If you love this soup at Olive Garden, it is incredibly easy to make at home. This version is also lower in calories without sacrificing any of the flavor by using 2 % milk and half and half instead of heavy cream.
In a large pot set the heat to medium-high and add 1 tsp of olive oil or avocado oil. Add your ground sausage with 1/4 tsp of salt and chop as its cooking.
Then remove your ground sausage, leaving behind the remaining fat and add your garlic, onions, and red peppers. Let saute for about 1-2 minutes and add your kale. Saute for another 2-3 minutes and then add your ground sausage back to the pot.
Next add your milk, half and half, chili garlic sauce, salt, and pepper. Bring to a simmer and do not let your soup boil. Cook on low heat for about 15 minutes until your potatoes are tender.
At the very end, turn off the heat completely and add in 1/2 tbs of fresh squeezed lemon juice.
Notes
How to add lemon to milk without curdling
There are two main tips for adding lemon to cream and milk based soups and dishes without them curdling. The first is to use high fat milks such as whole milk, half and half, and heavy cream. The second is to add your lemon at the very end when you sauce or soup is at a lower temperature. You never want to let a cream based sauce or soup scorch and reach a complete boil.
This Zuppa Tuscana Soup Recipe is Great for Freezing!
I freeze 1-2 portions of almost all my recipes so I never get bored and have an abundance of lunch and dinner options. This is one of my weight loss tricks as when I'm hungry I will make poor choices of I don't have quick tasty and healthy options available.Another great feature of freezing this recipe is that all the fat from the ground sausage will rise to the very top and coagulate. This way when you go to reheat the soup, you can save an additional 60-100 calories by not adding the fat back in when reheating.