A hearty soup for a cold winter night.
In the middle of winter, my crockpot gets a real workout. On a cold, gray day, there’s nothing more comforting than coming home to the smell of a rich, hearty soup drifting through the house. And with the slow cooker, I can start the soup in the morning and know that it will be ready, warm, and welcoming by suppertime.
Here’s a particularly cozy soup for those cold winter nights: Crockpot Zuppa Toscana Soup. This traditional Italian soup is super rich and satisfying. It’s loaded up with bacon, sausage, potatoes, onion, garlic, spinach, and cream, so it really fills you up and warms you up at the same time. All it needs is a side of nice, crusty bread to make a complete meal.
Walking into the house with the smell of this soup wafting out of the kitchen is like walking into a big, warm hug. Don’t believe me? Just try it, and watch for the smiles on your family’s faces when they come in the door.
Crockpot Zuppa Toscana Soup
INGREDIENTS:
bacon, cooked and diced, reserving 1 slice for a topping.
1 lb Italian sausage, ground (For a lighter version, you can also use turkey sausage, such as Jimmy Jean Turkey Sausage)
1 medium onion, diced
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
32 oz chicken broth
1 ½ lbs baby yellow potatoes, cubed into bite-sized pieces (no need to peel. NOTE: you can use russet potatoes, but you will need to peel those.)
3 cups baby spinach
1 ½ cups half and half ( you can use fat free half and half for a lighter version)
Salt and pepper, to taste
DIRECTIONS:
- Over a medium heat brown brown sausage, breaking it apart with a wooden spoon. Once meat starts to brown, add in onions and garlic. Continue until meet is cooked through. Drain grease off. In a 5-6 qt slow-cooker, place sausage mixture, diced bacon (remember to save about 1 slice for topping) broth, and potatoes.
- Cover and cook on LOW for 5-6 hours or on HIGH for 3-4 hours. Once cooking time is up, add in spinach, and half and half. Stir, recover and cook for on HIGH for 20-30 more minutes.
- Serve topped with your reserved bacon and some yummy crusty bread!
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Crockpot Zuppa Toscana Soup
Ingredients
- 6-7 slices of bacon - cooked and diced, reserving 1 slice for a topping.
- 1 lb Italian sausage - ground (For a lighter version, you can also use turkey sausage, such as Jimmy Jean Turkey Sausage)
- 1 medium onion - diced
- 2-3 garlic cloves - minced
- 32 oz chicken broth
- 1 ½ lbs baby yellow potatoes - cubed into bite-sized pieces (no need to peel. NOTE: you can use russet potatoes, but you will need to peel those.)
- 3 cups baby spinach
- 1 ½ cups half and half - you can use fat free half and half for a lighter version
- Salt and pepper - to taste
Instructions
- Over a medium heat brown brown sausage, breaking it apart with a wooden spoon. Once meat starts to brown, add in onions and garlic. Continue until meet is cooked through. Drain grease off.
- In a 5-6 qt slow-cooker, place sausage mixture, diced bacon (remember to save about 1 slice for topping) broth, and potatoes.
- Cover and cook on LOW for 5-6 hours or on HIGH for 3-4 hours. Once cooking time is up, add in spinach, and half and half. Stir, recover and cook for on HIGH for 20-30 more minutes.
- Serve topped with your reserved bacon and some yummy crusty bread!
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Nutrition Information:
Nutrition Disclaimer
Family Fresh Meals is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is only an estimate. We recommend running the ingredients through an online nutritional calculator if you need to verify any information.
Amanda H says
SO GOOD! I didn’t add the bacon because I didn’t have any but it was excellent anyway! I used russet potatoes and whole milk. All 6 of my kids liked it!
Corey says
Awesome! Yes, this is one of my kids’ favorites too!
Aleshia says
This looks like a great recipe! I haven’t tried it yet….but I just wanted to let you know that Olive Garden uses Kale, not spinach, but I can’t wait to make it.
John F says
To make the soup the real Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana use russet potatoes scrubbed and sliced thin with skin on and use kale ! Not chunky white potatoes , they tend to get mushy and the russet stay firm , but slice thin !