Our Vegan Copycat Zuppa Toscana will make all your nostalgic Olive Garden dreams come true. It’s rich, creamy, nutritious, and comes together in under an hour.
🇮🇹 WHAT IS ZUPPA TOSCANA?
Zuppa Toscana translates to “Tuscan Soup” from Italian. But so far as we can tell, you won’t find Zuppa Toscana anywhere in Italy! The soup seems to be a creation of the American restaurant chain Olive Garden. For you non-Americans, Olive Garden serves up Italian-American fare. (And low-key, Zuppa Toscana is probably the only thing we actually liked at Olive Garden, lol.)
Olive Garden’s Zuppa Toscana contains onion, garlic, Italian sausage, potatoes, kale, chicken broth and cream. We’ve been making this copycat recipe of Olive Garden’s Zuppa Toscana since our pre-vegan days, and our vegan version is just as satisfying.
For our vegan version of Zuppa Toscana, we used vegan Italian sausage, vegetable bouillon and vegan milk. The ingredients may be simple, but the rich flavors will keep you coming back for more! This simple one-pot dish is the perfect weeknight meal.
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❤️ WHY YOU’LL LOVE THIS RECIPE
- Hearty
- Rich
- Creamy
- Easy to Make
📝 INGREDIENTS
- Olive oil: to cook the vegan Italian sausage and aromatics.
- Vegan Italian sausage: a classic component of Zuppa Toscana.
- Russet potatoes: a classic component of Zuppa Toscana that thickens and adds heartiness to our soup.
- Onion, garlic and bay leaves: aromatic elements .
- Kale: a classic component of Zuppa Toscana that adds texture and loads of nutrients.
- Water and plain, unsweetened vegan milk: form the rich, creamy broth of our soup.
- Vegetable bouillon: adds umami to our soup broth.
- Salt, freshly cracked black pepper and red pepper flakes: season our soup.
🔪 STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS
***Check our recipe video below!***
- Heat oil in pot over medium heat. Remove sausage casings (if applicable) and crumble sausage into pot. Cook until sausage is nicely browned, about 7-8 minutes. Remove from pot and set aside.
2. Add onion to pot, sprinkle with salt to draw out the moisture, and cook until translucent, about 5 minutes.
3. Add potatoes and garlic and cook garlic until fragrant, about 1-2 minute.
4. Add water, vegetable bouillon and bay leaves, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer until potatoes are fork tender, about 10 minutes.
5. Add vegan milk and season with salt, freshly cracked black pepper, and red pepper flakes. Simmer 5 minutes. Add kale and simmer until kale wilts, about 5 minutes. Remove bay leaves, ladle soup into bowls, and top with vegan parmesan (optional). Enjoy!
💕 MORE VEGAN SOUPS/STEWS
DID YOU MAKE OUR VEGAN COPYCAT ZUPPA TOSCANA?
Did you make this recipe? We’d love to hear about it! Please comment and leave a 5-star🌟 rating below. Share your dish with us on Instagram and tag us @plantbased.passport. We would love to seeing your delicious creations! Still hungry? Follow us on Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, and Pinterest for more global vegan recipes and travel tips!🍴✈️
👩🏽🍳 RECIPE
Vegan Copycat Zuppa Toscana
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 14 oz vegan Italian sausage casings removed (We used Beyond Italian Sausage)
- 4 medium Russet potatoes peeled and chopped
- 1 medium onion chopped
- 5 garlic cloves minced
- 6 cups kale chopped and large stems removed
- 8 cups water
- 2 teaspoon vegetable bouillon such as the Better Than Bouillon brand (or substitute 2 vegan chicken bouillon cubes–such as the Edward & Sons brand–or 1 tablespoon poultry seasoning)
- 2 bay leaves
- 2-3 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
- ¼-1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 cup plain unsweetened vegan milk
- Vegan parmesan cheese to serve (optional)
Instructions
- Heat oil in pot over medium heat. Remove sausage casings (if applicable) and crumble sausage into pot. Cook until sausage is nicely browned, about 7-8 minutes.
- Add onion to pot, sprinkle with salt to draw out the moisture, and cook until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add potatoes and garlic and cook garlic until fragrant, about 1-2 minute.
- Add water, vegetable bouillon and bay leaves, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer until potatoes are fork tender, about 10 minutes.
- Add vegan milk and kale, and season with salt, freshly cracked black pepper, and red pepper flakes. Simmer until kale wilts, about 5 minutes. Remove bay leaves, ladle soup into bowls, and top with vegan parmesan (optional). Enjoy!
Notes
- In place of the vegetable bouillon, you can substitute 2 vegan chicken bouillon cubes (such as the Edward & Sons brand) or 1 tablespoon poultry seasoning.
Tasted just like I remembered. Really easy to make.
Unlimited soup and breadsticks, but from home, amirite?