This Whole30 healthy Zuppa Toscana is rich and creamy, spicy, and absolutely bursting with flavor. You’ll love this filling, Whole30 soup anytime, but especially during cold, wintry months. Dairy free, gluten free, grain free, and sugar-free, this is one of the best Whole30 soups out there and my favorite healthy soup!
We started a recent Whole30 with this soup, and I have to say: we did it right. I even posted a snap (?) on Instagram, lamenting how oh. so. hard. it is to do a Whole30, with lots of crying emojis… I’m subtle.
In previous rounds, I tired quickly of large slabs of animal protein, so I knew I had to shake things up a bit this round. And leading a group Whole30 and Facebook support group (join us!) means coming up with new and delish recipes to keep things interesting.
Et voilà , my friends, the Whole30 Zuppa Toscana. Who isn’t a fan of the creamy, spicy soup at your favorite Italian-food chain, laden with potatoes and kale and bacon and Italian sausage and “ohhhh boy”. Especially during the winter, my cravings for creamy, filling soups multiply like four-hundredfold, so we find ourselves in a tricky spot.
A spot where you’re 100% committed to doing a strict Whole30, but you really, really want Zuppa Toscana.
Why this Whole30 healthy Zuppa Toscana recipe is so good:
- This Whole30 soup is rich and creamy like traditional Zuppa Toscana but totally dairy free.
- It starts with an easy but delicious Italian sausage recipe, made from scratch! But don’t be nervous – it’s super quick and couldn’t be simpler.
- The combination of coconut milk, kale, potatoes, Italian sausage, and bacon make this healthy Zuppa Toscana super filling and a one-pot meal.
This Whole30 Zuppa Toscana is based on a regular Zuppa Toscana recipe, subbing simple ingredients for the dairy, grains, and sugar. I recommend making your own Italian sausage, which is insanely easy, but you could use compliant storebought Italian sausage, too, of course. Make sure you use compliant bacon if you’re on a Whole30, as well. It can be tricky to find bacon that doesn’t have sugar in it, but Whole Foods has a few brands of that, as well.
I have a tendency to be super hungry on the Whole30, like eat. all. the. things., but this soup kept me super full all night. I might have had to bite my knuckles to get past my craving for Glutino pretzels on tap, shoveled into my face during our nightly screenings of Boardwalk Empire, but it wasn’t from hunger, that’s for us.
That, my friends, is a habit that, I have to say, I kind of still miss. Baby steps, fam. Baby steps.
Variations
- If you avoid potatoes, try cauliflower florets in place of the diced potatoes. You can even try celery root!
- Try ground chicken in place of the pork, if you prefer or don’t eat pork.
- If you’re allergic to coconut or are worried it might have a “coconutty” flavor, swap the coconut milk out for cashew cream. Combine 1 cup raw cashews with 3/4 cup water in a high-speed blender and blend until completely smooth.
Tips
- Don’t overcook the soup after you’ve added the kale. You want it bright green and just wilted.
- Make a big batch of this Whole30 healthy Zuppa Toscana on Sunday and eat it all week. Comfiest meal prep ever!
- Leave out the extra 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes in the soup if you’re sensitive to heat.
How to make this Whole30 healthy Zuppa Toscana:
Make your Italian sausage: combine all ingredients and mix well with your hands. Alternately, simply pour all ingredients into a large pot and mix with a spoon while browning. Brown the sausage in a large heavy-bottomed pot, preferably a Dutch oven, breaking up with a spoon or spatula. Remove from pot, drain, and set aside.
Fry bacon until crisp and remove with a slotted spoon. Don’t get rid of bacon grease! Stir in the onions and garlic and cook until soft and translucent.
Add chicken broth and bring to a boil. Add the potatoes and boil about 10-15 minutes, or until potatoes are fork-tender. Reduce the heat to medium and add coconut milk and sausage; stir until smooth. Add in kale and bacon and cook until kale is bright green and just wilted.
Serve!
Other recipes you’ll love:
- Whole30 Instant Pot Chicken Tortilla-Less Soup
- Cheesy Vegan Broccoli Soup (Whole30)
- Bruschetta Chicken (Whole30, Paleo, Low Carb)
Did you make and love this recipe? Give your review below! 👇 And make sure to share your creations by tagging me on Instagram!
