Slow Cooker Cheesy Tortellini
There’s nothing better than coming home to the cheesiest tortellini ever, and yes, it’s easily made right in the crockpot!
Remember that pre-emptive holiday health kick I was talking about with those baked green bean fries? Well, today, we are shifting gears to the ultimate comfort food. It’s all about balance, right?
Now the beauty of this recipe is that it comes together so easily right in your slow cooker. All you have to do is crumble up some ground beef and throw everything into the crockpot. Easy enough, right? Then, 15 minutes before serving, you’ll throw in your fresh tortellini and that cheesy goodness. That’s it!
Comfort food has never been so good (or easy!).
Slow Cooker Cheesy Tortellini
There’s nothing better than coming home to the cheesiest tortellini ever, and yes, it’s easily made right in the crockpot!
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
- 1 10-ounce can diced tomatoes and green chiles, undrained
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon dried basil
- ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, optional
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 9-ounce package refrigerated three cheese tortellini
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- ½ cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
Instructions
- Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add ground beef, onion and garlic. Cook until beef has browned, about 3-5 minutes, making sure to crumble the beef as it cooks; drain excess fat.
- Place ground beef mixture, crushed tomatoes, diced tomatoes and green chiles, oregano, basil and red pepper flakes into a slow cooker; season with salt and pepper, to taste. Stir until well combined.
- Cover and cook on low heat for 7-8 hours or high heat for 3-4 hours.
- Uncover and stir in tortellini; top with cheeses. Cover and cook on low heat for an additional 15-30 minutes, or until tender.
- Serve immediately, garnished with parsley, if desired.
Did you make this recipe?
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I made the recipe this weekend and my husband loved it! I love all the slow cooker recipes. I use it all text time. 🙂 I especially love my cheese so anything involving cheese is a plus.
Could I replace the tortellini with fusilli? It’s all I have in my cupboards right now!
Angi http://www.twodifferentworlds.com
Yes!
this is my first recipe from your website (will NOT be the last) your recipe says to use kosher salt, can regular salt be used? also whats the difference between them?
Yes, regular salt can be used. But I recommend using kosher salt because it is much easier to pick up the grains between your fingers, thus giving you more control over your seasoning.
This was delicious! I wasn’t expecting the can of tomatoes and green chili to make the recipe spicy – guess I should have realized! Once I added the cheese though, it seemed to mellow out a bit. Great variation to a standard bolognese and cooking it in the crockpot allows the flavors to really come together. Just found your website and I couldn’t be happier!
We tried it with ground turkey and were unimpressed. Maybe there’s some secret that we didn’t know, but it didn’t turn out much better than marinara sauce with some tortellini thrown in. Flavorless. 🙁
I used ground beef and it is bland.
Hey Chungah. Someone may have already asked this but can this recipe be doubled easily and made in a larger crock pot?
Yes, absolutely.
Wow, I made them this week and was totally impressed, better than in restaurants. I’m new at cooking with slow cookers and this is a recipe I’ll definitely keep.
It’s in my crockpot right now!! Your recipes are always excellent!!
Can you make this on the stovetop to save some time?
Yes, absolutely.
Do you have to boil the fresh tortellini before adding it in the crockpot?
Nope! That’s the beauty of using fresh tortellini. 🙂
Came out great! Used half ground beef, half spicy Italian sausage and fire roasted tomatoes. Will definitely make again!
I’m planning to make this with the frozen tortellini as mentioned by done others (since my grocery store doesn’t carry the refrigerated). It’s a 19oz bag. Do you recommend using only 1/2 of it…or maybe more tortellini will make it even tastier 🙂
It’s really up to you! 🙂
This looks so good! You have listed a 10oz can of diced tomatoes and green chiles. Is that a can of rotel?
Yes! 🙂
Hi I was just wondering wouldn’t cooking this in the crockpot for this long make the ground beef greasy since ground beef makes its own grease from the fat?
Theresa, the ground beef is cooked first on the stovetop and the excess fat should be drained prior to adding to the slow cooker.
Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add ground beef, onion and garlic. Cook until beef has browned, about 3-5 minutes, making sure to crumble the beef as it cooks; drain excess fat.
My husband hates italian, but he LOVES this recipe. It is better than most italian dishes i’ve had out. Love Love Love!! I am planning to try and use the sauce tonight for spaghetti. Have you tried that? I’m assuming it will be great as long as I crumble the beef super small.
What about making it vegetarian? If I omit the beef, would I just cook the other ingredients for the 15 minutes? Was thinking about adding some fresh bell peppers, tomatoes and onions to bulk it up!
That sounds like amazing additions!
How big is the serving size
Serving size can range from 1-2 cups.
Is there a reason the initial mixture has to cook for 7-8 hours on low? Seems like with cooked ground beef and just heating the other things through, that it wouldn’t have to cook so long. Only asking because I work from 7:30-3:30 so before work is too early for the crock pot and after work I don’t often have 4 or 5 hours until dinner time! Thoughts?
Kara, you also have the option to cook on high heat for 3-4 hours.
Might seem silly to ask but what grade cheddar cheese mild, medium or sharp to use?
You can use any – it’s up to you!
Made this tonight, it was awesome. Hubby and I both enjoyed and lunches are packed for tomorrow. Thank you for this recipe!