Olive Garden’s soup is dreamy good and made with a little cream, sausages, potatoes, spinach, and topped with bacon. My recipe has all the sensational flavors but I’ve cut down on the fat by using a 70% less fat turkey sausage, reduced-fat milk, and just a little bacon. In addition, I’m using more sausage, potatoes, and spinach in my soup. So hearty, each skinny main course bowl of soup has 228 calories and 6 grams of fat.
Ingredients
- 4 slices bacon, see shopping tips below
- 1½ cups onion, diced
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 2 teaspoons garlic, minced
- 4 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
- 4 cups russet potatoes, peeled and diced small (~2 potatoes)
- 1 package (9.6 oz) Johnsonville fully cooked turkey breakfast sausage (70% less fat) cut each into small slices to create bite-size pieces, see shopping tips below
- 5 cups fresh spinach
- 1½ cups reduced-fat milk (2%)
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Cook bacon in microwave on a paper towel-lined plate. Cover with paper towels and cook 3-5 minutes, until crispy. Cool, crumble and set aside.
- Cook chopped onions in the microwave for 3 minutes until soft.
- Heat olive oil in a large pot or pan over medium heat. Add garlic and cooked onion. Cook together stirring frequently for 2 minutes. Stir in chicken broth and potatoes; bring to a boil. Turn down to simmer, cover, and cook about 10 minutes until potatoes are soft.
- In the meantime, in a small bowl, add milk. Stir in cornstarch using a whisk or fork until well combined. Using a rubber spatula or wooden spoon, so potatoes don’t break, stir in sausage pieces, spinach and milk. Add black pepper to taste. Bring up to a boil, turn down to simmer, and cook for 5 minutes uncovered.
- To Serve: Ladle 1½ cups into each bowl. Garnish each bowl with about ½ tablespoon of crumbled bacon and serve.
Notes
Makes 6 servings. Each main course serving has 1½ cups.
Shopping Tips
I used Johnsonville fully cooked (70% less fat) turkey breakfast sausage. They do not contain any fillers and are gluten-free. For optimum freshness, keep refrigerated and prepare within 3 days of purchase, otherwise freeze for up to 30 days. You can find this brand in most supermarkets. If you can’t find this brand, use another brand that’s also low in fat. Most supermarkets today sell uncured, no nitrate bacon. That’s the healthiest choice to buy! One to look for, Applegate Farms Natural Sunday Bacon. It’s low in fat and calories, uncured and contains no nitrites! Many supermarkets carry this brand. I bought it at Vons/Safeway and Whole Foods. Here’s the link to their website: http://www.applegate.com/products/natural-sunday-bacon WW Freestyle SmartPoints-6 Blue
WW SmartPoints- 6 Green
Shopping Tips
I used Johnsonville fully cooked (70% less fat) turkey breakfast sausage. They do not contain any fillers and are gluten-free. For optimum freshness, keep refrigerated and prepare within 3 days of purchase, otherwise freeze for up to 30 days. You can find this brand in most supermarkets. If you can’t find this brand, use another brand that’s also low in fat. Most supermarkets today sell uncured, no nitrate bacon. That’s the healthiest choice to buy! One to look for, Applegate Farms Natural Sunday Bacon. It’s low in fat and calories, uncured and contains no nitrites! Many supermarkets carry this brand. I bought it at Vons/Safeway and Whole Foods. Here’s the link to their website: http://www.applegate.com/products/natural-sunday-bacon WW Freestyle SmartPoints-6 Blue
WW SmartPoints- 6 Green
| SKINNY FACTS: for 1 bowl (1½ cups) 228 calories, 6g fat, 2g sat. fat, 37mg chol, 17g protein, 28g carbs, 4g fiber, 838mg sod, 5g sugar |
Skinny Facts
Serving: 1.5cupsCalories: 228kcalCarbohydrates: 28gProtein: 17gFat: 6gSaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 37mgSodium: 838mgFiber: 4gSugar: 5gBlue Smart Points: 6Green Smart Points: 6
This is not a breakfast sausage soup. You need to use Italian turkey sausage. Skip the bacon. It isn’t necessary.
Allison, with my skinny remakes, I’m always looking for lower fat and calorie substitutes. That’s why I used these breakfast sausages. But you want to use Italian sausages for this soup, go for it.
All the best,
Nancy
I like your recipe Nancy. Thank you for giving it to us.
Thanks, Sandy. I love creating recipes and sharing them with all of you!
My best,
Nancy
Looks delicious! My favorite soup, and I’m so happy you’ve made it WW friendly! Making this tonight! You’ve listed point for green and blue, but do you know how many points for purple? Thanks so much!
I hope you love my skinny version, Peggy!
I’m so sorry but at this point, I’m only including Blue and Green points. For all of these years, I use a different program than WW to input all of my recipes to do the nutrition facts and points.
I have hundreds of recipes and don’t have the time to input them into WW to make the calculations for the purple plan.
My best,
Nancy
Hi! This recipe looks fantastic! Do you have an instant pot version?
Sue, I’ve never made this in an instant pot and am not sure how to convert it since this soup cooks up very quickly on the stovetop.
All the best,
Nancy