Whole30 Zuppa Toscana
A rich, creamy, filling Zuppa Toscana that's healthy and Whole30. With tender potatoes, kale, easy homemade Italian sausage, and bacon, this Whole30 soup recipe is loaded with flavor and the perfect one-pot meal.
Ingredients
- 4 slices Whole30-compliant bacon cut into about 1/2" pieces
- 1 pound Italian sausage made from below recipe or storebought
- 1/2 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes
- 4 medium yellow potatoes about 1 pound 3 ounces, diced into bite-sized pieces
- 1 medium white or yellow onion diced
- 2 tablespoons garlic minced, about 4 cloves
- 4 cups chicken stock
- 1/2 bunch kale stems removed and leaves chopped, 4 cups
- 1 can coconut milk
- Salt and pepper to taste
Homemade Whole30 Italian Sausage
- 1 pound ground pork
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 tablespoon fresh chopped parsley or 2 teaspoons dried
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1/4 teaspoon ground fennel seed optional
- pinch dried oregano
- pinch dried thyme
Wine Pairings (NOT for Whole30!) — See Notes
- 2016 Middle Jane Carignan click to buy
- 2018 Oso Pardo Red Wine click to buy
- 2018 Che Fico Pinot Grigio click to buy
Instructions
If making Italian sausage: combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Alternately, combine all ingredients in the saucepan and stir well when browning.
- In a Dutch oven or heavy-bottomed medium pot over medium heat, add Italian sausage and sprinkle crushed red pepper flakes over. Use a spoon to break up the pieces. When browned and cooked through, drain and set aside.
- Cook the bacon pieces in the same Dutch oven over medium heat until crisp, about 5-10 minutes. Remove the crisp bacon and set aside - don't get rid of the bacon fat! Stir in the onions and garlic; cook until onions are soft and translucent, about 5 minutes.
- Pour the chicken broth into the Dutch oven with the onions and garlic, and bring to a boil over high heat. Add the potatoes, and boil until fork tender, about 10-20 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium and stir in the coconut milk and the cooked sausage; heat through. Add the bacon and the kale into the soup just before serving and cook 'til the kale is bright green and softened. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Recipe Video
Recipe Notes
Wine Pairings
NO wine on Whole30 — no exceptions. I recommend buying wine from Scout and Cellar, especially for lower carb or sugar and the health conscious. There's no added sugar to these wines, and they're all much lower in carbs, calories, and sugar. For me, there's no headache or fogginess the next day!
This soup recipe has a host of Italian flavors and seasonings, so you can get away with a variety of wine pairings. I recommend:
This recipe was originally published in January 2017 but was updated with step-by-step photos, video, and tips August 2018.
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Great recipe! Will be making this again!
I’m so glad you loved it!
Second time making this week! Kids and family love it. Made the Italian sausage from recipe too thanks!
That’s awesome! I’m so glad y’all loved it enough to eat it twice in one week!!
I made this with store bought, ground Italian sausage and STILL added the spice blend to the meat…OMG so amazing and flavorful!!!!!!
Ooh, that sounds delicious!
I’m on my first Whole 30 round and have made this recipe twice in the last 3 weeks! Friends and family loved it!! Thank you for providing such amazing recipes!!
Hi Cheryl,
My entire family loved this one. We have a non pork eater at home and I had a hard time finding Whole30 compliant pork bacon, so I resolved to make this with turkey bacon. I took a short cut on the sausage as well and used a paleo chicken meatball brand. Then I went to Trader Joe’s and found a compliant pork bacon. So I decided to make both versions. Both were absolutely delish. Thanks again for the wonderful recipe!
Dani
We’re glad you loved it!
We have loved this recipe for a while now, but the other night, I went to make it thinking I had more of the ingredients than I did. I am happy to say that it was still good even though I substituted some things, not as lovely as the original, but everyone gave it a thumbs up. I browned a cheese and herb chicken sausage I had, and then used some yellow colored flesh sweet potatoes, and alas, I also had no kale, but I had some green beans. Yummy.
