This one pot creamy tortellini soup is loaded with Italian sausage, spinach, and cheese tortellini in a rich tomato broth. It's a simple, cozy, winter meal that comes together in just 30 minutes!
You might also like this lasagna soup or this chicken tortilla soup!
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Ingredient Notes
You just need a few ingredients to make this creamy sausage tortellini soup!
Meat - I like to use Italian sausage in this soup, but you could also do ground beef, ground turkey, or a combination! You just want about 1 pound of meat total!
Refrigerated Tortellini - You can use any flavor of tortellini for this soup! My favorites are plain cheese or cheese and spinach (especially the ones from Trader Joe's). For the best taste and texture, use fresh refrigerated tortellini! You can usually find it near the cheeses in most grocery stores. Frozen or dried tortellini will also work, you'll just need to adjust the cooking time.
Canned Tomatoes - You can use any canned tomatoes that you have on hand, but my favorite are fire roasted tomatoes! You can also used crushed tomatoes for a smoother broth.
Vegetable Stock - I always use homemade vegetable stock because that's what I have on hand. But you can also use store-bought vegetable stock or chicken stock! Just note, if using store-bought stock you may need to reduce the salt content of the soup.
Heavy Cream - I like adding a little of cream to the soup for a richer, creamy texture. But you can leave it out for a lighter soup if you prefer!
White Cooking Wine - This is completely optional, I just love the extra flavor it adds to the broth.
Fresh Spinach - I love adding a few handfuls of fresh spinach to the tortellini soup but feel free to leave it out. You could also substitute fresh kale!
The complete list of ingredients and amounts is located in the recipe card below.
Variations
Make it vegetarian: Instead of adding meat to the tortellini soup, leave it out and just add in more veggies! Some of my favorites are carrots, diced zucchini and yellow squash, or sliced mushrooms.
How to Make Tortellini Soup
If needed, remove the casing from the Italian sausage and discard. Add to a large pot over medium high heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until the meat is browned.
Using a slotted spoon, remove the cooked sausage from the pot and set aside.
Add in the onion, garlic, red pepper flakes, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper. Cook until translucent and aromatic, about 5 minutes.
Pour in the wine to deglaze the pan, making sure to scrape up any browned bits on the bottom of the pot!
Then stir in the diced tomatoes, vegetable stock, and the cooked sausage and bring to a boil.
Reduce the heat to a simmer and then add in the fresh tortellini.
Simmer for about 3-5 minutes, or until the tortellini are fully cooked (if using frozen or dried tortellini it will take a bit longer to cook).
Turn off the heat and stir in the heavy cream, spinach, basil, and parmesan cheese. The residual heat will wilt the spinach. Then taste and adjust seasonings as desired.
To serve, garnish the sausage tortellini soup with a dollop a sprinkle of parmesan! Serve with warm bread or focaccia!
Recipe FAQ's
Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. If you plan to have a lot of leftovers, you can cook the tortellini separately and add individually to each serving.
Yes! Refrigerated tortellini cooks the fastest, but you can use frozen or dried tortellini instead! You can also use whatever flavor of tortellini you prefer.
Tips for Success!
For best results I always recommend using weight measurements (especially when baking) because it's the most accurate. Kitchen scales are super affordable and also reduce the number of dishes you have to do! However, all my recipes also include US customary measurements for convince. Use this chart to convert measurements for common ingredients!
Substitutions: In all my recipes, I've included substitutions that I know will work, but I cannot guarantee results if you substitute ingredients that I have not recommended. [For example, granulated sugar and honey are indeed both sweeteners but they have very different properties so they can not always be swapped 1:1. Using honey in a cookie recipe that calls for granulated sugar will yield a giant mess.] In the recipe card you'll find links to the specific ingredients/brands that I use.
A note on salt: I almost exclusively use Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt because it's the best all-purpose salt for cooking and baking. If you're not using kosher salt, consult this handy guide for a conversion chart! When in doubt, if you're using table salt just reduce the amount by half for baked goods. When cooking, I prefer to under-salt because you can always add more! If you've over-salted, adding a little bit of acid (like lemon juice) can help.
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Recipe Card
Spinach Tortellini Soup with Italian Sausage
Special Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 pound Italian sausage, sweet or hot
- 1 small onion, finely diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes, optional
- 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt, more to taste
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ cup white cooking wine, optional
- 2 (14 ounce) cans diced tomatoes
- 4 cups vegetable stock, substitute chicken broth or water
- 10 ounces cheese or spinach tortellini, (a slightly smaller or larger package is fine)
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 3 cups fresh spinach
- ¼ cup fresh basil, thinly sliced
- ½ cup grated parmesan cheese
Instructions
- If needed, remove the casing from the Italian sausage and discard. Add to a large pot over medium high heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until the meat is browned.
- Using a slotted spoon, remove the cooked sausage from the pot and set aside.
- Add in the onion, garlic, red pepper flakes, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper. Cook until translucent and aromatic, about 5 minutes.
- Pour in the wine to deglaze the pan, making sure to scrape up any browned bits on the bottom of the pot!
- Then stir in the diced tomatoes, vegetable stock, and the cooked sausage and bring to a boil.
- Reduce the heat to a simmer and then add in the fresh tortellini.
- Simmer for about 3-5 minutes, or until the tortellini are fully cooked (if using frozen or dried tortellini it will take a bit longer to cook).
- Turn off the heat and stir in the heavy cream, spinach, basil, and parmesan cheese. The residual heat will wilt the spinach. Then taste and adjust seasonings as desired.
- To serve, garnish the sausage tortellini soup with a dollop a sprinkle of parmesan! Serve with warm bread or focaccia!
Notes
Nutrition
The nutritional information on this website is only an estimate and is provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Taryn says
Quick and delicious. A great soup that can be made and served within an hour.
Maddie says
Came out great!
Sheryl says
This was easy and tasty. I needed to make it thicker. I used Italian sausage in the casing - I cooked them & just cut them into bite size pieces.