This Low Carb Keto Zuppa Toscana Soup recipe is packed with flavor from crispy bacon, Italian Sausage, spinach and tender cauliflower, all simmered in a rich, creamy broth.
For more easy recipes packed with flavor, try our cauliflower wings and chicken caprese. They’re both reader favorites!
Why You’ll Love This Low Carb Keto Zuppa Toscana
From broccoli cheddar soup to lasagna soup, who doesn’t love to indulge in a big bowl of soup on a cold day?
Oh wait, you’re cutting carbs? Trying to follow a keto friendly diet? I feel ya. Doesn’t it seem like all the comfort foods involve carbs somehow? Well, not this Keto Zuppa Toscana recipe.
Here’s why you’ll love it.
- You may remember this Olive Garden Copycat Zuppa Toscana Soup recipe from a few years back. It’s SO good, and this recipe transforms it into a keto friendly dinner.
- Between the savory Italian sausage and thick-cut bacon, this is a recipe that’s absolutely packed with flavor. You won’t miss the carbs, I promise!
- This is also a soup that’s hearty and satisfying. You know how some soups leave you hungry for more? Not this Keto Zuppa Toscana!
Important Ingredient Notes
- Italian Sausage – I use the mild, bulk sausage. Use spicy if you prefer, or links with the casings removed.
- Thick cut bacon – Some people prefer to add the bacon at the end of the cook time as a garnish so that it stays crispy, not chewy. Your call.
- Beef broth – I like using beef bone broth, which has extra nutrients and collagen.
- Cauliflower – The dream vegetable that replaces potatoes in many low carb meals (like buffalo cauliflower). You can also use turnips if you prefer!
- Heavy whipping cream – For that indulgent creamy broth. The best thing about keto is the heavy cream!
- Spinach – While Olive Garden and many other people use kale, my family prefers the taste of spinach. You choose what you love!
How to Make Low Carb Keto Zuppa Toscana
Cook the Meat: Brown the sausage and bacon in a large soup pot or Dutch oven.
Simmer: Add the beef bone broth, onions, garlic, and cauliflower. Cover and cook on medium heat for about 15 minutes, or until the cauliflower is tender.
Add the Next Ingredients: Stir in the heavy cream and spinach, then cook until the spinach wilts.
Finish: Serve with Parmesan cheese and a pinch of salt, pepper, and/or crushed red pepper flakes.
Tips and Tricks
- Due to the creamy nature of the soup, this one isn’t suited for freezing. You can store leftover Low Carb Keto Zuppa Toscana in the refrigerator for up to 4 days and reheat it on the stovetop over medium or in the microwave.
- Cut the cauliflower into even pieces to ensure it’s all done cooking at the same time.
- There’s a lot of room to make this recipe your own by adding different herbs and spices or other low carb vegetables.
Recipe FAQs
A ketogenic diet is a low carb, high fat diet, similar to Atkins. The goal of a ketogenic diet is to drastically reduce your carbohydrate intake and instead consume fats. By reducing your carbs it puts your body into a state of ketosis, burning fat for energy.
Avoid starches like bread, rice, pasta, and cereal. Beans and legumes are off the menu, and the only fruit allowed is small portions of berries. Potatoes and other root vegetables aren’t allowed, and neither are sugary foods and alcohol. On the bright side, you get to eat Crack Chicken with this easy sauteed cauliflower on the side!
Proteins such as fish, beef, chicken, eggs are all good to eat, as are leafy greens and vegetables that grow above ground like broccoli and cauliflower. Avocado, nuts, and seeds are also good choices and make great snack options. High fat dairy like hard cheeses, high fat cream, and butter get the thumbs up, and stevia is an acceptable keto-friendly sweetener. Thank goodness, because I use that in my favorite Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew coffee!
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Keto Zuppa Toscana Soup
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 lb mild Italian Sausage
- 4 slices thick-cut bacon
- 32 oz Beef bone broth or beef broth
- 1 small onion diced
- 3 cloves fresh garlic minced
- 1 head fresh cauliflower diced
- ½ cup heavy whipping cream
- 2 cups fresh spinach 5 oz package, or kale
- salt and pepper optional
- crushed red pepper flakes optional
- shredded parmesan cheese for garnish optional
Instructions
- Using a large soup pot (like this dutch oven), brown your sausage and bacon together. Cut your bacon into bite sized pieces to make it easier to cook.
