Zuppa Toscana Casserole turns the creamy sausage, potato and kale soup into a hearty bake: thin slices of russet potato, crisp bacon, dark green kale and browned Italian sausage in a creamy sauce, under a golden Parmesan top. It is a filling weeknight dinner, and it serves 6.
How to make it: Layer raw, thinly sliced potatoes in a greased 9×13 dish and scatter crumbled bacon and chopped kale over them. Brown the sausage with onion and garlic, turn it into a sauce with flour, chicken broth and cream, pour it over, top with Parmesan, and bake at 375°F covered for 50 minutes, then uncovered for 10.
Why You’ll Love It
- The soup, baked: the same sausage, bacon, potatoes, kale and cream, in a dish you can cut into squares.
- Hearty: a real meat and potatoes dinner that feeds a hungry table.
- One skillet: the bacon, the sausage and the sauce all cook in the same pan before the bake.
- Golden top: the last 10 minutes without foil brown the Parmesan.
Ingredient Notes
Russet potatoes: Four to five medium, peeled. They go into the dish raw, so how you slice them matters (more on that below).
Italian sausage: One pound of ground sausage, mild or spicy, whichever your table likes.
Bacon: Eight ounces, cooked until crispy and crumbled. A tablespoon of its grease stays in the skillet to cook the sausage, onion and garlic.
Kale: Four cups, chopped, with the stems removed. It goes over the potatoes raw.
Ingredients
- Nonstick cooking spray
- 4 to 5 medium russet potatoes, peeled and very thinly sliced
- Salt and black pepper, to taste
- 8 ounces bacon, uncooked
- 1 pound ground Italian sausage, mild or spicy
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 4 cups chopped kale, stems removed
- 3/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
How to Make Zuppa Toscana Casserole
1. Heat the oven. Heat the oven to 375°F and lightly grease a 9×13-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Layer the potatoes. Peel the potatoes and slice them very thin. Arrange them in an even layer in the dish and season with salt and pepper.
3. Cook the bacon. Cook the bacon in a large skillet until crispy. Move it to paper towels and leave 1 tablespoon of the bacon grease in the skillet.
4. Brown the sausage. Add the sausage, onion and garlic to the skillet. Cook until the sausage is browned and fully cooked (160°F).
5. Make the cream sauce. Sprinkle the flour over the sausage mixture, stir and cook for 1 to 2 minutes. Slowly whisk in the chicken broth, then the cream. Simmer for 3 to 5 minutes, until slightly thickened.
6. Add the bacon and kale. Crumble the bacon. Sprinkle the bacon and kale evenly over the potatoes.
7. Pour on the sauce. Pour the sausage mixture evenly over the potatoes and gently spread it to coat. Top with the Parmesan.
8. Bake. Cover the dish tightly with foil and bake for 50 minutes. Uncover and bake for 10 minutes more, until the potatoes are tender, the top is golden and the center reaches 165°F.
9. Rest and serve. Let the casserole rest for 5 to 10 minutes before serving.
How to Turn Zuppa Toscana Soup into a Casserole
The casserole keeps the soup’s ingredients. Three things change: the broth, the potatoes and the way it cooks.
The broth becomes a sauce. Flour goes into the skillet with the browned sausage and cooks for a minute or two before any liquid is added. Whisk in the broth slowly, then the cream, and let it simmer until it thickens slightly. In a soup pot, four cups of broth would be the whole soup. Here they become a creamy sauce you pour over the layers and spread to coat them.
The potatoes go in raw and thin. In the soup, the potatoes simmer in the broth. In the casserole, you slice them and lay them flat in the dish, and they cook in the sauce in the oven. Slice them very thin, about 1/4 inch thick or thinner.
It bakes covered, then uncovered. Tight foil stays on for the first 50 minutes while the potatoes cook through under the sauce. Then it comes off for the last 10, so the Parmesan on top can turn golden.
Check the potatoes before it comes out. Potatoes can take longer to soften than the timer says, so check a slice in the middle of the dish before you take it out. If it is still firm, give the casserole more time in the oven.
Tips for Success
How do you keep sliced potatoes from turning brown?
If you slice them before the sauce is ready, keep the slices in a bowl of cold water until you need them. Drain them and pat them dry before they go into the dish.
Why is the sauce runny when you cut into it?
