Creamy Tortellini Soup
This post may contain affiliate links. Please see our privacy policy for details.
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.
Video
Did you make this recipe?
Tag @damn_delicious on Instagram and hashtag it #damndelicious!
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.
Great recipe! I used jimmy dean hot sausage which gave it a nice kick.
Just made this recipe. Used chicken seasoning to replace chicken broth and mixed 40z of cream cheese with 1/3 cup of milk. Substituted pork for ground turkey and spinach for kale. It turned out great. Thanks for the inspiration.
There hasn’t been a recipe of yours I haven’t loved!!! This was wonderful and certainly no exception. Quick and easy but SO full of flavor. I stuck pretty closely to the recipe as it was. I added some minced baby Bella mushrooms when I added the onion and garlic. (Only minced them since I sometimes have to hide things in our meals for certain noses not to turn up!) My husband “doesn’t like soup” so I doubled the tortellini and then added a cornstarch slurry at the end. And for not liking “soup” he ate two bowls! Thanks for a new go-to!
Excellent! Delicious, quick easily prepared after work, and nutritious, what more could be better! Thank you for sharing!
Excellent! Quick, easily prepared, delicious, and nutritious. Could not want anything better! Thank you for sharing!
The kids and I really liked it. Probably going to make it one of those go to dishes. Pretty easy to make and still tastes good
What exactly do you mean by tomato sauce. I want to make this for dinner tonight.
I used M&S Italian tomato sauce. In the States would use di Napoli, the simplest one they have.
I have made this dozens of times, I LOVE it! And so does my family.
Can I just say it? This is kick ass amazing and comes together quickly. I knew when I perused the ingredients list that it would be good so I doubled the recipe and I’m glad I did! My advice? Don’t change anything! Glad to add this new recipe to my collection of yummy comfort dishes! Thanks!
Sandra in California
Absolutely loved this recipe! We couldn’t get the three cheese tortellini so we substituted with ricotta and spinach and it was still amazing. The Italian sausages really give it that great flavour. Everyone in our house loved it, was so easy to make. We will definitely be making this again!
Awesome recipe.
Damn delicious! We like everything everything with a kick so i made it with spicy sausage. So yummy!
So good. I used plant based hot sausage and it was great. Perfect comfort meal for cold, rainy, covid-19 Wednesday. Thank you!
Made this tonight and used hot Italian sausage. It was amazing. Glad I found it.
I have made this 3 times now in the span of 3 weeks over quarantine because my boyfriend is OBSESSED, the second time i made it i didnt have sausage so i cooked 6 slices of bacon and cut them up and put them in with the noodles (also very good) and subbed spinach for kale! super flexible recipe and i assume ill be making it all the time now as my boyfriend cant get enough lol
Also made your thai curry noodle soup (which is my favourite) twice now
OMG this was so Amazing!! We made it during the Polar Vortex in London, Kentucky, and it was perfect. We made it exactly as written. I will sign up for these Damn Delicious Recipes from now on! Thank You!
Can you use regular pork sausage?
We really enjoyed this. When I sniffed my cream it had gone bad, so I used 2% milk and it worked great. I also put an entire pound of tortellini in. Thanks for this great recipe!