Whole30 Zuppa Toscana (Paleo, Dairy-Free, Healthy)

Whole30 Zuppa Toscana in a white bowl next to a green napkin

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Whole30 Zuppa Toscana (Paleo, Dairy-Free, Healthy)

This Whole30 Zuppa Toscana is an easy, hearty one-pan meal! Plus this healthy Olive Garden copycat recipe is dairy-free, Paleo and Whole30 friendly.

Prep Time20

Cook Time55

Total Time1 15

Course: Main Course, Soup

Cuisine: Italian

Servings: servings

Calories: 586kcal

Author: Don Baiocchi

Ingredients

5 slices bacon
1 medium yellow onion
2 large garlic cloves
½ teaspoon red pepper flakes (use more or less depending your preference)
1 pound bulk Italian sausage (if only sold in links, remove from casings)
1 pound yellow potatoes, such as Russet
4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 cup water
1 bunch kale (either the curly or lacinato/dino variety)
½ cup full-fat unsweetened coconut milk
½ cup unsweetened plain almond milk
fine sea salt
freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

Add the bacon to a cold, dry soup pot or stockpot and place over medium heat. Cook until dark brown on both sides, then remove to a paper-towel lined plate. The bacon will crisp up as it cools. You can either leave all the bacon fat in the pan or drain it out, leaving 2 tablespoons in the pot.
While the bacon is cooking, peel and dice the onion and peel and mince the garlic. Add the onion and garlic to the bacon fat and sauté until the onion is soft and translucent, about 5-8 minutes.
Use a wooden spoon or spatula to push the onion and garlic to the edge of the pot. Add the Italian sausage in the middle. Break it up into smaller and smaller pieces as it cooks until fully browned, about 8-10 minutes.
While the sausage is cooking, peel the potatoes and chop into roughly 1/2" cubes.
When the sausage is browned, add the cubed potatoes, chicken broth and water to the pot. Turn the heat to high and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to bring the soup down to a simmer and let cook for 10 minutes.
While the soup is simmering, remove the kale leaves from their stems, discard the stems and roughly chop the leaves.
To clean the kale, one way is to rinse the leaves in a colander and then leave in the colander until ready to use (no need to dry the leaves).
Or you can fill a large bowl with water and submerge the leaves in the water. Swish and toss the leaves around in the water to remove any grit. Remove the leaves to a dry towel (no need to dry them thoroughly). Remove the leaves before dumping out the water - you don't want to pour the grit back over the leaves!
Once the soup has simmered for 10 minutes, stir in the kale, coconut milk and almond milk. Turn the heat to high again to bring to a simmer, then reduce the heat to let it simmer for 5 minutes. The potatoes should be fork-tender.
Remove from the heat. Crumble or chop the bacon and stir most of it in. Taste the soup and add salt if necessary. Stir in freshly ground pepper, ladle into bowls and sprinkle with the rest of the bacon.

Notes

Note: For Whole30, make sure ingredients are Whole30 friendly.

Note: While the time says 1 hour 15 minutes, a lot of the prep work is done while parts of the soup are cooking, so the overall time will probably be less.

Substitutions

You can use chicken or turkey Italian sausage instead of pork.

No fresh garlic? Stir in 3/4 teaspoon garlic powder when sautéing the onions.

You can use homemade bone broth but note that it might have more salt than the low-sodium store-bought kind.

You can change the amount of red pepper flakes you use, or leave them out entirely.

If you want a low-carb version, substitute cauliflower florets for the potatoes. Simmer them for about 5 minutes before adding the kale.

You can use other sturdy leafy greens instead of kale, such as spinach, Swiss chard or collard greens.

Make ahead

You can store it in the fridge for up to 5 days. Reheat over medium heat.

To freeze, store in an airtight container/baggie and freeze for up to 3 months.

Thaw overnight in the fridge. Reheat over medium heat.

Note: If you know you're going to freeze the soup, I'd recommend cutting the potato-simmering time down to 7-8 minutes before adding the kale. Otherwise they might get too mushy. They'll finish cooking once you reheat the soup after it thaws.

Nutrition