It needs its rest. Let the casserole sit for 10 minutes after it comes out of the oven so the sauce sets, then cut it into squares.
Variations
- Two potato layers: cook the kale in the skillet for 2 to 3 minutes, until wilted, before the flour goes in, then stir the crumbled bacon into the finished sauce. Spread half the potatoes in the dish, pour the sauce over them, layer the rest of the potatoes on top and finish with the Parmesan. Bake at 400°F under foil for 40 minutes, then uncovered for 15 to 20 minutes, until the potatoes are tender, the casserole is bubbling and the cheese is browned.
- With an egg in the sauce: beat 1 large egg in a small bowl. Stir in a tablespoon of the hot sauce, then another, then one more, and whisk the egg mixture back into the skillet before the sauce goes over the potatoes.
- Thickened with cornstarch: to skip the flour, stir 1 tablespoon of cornstarch mixed with 2 tablespoons of water into the sauce after the broth and cream go in, and cook for 5 to 7 minutes, until thickened.
Storage & Reheating
USDA FSIS says to refrigerate leftovers within 2 hours in shallow, covered containers and eat them within 3 to 4 days. Reheat squares covered in the oven at 350°F for 20 to 25 minutes, or single portions in the microwave, until the center reaches 165°F. Don’t reheat it in a slow cooker. FSIS says leftovers can be frozen for 3 to 4 months, but cream sauces don’t freeze well, so this casserole is best kept in the fridge.
What to Serve With It
For more sausage and potatoes in one dish, try sausage and potato casserole with spring veggies or the slow cooker pierogi and sausage casserole. If Italian sausage and Parmesan are what you’re after, make 3-cheese sausage lasagna roll-ups. Bacon and potato fans have the chicken bacon ranch casserole with potatoes and a slow cooker loaded potato bake, and when you want your potatoes in a bowl, there’s creamy baked potato soup.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the secret to a flavorful Zuppa Toscana?
Bacon, garlic and Parmesan give it depth, and the onion and garlic cook in the bacon grease. For heat, use spicy Italian sausage or add 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of red pepper flakes.
What goes in Zuppa Toscana casserole?
Italian sausage, bacon, thinly sliced russet potatoes, kale, onion and garlic, in a sauce of chicken broth and heavy cream thickened with flour, with Parmesan baked on top.
Can you make Zuppa Toscana casserole ahead?
Yes. Assemble it up to a day in advance and keep it in the fridge, then add 20 to 30 minutes to the bake time.
Can you use frozen kale?
Yes. Thaw it fully and squeeze out the extra liquid. Use one 12-ounce bag in place of the fresh kale; it gives about 2 1/2 cups after squeezing.
Final Notes
Taste the sauce before it goes over the potatoes and add a little salt and pepper if it needs it. If you have a question or make this, tell me how it turned out in the comments.
Zuppa Toscana Casserole
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Ingredients
- nonstick cooking spray
- 4 to 5 medium russet potatoes peeled and very thinly sliced
- salt and black pepper to taste
- 8 ounces bacon uncooked
- 1 pound ground Italian sausage mild or spicy
- 1 yellow onion diced
- 1 tablespoon garlic minced
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 4 cups kale chopped, stems removed
- 3/4 cup Parmesan cheese shredded
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 375°F and lightly grease a 9x13-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
- Peel the potatoes and slice them very thin. Arrange them in an even layer in the dish and season with salt and pepper.
- Cook the bacon in a large skillet until crispy. Move it to paper towels and leave 1 tablespoon of the bacon grease in the skillet.
- Add the sausage, onion and garlic to the skillet. Cook until the sausage is browned and fully cooked (160°F).
- Sprinkle the flour over the sausage mixture, stir and cook for 1 to 2 minutes. Slowly whisk in the chicken broth, then the cream. Simmer for 3 to 5 minutes, until slightly thickened.
- Crumble the bacon. Sprinkle the bacon and kale evenly over the potatoes.
- Pour the sausage mixture evenly over the potatoes and gently spread it to coat. Top with the Parmesan.
- Cover the dish tightly with foil and bake for 50 minutes. Uncover and bake for 10 minutes more, until the potatoes are tender, the top is golden and the center reaches 165°F.
- Let the casserole rest for 5 to 10 minutes before serving.
