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
Did you make this recipe?
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Scrumptious! This soup was absolutely amazing, thanks so much. I have been eating it for three days, and other than the tortellini having soaked up much of the liquid, it is still delicious. I am going to add some more chicken broth, right now it eats like a stew. Super hearty and soooo tasty.
This is a great recipe. It’s easily changed depending on what you may have on hand. I use frozen tortellini in a pinch, and I’ll throw everything into the crock pot for an hour to simmer. My favorite variation is a hearty primavera loaded with tender veggies and a hearty sauce. You can add some wine to give it an extra kick.
Easy and tasty. Prepared as written but used spinach instead of kale and added some chopped celery and carrots with the onion. This one is a keeper!
Going to try tonight and add sliced mushrooms along with the sausage. Will report back!
Please do! That sounds like a great addition.
easy and pretty good. I thought it was a little bland and added some creole seasoning.
Delicious. I’ve also substituted the sausage with left over rotisserie chicken, love then both.
Awesome! Just finished eating it and it was amazing. Full of flavor and so easy. I used spinach instead of kale. Will make it again.
Followed this recipe exactly (minus the fresh basil garnish because we don’t like basil) and it was UNBELIEVABLY good! I’ve already written the recipe into my homemade booklet of regular recipes! Thank you! Can’t wait to make it again for a group!
This was sooooo good! I liked that it only used a small can of tomato sauce so it was a lighter creamier tomato taste. I substituted the kale for spinach and added some freshly grated parmesan cheese to it. Delicious!! It will be a new regular go-to recipe for me.
This recipe was DELICIOUSLY good! I was a little concerned about my sauce not thickening, but once I put into bowls and served, I realized it was just perfect. If you are feeding a family of four or more, I’d recommend using a family size package of tortellini (I have a husband and two boys in the house). Three of us are vegetarians so I omitted the sausage altogether and it was absolutely divine. I also substituted kale for spinach. My husband, a huge meat eater, is such a champ when it comes to eating vegetarian, however, for this meal, I cooked chicken chorizo in a separate pan and added to his bowl once served – he LOVED it!
This was the BEST soup I have ever eaten! And I’m not even a sausage fan. Really good flavor! Love her recipes! Have made many, and love them all, but this is my favorite!
SO GOOD! i subbed coconut milk for the heavy cream and it was delish!!
This soup is absolutely amazing! It was a huge hit with everyone who had it. I will definitely be saving this recipe!
Glad it was a winner! Thanks, Emily.
I never write reviews but this deserves some recognition. This was delicious! A friend and I made it for a weeknight dinner and it did not disappoint. I will be making this one again soon for sure. Thank you for a great recipe!
We love it! Thanks, Sarah!
I’m in high altitude so most of my liquid evaporated.. lol it turned out a bit more like a goulosh, but none the less.. my husband informed me that it’s the most delicious soup he’s ever tasted. I thought it was pretty good too, but next time I’ll add an extra cup of broth.
I rarely write reviews for anything but I enjoyed this so much I had to share! I love that it’s both so delicious and so easy. I will be making it again soon!
Made for dinner last night. used spinach instead of kale with my recipe and OMG best i have ever had !!!! can’t wait to make more 🙂
Yummy combination of fresh ingredients to warm up on a cool late summer evening. I made my own tortellini stuffed with homemade lemon farmer’s cheese.Instead of kale I used arugula. The lemon, basil and tomatoes with the arugula was light and refreshing!
This recipe is so , so good. My whole family loves it and I make it as often as I can. So yummy!
Thank you for this recipe! We love it. It’s on our regular rotation and ends up on our table at least twice a month — even in the summer. It’s over 100 degrees where we are right now, but this is still a go to. I have also made it in the slow cooker by doing steps 1-4 on the stovetop, then transferring to the slow cooker for a few hours on low, then completing steps 5 & 6 about 30 minutes before we eat. Works great when everyone is coming home at different times to eat. Almost always use spinach because most of our kale goes to feed our desert tortoises. 🙂
Was great! We used turkey sausage, and I added some celery salt. Everyone loved it including my 2 toddlers! instead of kale we used a little bit of spinach and extra onions.
I love all of your recipes because they work as such a great jumping off point / can easily alter them to what you have on hand. I am not a fan of kale / and I don’t really enjoy having to cut off all the stems off spinach (I don’t like the stems) – so I make this recipe as described, but substitute broccoli instead of the greens and it’s fantastic. Green Giant sells a “riced” broccoli that is perfect in this soup.