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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You are making me look like quite the chef around here. I’ve made three of your recipes so far and they all turned out so delicious. This dish is our favorite so far, and the cheesy mac and shells and the butternut squash mac and cheese come in second place. I subbed some of the ingredients with vegetarian meats and still, they all tasted amazing. Thank you for all your recipes! I’ve bookmarked your site and look forward to trying more.
Oops. I meant to make it a five star.
Made this just today, and we love it. Easy to put together. I could not find frozen tortellini so I bought the packaged ones. This took an extra step, but it was well worth it. This is a thick hearty soup. I was thinking about thinner in down, but my son loves it the way it is. A bowl of soup and some bread, this is hearty dinner. This is definitely going into our favorite recipes. Thank you so much for sharing. Waving at you from Charlotte North Carolina.
This recipe is SO good! I did everything as instructed, except I used bone broth and added an additional cup of it (I wanted it to be more “soupy”). Kids and husband approved! Will absolutely make it again!
Made this for the first time a few months ago – a double batch. It was a hit with adults and kids! Just finished making a triple batch so leftovers last longer. Perfect for a cold day.
My whole family LOVED this soup! It was super easy to make, flavorful and the perfect thing to enjoy on a cold winter night!
Thank you for this truly quick, easy and totally delicious dinner; it became an instant favorite at our house. I make it vegetarian with Fieldroast Italian sausage and veggie stock.
I made this tonight! Delicious!! It was a hit! I am now going to try ALL your recipes. Thank you!
SO good. Will definitely be making this again!
Made this last night and it was so amazing!!! Love, love, love. Thank you for the fabulous recipe!
I’m a terrible cook and this was very good! I added too much salt (my fault) and added some extra cream and water at the end to fix that. I wouldn’t add any extra salt in the future (even though I used no salt added sauce). Next time will use spicy sausages and better tomato sauce for more flavor.
I made this soup with Field Roast grain meat. I don’t eat meat. I loved it. I used kale . It was great !!!
This is Amazing!!!!!!
So delish ! Family ate the whole pot in a day
Would this be good with ground beef instead of sausage?
I don’t see why not. Most soup ingredients are interchangeable and can be easily substituted to suit your own taste. If you’re looking for somewhat of a similar soup that uses ground beef, look up IP lasagna soup.
Agreeing with the comments. Delicious recipe and super easy. Used spinach (because that’s what I had) and cheese and spinach tortellini (that’s what the grocery store had). Otherwise followed the recipe as it is. Will definitely make it again. Thanks for never disappointing!
Super easy to make and delicious! Even my picky 5 year old liked it – which is a huge win! I did add 2 packages of tortellini to ours though. Plenty for 3 with some leftovers.
This is my hubby’s favorite cold weather soup. I told him I was making it tonight and his eyes lit up and I legitimately think he started drooling. Awesome. As most of these recipes are.
Hi Chungah, I made this recipe for my grandfather, he’s 93! He’s not an extremely picky eater, but you can always tell when he just likes a dish or LOVES a dish and he LOVED this soup. I used spinach instead of kale and mild turkey sausage. So this recipe is a keeper for us and it’s extra special because my grandfather loved it. Thanks for sharing your awesome recipes!
This was the most delicious recipe. The textures + flavor make it a great winter meal. Extremely well balanced and decadent yet healthy. It made me feel like I can actually cook with how tasty and easy to follow the recipe is.
Thank you for this treat!
I have this several times and I love it! I’ve tried it with spinach and kale and prefer the firmness of the kale, although using spinach was fine, too. Can you post the nutrition information?