When’s the last time you went to Olive Garden? Most of us have probably been to this restaurant plenty of times for its relatively affordable menu, its convenience and its unbeatable and unlimited soup and breadsticks bonuses. Although the food at Olive Garden is pretty good overall, the soups and the breadsticks are one of the biggest pulls for anyone eating dinner at this chain. Although we all have our favorites, the Zuppa Toscana is one of the more popular bowls.
Still, what if you could avoid making a trip out of the house and instead you could just whip up a pot of this stuff right at home? Fortunately, you can make the same creamy and rich broth as you’re likely find at an Olive Garden in the comforts of your own kitchen. And as it turns out, the recipe is incredibly straightforward. It can even be made in your slow cooker. So what are we waiting for?
Here’s what you’ll need:
- 1 pound of Italian sausage
- 3 russet potatoes
- 2 cloves of minced garlic
- 1 large white onion, chopped finely
- 4 cups of chicken broth
- 2 cups of kale or Swiss chard
- 1 cup of heavy cream
- salt
- pepper
Here’s what you do:
1. First, get a large skillet going over medium-high heat and throw in your Italian sausage. Brown it for about five minutes or to your liking and pull the sausage out, draining and discarding the fat. Take out your potatoes and rinse them, slicing them into wedges and then halving them. Prepare your onions and garlic during this stage as well.
2. After that, pour all your ingredients into your slow cooker except for your cream and your kale. Set your slow cooker for seven to eight hours on low (or on high for four to five hours).
3. After that time has passed, add in your cream and your kale and stir everything together. Close the slow cooker and let it cook for another 20 to 30 minutes until the leaves are soft and wilted.
4. Once it’s all done, ladle your soup into bowls and serve it up while it’s still hot! If you want to take it to another level, serve it with some breadsticks on the side as well.
As you can see, making this soup for yourself is about as easy as it gets—you even get to use your slow cooker in the process. Although the bowls of soup this recipe makes won’t be unlimited like they sometimes are at the official restaurant, they’re still just as delicious and a lot cheaper. If you want to stay faithful to the Olive Garden version of this soup, follow these instructions more or less to the letter.
Still, if you want to use this recipe as a jumping-off point and turn it into something of your own, feel free! If you want to throw in beef instead of sausage, go ahead. Switch out the vegetables for ones you like more, or add in more vegetables to the mix. When you have a slow cooker soup recipe as good as this one is, it’s pretty hard to mess it up. Happy cooking!
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