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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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Awesome recipe. Tastes just like the restaurants. Easy to make also. This will be a staple for fall and winter.
Thanks, James! I’m so glad you liked it!
Thanks for sharing, I love this soup. Sometimes I use precut bits of pancetta instead of bacon. I read the comment about reheating. Would you store the soup in the fridge after letting it cool off and then put it back in the instant pot to reheat? Is that manual for 2 or 3 minutes?
Thank you!
Dawn
How much is a serving? 1 cup 1.5 cups?
1 cup is how I figured it.
Can I make this soup one day ahead? Wondering if the day before, I stop after step 14 and refrigerate. Then reheat the next day and add kale/spinach then the cream. I don’t want the spinach/kale to be “soggy”. Will this work, or do you have a better suggestion?
Hi Laurie, yes, that is how I would do it. The leftovers will reheat nicely if you don’t boil it too hard. Enjoy!
I have quite a lot of kale in my garden right now and was wondering what I was going to do with all of it. A friend suggested the Zuppa and I loved the idea! Only problem is, I started a low carb diet a few weeks ago and potatoes are a no-no. I decided to try using a head of cauliflower broken into bite sized pieces. I didn’t alter the rest of the recipe at all. This is going to be my go-to recipe! The cauliflower was great and I feel didn’t take away from the full-bodied taste of the soup at all!
Someone else told me that they used cauliflower with great results, so I’m happy to know you did, too! Someone else used sweet potatoes, and that also sounds good! Thank you for your review!
The soup came out great, but I do have one question. The part where it says to remove all but 2 tsps of liquid then saute the onions, does that mean take out the sausage as well? If so then it would be nice to notate that and when to add the sausage back. Thanks so much!
Hi Ryan, I’m glad you liked the soup! You do leave the sausage in. You don’t HAVE to spoon out most of the fat, but I felt it was just a bit too greasy if left all in. Personal preference, but this method works best for me.
Absolutely amazing!
Thank you! I’m happy you liked it!
I’m guessing you slice the sausages before browning? Or do you do that when you take them out?
Hi Heidi, if you want to use link sausage, then yes, I would slice first. This recipe is created for ground sausage, and I like the texture in combination with the other ingredients better.
Tip: Sometimes our store doesn’t have fresh ground italian sausage just the fresh uncooked linked italian sausage. I just cut off end of each link & remove skin/casing by squeezing or pealing it back/off. Just takes a couple minutes & saves me a trip toting 5 kids to/thru different store. Each of our kids ages 1-12 love this recipe…even the very very picky eater that doesn’t do spicy foods at all (won’t even eat a taco due to spicy) & would eat PB&J every meal. Thank you for sharing recipe.
Hi Tiffany! Thanks for the great tip! I’m so glad that you and your littles enjoyed this soup! Thank you so much for leaving a review!
I just used Sausage Links and cut them into spoonful slices, I also used boiler potatoes and cut in half and boiler onions, My sausage was mild so I added red pepper flakes when I was browning the sausage. Delicious!! Next time I make this I am going to deglaze with some white wine!
I made this tonight and my entire family including two kids under 10 ate double servings! Served it with tons of grated cheddar cheese (just because that’s what my kids love) and topped each bowl with a piece of sourdough toast. It was awesome and I think it’s going on heavy rotation at our house!
Side note: I accidentally bought half and half because the two cartons looked exactly the same at the grocery store, and it worked just fine.
Hi Neena, how great that even the kids loved this soup! I’m so happy that this will be a part of your family’s rotation! Thank you for the review!
This soup has become a staple in my home! We make it every other week. Two notes: I sometimes will use a splash of white wine for deglazing, which is delish! And I only make this soup in an 8 qt instant pot. I recommend using 3 potatoes if you are using a 6 qt. When I make this soup for my whole family (10 ppl) I put in 6 potatoes to stretch the amount of servings, but it maxes out the 8qt pot. I can’t wait to try this with cauliflower instead of potatoes next. YUM!
Thank you for this recipe! It was delicious!
You’re welcome, Carol! Thank you for taking the time to review my recipe! 😀