Vegan Zuppa Toscana

When it’s dreary and rainy out, there’s one food that always lifts the spirits–and that food is soup. The other night my family wanted something different and so Scott and I made this Instant Pot Vegan Zuppa Toscana. It was so incredible! This recipe is seriously going to be a bi-weekly staple for us now.

two bowls of vegan zuppa toscana soup

These cute soup bowls are found over here! We used Impossible Food’s new Italian sausage links (which are super thick by the way), shallots, garlic, potatoes, kale, and a vegan no-chicken broth. This vegan zuppa toscana is truly packed with flavors of Tuscany. And the fact that it comes together in one pot in under 20 minutes makes it a game-changer for my family.

fresh garlic, kale, and bread slices next to two bowls of vegan zuppa toscana soup

The saute function on my instant pot allows this to be made in all one go. Saute the sausage, mash it, add shallot and garlic, saute again, and then add broth and potatoes. After a quick 5 min on high pressure and a 10 min natural release, and a simple stir-in of the kale and cashew cream, dinner is ready!! It’s so simple you can even do it blindfolded. Which is what Scott actually did…😆

close up photo of vegan zuppa toscana soup with kale, sausage in brown bowls with handles

Yes, he did it blindfolded while I moved his hands and used secret code to communicate. Why you might ask? Well, he had recently bought The Adventure Challenge: Couple’s edition for us. It’s this really clever book of date ideas that you scratch off and journal about, adding a photo of your experience afterward. The first date in the book is cooking a recipe while one of you is blindfolded and the other directs without speaking. I had already planned on making this recipe for my blog the day it arrived in the mail, so we just chose to do this vegan zuppa toscana recipe instead of the suggestion of making pie together.

two bowls of soup in bowls with handles on a white backdrop

It went really well and was super fun! You can see a reel of it over on my Instagram, @friendlyfeasting. We got to enjoy a fun date activity at home and ended up with some absurdly delicious dinner. We’ve decided to do these date prompts from The Adventure Challenge once a week. I love that some options are at home and some are out and about. Here’s the entry from this date!

Without further ado, here is the full recipe for my instant pot vegan zuppa toscana! Enjoy and be sure to tag me on social media if you make this <3

Vegan Zuppa Toscana

A delicious, Italian-inspired soup with vegan sausage, kale, and potatoes.
Prep Time 3 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Course Main Course, Main Dish, Soup
Cuisine American, Italian
Servings 1 people

Equipment

  • pressure cooker

Ingredients
  

  • 1 Tbsp olive oil
  • 1 package vegan sausage or sub chickpeas if you dont want faux meat
  • 2 shallots diced
  • 4 cloves garlic minced
  • 1 tsp Italian seasoning
  • ½ tsp ground black pepper
  • ¼ tsp red pepper flakes optional for a little spiciness
  • 2 medium potatoes peeled and cubed
  • 4 cups broth no-chicken bouillon preferred
  • 1 cups chopped kale
  • 1 cup cashew cream see note

Instructions
 

  • Heat oil in a pressure cooker such as an Instant Pot using the saute function on the normal setting. Add impossible sausage and mash while sauteing for about 3 minutes. We want the sausage in rough chunks and slightly browned. Then stir in shallot and garlic; cook until softened and translucent, about 3 minutes.
  • Stir in Italian seasoning, pepper, and red pepper flakes if using. Add potato cubes and no-chicken broth. Close and lock the lid. Select high pressure for 5 minutes. Once the timer beeps, release pressure valve.
  • Open the pot and stir in cashew cream and kale. The kale will soften in about a minute, then divvy portions into soup bowls. Enjoy!

Notes

  1. Cashew cream is easily made in a blender by blending 1/2 cup of cashews with 1 cup of water.  If you don't have a high-powered blender, soak the cashews in warm water beforehand. If you'd rather use store-bought milk, that is totally fine too, just use almond, oat, or soy milk or ideally, heavy cream. We are going for a thicker cream here. 
  2. If you don't have a pressure cooker, make this on the stovetop in a large pot and simmer after step 2 until the potatoes are tender. Then continue to step 3. It just will take a little more time but will taste the same!
Keyword broth, comforting, italian, kale, potatoes, sausage, soup

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