Low Carb Keto Zuppa Toscana Soup recipe is packed with flavor from crispy bacon, Italian Sausage, spinach and tender cauliflower all in a rich, creamy broth.
Low Carb Soup Recipes
The season of soup is here! It’s time to indulge in all the comfort food.
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?
This past month we’ve had a nutrition challenge at our local CrossFit box. And while I wish I could report that I rocked it, I’m here to say, I failed. I didn’t prepare for this challenge as much as I should have, you know, planning some low carb meals!
Here’s the thing. Carbs and CrossFit go hand in hand. I truly believe I need carbs for all my muscle gains and endurance. However, I tend to choose the wrong carbs. Pastries, donuts, bread, haha!
One thing I do love though is vegetarian chili and soup. And you may remember this Olive Garden Copycat Zuppa Toscana Soup recipe from a few years back. It’s SO good.
I had to figure out a way to make it CrossFit diet friendly. I mean, keto friendly. Ha, I mean waist management friendly. You know what I mean!
Here’s how I made an indulgent comfort food, like Zuppa Toscana Soup into a keto friendly dinner.
You may first be asking yourself…..
What is a Keto diet
First, keto stands for ketogenic. A ketogenic diet is a low carb, high fat diet. You may be familiar with Atkins, it has many similarities.
The goal of a ketogenic diet is to drastically reduce your carbohydrate (carb) intake and instead consume fats. By reducing your carbs it puts your body into a state of ketosis. Basically, your body becomes quite efficient at burning fat for energy.
Which is why many Crossfitters and athletes go on this diet.
It also has other great health benefits, that you can read about somewhere besides this little food blog, haha!
Plus you get to eat Crack Chicken!
What foods should I avoid on a keto diet
First, the obvious. Wheat-based grains or starches. Like rice, pasta, cereal.
Beans: no chickpeas, peas, beans, lentils, legumes
Fruit: pretty much all fruit except berries (but those are only in small portions)
Potatoes and other root vegetables. No sweet potatoes, carrots, parsnips, etc.
Stay away from sugary foods, most condiments and sauces as they tend to have sugar and unhealthy fats.
Alcohol. WAHHHHHH.
What foods should I eat on a keto diet
Proteins such as fish, beef, chicken, eggs are all good to eat.
Vegetables that grow above ground like broccoli and cauliflower are acceptable! Also, leafy greens like spinach and kale (which is great for today’s low carb keto soup recipe)!
Avocado, nuts, and seeds are also good choices and make great snack options.
High fat dairy. Praise God at least there is something good about a keto diet, haha. Hard cheeses, high fat cream, and butter get the thumbs up!
Stevia is an acceptable keto-friendly sweetener. Thank goodness, because I use that in my favorite Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew coffee!
Recipe 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 crispy bacon at the end of the cook time (as a garnish), so that it stays crispy, not chewy. Your call.
Cauliflower. The dream vegetable that replaces potatoes in many low carb meals (like buffalo cauliflower). Can also use turnips if you prefer!
Spinach. While Olive Garden and many other people use Kale, my family prefers the taste of spinach. You choose what you love!
More Easy Soup Recipes
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 with a turnip. Superb! Easy. Love. Love.
What is a serving size?
It was about 10 Oz for me when I made it today!
Excellent recipe! Everyone loved it and was super easy to make.
This soup was so good and hearty for a cool day with out all the carbs
I absolutely love this recipe. It’s so versatile. I’ve made it several times. Each time I look to my pantry for variations. My latest was to use part chicken bone broth and part no salt chicken broth. I used fresh cauliflower and 1/2 package of Trader Joe’s Tri-color cauliflower. Coconut milk instead of cream. So yummy!
I made this with some tweaks. I cooked the cauliflower in the air fryer first to enhance the flavors. I cooked the sausage and then drain out of the pot. Cooked onion and garlic in some of the sausage oil and bits on the bottom. Added beef broth, cooked sausage, and a leftover Parmesan rind I had in the freezer. Once simmering, I added the mostly cooked cauliflower and kale. Then stirred in just a few Tbsp of cream. Served with a squeeze of lemon and chopped parsley and bacon pieces. Carb-loving, vegetable-shy boyfriend loved it! I’m making batch 2 as we speak.
I followed this exactly and loved it. My husband and I have been eating it for a week straight. Thanks so much. I went through the comments and read some of the changes people were making and personally was disgusted. I hate chicken, and chicken broth or turkey bacon. Keto needs fat and sodium, why use low sodium? Geez people
The recipe as written is very tasty. It doesn’t seem balanced to me. Too much Cauliflower, not enough Green. When I made it the second time I used 1/2 the cauliflower and 3 times the greens. (Broccoli Rabe ) I also used spicy Italian sausage, instead of mild, chicken stock instead of beef bone broth and 1 cup of coconut cream instead of 1/2 c. Heavy cream. I also cooked bacon first then put it on the soup when serving it so it would remain crisp. No matter how crispy bacon starts off, it gets soggy in the course of cooking soup
This would be better in my mind if the cauliflower and spinach proportions were swapped. Too much white, not enough green, but flavor is excellent. Also if I make this again I will add crisp bacon on top to serve. It got soggy almost immediately when broth was added
Delicious! Thank you!
Can you can or freeze this soup after made?
Did mine in instant pot for 6 mins then sauté with cream and spinach and it came out perfect. Yum
This was good but nutrition info must be way off.
I just calculated a rough estimate using the ingredients list (leaving out negligible items like garlic, onion, salt, pepper). And came up with 465 calories and 5 net carbs per serving if you divide everything by 6 servings.
The nutrition information automatically populates, I always tell people to check their own numbers for that reason!
I was hesitant at first but this has so much flavor. I really enjoy pepper flakes so I added some when I added the cauliflower. I just want to drink the broth forever!
I love this recipe so much that I’ve now made it two weeks in a row. I make some subtle changes like buying whatever Sausage is on sale and adding Italian seasoning. I also add an entire 10oz bag of spinach and use frozen riced cauliflower. Simple, quick and delicious!
I don’t eat pork or beef so I made this with Turkey bacon & chicken spicy sausage with lo-sodium chicken broth. Oh my gosh, it doesn’t have the amount of Fat as the traditional, but the taste is amazing. I added kale ilo spinach. So good! Added a little olive oil to brown sausage & bacon as doesn’t render the fat like pork bacon & sausage.
One of the best Keto soups we’ve made. Hearty and yummy. Great hit with our entire group.
This is my favorite Keto Zuppa Toscana recipe. It’s quick, flavorful, and a chilly day favorite.
This is delightful! I cooked the bacon and sausage first in the oven and used the residual fat to roast a head of garlic, the onions and the cauliflower on a sheet pan. I transferred the bacon, sausage, roasted cauliflower and aromatics to the bone broth that had been warming in the Dutch oven and then added the spinach and heavy cream. So filling and delicious – thank you for sharing!
Great tips!
Yum! Thanks for sharing