- Once your meat is cooked, add in beef bone broth, onions, garlic, and cauliflower. Cover and cook on medium heat for about 15 minutes, until the cauliflower is tender.
- Once the cauliflower is softened, add in heavy cream and spinach (or kale). Cook for about 5 minutes, until spinach (or kale) is soft.
- Serve with a spinkle of parmesan cheese and a pinch of salt, pepper, and/or crushed red pepper flakes. ENJOY!
Notes
- Swap out the cauliflower with turnips instead.
- Due to the creamy nature of the soup, this one isn’t suited for freezing.
👍
I made this and it was very good. I used chicken broth instead and also cooked the onions and garlic with the sausage. Thank you for great recipe. I will be making again.
What is the serving size? I dont see that anywhere.
It says serves 4 at the top of the recipe if that helps!
Can this recipe be made in a pressure cooker??? anyone?
I made this for a family pre-Thanksgiving soup night for 30 people. It was a hit even over the high carb favorites. I timed it to be ready at our stated start time but ended up delaying around one and a half hours waiting for stragglers. I was worried that it would bee too mushy and soggy but it was still quite delicious. Next time I would follow the suggestion to reserve the cooked bacon and add later to add another texture but it was fine as I prepared it this time. Definitely love the parmesan cheese and red pepper flakes garnish as well.
Just made this. Not too impressed. I thought the bacon was gross. I should have used Italian sausage instead of country pork. Overall it was just missing something. I’ll try it again with out the bacon and will hot Italian sausage.
What is the serving size?
This soup was absolutely amazing. Even my husband who usually despises Cauliflower loves it! This is definitely a keeper.
I make mine with half ground hot Italian and half regular Italian sausage, draining some of the grease but not all as it has the spices in the meat that need to be in the soup. I have never added the bacon, but may try it next time. I prefer using chicken or turkey bone broth. Love this soup. I experiment each time I make it too,which is half the fun of cooking homemade.
Make the soup. You won’t be disappointed. (Full disclosure- my ‘beef’ broth in the cabinet turned out to be chicken broth, but I’m not sure how much of a change it made, because the soup is still mostly flavored by the sausage.)
Absolutely delicious! I had to add more liquid (broth) because my cauliflower head was HUGE and I had more kale to use up. I will definitely make this again and again. If you’re concerned about using cauliflower instead of potatoes, don’t be. There is plenty of flavor and great texture to this soup. I did use my stick blender just a tad to thicken things up. Another reason to add more broth. Make it and ENJOY!
Excellent was looking for Keto recipes!
Made the soup for dinner and followed the recipe exactly except my head of cauliflower was very large so I only used 3/4 of the head. I didn’t have any red pepper flakes so I added 3/4 Tablespoon of Sriracha Sauce! Topped it off with Parmesan Cheese! We loved it and it was so filling, certainly didn’t need miss the potatoes. Thank you for sharing such an excellent recipe!
i am trying to add this recipe into my Carb App and there is no fat in the nutrition section.
I really enjoyed this soup on a cold Minnesota day! It took less that 20 minutes to prep. I only had Jimmy Dean breakfast sausage, so I added a little Italian seasoning. Plus, I only had half a head of cauliflower and half a bag of kale salad. Into the pot they went. Loved it and will definitely make it again. Thank you!
So anything that has fat like the sausage and bacon, you would just look up separately. Like if the bacon rendered 1/4 cup of grease, you would put what is the fat content of a 1/4 C of bacon grease into google. use the numbers there to put into carb manager or whatever app you have. Use the serving size of the sausage package as a rough estimate of how much fat will be in your cup. I know it’s not exact but will give you an idea of when something comes up short as to contents like fats, calories, carbs, etc.
