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Instant Pot Zuppa Toscana (Sausage Potato Soup) is hearty and full of amazing flavor. This Olive Garden copycat soup is an all-time family favorite! Pressure cooker Zuppa Toscana is a very delicious, awesome soup to make in your Instant Pot!
A little spicy, creamy, and hearty, this Instant Pot Zuppa Toscana is just fabulous!
Originally published 9/8/2017
Instant Pot Zuppa Toscana (Sausage Potato Soup)
If you are looking for a super delicious soup to make in your Instant Pot®, you have found it!
There is a reason that so many cooks have made a copycat recipe of this yummy Olive Garden Sausage Potato Soup recipe. It just hits all the right notes.
I get compliments EVERY time I make this pressure cooker Zuppa Toscana recipe, even from my picky eaters.
About the Meat in Zuppa Toscana
- My go-to is a flavorful bulk Italian sausage (or Jimmy Dean, etc.). I buy 1 pound of hot, and 1 pound of mild and use both. This gives enough spice and flavor, but not too spicy. Use all hot or all mild if you like.
- Another way incredible flavor is added to this Instant Pot soup is with bacon. Smoky bacon. Just a few slices of a good smoky bacon take this already amazing soup right over the top and into the clouds!
- I highly recommend it. I mean, bacon. How bad can that be? Either way you make it, you will end up with a rich, hearty, and very satisfying, rustic Italian inspired Instant Pot Zuppa Toscana (Sausage Potato Soup)!
The Greens to Use for Zuppa Toscana
- The usual greens to add to Zuppa Toscana is kale. It is hearty and wilts just enough in the hot soup.
- You can vary from the usual way of making Instant Pot Zuppa Toscana by using spinach instead of kale.
- Use either fresh baby spinach, or frozen chopped spinach (the kind in the box) thawed, and add it after cooking, just before adding the cream.
- Both versions are wonderful!
Can I Make This Zuppa Toscana Non-Dairy?
Yes you can! Substitute your favorite plant-based milk, such as unsweetened coconut milk or almond milk, etc. Since you add it after cooking, the flavor stays intact.
Can I Freeze Instant Pot Zuppa Toscana?
Yes! I like to freeze it in portion sizes in a freezer baggie or air-tight container.
Pro-Tip: To reheat, be sure to thaw the soup first, and reheat slowly.
Instant Pot Pasta E Fagioli (pasta and bean soup)
Instant Pot Beef Barley Vegetable Soup
Instant Pot Ham Hock and Bean Soup
Instant Pot Turkey Soup
If you make this pressure cooker Zuppa Toscana Olive Garden Copycat soup recipe, please let me know! Just leave a comment with a star rating. Thank you!
Instant Pot Zuppa Toscana (Sausage Potato Soup)
Equipment
- 6-quart or 8-quart Electric Pressure Cooker
Ingredients
- 3 strips Thick Cut Smoky Bacon, chopped
- 2 lbs Ground Hot Italian Sausage (use ½ hot and ½ mild if you don't like spicy)
- 1 Large Onion, chopped
- 1 teaspoon Oregano, dried
- 4 large cloves Garlic, pressed or minced
- 4-6 Medium Potatoes, halved and sliced ½ inch thick
- 6 cups Chicken Broth, low sodium
- 1 Bunch of Kale** chopped, with rib removed
- 1 - 1 ½ cups Heavy Cream (or whole milk, half and half, etc.)
Optional Substitute for the Kale
- 12-ounce Pkg Frozen Chopped Spinach (thawed) or fresh Baby Spinach*
Instructions
- Turn the Instant Pot to Sauté mode, and add the chopped bacon. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the bacon renders out most of its fat. Remove and set aside.
- Add the sausage and brown it, stirring a few times. If you can get a good browning on it the flavor will be even better!
- Spoon out most of the fat (all but 1 Tablespoon of the fat, enough to cook the onions).
- Add the onions, stir them.
- Add the oregano.
- When the onions start to turn translucent, add the garlic and stir.
- Pour in the broth, stirring, and make sure you scrape the bottom of the pot to get up any browned bits (deglaze).
- Add the potatoes, and add the bacon back in.
- Check to make sure the contents don't go over the Max Fill line marked on the inner liner.
- Cancel Sauté mode.
- Close the lid, set the steam release knob to Sealing.
- Set to Manual (or Pressure Cook), and choose 5 minutes* (High Pressure). The pot will take several minutes to come to pressure.
- After cooking cycle ends, allow a 10 minute NPR (Natural Pressure Release).
- Do a Controlled Quick Release for the rest of the steam, and when the pin in the lid drops, open the lid.
- Add in the kale, (or thawed spinach, if using) and stir well. Cover and let heat through for 5 minutes or so to soften the kale. If using spinach, just stir it in and proceed to the next step.
- Stir in the heavy cream.
- Serve!
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Resources to Make InstaPot Zuppa Toscana Recipe
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Simple and delicious! Used frozen spinach and only had 3 potatoes on hand! Thank you for a new supper staple!
Can’t wait to try this! Do you peel the potatoes before slicing?
Thanks!
Hi Laura, I hardly ever peel my potatoes. Definitely not for this soup!
Could you please include a nutritional breakdown? Thanks!
Hi Jennifer, I have recently acquired a nutrition info addition. I’m learning how to use it and it will be installed soon! Thank you for the request!
Pardon my ignorance, (I’m new to pressure cooking) but is the bacon supposed to be pre-cooked, or does it cook in the soup? I would be using beef sausage and turkey bacon because we don’t eat pork. Thanks!
Hi Stacey! The bacon goes in right before the onions, and cooks with them. Just keep an eye out for how much fat the beef leaves, and spoon some out if it’s more than a few teaspoons. The turkey bacon won’t have much fat, so you will be fine there! I hope you enjoy it!
Very good soup, sprinkle alittle parm on at serving with crusty bread
This is delicious! We will be repeating this recipe very soon!!
Hi Mary! I’m so glad you like the Zuppa Toscana! I really appreciate your review. Thank you!
Great flavor and extremely simple to make. Definitely keeping this for another soup weekend.
Hi Tiffany! Thank you for the nice review! I’m happy that you liked it!
Would this recipe be okay if I used 2% milk. That’s a lot of cream for us but would love to try it.
Yes, I think it will be fine.
Would creme fraiche work? Maybe Lower calories?
Hmmm, I think so. I would temper it first before adding it to the soup. If you don’t know, tempering is adding some of the hot broth to the creme, stirring it, and adding a little more, raising the temperature of the creme before adding it to the soup. This helps prevents curdling.
I made this tonight for dinner and it was so delicious! Only adjustment I made was to deglaze the pot with a little bit of white wine before adding the broth. Thanks for the recipe!
Hi Shannon! The wine sounds like a nice addition. Functional for the deglazing, and delicious! Thank you for taking the time to comment. I’m happy that you liked this soup!
This was a huge success for our dinner tonight. Thanks so much for a great recipe! I didn’t have energy to thaw bacon but the rest was pretty true to the instructions. So flavorful! I also used frozen kale. It worked great.
I’ve made several versions of this soup and this might be my favorite.
Hi Christy! I’m very happy to hear how much you liked this soup! And yes, even without the bacon it is so flavorful! I appreciate that you took the time to comment, and to let me know how you liked it! Thank you!