15 Tuscan Dinner Recipes to Transport You to Italy

Take a trip to the culinary delights of Tuscany's rolling hills without ever leaving your kitchen.

By
Devan Grimsrud
Devan Grimsrud
Devan Grimsrud

Devan Grimsrud is a Berlin-based writer, editor, and recipe developer originally from Minneapolis, Minnesota. After working in television production with James Beard Award-winning chef Andrew Zimmern, she relocated to Berlin and became the managing editor at Kitchen Stories, an international digital cooking platform with millions of active users. 

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Updated May 09, 2025
Devan Grimsrud
Tuscan Bean Soup

Simply Recipes / Sheryl Julian

Many of the regional cuisines of Italy are known and loved outside of the country, with specific dishes like Lazian spaghetti alla carbonara, Emilia-Romagna's lasagna Bolognese, Sicilian pasta alla Norma, and, more recently, Puglian spaghetti all'assassina becoming just as much a part of the American home cook's canon as the Italian American favorites spaghetti and meataballs and baked ziti.

So if you're a fan of Italian cuisine, you've probably also seen "Tuscan" attached to a variety of dishes, from Tuscan chicken to Tuscan bean soup, Tuscan bread salad to Tuscan steak. But what exactly makes a recipe Tuscan?

Tuscany is a region in central Italy (Florence is its capital) known for simplicity and seasonality in their cuisine. Many of the dishes stem from cucina povera (aka peasant cuisine), so you'll see a lot of legumes, fresh seasonal vegetables (as vegetables are cheapest when in season), recipes that use stale bread as a core ingredient, and straightforward flavors as opposed to complex mixes of herbs and spices. When you think Tuscan food or see a recipe labeled "Tuscan" on a menu, you should think simple, seasonal, high quality ingredients that speak for themselves. Or, you can just turn to the recipes below, and let them do the thinking for you!

  • Creamy Tuscan Chicken

    creamy tuscan chicken in a pot next to sliced bread on a wooden board

    Simply Recipes / Ciara Kehoe

    "Sun-dried tomatoes come in two forms: oil-packed and dried. Oil-packed are more common in grocery stores, are packed in oil, and sold either whole or thinly sliced in jars. Sun-dried tomatoes are sold in containers or bags that are often vacuum-sealed to keep them from drying out too much and becoming tough. Either works in this recipe." —Sheela Prakash, Recipe Developer

  • Acquacotta (Tuscan Soup)

    Overhead view of Tuscan Soup in a white bowl with a piece of bread to the side

    Simply Recipes / Karishma Pradhan

    "When fresh tomatoes are in season, they're a great substitute for the canned version." —Karishma Pradhan, Recipe Developer

  • Easy Tuscan Ribollita Soup

    easy Tuscan ribolitta soup in a dutch oven at a table setting with a plate of bread and a kitchen towel

    Simply Recipes / Shilpa Iyer

    "To make a hearty soup even heartier, mix in leftover shredded or cubed chicken, or add crisped-up bacon, guanciale, or Italian sausage." —Devan Grimsrud, Recipe Developer

  • Tuscan Scrambled Eggs

    A plate of Tuscan scrambled eggs

    Simply Recipes / Elise Bauer

    "The trick to this recipe is to simmer the tomato and onion sauce for at least a half an hour before adding the eggs." —Elise Bauer, Founder

    Continue to 5 of 15 below

  • 15-Minute Tuscan-Style Beans

    Overhead shot of Tuscan butter beans in a skillet topped with dollops of ricotta toasted bread on the side

    Simply Recipes / Jessica Furniss

    "When choosing beans, I recommend steering clear of the low-sodium ones for this recipe. The salt in the beans helps to season the dish. Low-sodium beans can work in a pinch, you’ll just need to adjust the salt called for in the recipe." —Jessica Furniss, Recipe Developer

