An easy to make low carb zuppa toscana soup recipe that is chock full of sausage and healthy vegetables. It’s a favorite Italian cream soup.
It’s so cold outside that I cringe every time I have to go out. Cold is something that doesn’t go over well with me and I do whatever I can to stay warm.
What makes it even worse is that it’s been super windy too making it feel ten times colder. At work, I learned all the indoor paths available to get me where I need to go.
I’ve been making a lot of low carb soups and stews to keep me warm the past month. I even put together a recipe list of my favorites. I’ve just discovered another great recipe. It’s a delicious low carb Zuppa Toscana soup.
I first discovered Zuppa Toscana at the Olive Garden chain restaurant. It was always my favorite appetizer soup at that restaurant before moving to low carb.
If you remove the potatoes, the rest of the soup is low carb. So, for my homemade version, I replaced the potatoes with low carb radishes. My recipe for low carb Zuppa Toscana also is a lot chunkier than the soup I’ve had at Olive Garden.
Soup is one of the easiest dishes you can make. It’s also something that cooks up in a single pot. We have tons of venison sausage in the freezer so I came up with this low carb Zuppa Toscana as a way to use up some of that meat.
And, it made a lot of soup. That was a welcome hot meal over the last week as temperatures dropped well below freezing with wind chills making it feel much colder.
I used hot venison sausage which was pretty spicy so I didn’t need to add the usual crushed pepper flake seasoning. I also used a lot more sausage than typically added to Zuppa Toscana soup.
I was making a large pot of soup so I used two 32 ounce containers of organic chicken broth. I let the broth come to a boil before adding the vegetables.
A food processor is the best way to quickly slice the radishes, especially if you are using the smaller sized ones. I’d say it took less than 30 seconds to slice up a whole pound using the rotary slicing blade.
Radishes typically take a little longer to cook than potatoes, so I let the soup simmer until the radishes had a texture similar to cooked potatoes. I prefer using the white radishes like Daikon as a low carb potato, but I couldn’t find any so I used the red ones.
It saves a little time to use the chopped frozen spinach, but you can certainly use fresh spinach and chop it up yourself. I just like the convenience of keeping frozen vegetables stocked because they keep so long and they often save me a trip to buy fresh.
I am totally in love with this low carb Zuppa Toscana soup and I am certainly going to make it over and over again. We have loads of frozen venison in the freezer so I have plenty of meat to make more. I’d say this soup would also freeze well so I it would be a good choice if you are into make ahead freezer meals.
There is no issue in getting this soup eaten in a week, even if it’s just me eating it. I have a lunch crock pot at my desk that I use at work to heat up my food.
I find it’s a much better way to reheat food compared to using the microwave. Soups make a perfect workday meal and warming it in the lunch crock pot ensures it will be at the perfect temperature!
Be sure to use a large pot when making this soup because the recipe makes a lot. You can freeze some of it if you can’t eat it all in a week or half the recipe. Like most soups, there is plenty of room for modification in the recipe so feel free to change it up to suit your own tastes!
There are so many choices when it comes to low carb soups. Do you have a favorite soup that you’d like to see made low carb? Drop a comment and I’ll see what I can come up with!
Low Carb Zuppa Toscana Soup
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Low Carb Zuppa Toscana Soup
Recipe Video (Click on Image to Play)
Ingredients
- 1 ½ pound bulk hot sausage
- 1 small onion chopped
- 2 cloves garlic
- 64 fluid ounces chicken bone broth
- 1 pound radishes thinly sliced
- 10 ounce package chopped frozen spinach thawed
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 6 slices no sugar bacon cooked & chopped
- 1-2 teaspoons salt adjust to taste
- ground black pepper
- crushed red pepper flakes optional
Instructions
- Brown sausage with onion and garlic in butter or oil in large pot (6-8 quart).
- Add broth and bring to a boil.
- Stir in radishes and spinach. Simmer until radishes are tender.
- Mix in cream and bacon. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Add crushed red pepper flakes for more spice.
Notes
Low Carb Sweeteners | Keto Sweetener Conversion Chart
Nutrition
Additional Info
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Note on Nutritional Information
Nutritional information for the recipe is provided as a courtesy and is approximate only. We cannot guarantee the accuracy of the nutritional information given for any recipe on this site. Erythritol carbs are not included in carb counts as it has been shown not to impact blood sugar. Net carbs are the total carbs minus fiber.
