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.
Video
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I am so happy I found your recipes. 2 for 2 now. Made this last night and it was delicious. Warming, full of flavor, and surprisingly not too heavy considering the cream and tortellini. Another quick, easy, and delicious option for a week night meal…especially during these colder days.
I used what I had on hand, so in case anyone else is interested it tastes great if you substitute the sausage with ground turkey. I just browned up the ground turkey with onion and garlic and heavily seasoned it with italian seasoning and smoked paprika. I didn’t have kale so I used baby spinach.
Whether you follow this recipe as is, or have to make some substitutions, you won’t be disappointed.
Delicious! One of our new favorites. Can this be made in an instant pot?
I didn’t like it at all. Something’s off. Feel like the sausage doesn’t taste delish in this dish
Couldn’t disagree more. 🙂 Choose a diff sausage.
I’ve made this before with regular Italian sausage. It was good enough for me to make again. This time I used hot Italian sausage (it’s what I had). It did add a little something extra for me. It’s a simple fix. The sausage is not a big deal. Use what you have or what you like.
Delish! A new favorite!
I made this three times now. We love it. The only I did different was to add spinach instead of kale. After I browned the Italian sausage I put in it my food processor to grind it more. My sons told me this is a keeper, and I totally agree.
Delicious and satisfying. I will be making this again.
Delicious! I used chicken sausage. That is the only ingredient I changed. Great for the winter!
My family loved this soup! Delicious! I used chicken sausage. That is the only ingredient I changed. Great on winter snowy day.
Wonderful soup. Made it for the first time today. My family loved it! I will be making tortellini soup again! Thanks for the recipe.
Stumbled across this recipe when trying to cobble together dinner with different ingredients that I already had on hand. All of the positive reviews caught my eye so I just have to add – it was absolutely delicious and will be come a regular in our weeknight rotation. I served it with garlic bread and it was a total hit. Thank you!!
We loved this!
This soup is the only soup you’ll ever need.
It’s incredible and I’ve made it too many times to count!
Make this soup. I promise you won’t regret it
This looks delicious. I haven’t made it yet because I have a question. Can this soup be made ahead of time minus the tortellini and then be warmed up and tortellini added in a crock pot? Have 15 ladies coming over for a luncheon and I’d love to serve this soup.
I’m estimating this has been prepared ten times for my family and loved ones with never a negative comment, just lip-smacking requests for another helping. . Felt it was getting its just reward when I saw it listed by Huffpost, number 5 in 20 most liked instagram recipes from 2019.
congrats
OMG is this soup good! Wonderful flavors and super easy to make! My husband can’t get enough of this soup! Thank you!
So easy and yummy. I used ground turkey instead of sausage as my family does not care for sausage.
Really good! I didn’t have kale, or fresh basil, so I used spinach, and dried basil. Still delicious!
I’ve made this soup a number of times and it’s delicious. I usually substitute the pork sausage for turkey and skip the kale but otherwise, follow it exactly
Delicious! I decided to not include the kale and up the amount of basil, worked out great. Highly recommend.
This soup was easy to prepare and absolutely delicious!! I served it with beer bread and butter it is was a fantastic meal. Used 3/4# sausage which was plenty in my opinion. We will absolutely make this again, and often!!