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
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.
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So good. So easy. So loved by my family
I made this recipe for a weeknight meal. It was awesome. I did use fire roasted tomatoes and a slice of parmigiana rind. I used a few more tortellini’s. Great recipe!
This was fantastic! I made everything as close as I could. I didn’t have tomato sauce so I puréed a can of diced tomatoes and used 3/4 of that with two tablespoons tomato paste. I also planned to use fresh leaf spinach but the bag I had was unfortunately bad so I used frozen peas instead which turned out great! Thanks for the recipe!
Very easy and tasty recipe. Will use it again on these chilly fall nights!
Made this before and followed the recipe exactly, absolutely loved it. Tried today, had to use frozen kale and dry pasta and it was a disaster. Well, definitely keep this recipe saved and only make it if I had all the listed ingredients.
This was so good ! I used less kale than the recipe suggested, and garnished the soup with some grated Vermont cheddar cheese. I recommend cooking this.
Wow! I found this randomly while searching for a recipe to use some leftover tortellini. This is crazy good! And so simple. Thank you!!
This was so tasty! I used half the amount of kale because my kids aren’t a fan. I also added fresh grated Parmesan because the soup consistency wasn’t thickening up for me. I will definitely make again!
This is fancy restaurant soup! Love it! I made this about 6 months ago as written. It was so amazing and I didn’t think I’d like Kale. It did take longer to cook with the Kale. Delicious!
I made it again today but used homemade sausage/burger meatballs that I just froze yesterday since my sausage wasn’t thawed. The meatballs had garlic, onions and seasonings!
I sautéed chopped carrots, celery and some pre chopped garlic and onion and added the flour. I used my crockpot. Added the frozen Italian meatballs, chicken stock, tomatoes, paste, carrot mixture. I added some Montreal seasoning instead of salt and pepper. I added about a teaspoon of sugar for the acidity in the tomatoes. Let it cook for about 4 hours then added the tortellini and spinach this time. The carrots were still slightly crunchy so I turned up the crockpot for an hour. Unplugged the crockpot and added half and half and a little more basil. Grilled a slice of sourdough bread with butter and garlic seasoning and Parmesan cheese. Excited for my family to try this soup tomorrow. I might need to make another batch! Kale or spinach is great in this. Thank you for the amazing recipe!! Great for company! Xxxooo
I’m glad I didn’t omit the flour because it really adds a good amount of body which screams comfort food! I added coconut milk, roasted peppers and used meat tortellini and spinach and I doubled the recipe! Family of 3 we all went for seconds and thirds! The coconut milk makes it more fatty and gives it a fresh twist! Soo soo good!
It’s fantastic! I wanted a new recipe, and started with a single batch, next time it will be a double batch! It’s delicious!
Best soup EVER!! My daughter gave me this recipe to try. It’s one of hers and my family’s favorite! Thank you!!
Made this last night and it was PERFECT! I did add carrots and about twice as much chicken broth and tomato sauce because my packages of sausage and tortellini were larger than the recipe called for. My husband and I rarely agree on the soups we like, but this savory soup checked all the boxes for both of us. When I asked him this morning if he wanted to take some for lunch, he told me he woke up thinking about the soup. Now that is a real compliment from him!
Thanks so much for this recipe. It is a keeper and repeater!
This was absolutely amazing and will be added to my fall/winter soup rotation. I used spicy Italian sausage and also added red chili flakes to get some good heat as well as topped it with Parmesan cheese. So good. As other comments suggested, this is a recipe that can be easily manipulated to add other ingredients/veggies but I highly recommend just trying it as is first, its that good. I served it with warm, garlic rubbed crostini’s to dip in the broth.
Can this be made ahead and frozen if you leave the tortellini out? I was planning on making the broth/meat and freezing it. When ready to use heating it up in pot, once thawed and liquid tossing in tortellini, and cooking to directions. Has anyone done this? Would it work?
That seems like a great idea, that’s exactly the solution I was looking for! Can’t see why it wouldn’t work
Thank you for sharing your idea! 🙂
This is one of my husbands favorite soups. He requests it often. It’s delicious with his homemade sausage. I use baby spinach instead of kale as my husband is not a huge kale fan. But this is a fabulous recipe
This is absolutely delicious. I followed a few of the commenters suggestions and used the fire roasted tomatoes instead of the tomato sauce, and our local store only had chicken and bacon tortellini and it was yummy and I added the 4 carrots and 2 stalks of celery as someone suggested. I have doubled the ingredients, except for the meat, because of what I had on hand. My husband LOVES this soup and is always happy when I tell him it’s on the dinner menu. Our home is Sonoma, Ca. so wine is a must while making the soup. Love it and thanks for sharing.
This was amazing!!! I used baby spinach (that’s what I had, plus I’m not a big fan of kale). I bought mild sausage by mistake, so I added some red pepper flakes to add some heat. Fabulous!
This recipe is amazing! I usually add around double the tomato sauce so it’s not as brothy, and I make sure there’s enough flour to soak up the oil. Also, I’ll add Calabrian chili peppers and/or red pepper flakes for spice. Spinach also works as a great substitute for the kale.
This is possibly the best soup I’ve ever made. I mean really. Mind blowing good.
Only change I made was fire roasted tomatoes for tomato sauce.
Also, kale takes longer than 2 min to be tender. Other than that, perfection!