This hearty vegan soup is like a cozy warm sweater for your soul! Inspired by a popular chain restaurant offering, this vegan zuppa toscana perfectly pairs with some crusty bread for a cold weather comfort-fest.
Cook up a pot of this soup on a cold or rainy day and your stomach will thank you.
Yum!
Table of Contents
Ingredient Notes
- Vegan ground sausage - I used Lighlife gimme lean ground sausage, but minced up Tofurky or Beyond Sausage or rehydrated tvp or soy curls ore even a vegan ground beef would work.
- Spices - use whatever spices speak to you. I'm not a fan of fennel, but that would be a great addition for that 'sausagey' flavor
- Vinegar - I use red wine vinegar, but this would work with white wine or acv or you could use red wine
- Onion and garlic - because onion and garlic!
- Broth - we like to use these vegan chicken broth cubes, but any broth would work.
- Coconut milk - I recommend using full-fat here for the extra creaminess. We don't detect a strong coconut flavor in the soup (probably because of all those spices!), but if you cannot stand coconut milk you could try subbing with an unsweetened vegan creamer.
- Kale - you could sub spinach instead. If using spinach you will only want to cook for a minute or two after adding it because it cooks much quicker than kale does.
- Potatoes - we typically use yukon gold, but any type should be fine. You'll want to cut them uniformly so they cook up at the same time.
Step By Step Instructions
In a dutch oven, heat oil over medium heat and then add the vegan ground sausage, dried spices and vinegar. Use a spoon to break the sausage apart as it cooks for 5-6 minutes or until cooked through and browned. Then remove the sausage from the pan and set aside.
Heat more oil in the pan and add onions. Saute for 5 minutes until they are softened, then add in the minced garlic and cook another 2 minutes stirring often.
Pour in the broth, or if using cubes add hot water and broth cubes. Bring to a boil and then add potatoes and cook for 15-20 minutes until they are almost cooked.
Reduce heat to a simmer and stir in the coconut milk, cooked sausage and kale. Let simmer 5-7 minutes until the kale is wilted and tender.
Serve with crusty bread and enjoy!
Frequently Asked Questions
You could skip it altogether, but I would substitute with some minced up Tofurky or Beyond sausages. Or rehydrated tvp or soy curls would also work. You could even use a vegan ground beef product.
We think that the coconut flavor in the soup is barely detectible. It's likely because all of the spices overpower the coconut flavor, but if you are really averse to it you could try to replace it with 1 ½ cups of an unsweetened vegan creamer product.
Storing and Freezing
This keeps well in the fridge for a few days in an air tight container and can be reheated in the microwave or on the stove.
This soup wouldn't be a good candidate for freezing because potatoes tend to get grainy when frozen.
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PrintRecipe
Vegan Zuppa Toscana
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
- Diet: Vegan
Description
This hearty vegan soup is like a cozy warm sweater for your soul! Inspired by a popular chain restaurant offering, this vegan zuppa toscana perfectly pairs with some crusty bread for a cold weather comfort-fest.
Ingredients
- 3 Tbs olive oil, divided
- 1 lb vegan ground sausage
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp pepper
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- ¼ tsp oregano
- ¼ tsp red pepper flakes
- ½ tsp basil
- ½ tsp smoked paprika
- ¼ tsp thyme
- 1 Tbs red wine or red wine vinegar
- ½ medium onion, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 6 cups broth
- 1 can full-fat coconut milk
- 5 cups kale, chopped
- 2 lbs potatoes, peeled and cubed
Instructions
- Heat 2 Tbs of the oil in a dutch oven or soup pot over medium heat.
- Add sausage, dried seasonings and vinegar and saute 5-6 minutes until browned and cooked through.
- Remove sausage from pan and set aside.
- Add 1 Tbs of oil into the same pan and then cook onion for 4-5 minutes or until soft.
- Add in garlic and cook for another 2 minutes.
- Pour in broth or if using broth cubes add in water and cubes and bring to a boil.
- Once boiling add in potatoes and cook for 15-20 minutes until they are fork tender.
- Reduce to a simmer and stir in coconut milk, sausage and kale. Let simmer for 5-7 minutes until the kale is wilted and tender.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 35 minutes
- Category: Soup
- Method: Stove
- Cuisine: Italian
Nutrition
- Calories: 499
- Fat: 20.4
- Saturated Fat: 12.2
- Carbohydrates: 50.9
- Fiber: 12
- Protein: 26.8
Keywords: soup, vegan, plant-based, kale, zuppa toscana
Cindy Mom the Lunch Lady says
I am a soup fanatic and this one looks fantastic! I am adding it to my meal plan for next week, while the weather is still crisp.
★★★★★
Sabine says
I always love a good healthy soup filled with flavour. I eat soup nearly every day so this will be a great addition to my soups to try out list 🙂
★★★★★
Marita says
yum the pictures and the soup look great. I wonder if you can get vegan ground sausage in my country. I will have to research it. xx
★★★★★
Jeannie says
soup is comforting for me especially when its cold and raining, love that its vegan that I can totally enjoy.thanks for sharing
★★★★★
Geoffrey says
This looks amazing. I am going to make this for my family this weekend!
★★★★★