Zuppa Toscana Soup {Olive Garden} - The Best Copy Cat Recipe

So, I'm sure most of you have gone to the Olive Garden around lunch time and ordered the unlimited soup,salad, and bread sticks right?  Well, my soup of choice is always the Zuppa Toscana (Potato Soup).  I mean seriously, I don't even know what other soups they serve. 

A few years ago, I found this perfect copy cat recipe and I thought I would share.  It's super easy to make.

Ingredients:

• 1 pound Italian sausage
• 2 large russet baking potatoes sliced in half and then in 1/4 inch slices
• 1 large chopped onion
• 1/2 (or more) can. Oscar Meyer Real Bacon Bits (or real bacon if you prefer)
• 2 cloves garlic,  minced
• 2 cups chopped kale or Swiss chard (if anything it adds some color)
• 2 14.5 ounce cans chicken broth
• 1 quart water
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream

Instructions:

Break up the sausage a bit and place in the oven at 300-degrees for approximately 1/2 hour; drain excess oil on paper towels and cut into slices. One time I forgot to drain the excess oil and it all settled on top of the soup.  So drain as much as you can. 

Take the onions, chicken broth, water, and garlic and combine in a large pot on medium heat until potatoes are done.  Then you will add the cooked sausage, bacon, salt, and pepper (to taste) and let that simmer for another 10 minutes.  Turn the heat down to low and add the kale and cream.  Heat and serve :)

Now unlike the Olive Garden soup, you can always add a little more sausage and/or potatoes to make it hardier.