Zuppa Toscana
A comforting chicken built around spicy italian sausage, smoked bacon and russet potatoes β roughly 65 minutes start to finish, and rated medium to make. You'll find the full ingredient list (with a scaler to change the servings), 6 steps of method, substitutions, and ideas for what to serve alongside.
You'll mainly reach for large pot and saucepan. At medium difficulty across 6 steps, it's manageable with a little attention.
What you'll need
Shopping list (6)
Pantry staples (you likely have these)
π Unit converter
How to make it
- Remove the sausage from its casings and brown it in a large pot over medium-high heat, breaking it into crumbles, until no pink remains and it reaches at least 71 C / 160 F internally, then lift it out with a slotted spoon and set aside.
- Add the chopped bacon to the same pot and cook until crisp, then remove most of the rendered fat, leaving about a tablespoon behind.
- Add the diced onion to the pot and soften for 4 to 5 minutes, then stir in the minced garlic and red pepper flakes and cook for one more minute until fragrant.
- Pour in the chicken broth and water, add the potatoes sliced into half-moons, bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook for about 15 minutes until the potatoes are fork-tender.
- Return the sausage to the pot, stir in the heavy cream and the torn kale, and simmer gently for 5 minutes until the greens wilt and soften.
- Stir in most of the crisp bacon, season with salt and pepper to taste, and serve hot with the remaining bacon scattered over each bowl.
You'll use: Large pot Β· Saucepan
Ingredient substitutions
- Heavy Cream
- evaporated milk Β· Β½ cup milk + ΒΌ cup melted butter Β· full-fat coconut milk
Tips & common questions
How long does Zuppa Toscana take to make?
About 65 minutes from start to finish β an estimate based on the 6 steps and 12 ingredients. Times vary with your kitchen and how much prep you do ahead.
What can I use instead of heavy cream?
Try evaporated milk. See the substitutions section above for more swaps.
Can I scale this recipe up or down?
Yes β use the servings control above the ingredients and every quantity rescales automatically (fractions included). Cooking times stay roughly the same; very large batches may need a little longer.
How should I store leftovers?
Cool leftovers quickly, refrigerate in an airtight container, and eat within 3 days. Reheat until piping hot throughout.
Related recipes
Zuppa Toscana is an original recipe developed in-house by Consomee. Photo: A bowl of Zuppa Toscana prepared from the Wikibooks recipe.JPG by MarkTraceur, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons. We add the serving scaler, ingredient tools, timing and structure on top β how we source recipes.