  • Ina Garten's Tuscan Lemon Chicken

    chicken on a sheet pan

    Simply Recipes / Myo Quinn

    "Ina's original recipe asks you to snip the spine off the chicken, flatten it, and fire up the grill. Before you run in the opposite direction, know that I too have no time for culinary shenanigans, so I use whole chicken legs instead and opt for roasting in the oven." —Myo Quinn, Contributor

  • Zuppa Toscana

    Side angle view of two bowls with a cream based soup with beans, sausage, kale and potatoes, and two green water glasses

    Simply Recipes / Mihaela Kozaric Sebrek

    "This Zuppa Toscana is especially delicious with crusty bread. You can serve some toasted, olive oil-drizzled bread for dunking, or you can make some quick homemade croutons for garnish. I’ve been eating bowlfuls topped with a handful of everything croutons." —Nick Evans, Recipe Developer

  • Ravioli Gnudi (Spinach and Ricotta Dumplings)

    Closeup view of a plate of ravioli gnudi over marinara sauce with a spoon

    Simply Recipes / Ciara Kehoe

    "Ravioli gnudi freezes remarkably well. Fun fact: you can drop the fully frozen gnudi right into the boiling water to cook; they may just take an extra minute or two to float." —Sara Haas, Recipe Developer

    Continue to 9 of 15 below

  • Ina Garten's Tuscan Bean Soup

    Ina Garten Tuscan bean soup

    Simply Recipes / Myo Quinn

    "To make Ina's soup vegetarian, omit the pancetta, chicken stock (obviously!), and the Parmesan (it contains animal rennet). Use a hearty vegetable stock and stir in two tablespoons of nutritional yeast before serving." —Myo Quinn, Contributor

  • Sautéed Greens With Pine Nuts and Raisins

    Sauteed Greens with pine nuts and raisins

    Simply Recipes / Elise Bauer

    To keep this more in line with the Tuscan kitchen, omit the raisins and use Tuscan kale.

  • Easy Tuscan Bean Soup

    Tuscan Bean Soup

    Simply Recipes / Sheryl Julian

    "To make sure your soup has that appealing "simmered all day" quality when using canned beans, just mash some of the beans before they go into the pot. This will give your soup the slightly distressed texture that a good bean soup should have." —Sheryl Julian, Recipe Developer

  • Panzanella Bread Salad

    Panzanella Bread Salad

    Simply Recipes / Elise Bauer

    "For a version with a little more protein, try folding in some chickpeas, shredded or grilled chicken, or topping the salad with chopped hard boiled eggs right before serving." —Elise Bauer, Founder

    Continue to 13 of 15 below

  • Italian Butter Chicken (Petti Di Pollo al Burro)

    Italian butter chicken (petti di pollo al burro) in a skillet at a table with a plate of lemon slices, a glass of water, and a table napkin

    Simply Recipes / Hannah Zimmerman

    "The only part of this recipe that can get a little tricky is the brown butter. If you don’t watch it closely, it will burn. Make sure to put the chicken breasts in the skillet when the butter is just starting to foam. The milk solids won't be brown yet at that point, but they will brown as the chicken cooks." —Hannah Zimmerman, Recipe Developer

  • Tomato and Bread Soup (Pappa al Pomodoro)

    Tomato Bread Soup

    Simply Recipes / Elise Bauer

    "Even though it's a tomato soup, you don't have to wait until August or September to enjoy it! Canned tomatoes, harvested at peak season, work beautifully in this soup." —Elise Bauer, Founder

  • Homemade Tagliatelle

    Four Bundles of Homemade Tagliatelle on a Semolina Dusted Baking Sheet

    Simply Recipes / Karishma Pradhan

    "While this recipe focuses on making tagliatelle with a pasta machine, you can make it without one. You will need a good rolling pin and a bit of muscle, but it's a really rewarding process to roll out the dough by hand. Once the dough has been rolled out into a thin sheet, you stack and cut it like you would with the pasta machine." —Karishma Pradhan, Recipe Developer

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