Creamy Tortellini Soup
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A quick 30 min dinner! Made with crumbled sausage, kale, Parmesan and tender tortellini. So easy, so cozy, so good.
Featured Comment
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 every last drop of this lovely creamy goodness.
tips and tricks for success
- Use fresh tortellini. Fresh cheese tortellini cooks quickly and keeps the soup creamy without becoming mushy.
- Add the cream slowly at the very end to prevent curdling and to keep your tortellini soup creamy and smooth.
- Save leftover Parmesan rinds. Adding them while simmering in a Dutch oven gives this creamy tortellini soup a nutty depth of flavor.
- Store tortellini separately for leftovers. Store cooked tortellini separately when meal prepping or freezing so the soup doesn’t lose its creamy broth.
- Serve with crusty bread. Serve with homemade crusty bread or garlic knots for dipping—classic sides for creamy tortellini soup.
What to Serve with Creamy Tortellini Soup
Tools For Making Tortellini Soup
Dutch oven
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 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
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.
Did you make this recipe?
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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!!
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!