Slow Cooker Zuppa Toscana
38 Comments Nov 15, 2022
Updated Jun 26, 2025
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Cozy up with crockpot Zuppa Toscana—packed with tender potatoes, savory sausage, and vibrant kale. A warm, satisfying dinner with minimal effort.
Recipe Highlights
- With so many slow cooker soups to choose from, this Zuppa Toscana—an Olive Garden copycat—is hands down one of the most popular and well-loved.
- It is a potato and sausage soup with cream and kale added at the end.
- This soup requires a bit of prep work, but it still comes together quickly.
Key Ingredients
Cooked Sausage: We use the breakfast sausage in a tube.
Bacon: Cooked crumbled bacon is added for a smokey taste
Potatoes and Onions: Use russet potatoes for their hearty texture—just scrub them clean, no peeling needed. And diced white onion for great flavor.
Chicken Broth: Chicken broth is the base of the soup.
Seasonings: Plenty of basil, thyme, and minced garlic make the best Zuppa Toscana.
Heavy Cream: This will make the soup recipe have a creamy finish.
Kale: Can use fresh kale or frozen kale.
How to Make Zuppa Toscana in the Crockpot
- Cook the bacon and sausage, then toss them into the slow cooker.
- Add the potatoes, seasonings, broth, and let it all simmer.
- Once everything’s tender, stir in the cream and greens.
- Let it finish cooking until rich and creamy.
Sarah’s Tips & Variations
Meat Swap: Ground beef, ground chicken, or ground turkey can be used. Though, beware the flavor won’t be near the same. There’s something magical the Italian sausage does to the zuppa toscana soup.
Kale Swap: Spinach can be used instead of kale, but note that kale in soups softens just as nicely as spinach!
Thicken: If you want a thick soup, simply mix 3 tablespoons of cold water with 3 tablespoons of cornstarch. Add that mixture to the finished dish and it will thicken in about 10 minutes.
Herb Swap: Other dried herbs that work well in this recipe are herbs de province, Italian seasoning, sage, or dried parsley.
Serving Suggestions
- Toppings – Crock pot Zuppa Toscana is great as is! Top with freshly grated Parmesan cheese, black pepper and red pepper flakes if desired. Saltine crackers are wonderful as well.
- Sides – If you want to go with an olive garden themed night, serve the soup with homemade Olive Garden Salad and Olive Garden Breadsticks.
Featured Comment
“Soup turned out great. The recipe and Instructions were easy to follow. This soup is delicious and made my house smell soooo good while it was on the crock pot.”
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– Sirena
Slow Cooker Zuppa Toscana Recipe
How to Video
Ingredients
- 6 slices bacon
- 1 lb. mild pork sausage, Can use Jimmy Dean breakfast sausage or Italian sausage.
- 4 cups diced russet potatoes
- 1 cup diced white onion
- ¼ tsp. salt
- ¼ tsp. pepper
- 1 tsp. dried basil
- ½ tsp. dried thyme
- 2 tsp. minced garlic
- 32 oz. box chicken broth
- 1 ½ cups heavy cream, add at the end
- 4 cups chopped kale, add at the end
Instructions
- Cook the bacon in a skillet on the stovetop over medium high heat until crisp, drain and add to the slow cooker. In the same pan, cook and crumble the ground sausage and add that to the slow cooker.
- Add everything else to the slow cooker EXCEPT the cream and kale.
- Cover and cook on LOW for 7 hours or HIGH for 4 hours.
- When the cooking time is done, add the heavy cream and kale, push the kale down in to the soup.
- Cover and cook for an additional 20 minutes.
- Serve and enjoy!
Sarah’s Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition info is auto-generated. This information is an estimate; if you are on a special diet, please use your own calculations.
More Olive Garden Copycat recipes:
Slow Cooker Chicken and Gnocchi Soup is creamy, comforting, and full of flavor
For something zesty, try Slow Cooker Chicken Scampi or Olive Garden Chicken Pasta.
Crockpot Minestrone Soup and Pasta Fagioli are hearty, veggie-packed favorites perfect for any night of the week.
Thank you . I made this for dinner and it was delicious better than Olive Garden. Everyone got seconds. Will definitely make it again!
Can I use frozen kale?
Yes, frozen kale will work great.
I accidentally put the heavy cream in with the water and broth, will it be ok?
Yes! Heavy cream shouldn’t curdle, so you are good.
Definitely a keeper!!! So delicious and comforting on a cold winter’s day!!! The only I did differently was throw in a can of drained Great Northern Beans. Thank you for this yummy soup recipe!!!
Should I cook the sausage before adding it?
Yes, for sure.
What temperature should the heavy cream be? Can you use half and half?
Soup turned out great. The recipe and Instructions were easy to follow. This soup is delicious and made my house smell soooo good while it was on the crock pot.
If i make this today will it be good to serve tomorrow for my baby shower?
I made this for my family this weekend and it was a huge hit! Husband and both kids devoured it. Other recipes do not include the herbs like this one, but I feel like they add so much to this soup. Will definitely be making again!
Amazing soup!
Can I use frozen kale?
Making this tomorrow! Does half and half hold up well in it compared to the heavy cream?
Heavy cream does better. Experts say the higher fat content in the dairy means it’s less likely to curdle.
Delicious. How can I make it thicker?
You can do a cornstarch and water slurry. Or use cream cheese instead of cream.
I accidentally forgot to cook the bacon before adding, will it still be okay?
Yes, it should be fine!