This is always a hit for us during our whole30 (and after). It has such a rich flavor, and it’s filling. I like to add more chicken broth to mine just from personal preference to thin it out a bit. So easy and delicious. Thank you for so many qualities recipes! This is one of our favorites!
We’re glad you love this! Extra chicken broth definitely makes it more soupy and stretches the recipe a little further!
Super good! The broth has an outstanding flavor on its own. I separated out the onions, kale and potatoes for my picky eater and he still loved it.
Love when we please a picky eater!
So easy, flavorful and delicious. I did as the recipe called for, but would do a leaner version next time…low-fat coconut milk, cauliflower instead of potatoes and maybe even skip bacon.
I’ve made this time and time again and its always a hit in my book! My only question would be, what’s the measured serving size? I’m trying to be more vigilant of portion control at the moment!
The ideal soup servings are dependent. If it’s a cup of soup, like as a side or for soup and salad night, it’s literally one cup measured. For a bowl, it’s doubled, so 2 cups measured.
I adore this soup. Can you please clarify the serving size? Unless I missed it, the nutrition facts do not specify the measurement- one cup?
In general, a cup of soup, or a side of soup or when having soup as an appetizer, the serving size is one measured cup. A bowl of soup, which is usually the serving for a whole meal of soup, is 2 measured cups!
The recipe makes 6 serving, so it’s just 1/6 of the total soup made. I hope that helps!
This looks amazingly creamy, Super easy plus relatively quick—just under an hour from start to table. I did need to add salt for my taste, but this was a hit with the whole family. Thanks for the great recipe
We totally add salt too. Thank you Katie!!
DELICIOUS !! Poured it over Jasmine rice (a non-whole 30 treat…) And used spinach instead of Kale bc that’s what we had in the house.
Thank you!!!
That sounds delicious! I’m glad you enjoyed it!
This recipe was so so yummy, and I shared it with so many of my friends who also enjoyed it. I used bone broth instead of chicken broth, added orange bell peppers, added cayenne peppers, and broke the casing off the hot turkey links and reseasoned them. It turned out so so delicious, and I can’t want to make it again. Thanks so much for this delicious recipe~
Ooh, that sounds delicious. I’m glad you liked the recipe!
Yummy. I only used 1/4 red pepper flake and my fam still says too spicy. I needed an extra 2 cups chx broth, i used 4 baking potatoes so perhaps less potatoes nxt time. Did not take coconutty, even though it smelt like it. Only had ground Turkey, that worked out fine! On the make again list!!
Made this tonight and it is delicious!! Can the leftovers go in the freezer? Does it freeze well? Thank you!
They can go in the freezer for sure!
Could you crockpot this?? If so, any changes?
Indeed 🙂
https://40aprons.com/crockpot-zuppa-toscana/
LOVE! First time making it and will definitely make it again. Any tips on how to get the broth a bit more creamy?? Mine was pretty much liquid although tasty!!
It typically will be a pretty liquid base. You could blend together the coconut milk with 1/2-1 cup cashews if you like, though, to make it thicker!
My daughter is allergic to coconut and dairy.. Could soy be used?
I think it’s definitely worth trying! Almond milk might be a good option, too.
Thoroughly enjoyed by the entire family. My 4yo actually told me that I “nailed it.” Haha!
A family favorite.
Yay!!
Great recipe!
I am so glad you liked it!
This is hands down the best soup I have ever had in my life. I make it for my whole family and everyone loves it. The homemade sausage is incredible!!! Make the sausage yourself for sure. I have frozen it and it reheats really well, still so tasty and the potatoes are still good! Thank you for this incredible recipe. BEST SOUP EVER!
Thank you for the great review! It’s one of my faves, too.
Hello Cheryl, could I use Oatmilk instead of coconut milk since I have that already? Thank you!
Hi!
If not on the Whole30 diet, then yes, oat milk can be substituted; however, we have not experimented with that particular milk so we cannot speak on flavor.
Oats are not Whole30 compliant, but if you are not following that particular nutritional lifestyle, then yes, they can be used. 🙂