This is so flavorful and so satisfying. I used my own homemade beef broth and even a little more kale than the recipe called for. Loved it! I’ll double the batch next time and season my own ground meat with my own Italian seasoning. I really enjoy your recipes. Thanks
I left out the bacon… and added in 1/2 cup frozen corn (I know… sacrilege! – I just wanted a tiny bit of sweet bite to it as it is very ‘zesty’, rich and creamy – felt this balanced it well.) Delish – will def make again and share recipe! Thank you! 🙂
All I can say is WOW! So flavorful and the cauliflower was perfect as a potato replacement. I used kale and loved it and look forward to trying it with spinach. Thank you for such a delicious recipe!
You’re welcome 🙂
Love this recipe!! It’s even better than Olive Garden. Absolutely prefer it without potato’s. This recipe needs more broth though. I double the broth amount and add in extra bacon. This also tasted amazing with spicy sausage. I’ve made this soup many ways and it always turns out better with double broth, extra bacon and spicy sausage
Great tips thank you 🙂
This soup is amazing! Does anyone know if you can freeze it?
I made a soup very similar to this and froze some of it in individual servings. When I thawed it, the creamy part looked a little weird and grainy, but by the time I warmed it in the microwave, it smoothed out and looked (and tasted!) just like I remembered it from 6 weeks earlier. I would have no problem with freezing it again in the future. In fact, I’m slow cooking a 6-quart batch right now, so will need to freeze some, even though it smells wonderful and I could eat some for every meal!
How long did it take to make in the crock pot?
Pretty good! I definitely added waaaaay more spinach than suggested (maybe half a pound as it gets smaller with heat). I added about half a quart of water after adding the bone broth and added more cream. I like soups that are veggie packed. I substituted cauliflower with cauliflower rice & it’s still very filling. I used spicy cajun sausage that I cut into smaller pieces with the bacon. I also added a cup or so of shredded cheese. I’m really trying to get lots of fat in for keto. It’s easy for me to over due it with protein. I think the added fats and spinach makes this very filling. Thanks for the recipe! I have loved this soup and this was my first time making it on keto.
Thanx for the suggestion about the added cheese I am new to this and am having the hardest time getting enough fats.
What kind of cheese did you add, parmesan?
We’ve made this before and used italian sausage. We are going to make again tonight with leftover bratwurst. 🙂
I absolutely love this Soup, I have made it a few times already and today, once again!
Thank you for sharing this recipe!
Best regards,
Ioana
Made this tonight and it came out amazing! It’s a keeper. Even if you don’t do keto it’s a great dish. Raved about it on my Facebook page , Thanks
Made this tonight and it was delicious! And I am very picky, I require great flavor, this delivered! I have to admit that I did add a 1/2 teaspoon each of thyme and rosemary. I love experimenting with herbs. This just added depth of flavor!
This is the soup we go to time and time again! We don’t change a thing because it’s perfect just the way it’s written!
Sorry, meant to post that on the main page, not as a reply directly to you.
How can this be 12 carbs per serving? I calculate approx 12 per the entire pot
That’s what I’m saying. I’m not sure how a bowl could be that many carbs. The spinach has fiber but the recipe says zero as well.
The tool used to calculate nutrition on blogs is not always accurate. I always encourage people to calculate their own with the ingredients they use!
Made this tonight and it was delicious! And I am very picky, I require great flavor, this delivered! I have to admit that I did add a 1/2 teaspoon each of thyme and rosemary. I love experimenting with herbs. This just added depth of flavor!
I made as instructed with ingredients . My expectations were I cooked the onion in butter first and added it to the pot and then let all ingredients simmer for an hour… It was amazing 😍 definitely making again!
Aimee,
I was looking for a soup to eat to break a 7 day water fast… I love Zuppa, and am a long term keto/intermittent faster (occasional longer term fasting). Found your recipe, and went shopping 5 minutes later… 45 minutes after getting home, the wife and I sat down to eat… Coming off a longer term fast, is best to eat a small first meal… The soup was so delicious, I had to force myself to stop eating… I can’t wait to get to the rest later this week… My wife absolutely loved it too! Thanks for sharing… Made it exactly as prescribed… Half/Half hot/mild sausage plus the bacon… No draining… Mmmmmm!
Happy to hear it was a hit!