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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Can you share where these white bowls are from? I love the minimalist, modern look.
CB2. 🙂
It is a wonderful soup for a cold night!!!! Do you know what is the calorie count?
Nutritional information is provided only for select recipes at this time. However, if it is not available for a specific recipe, we recommend using free online resources at your discretion (you can Google “nutritional calculator”) to obtain such information. Hope that helps!
This was just DIVINE as written. I doubled the recipe for my family of 6, hoping to have leftovers for lunch. Nope. Hubby ate THREE HELPINGS, and declared it the best soup ever. Very, very good – thank you for sharing.
Oh wow! So happy to hear it was a hit!
This was delicious! I didnt realize that I did not have the sausage I ordered until cooking was underway. But even without the sausage this was very filling! A great addition to my lunch rotation!
It’s great as a vegetarian option!
Does this need to be served immediately or can it simmer for a while in Dutch oven?
You can simmer for longer, if you prefer, but I recommend holding off on the tortellini, kale, heavy cream and basil until right before serving.
I made this last night and it was easy and delicious. This is a keeper! Thanks for the recipe.
Awesome!
Made this for my husband tonight and it was Amazing! The only substitutions we made were that we used full fat coconut milk in the can instead of heavy cream because we don’t do dairy and we used a combination of baby kale and arugula. It was delicious!
Great! Thanks for sharing! 🙂
This recipe comes together very quickly and it’s delicious! This will definitely be in the rotation-
Great!
This soup was fantastic! I subbed the Italian sausage with ground turkey and heavy cream with half-and-half to lighten it up slightly. Also, I added the tortellini with the broth and tomato sauce and cooked it in the Instant Pot for 4 minutes, then added the kale and half-and-half. Turned out delicious!
That’s a great idea!
How many ounces of spinach would you recommend?
I would estimate about 6 ounces.
Made this tonight. It was SO good and filling. Thanks so much for your awesome recipes!
Thank you, Gail!
hello, what can I sub for Italian seasoning? this soup looks amazing, many thanks
You can sub anything you prefer over Italian seasoning.
Please a substitute for tortellini….gnocchi perhaps?
Ravioli could be a great substitute but without having tried this myself, I cannot answer with certainty. But if you get a chance to try it, please let me know how it turns out! 🙂
THIS REMINDS ME OF THE SOUPA TOSCANA from the Olive Garden by removing the tomato! It is outstanding, and to make it a bit less fattening I use half n half, and a bit of parmesan cheese! I can have as much as I want!!
How many servings in this recipe?
This recipe yields 4-6 servings.
Made this tonight and it was delicious. I used spinach this time but will try the kale next time.
Thanks for sharing.
Thank you, Dale!
wow this is so easy, fast, and full of flavor…. thank you for sharing with us..
This is EXACTLY what I want to make for my boys tonight! How would I convert this into an Instant Pot recipe? I’m a Newbie and love it and your website/recipes. I’ve made several so far since signing up for emails
What a great idea! But unfortunately, without having tried this myself, I cannot answer with certainty. But if you get a chance to try it, please let me know how it turns out! 🙂
This soup looks wonderful. I’d like to know if I can substitute spinach instead of kale. I can’t eat kale. I’d also like to substitute a different meat as I don’t eat pork.
Thanks!
Yes, absolutely!
Hi Kathryn – I also thought of substituting spinach, as I always have that in the fridge. My husband doesn’t eat pork either, and I’m going to make this with chicken Italian sausage. I’ve subbed with it before and it tasted just as good!