Creamy Tortellini Soup
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My favorite cozy weeknight soup made in 30 min! Loaded with tender tortellini, sausage and kale! And it’s so easy!
Featured Comment
Have you seen the news? It’s apparently -50 degrees windchill in Chicago right now. I wish I was joking. Meanwhile, it was 69 degrees F here in LA today. How will Butters and I survive in the Windy City?
I’ve loaded up on parkas and electric blankets for myself and Butters. But I don’t know, guys. It’s going to be a dicey winter for us Californians.
But what I do know is this – have as much of this creamy tortellini soup as possible until the polar vortex passes. That and all the crusty bread to sop up all this creamy goodness.
Oh, and the wine. That helps warm you up too, no?
tips and tricks for success
- Use fresh tortellini. Fresh tortellini will cook much faster than dried or frozen tortellini, and will yield more softer pasta.
- Add the cream slowly. Always add the heavy cream at the very end, pouring very slowly to prevent curdling.
- Save leftover Parmesan rinds. Get more out of those expensive Parmesan cheeses by using up the leftover rinds! Adding a Parmesan rind slightly thickens the broth and adds a level of nutty richness to the soup.
- Store tortellini separately for leftovers. When planning for leftovers, store the cooked tortellini separately from the soup to prevent it from soaking up all the broth.
- Serve with crusty bread. Serve with all the homemade crusty bread for dipping, sopping and dunking!
what to serve with tortellini soup
Tools For This Recipe
Dutch oven
Creamy Tortellini Soup: Frequently Asked Questions
Swiss chard, baby spinach, collard greens, and cabbage are all great options.
We love using fresh cheese tortellini for a more neutral base but your favorite tortellini would also work very well here.
Absolutely! Dried tortellini can be cooked in a separate pot and added to the soup at the end of cooking time until warmed through.
Heavy cream (or heavy whipping cream) has one of the highest fat contents with about 36-40% fat. Half and half or whole milk are suitable substitutes, but will yield a lighter result.
Yes! You can freeze the leftovers without the tortellini and heavy cream (cream soups tend to separate when frozen) in individual freezer bags, thaw overnight, and reheat on the stovetop, adding cooked tortellini and heavy cream when serving.
Creamy Tortellini Soup
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 pound Italian sausage, casing removed
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 medium sweet onion, diced
- 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 4 cups chicken stock
- 1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce
- 1 (3-inch) Parmesan rind, optional
- 1 (9-ounce) package refrigerated three cheese tortellini
- ½ bunch kale, stems removed and leaves chopped
- ⅓ cup heavy cream
- 3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
Equipment
Instructions
- Heat olive oil in a large stockpot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add Italian sausage and cook until browned, about 3-5 minutes, making sure to crumble the sausage as it cooks; drain excess fat.
- Stir in garlic, onion and Italian seasoning. Cook, stirring frequently, until onions have become translucent, about 2-3 minutes; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Whisk in flour until lightly browned, about 1 minute.
- Stir in chicken stock, tomato sauce and Parmesan rind, if using. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until reduced and slightly thickened, about 10 minutes.
- Stir in tortellini; cover and cook until tender, about 5-7 minutes.
- Stir in kale until wilted, about 1-2 minutes. Stir in heavy cream and basil until heated through, about 1 minute; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Serve immediately.
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SOOOOOOO good!! Think this could be made in a crockpot?
This soup is AMAZING! SO good
Best soup ever!! I tried this for the first time and my husband declared it my best soup to date! I didn’t change a thing!!
This is one of my favourite soups to make, whether I have kale on hand or not! Enjoying a bowl now 🙂
Delicious! I’ve made Creamy Tortellini Soup multiple times & it just keeps getting better. It’s a new-ish favorite for my hubby & I, and frequently requested. I serve it with toasted Rosemary Olive-Oil bread and a glass of wine (of course!). Its very filling, and packed with flavor. Also – I use the XL package of Tortellini (20 oz?) instead of the 9 oz. standard. Love my pasta! There’s usually enough left-over for lunch / dinner the next day. Yum!
I’ve made this several times and my family loves it! I use either spinach or kale (whichever I’ve got on hand) I omit the sausage, and I serve with frenchbread and parmesan cheese – it’s damn delcious!!!!
This was really fantastic. I used turkey sausage and spinach.my 87 year old mother loved it. Perfect for Sunday night dinner and freeze the rest for another day.
Delicious!!!! Did spinach instead of kale and loved every bite!!!!
Such an easy & {damn} delicious weeknight meal! I am always trying new recipes that I never make again –not this one, it has been printed & put in the tried & true recipe folder! YUM
DELICIOUS!! New favorite soup. Easy to make. Very flavorful. Thank you for the recipe
Family favorite soup. Have made it dozens of times- quick, easy, affordable, and delicious. I make it without meat and add extra heavy cream. It is truly heavenly!!!!
Such a delicious soup! Made it almost exactly as the recipe called, except I only did a splash of cream instead of the 1/3 cup, and it’s now definitely one of our favorite soups that were going to add to our weekly line up!
Yumo!! Thx for sharing. I made this today a rainy day in Virginia. My Hubster and teen boys loved it.
Sooo delicious!! Had to substitute the tomato sauce for diced tomatos, the kale for spinach, the stock for broth, and heavy cream for regular milk due to what I had at my house, but oh my word still so good!
This was easy to make and delicious!
My favorite soup recipe. It is SOOO GOOD!!
I have made this many times! I substitute spinach for the kale, and it’s delish! Sometimes I use sour cream in place of the heavy cream, and it is just as good. Try this recipe, you won’t be disappointed!
Great weeknight dinner recipe! I added a cup of grated Parmesan with the milk and brought the flavor profile up another notch.
I liked this recipe a lot. I think it has a similar flavor to Lasagna Soup (from this Damn Delicious website). But since I like the lasagna soup so much more, I probably will only make that in the future when I want that type of soup. By the way, the lasagna soup from this website is one of my favorite soups of all time, so try it if you havn’t already! One other comment is that I am not crazy about wilted kale in soup. I love fresh kale, just not wilted in soup, so I would leave that out if I made it again…just a personal preference. Thank you again, Chungah, for all of your wonderful recipes!
Wow, this is a delicious recipe! And so easy!!! My husband was so impressed when I made this last night for the family. It’s the best Tortellini soup, or any type of soup, we have ever tasted. I didn’t realize I was out of tomato sauce but I crushed a can of diced tomatoes in a mini food processor and it turned out great. Also, I doubled the recipe and used one pound of hot sausage and one pound of mild sausage. It had the perfect amount of heat. Paired it with a nice merlot and some country french bread. Thank you much for sharing this recipe! I will certainly be browsing your site for others.