Creamy Tortellini Soup
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Creamy tortellini soup made with Italian sausage, cheese-filled tortellini, kale, and Parmesan rind for extra richness. A cozy comfort food recipe ready in just 30 minutes.
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This creamy tortellini soup is one of the most popular Damn Delicious recipes. A quick and hearty Italian-inspired soup with sausage, kale, and tender tortellini simmered in a Dutch oven.
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 for the Best Creamy Tortellini Soup with Italian Sausage
- 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 or large cast iron pot – essential for simmering creamy tortellini soup evenly.
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 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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Yum!!! Wonderful soup. I didn’t have any sausage thawed so added 2 cups of chopped mushrooms to boost the umami and the a bit more oil. Will make again with sausage.
This is INSANELY good!!! However unless u use multiple pots it takes closer to an hour to make. Totally worth it though. So good!! Will be a winter staple for us from now on!!!
So good! I used Barillo dried tortellini and still turn out great!
I make this quite often and substitute fresh spinach if I don’t have kale on hand. I keep it warm in an electric roasting pan if serving at a large gathering. Always a hit!
This is one of my favorite soups to make! It’s easy and SO delicious! I always double the recipe. Look at all the 5 star reviews! What are you waiting for?
THE BEST!! My husband requests it, my picky 2 year old loves it. A new stable in our home. Thank you!!!
I made this and it turned out AMAZING
Such a yummy recipe! I do half mild Italian and half hot sausage. I also use reduced sodium chicken broth because regular makes the soup too salty.
Everyone in my house LOVED this soup! It will be in my soup rotation from now on. I am gradually cooking my way through your soup recipes…. all have been delicious!
Excellent! Our new favorite soup. We doubled the tortellini and heavy cream and used 6 cups of chicken stock and 12 oz tomato sauce. Turned out great!
Love this soup. Double the recipe every time. We do not enjoy Kale so improvise with spinach. I also to not add the flour. Add a little extra totilinis and the soup is thick enough for us.
So easy and delicious! Ty for sharing!
I love this soup!!
I’ve made it many times and always double the recipe. I usually rotate between kale or spinach
and sometimes 1/2 mild and 1/2 hot Italian sausage. Tonight it’s kale and mild sausage.
I also add more cream. About 1/3 cup-ish for the double batch.
The ONLY beef I have with this recipe and most online recipes is the time for prep and cooking.
It says 15 min. prep and 15 min. cook for this one.Nope,Every time I make it I try and be faster and more efficient but cant get close to those times! 1 1/2 hrs min. for me but I do get distracted easily!
This is definitely a soup to try and my slow prep times don’t do it justice!!
This was so yummy. I added a bit of Maggi and some thyme. One of the best soups ever!
Im not really a big cook, I actualy only started last year from chefs plate and hello fresh, before that it was all frozen. I got kinda bored with those, its like the same every month. so I found this and DAMN it is such an amazing recipe, so easy, basically no prep either. I wouldn’t even change anything, oh I did actually lol I added baby spinach instead of kale just because I hate prepping kale so not really even a taste thing there.
Im not really a big cook, I actualy only started last year from chefs plate and hello fresh, before that it was all frozen. I got kinda bored with those, its like the same every month. so I found this and DAMN it is such an amazing recipe, so easy, basically no prep either. I wouldn’t even change anything, oh I did actually lol I added baby spinach instead of kale just because I hate prepping kale so not really even a taste thing there.
Made this tonight with Hot Italian sausage and lots of spinach instead of kale. We loved it! So easy and so tasty!
We absolutely love this soup so much! It’s easy to make for a great weekday dinner. I use spinach in place of the kale. This is definitely a keeper!
I’ve relied upon an excellent tortellini soup recipe for years. This one is better and will be my new go-to version. Thanks!
I made this for the first time tonight. It was both quick and easy to make and the flavours were delicious. My picky teenage daughter enjoyed it and my husband had seconds. Looking forward to leftovers tomorrow night! This will definitely be a regular in my fall/winter comfort food meal rotation.