Instant Pot Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana Italian Soup

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, Mealthy MultiPot 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.

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.

How to 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.

How to Make Lower Calorie Instant Pot Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana Soup

• 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 DUO Plus, Mealthy MultiPot or Pressure Cooker
• J.A. Henckels Classic 7-inch Hollow Edge Santoku Knife
• Amco Advanced Performance 18/10 Stainless Steel Measuring Spoons
• Culina Stackable (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)

5 from 56 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Soup

Cuisine: Italian

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 5 minutes

Pressure Release: 10 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Servings: 8 servings

Calories: 390kcal

Author: Jill Selkowitz

Ingredients

• 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 Low Sodium Chicken Broth (or or 6.25 cups water + 6.5 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)

US Customary - Metric

Recommended Products

Instant Pot Electric Pressure Cooker

J.A. Henckels Classic 8 inch Chef's Knife

Mealthy Crisplid

Stainless Steel Measuring Spoons

High Quality Silicone Spatula

Liquid Measuring Cup Set

Instructions

• Chop bacon into 1/2 inch pieces.

Cooking the Bacon With Crisplid or in Cooking Pot

• Using a Mealthy Crisplid - Place trivet and basket inside pressure cooker cooking pot. Turn crisplid to 400 degrees and cook bacon until crisp.

  Using the Pressure Cooker - 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

Mild Sausage can be substituted for the Hot Sausage and add Hot Pepper Flakes to get the heat.

If using Half & Half instead of cream, add it in after you have released all the pressure. Heavy cream has a high enough fat content, so it can be cooked under pressure.

Lower Calorie Instant Pot 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.

The soup will not 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 after pressure cooking. While heavy cream is fine to cook under pressure, Half & Half and milk needs to be added to the pot after pressure has been released.

Low Carb and Keto Option

• Use radishes instead of potatoes.
• No one will know!

Photos courtesy of Dorinda Slaney.

Nutrition

Nutrition Facts

Instant Pot Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana (Italian Soup)

Amount Per Serving

Calories 390 Calories from Fat 306

% Daily Value*

Fat 34g52%

Saturated Fat 15g94%

Cholesterol 91mg30%

Sodium 561mg24%

Potassium 454mg13%

Carbohydrates 6g2%

Fiber 0g0%

Sugar 0g0%

Protein 14g28%

Vitamin A 2110IU42%

Vitamin C 22.9mg28%

Calcium 68mg7%

Iron 1.4mg8%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

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