pot.
I’ve explained both processes in detail on the recipe card below.
The original Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana Italian Soup uses mild sausage and red pepper flakes, but you can get the same effect using hot sausage only.
Add UNpeeled Potatoes
Pretend the potatoes are not peeled. Just close your eyes for a second and try to get this photo out of your mind. My husband was trying to be helpful and peeled the potatoes when I wasn’t looking.
What Type of Potatoes for Instant Pot Zuppa Toscana?
- The Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana Italian Soup uses unpeeled red potatoes.
- Russet potatoes are nice to use as well.
Whichever potato you choose, don’t peel off the skins. The peels give good flavor, so don’t peel them.
I think I like the Zuppa a bit better with Russet Potatoes, rather than red potatoes, but use whatever you like or have in the house.
Make Low Carb Zuppa Toscana
- Instead of potatoes use radishes instead.
- The radishes will take on the taste of the soup and have a nice texture.
Cut the Kale into a Chiffonade
After removing the veins from the kale, I like to use a cutting technique called, Chiffonade.
How to Chiffonade
- Chiffonade is a fancy French word that means made of rags.
- You roll up the leaves tightly and then and slice them lengthwise into strips.
If you don’t like kale and many people don’t, just use spinach instead. You will still get that nice and spicy yummy taste from the soup.
Add Fresh Kale after cooking
There is only a five minute cook time, but this Instant Pot Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana tastes like you have been cooking all day.
If you keep the ingredients in your freezer, you can whip up a batch on a moments notice.
If you love soup and need a very simple recipe for a delicious soup, check out my Pressure Cooker Nordstrom Tomato Basil Soup recipe.
My Pressure Cooker Seafood Corn Chowder {Shrimp Gumbo} is a meal in itself, with spices you probably already have in your pantry.
Add Cream and Simmer until Hot
Some people want to save calories and use substitutes for the heavy cream.
Lower Calorie Instant Pot Zuppa Toscana
- Turkey bacon can be used.
- Swap out the pork sausage for turkey sausage.
- Half & Half can be used in place of heavy cream.
It won’t be as satisfying, so I suggest using the full fat and having a smaller portion.
Note that if you do use Half & Half instead of heavy cream, you will want to add the Half & Half to the soup before adding the kale. Otherwise, the heavy cream will cook with the soup.
Pro Tip: Heavy cream does well under pressure and can be added to the raw ingredients. Half & Half and milk would be added after the food has finished cooking and after pressure has been released.
Instant Pot Zuppa Toscana
Don’t forget to serve with Breadsticks or a Crusty Loaf of Bread or with some Nordstrom Parmesan Garlic Crostini.
Another soup you may like is my Pressure Cooker Nordstrom Tomato Basil Soup.
Dorinda, one of the members of my This Old Gal Facebook Group, purchased my This Old Gal Pressure Cooker Cookbook and made the soup from the book. It is slightly different. Dorinda is a much better photographer than me. Plus, don’t you love the chicken hot pad?
More Instant Pot Soup Recipes to Make.
- Pressure Cooker Chicken Marsala Mushroom Soup
- Pressure Cooker Armenian Lentil Soup
- Pressure Cooker Low Carb Manhattan Clam Chowder Soup
- Pressure Cooker Chicken Jalapeno Popper Soup Low Carb
- Pressure Cooker Broccoli Cheddar Soup ~Low Carb Keto
Equipment Equipment and Essentials
- Instant Pot, Ninja Foodi or Pressure Cooker
- J.A. Henckels Classic 7-inch Hollow Edge Santoku Knife
- Amco Advanced Performance 18/10 Stainless Steel Measuring Spoons
- Simply Gourmet (Dry) Stainless Steel Measuring Cups
- Anchor Hocking Glass (Liquid) Measuring Cups
- Cilio Olivewood Spatula
- OXO Good Grips Cutting Board
- Reditainer Extreme Freezer Containers
- Freezer Labels
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Here is your handy printable recipe:
Instant Pot Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana (Italian Soup)
Print Pin Save RateIngredients
- 4 slices Bacon rough chopped
- 1 medium Yellow/Brown Onion chopped
- 1 pound Hot Italian Sausage casing removed
- 4 cloves Fresh Garlic minced
- 6.25 cups Chicken Stock/Broth (or 6.25 cups water + 2 TBL Better than Bouillon Chicken Base)
- 1 cup Heavy Cream
- 3 Large Red or Russet Potatoes UNpeeled and sliced 1/4" thick
- 2 cups Fresh Kale (Chiffonade)
Recommended Products
Instructions
- Chop bacon into 1/2 inch pieces.
Cook Bacon - Using the Crisping Lid
- Place trivet and basket inside pressure cooker cooking pot.
- Place bacon into the crisping basket. Place lid on Instant Pot and cook at 400 degrees until bacon is crisp.
- Remove bacon to paper towel lined plate and set aside.
Cook Bacon - In the Instant Pot Cooking Pot
- Select the Sauté or Browning function on your pressure cooker and allow to heat. Add bacon to the cooking pot and cook until crisp
- Remove bacon to paper towel lined plate and set aside.
Preparing the Soup
- Add onions to the cooking pot and sauté in the left behind bacon grease, for about 3 minutes.
