Zuppa Toscana Soup: Instant Pot and Stove Top
on Feb 04, 2022, Updated Oct 28, 2023
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Here’s my take on zuppa toscana soup – hearty, delicious, and perfect for cold days. Make zuppa toscana: instant pot or stove top. Filled with bacon, sausage, kale, and cream, the taste can’t be beat!
Zuppa Toscana Soup in the Instant Pot or on the Stove Top
Happy National Soup Day! Zuppa Toscana is the ultimate winter comfort food! I’m so happy to share my recipe with you today.
Why My Zuppa Toscana Soup Recipe is Different
I’ve been perfecting my zuppa toscana soup for months! I started with a few recipes and then put my own spin on it. My recipe is different because instead of using store bought Italian sausage, I use ground pork and my own spice blend.
It does add an extra minute to put the spices together, but the taste is vastly superior, in my opinion. Plus, you avoid the preservatives and other ingredients that can be found in store bought Italian Sausage.
I’ve also seen zuppa toscana recipes that don’t call for bacon. In my humble opinion, you can’t leave out the bacon!
You can make this soup in the instant pot or on the stove top. I do it both ways – primarily depending on if my instant pot is already in use, making homemade chicken stock for instance. Here’s how to make it both ways!
Ingredients for Zuppa Toscana
- 8 slices uncured bacon, I slice mine into little pieces called lardon for easy frying. Sometimes, I find it easier to slice the bacon when it’s semi-frozen.
- 1 lb ground sausage (you can choose spicy, mild, or make your own based on my homemade sausage recipe)
- 1 medium onion, diced fine
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons arrowroot powder, or flour if you prefer
- 4 cups (32 ounces) chicken broth, homemade stock is best and it’s easy!
- 4 large potatoes, peeled and sliced thin or diced into 1/2 inch pieces
- 1 cup half and half (or use heavy cream for a really rich soup)
- 1/2 bunch kale (a couple of handfuls) de-stemmed and torn into bite sized pieces
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- Pinch of red pepper flakes
Tips for Making Zuppa Toscana Instant Pot Soup
Turn the Instant Pot on to Saute. Once it heats up, fry bacon until crisp, then remove to a plate. Drain all but a tablespoon of bacon grease. If your instant pot is like mine, you may need to actually add a tablespoon of bacon grease.
Add onion to pot and cook for a few minutes, adding the garlic for another minute of cooking. Next, add the sausage and brown it, crumbling as it cooks. If using my sausage recipe, now is the time to add the spice mix. Stir well one more time.
Sprinkle flour over meat, onions, and garlic, then stir to combine.
Pour in chicken stock, then add in potatoes, and bacon. Put the lid on the instant pot. Seal, and cook on high pressure for 5 minutes.
After the cooking is complete, allow the pot to do a natural pressure release for 15 minutes. Then carefully open the instant pot lid away from you. Add in the kale and let it wilt for a couple minutes. Finally add in the half and half. Taste and season with salt, pepper and red pepper flakes if desired.
Tips for Making it on the Stove Top
Don’t fret if you don’t have an instant pot – but get yourself one already! Zuppa Toscana is also really easy to make in a large pot on the stove. Follow the same basic instructions as above but use a large dutch oven instead of the instant pot. You can cook everything right in the same pot. No need to get multiple pans dirty.
Follow the instructions by beginning with the bacon and continuing until you’ve added in the chicken stock, potatoes, and bacon.
Then, instead of sealing and cooking on high pressure, bring your soup to a gentle boil over medium high heat. Reduce heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes, however long it takes for the potatoes to cook through. Add the kale to wilt for a few minutes; then add it half and half and heat through. Finally taste and add salt and pepper to taste.
Enjoy!
Zuppa Toscana Recipe
Ingredients
- 8 slices bacon, diced
- 1 lb ground sausage (you can choose spicy, mild, or make your own based on my recipe)
- 1 medium onion, diced fine
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons arrowroot powder, or flour
- 4 cups (32 ounces) chicken stock, homemade is best
- 4 large potatoes, peeled and sliced into thin slices, or diced into 1/2 " pieces
- 1 cup half and half (or use heavy cream for a really rich soup)
- 1/2 bunch kale (a couple of handfuls) de-stemmed and torn into bite sized pieces
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- Pinch of red pepper flakes
Instructions
Turn the Instant Pot on to Saute. Once it heats up, fry bacon until crisp, then remove to a plate. Drain all but a tablespoon of bacon grease.
Add onion to pot and cook for a few minutes, adding the garlic for another minute of cooking.
Next, add the sausage and brown it, crumbling as it cooks. If using my sausage recipe, now is the time to add the spice mix. Stir well one more time.
Sprinkle flour over onion and garlic in pot, then stir to combine.
Pour in chicken stock, then add in potatoes, and bacon. Put the lid on the instant pot. Seal, and cook on high pressure for 5 minutes.
After the cooking is complete, allow the pot to do a natural pressure release for 15 minutes.
Then carefully open the instant pot lid away from you.
Add in the kale and let it wilt for a couple minutes. Finally add in the half and half.
Taste and season with salt, pepper and red pepper flakes if desired.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
6Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 624Total Fat: 33gSaturated Fat: 12gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 18gCholesterol: 80mgSodium: 1215mgCarbohydrates: 55gFiber: 5gSugar: 8gProtein: 25g
Nutritional data is not always correct.
Looking for more soup recipes? Here you go!
Turns out, I have a lot of favorite soup recipes! Here are a few of them. Celebrate National Soup Day by checking them all out. What's your favorite soup?
Old Fashioned Chicken Noodle Soup
Have you made this in a crock pot?Instructions please
Hi Linda, I have not made it in the crockpot, but instructions would probably be pretty similar to the stove top method. Cook meats, add everything to the crockpot except half and half and kale, and cook on low for 4ish hours. Add kale during last half hour. Add half and half during last 15 minutes or so. Good luck!
Wait – maybe that would be cook on high for 4 hours, low for longer. I’m not really sure since I haven’t done it! 🙂