HEALTHY DAIRY FREE SLOW COOKER ZUPPA TOSCANA RECIPE

If you love a good home cooked meal, but time isn't always on your side, invest in a slow cooker and make this Healthy Dairy Free Slow Cooker Zuppa Toscana Recipe. It tastes amazing after cooking all day while you work and run errands, and the potatoes take on much more flavor than when you cook it in a large pot on the stove top.

SLOW COOKER HEALTHY ZUPPA TOSCANA

For years, I made traditional Zuppa Toscana recipes because they’re a dime a dozen all over the internet. But I eventually evolved the recipe into this dairy free version that tastes even better than the original! And I think it’s all thanks to the slow cooker and how well it helps to develop the flavors. So if you're down for a little bit of prep work, you can have a big bowl of soup by dinner time.

To make this recipe healthy, I use turkey breakfast sausage instead of Italian sausage. It cuts down on some of the cholesterol and fat grams without sacrificing on flavor, thanks to a few additions like crushed red peppers, garlic, and a shallot. And for the potatoes, I prefer baby yellow potatoes with the skin on, but red potatoes or even russet potatoes work well too. 

Low Sodium Chicken Bone Broth adds extra protein to this soup, making it more macro-friendly.

If Olive Garden's Zuppa Toscana is your favorite Olive Garden soup, you have to make this Health Dairy Free Slow Cooker Zuppa Toscana Recipe!

Ingredients

turkey breakfast sausage: the traditional version of this Zuppa Toscana soup recipe calls for either pork breakfast sausage or mild Italian sausage. To make this recipe healthier and with more protein, we're using turkey breakfast sausage. Ground turkey also works in this recipe but you may need to add more salt and some fennel seeds

shallot: you could also use a white onion or yellow onion

garlic: minced garlic in a jar works in a pinch

red pepper flakes: to add a little spice to the turkey sausage. If you don't want the heat, omit the pepper flakes

chicken broth: use chicken bone broth for more protein

yellow potatoes: baby yellow potatoes (Yukon gold potatoes) are creamy and perfect in this recipe, but red potatoes, Idaho potatoes, and russet potatoes all work well

kale: chopped kale is my go-to so get bite-sized in the soup

salt and pepper: keeping it simple with the seasoning here. Most recipes call for Italian seasoning, but it's not needed in this recipe, trust me! Sea salt, Himalayan pink salt, kosher salt, and iodized salt are all great options 

unsweetened almond milk: most dairy-free soup recipes call for full fat coconut milk, but it gives the soup a slight coconut flavor that's really off-putting. Unsweetened almond milk adds a little creaminess without altering the flavor of this hearty soup. It's not as creamy as the heavy cream in the Olive Garden version, but it's so delicious you won't even notice

Step-by-Step Instructions

Add sausage, red pepper flakes, and shallot to a large skillet and cook over medium heat until the sausage is cooked through and no longer pink

Add garlic to the skillet and cook for one additional minute 

Place the quartered potatoes in the bottom of your crock pot so they can soak up all of the flavors of the other ingredients

Place cooked sausage mixture on top of the potatoes

Add bone broth, salt, and pepper, and stir with a wooden spoon to combine

Cook on low heat for at least 4 hours (it’s ok if it cooks all day while you’re at work)

Add kale and almond milk about 30 minutes to one hour before serving, and continue cooking on low heat

Serve and enjoy!

Storage

As with most soups, this healthy Zuppa Toscana recipe tastes even better the next day. So if you have leftovers, store them in an airtight container in your fridge for a few days, or you can freeze the leftover soup for up to 3 months.

More Easy Soup Recipes You'll Love

Taco Soup with Rotel

Low Carb Chicken Tortilla Soup

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