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Dan Melbourne
Hi Lisa, this recipe looks great! Can you explain what is in the ‘hot sausage’? We don’t have that as a thing that our butchers in Australia sell — if it’s ‘sausage’, it’s already in a casing ready to fry. Is this a sausage filling, and if so do you know what is in it? I might be able to approximate it with mince and additives. (Venison here is also very expensive — beef and lamb are our mainstays)
Lisa MarcAurele
Usually the spice in hot sausage comes from red pepper flakes so you can just add a bit to the dish if you’d like a similar taste.
Lisa
That looks delicious!
Denyse
Could you use turnips instead of radishes? would it still be low carb?
Lisa MarcAurele
Turnips have a bit more carbs than turnips, but if that’s okay with you it’s a good substitute.
Michele
I used parsnips instead of radishes. This is even better than Olive Garden’s version.
Jocelyn
QUESTION: Do I drain off the grease from the sausage or leave it?
Lisa MarcAurele
I drain some of it. It’s good to have a little more fat though.
Mindy
Just converted this to an instant pot recipe, cooking for 10 minutes on high pressure. Turned out perfect! I also used kohlrabi and cauliflower as my “potato” ?
Mindy
Lisa MarcAurele
Thanks for sharing the pressure cooker directions!
Lisa A
Currently devouring this soup with my love on a cold, rainy day.
However, we’re vegeterain so I used veggie sausage instead. Omg it’s totally delicious! And it’s low carb?! I wonder if the calorie count would be lower or higher. Either way super thrilled for this recipe!! Thank you!!
Lisa MarcAurele
Good to know this one can be made vegetarian too!
Lynn
I made this soup this afternoon and love it. I used turnips instead of radishes ( medium sliced thin) and fresh kale (chopped with heavy stems removed. Delicious!!
Lisa MarcAurele
Turnips are a great low carb sub for potatoes too!
Kyra
I just made this with some small modifications. I used the radishes, but also added a pink turnip (JUST.LIKE.POTATO!), and cauliflower. I don’t miss the potatoes at all! I also used fresh spinach and kale. SO yummy, so like the real thing, but even better!
Lisa MarcAurele
Turnips and cauliflower are fantastic potato subs too!
An
how much is a serving?
Lisa
Each is a little more than a cup.
Deb
What is venison sausage- know what venison burger is!!
Lisa MarcAurele
It’s the same but usually adds other meat, fat, and spices.
BJ
I absolutely LOVE this soup…..I could eat it every day! Even for Breakfast! Everyone I have served it to has remarked “how delicious, how did you make it”…..I don’t eat potatoes so I alternate with Large Radishes and/or Small Turnips….kale or spinach….i prefer Beef Broth and of course the CREAM makes it divine. I like putting grated parmesan on top when served which will add 22 calories per serving. Thank you so much for sharing so I could print for sharing with others with your name on top of course so they can view the video pictures which are amazing….
Lisa
I love eating soup for breakfast too. In fact, I rarely eat traditional breakfast food.
terri
Celeriac or celery root is also an excellent low starch substitute for potato in soup
terri
Any chance of doing some auto metric conversions on your recipes like I have seen on other sites? Then the rest of the world can easily use the recipes. Thanks this looks yummy
Lisa
Done for this recipe. It needs to be manually set for each recipe and I just haven’t had time to get to all of them.
LAURA S
Can I use canned sliced water chestnuts in place of the radishes or will that ruin the recipe?
Lisa
Water chestnuts can be used, but I do believe the carb count is higher for them.
Tina
I made this today as written and it was delish!!! My daughter thought the radishes were potatoes. Very flavorful and perfect for a cold winter night. This is going in the rotation!
Rachel
I have a Zuppa recipe that I make that is basically exactly like this. When I started low carbing I had a craving for Zuppa but knew I’d need a potato substitute and cauliflower did not sound appealing to me. Using radishes is brilliant and my husband and I couldn’t even tell they weren’t potatoes. Thank you so much for this great swap!!!
Lisa
You’re welcome!