Paleo Zuppa Toscana

This Paleo Zuppa Toscana is a mouthwatering, healthy comfort food recipe that’s full of savory sausage, crispy bacon, and Italian seasonings! Tuscan and Provencal in flavor, there are countless ways to make this delicious gluten-free soup recipe decidedly yours!

So, apparently Zuppa Toscana is an Olive Garden thing? Friends, WHERE HAVE I BEEN? I’ve never had the Olive Garden version. But I kept seeing recipes for paleo and dairy-free versions all over Pinterest. So I decided it was time to throw my hat into the ring and see if this soup is worth the hype, especially if it’s paleo.

OH MY GOD, YES, IT TOTALLY IS. Without a doubt, Paleo Zuppa Toscana is an ALL-CAPS recipe. So scrumptious, comforting, and pleasantly filling, this soup is how I am moving through the rest of winter. Although, let’s be real here, the flavor is so incredibly delicious, it’s probably also how I am going to move through the rest of the year. K-Hubs went nuts over the basil because it makes this soup so distinctly different than others already on the market. The outrageously toothsome flavor absolutely comes down to the spices used and the sausage selected. First, you can never go wrong with basil, oregano, and parsley. The more the merrier, really. And, two, I chose a country-style sausage that gave this Paleo Zuppa Toscana a rustic feel. Are we in Tuscany or Provence? When a soup tastes this good, does it even matter? Asking for a friend…

If you are in the mood for a comfortably filling dairy-free soup recipe then throw your hat into the ring and make this one! Also, last but not least, because it makes quite a bit, one batch of this Paleo Zuppa Toscana is easily shared amongst friends and family!

PALEO ZUPPA TOSCANA INGREDIENTS:

While the ingredient list is longer for Paleo Zuppa Toscana than some of the other recipes on this blog, most of the ingredients are readily available and may already be in your pantry!

• Sausage and bacon. Finding paleo-friendly sausage and bacon can be a little challenging. But they are out there. I purchase bacon at the grocery store sourced from a local farmer and then use Aldi’s Never Any! Country-Style sausage in this recipe. However, you can use whatever brands or sources you like.
• Garlic, onion, kale, and cauliflower. These ingredients take the flavor up all the notches, and the cauliflower stands in for potatoes, which helps keep this soup paleo.
• Olive oil, almond milk, bone broth, and almond flour. These ingredients give Paleo Zuppa Toscana its rich, creamy flavor. I used this homemade bone broth recipe from the blog to prepare my soup.
• Basil, oregano, parsley, sea salt, pepper, and bay leaves. Let’s talk amounts here. In this recipe, I use a base-flavored sausage and then add my own spices because it gives me the control I need to meet my family’s dietary guidelines. But if you go with an Italian sausage, then you might not need to add as much of each spice. Season with salt and pepper as desired, and you can never go wrong with a bay leaf or two!

HOW TO MAKE PALEO ZUPPA TOSCANA:

To make this process easier, I have listed the steps for Paleo Zuppa Toscana in a particular order that should streamline your time!

1. Cut the bacon strips into thirds or fourths, transfer them to a skillet, and fry to a crispy consistency.
2. While the bacon is cooking, combine the olive oil, garlic, and onions in a large sauté pan or stockpot and begin to sauté the ingredients until the onions are translucent and the garlic is slightly browned but not burned.
3. Next add the sausages to the pan and sauté them until they are cooked through. If necessary, add a little more olive oil. After that, sprinkle the basil, oregano, parsley, and sea salt into the mixture and add the bone broth, almond milk, almond flour, and bay leaves. Let simmer for about 10 minutes. Then add the chopped cauliflower florets and let simmer for about 5-10 minutes. Stir in kale and cook for about a minute or two, or until the kale turns a bright green.
4. Remove bay leaves, top with crumbled crispy bacon pieces, and sprinkle with coarse black pepper. Serve up and enjoy! This soup will keep for about 1-2 days in the refrigerator.

BEST PRACTICES FOR PALEO ZUPPA TOSCANA:

Below are a few suggestions to make Paleo Zuppa Toscana just the way your tastebuds want it!

• Decide which sausage you want to use. If you select an Italian sausage with spices already mixed in, then you might not need to add as much of each spice listed in the ingredients during the cooking process. If you’d like to make your own Italian sausage, then you can try the version included in 40 Aprons’ Healthy Zuppa Toscana recipe.
• Substitute your favorite ingredients. While this recipe calls for almond milk, you can certainly use your own preferred don-dairy beverage. Additionally, we use cauliflower in place of white potatoes in this recipe, but you can substitute sweet potatoes, if you’d like. And, if you don’t want to use kale, you can always use spinach instead.
• If the bacon finishes frying before the soup is ready, place it between paper towels or napkins to absorb excess grease and then crumble into small pieces to use as a garnish.

Today’s recipe is inspired by 40 Aprons’ recipe for Healthy Zuppa Toscana and Our Paleo Life’s recipe for Dairy-Free Copycat Zuppa Toscana. I made several ingredient substitutions to meet my family’s dietary needs.  

If you are in the mood for other comfort food soups, then you might enjoy:

• Creamy Roasted Garlic and Onion Soup
• Dairy-Free Creamy Cauliflower Soup
• Dairy-Free Shrimp Chowder  

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