- Add sausage, breaking up into pieces and sauté until browned, about 2 minutes.
- Add garlic to cooking pot and give it a good mix through.
- Turn off Instant Pot or Pressure Cooker.
- Add chicken broth, heavy cream and unpeeled, potato slices.
- Lock on lid and close pressure valve. Cook at high pressure (most machines default to high) for 5 minutes.
- Wash and dry kale. Roll kale up tightly from one end to the other. Using a very sharp knife, cut the kale vertically from end to end about 1/4" in between each slice. When you unroll the kale, it will be in ribbons.
- When beep sounds, wait 10 minutes and then release the rest of the pressure.
- Add kale chiffonade to the cooking pot and stir until wilted.
- Place in serving bowls and top with bacon.
Notes
Lower Calorie Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana Soup
- Turkey bacon can be used in place or pork bacon.
- Swap out the pork sausage for turkey sausage.
- Half & Half can be used in place of heavy cream.
Low Carb and Keto Option
- Use radishes instead of potatoes.
- No one will know!
Crisping Lid - Which to Use
- Mealthy Crisplid will fit on all 6 and 8 quart pressure cookers regardless of brand.
- Instant Pot Air Fryer Lid will only fit on specific Instant Pot models, so please check my article Instant Pot Air Fryer Lid to see if this brand will fit your model.
- Each lid can be purchased from Amazon, which I have linked below.
- Mealthy CrispLid (buy from Amazon)
- Instant Pot Crisping Lid (buy from Amazon)
Nutrition
PIN this Instant Pot Zuppa Toscana Italian Soup!
LOve this soup!! If you were to use radishes instead, how much would you say to use?
As many as you like. Jill
Thank you for showing me how to use this most favorite recipe of mine in the Instaant Pot! So fast and so little clean up from doing on stove top! I am finally not so intimidated to use my IP by seeing all the possibilities you show! BTW I love using Turnips and/or Radishes rather than potatoes.
Thank you, BJ, I am glad you enjoyed the soup. Jill
This was so good. used fresh spinach
Thank you, Michele. Jill
I have never had this soup with bacon. It is not part of the recipe.
I made this soup last night but instead of spinach or kale I used two bunches of Swiss Chard and it was one of the most delicious tasting dishes ever made! And, to top it off, my husband who is a chef (who graduated Le Cordon Bleu in Italy) totally loved it!!!!
I am looking forward to reviewing more of your recipes and creating them.
Thank You very much!
Thank you so much Ron. I am so glad you and your husband enjoyed my recipe. I can’t wait to see more reviews. Jill
I love this soup. I have made it using chorizo, or smoked beef sausage and it still comes out delicious.
Hello, if I use radishes instead of potatoes, is the carbs per serving still 6g?
The carb count would be almost nothing. Jill
My favorite soup
Thank YOU! This is the best recipe I have found, and have added it to my recipe box!
Thank you so much, Hollie. Jill
Great recipe! I halved it and was very pleased! I used Hot sausage and heavy whipping cream. I used frozen chopped kale as I don’t like to be wasteful and won’t use a whole bunch. I did not have bacon on hand so I left it out. I actually used a mix of golden and red potatoes to use some up – still tasted great. Thanks again!
made this as written with no changes This is the second time I have made this soup. It is delicious! I bring a bowl to work everyday for lunch and my coworkers always comment how wonderful it smells. They are trying to convince me to bring a whole lot to work to share. Thanks for sharing this receipe!
Thank you so much, Su. I am glad you are enjoying my recipe. Jill
Does this freeze ok? Thinking of making a double batch and delivering to a friend going through chemo for she and her family.
My daughter is dairy-allergic. A half-cup of unsweetened almond milk worked wonderfully. I added a teaspoon or two of dairy-free ‘butter’ to replace the richness of the cream. My dairy eaters didn’t notice the change.
I’m planning to make this tonight for tomorrow’s dinner – will have a very small window of time between school and soccer practice. Could I make the soup tonight and tomorrow just reheat and add the kale and cream?
Yes, I don’t see why not. Jill
Yum! I used Spanish chorizo to replace the bacon and sausage, and added some carrots and celery. The soup came out runnier than I wanted (my red potatoes were huge, but probably smaller than the potatoes that were called for), so I added some instant mashed potatoes as a thickener. So good!
Made this today as its my husbands favorite soup in the world.
Used the hot Italian sausage, and hubby said it was too spicy, but he loved the soup
and just wants me to tweak it a little for the next time.
I will plan on using the Mild Italian sausage next time.
Question: How much of the Hot Pepper Flakes (which I could not find at my store today) or Crushed Red Pepper (which is what Olive Garden uses)
would one add to give it some spice but not hot.
My daughter makes this a lot! So I tried it today. I had a few mushrooms and sweet bell peppers hanging around my fridge so I added some with the onion. Yummy!
I just got a power pressure xl and recipe says cook on high? I don’t have a high setting and I’m so confused? Does high mean canning setting? When I push that I get 10 minutes on screen but can’t go less so I’m now trying to time it myself? I’m so confused and this feels like more work then expected?
Please explain and help me… Thank you so very much
Does this soup freeze well so we can eat at a later date?
Do you peel radishes?
No, Amber. Jill