Creamy Tortellini Soup
by Chungah
This post may contain affiliate links. Please see our privacy policy for details.
A quick 30-minute creamy tortellini soup! Made with Italian sausage, greens, Parmesan and quick-cooking tortellini. So fast, easy, and cozy!
Featured Comment
Why you’ll love this creamy tortellini soup
- Weeknight miracle dinner. This recipe calls for quick-cooking refrigerated tortellini, allowing the soup to come together in just 30 minutes, start to finish.
- Cold weather comfort food. We’re talking about the best kind of cozy, comfort food here. The velvety tomato broth with crumbled sausage and pillowy tortellini with sneaked in greens just hits different, especially when you’re under the weather or during those blistery snow days.
- Perfect with crusty bread. This is just one of those soups best served with all the crusty bread to sop up every last drop of all the creamy goodness.
- Incredibly flexible, forgiving recipe. This is a great opportunity to use up all those wilting veggies and leftover proteins instantly.
How to make creamy tortellini soup
- Crumble the sausage. Remove the meat from its casing (if using links) and cook the sausage in large chunks in a Dutch oven over medium heat, breaking the sausage into small pieces as it continues to cook. Drain the excess fat, leaving just enough for flavor.
- Sauté the aromatics. Stir in the garlic, onion, and Italian seasoning (or any additional herbs on hand).
- Whisk in the flour. Stir in the flour until lightly browned. The flour will serve as a natural thickening agent for the soup.
- Simmer. Add the chicken stock, tomato sauce, and Parmesan rind, simmering on low heat until slightly thickened. The longer it simmers, the more it will reduce.
- Add the tortellini. Stir in the fresh tortellini until cooked through, about 5 minutes. If using dried tortellini, cook them in a separate pot and add it here.
- Make it creamy. Add the kale, heavy cream, and basil until warmed through, seasoning one last time with salt and pepper.
- Serve warm. Serve immediately with crusty bread. If preparing for leftovers, store the tortellini separately as the tortellini in the soup can absorb the broth very quickly.
variations and substitutions
Protein swap
This is a great time to repurpose leftover shredded rotisserie chicken! Or you can substitute the Italian sausage for ground turkey (or beef) or shrimp.
Vegetarian-friendly
For a vegetarian option, use canned cannellini beans or navy beans, or extra-firm tofu that has been pan-fried or baked (also substituting the chicken stock for vegetable stock).
Additional vegetables or veggie swap
Add in any lingering vegetables such as carrots, celery, bell peppers, zucchini, or green beans.
Different greens
Swap out the kale for spinach, cabbage, swiss chard, or collard greens, adding towards the end of cook time.
Skip the tomatoes
For a more cream-based soup without tomatoes, try this recipe instead.
Slow cooker method
Make this in the crockpot instead, cooking low and slow for 7-8 hours.
freezing and storage
Storage
Store the leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days. Pro tip: if you are planning for leftovers beforehand, store the cooked tortellini and soup base separately.
Reheating
Gently reheat on the stovetop and add a splash of chicken stock, milk, or heavy cream to restore the desired consistency.
To Freeze
Freeze the soup base only without the tortellini and heavy cream as cream soups tend to separate when frozen. Once cooled completely, store in individual freezer bags. To reheat, thaw overnight and gently reheat on the stovetop, adding freshly cooked tortellini and heavy cream just before serving.
What to Serve with Creamy Tortellini Soup
Tools For this recipe
Dutch oven
Creamy Tortellini Soup: Frequently Asked Questions
Leafy greens such as spinach, cabbage, swiss chard, and collard greens are all excellent options.
I love using quick-cooking fresh cheese tortellini for a more neutral base but your favorite tortellini would also work very well here.
Absolutely! But dried tortellini should be cooked separately 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! 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 freshly cooked tortellini and heavy cream when serving.
Creamy Tortellini Soup
Video
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
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.
Equipment
Notes
- Use refrigerated tortellini. Fresh refrigerated tortellini tastes much better than dry tortellini and cooks up so much faster.
- 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.
- Add in leafy greens. This is a great recipe to sneak in leafy greens for those picky eaters. Spinach, kale, collard greens, swiss chard, or arugula are all great options.
- Add the cream slowly. Always add the heavy cream at the very end, pouring very slowly to prevent curdling.
- 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 homemade crusty bread or garlic knots for dipping—classic sides for creamy tortellini soup.
Did you make this recipe?
Tag @damn_delicious on Instagram and hashtag it #damndelicious!
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!
Fantastic soup!!
I will try it to cook tonight!
Delicious! I improvised during the quarantine. Substituted hot italian turkey sausage and added a diced yellow pepper and a can of fire roasted tomatoes. Baby kale wilted nicely then topped with a little grated parm!
So good! And easy to make. We added white kidney beans. Happy to have some leftover for lunche for the week.
Amazing! Go-to soup with no changes made to the recipe.
This was amazing! I doubled the recipe because I have a large family… except I needed to use 2.5lbs of sausage, and an extra tbsp of flour for thickening. I also put fresh spinach instead of kale because I am not a fan of kale and also had to put 2.5 the amount in.
I didn’t wait until the tortellini was fully cooked… a teensy bit under cooked, but no one noticed. I did this so that when we warmed it up the next day the noodles didn’t get soggy, that worked perfectly. And the next day was even more amazing!
Total thumbs up, 10/10!
I have made this soup many times and it is one of my favorite soups EVER. But can someone please explain to me step 3 (“Whisk in flour until lightly browned, about 1 minute.”)? How do you whisk dry flour into a heap of onions and dry seasonings? When I do this I just get a huge pasty clump until I stir in broth. Is that correct? Or am i missing a step? Thank you!
I sprinkled in one tbsp at a time, mixed well, then added the next… it is supposed to coat everything and act as a thickening agent after you pour in the wet ingredients. This method worked perfectly. Though it never really “browned” and once everything was well coated, I moved onto the next steps.
The reasoning is to cook the flour long enough to lose the flour taste. And yes, you did it correctly.
I just made this and it’s amazing!! It’s a keeper, definitely going into our Dinner rotation.
So yummy and easy to make! Substituted spinach, ground turkey and sour cream because we were out of ingredients and still turned out great on the first try!
You’ve done it again! I made this soup this week, and it will definitely be added into my meal rotation. It was so easy to make, and super yummy. I may switch to spinach next time due to my husband’s preference, but honestly, it weren’t for him I wouldn’t change a thing!
So good! I subbed spinach for kale and it was delicious 🙂
I used Sweet Italian Sausage and I have used Kale or Spinach to make this recipe. I also added Dill Weed to the part where you add the Italian Seasoning. My boyfriend loves when I make this and it is one of his favorites.
We love this soup recipe and make it all the time. Sometimes we swap kale for spinach or use leftover marinara instead of the tomato sauce. Always a hit!
Incredible soup, a must try!