Creamy Tortellini Soup
by Chungah
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A quick 30-minute creamy tortellini soup! Made with Italian sausage, greens, Parmesan and quick-cooking tortellini. So fast, easy, and cozy!
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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?
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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?
Simple and damn delicious!
Delicious! My family loved it. Next time I will double the recipe because it only made 5 bowls for my family. So yummy, next time I am going to use spicy italian sausages because I found it to be a bit salty. I also used fat free tomato sauce and 5 italian sausages.
Wow! This was so easy and so delicious! Even our picky 11 year old went back for seconds. I will definitely be making this again! Used Italian turkey sausage and spinich because that’s what we already had, thank you for the great recipe!
Question: When you say Tomato Sauce, do you mean a bottle of pasta sauce or pureed tomatoes? Looking forward to trying this recipe! Thanks so much.
I think she means tomato sauce in the can which is just puréed tomatoes
I used red sauce and left out the Italian seasoning. it’s delicious
Fabulous. I didn’t have kale so I used spinach, and that was terrific, too.
I make this soup once a month and my family eats it all in a day
Straight up savory, creamy, garlicky, sausage-y, tortellini-y crack in a bowl. I’ll be eating this for DAYS!!!!
Snow was in the forecast, so soup seemed to be a great idea. I had seen this recipe before and decided to give it a try. IT WAS AMAZING! My husband loved it and wanted to ensure we left a great review. I followed the recipe exactly and it was wonderful. Will be using this throughout the winter months! Thank-you!
I made this soup (subbed spinach for kale) and this was so good.
I made a big pot and ate it all week for dinner. Each day I couldnt wait to get home to eat this. I never got tired of it.
The creaminess of the soup base and the spicy sausage go so well together.
Dont forget the crusty bread!
Does there have a video and I can see how to make that. I am beginner learning. =D
Brittley, there is no video for this recipe but if you follow the instructions closely, you should be just fine. We believe in you! Good luck! 🙂