Sausage Tortellini Soup with Spinach
This creamy sausage tortellini soup is a winner in the world of comfort food! It’s delicious, loaded with vegetables, simple to make and so satisfying. It’s one of my go to recipes when company is coming and it’s always a big hit.
Read More: Hamburger Vegetable Soup, Kale and Sausage Soup, How to Add More Veggies to Soup
Creamy Tortellini Soup with Spicy Sausage & Spinach
This recipe combines a tomato broth with the full flavor of hot Italian sausage, heaps of vegetables and a touch of cream to help blend all the flavors nicely. And the extra bonus, soft pillows of tortellini (or your favorite pasta) make this creamy classic a comforting and filling meal.
Recipe for Creamy Tortellini Soup
Creamy Tortellini Soup
Ingredients
- 454 g hot Italian sausage 1 lb
- 1 medium onion diced
- 2 celery stalks diced (save leaves for garnish)
- 3 carrots diced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 Tbsp Italian Seasoning
- 2 Tbsp tomato paste
- 796 ml diced tomatoes 1 can 28 oz/796 ml
- 6 cups soup stock beef, chicken or vegetable
- 1 tbsp lemon juice or red wine vinegar
- 1 bay leaf
- rind of Parmesan cheese optional*
- 12 oz pack of tortellini your favourite filling
- 1 cup diced sweet peppers red, yellow and orange
- 4 cups fresh roughly chopped spinach 1/2 cup frozen
- 1 cup fresh heavy cream
- 1 Tbsp fresh celery leaves dill, parsley or green onions to garnish
Instructions
- Remove casing from sausage and sauté over medium high heat until browned. Remove from pot and set aside letting fat drip off. Remove all but 1 Tbsp of fat in pot.
- Add onion, celery, carrots and cook until slightly softened, 3 to 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook another minute. If pot is too dry, add a little water to prevent burning. Stir frequently.
- Add seasoning and cook just to release aroma, 30 seconds.
- Add tomato paste, canned tomatoes, soup stock and lemon juice or vinegar. Scrape off any browned bits from bottom of pot. Bring to boil. Reduce heat, add bay leaf and Parmesan rind (if using), cover and simmer until vegetables are almost tender, 10-15 minutes.
- Add tortellini and diced sweet peppers and cook another 5 minutes.
- Add spinach and let simmer for another 3 minutes.
- Stir in cream and heat through. Do not boil as boiling may cause curdling.
- Taste and adjust seasoning. Remove bay leaf and Parmesan rind.
- Remove from heat and garnish with celery leaves, parsley, dill or chopped green onions.
Video
Notes
Nutrition Facts (per serving)
What to Serve With Tortellini Soup
This is a hardy, satisfying soup that will fill you up on it’s own. Often I just serve it with fresh bread on the side. Consider these yummy side options:
- No Knead Artisan Bread
- Cheese Biscuits
- Rosemary Focaccia
- Citrus Salad
- Caesar Salad
- Simple Greens with Ranch Dressing.
How to Store and Reheat Tortellini Soup
Keep Tortellini Soup in the Fridge
- Let the soup cool to room temperature before refrigerating.
- Seal well and keep for 3-4 days.
- Note: Expect the tortellini to soften over time and the more it is reheated.
How to Reheat Tortellini Soup
- To reheat, place on stovetop over medium heat.
- Avoid boiling as boiling can cause the cream to curdle and the tortellini to break apart.
- Taste and adjust seasoning as needed
- Top with fresh garnish of parsley or green onions.
How to Freeze Tortellini Soup
You can freeze this soup IF… you freeze it before you add the tortellini and the cream. These two ingredients don’t do well when frozen. The cream will separate or curdle after being frozen and the tortellini will break apart, neither of which is very appetizing.
To prepare after thawing, place soup in pot over medium high heat. Once it’s heated, add the tortellini and cook for 10 minutes, add spinach, cook for 5 minutes and then stir in the cream until just heated through.
Common Questions about Sausage Tortellini Soup
Do I have to use hot Italian sausage in Tortellini Soup?
No you don’t. The Italian sausage is a big part of the awesome flavor of this recipe. You can choose mild or hot Italian sausage, depending on your heat preference, without reducing the flavor. However, you can substitute with other sausage, ground meat or other protein options – just add extra seasoning to enjoy a full flavored soup.
Can I Make Tortellini Soup Vegetarian?
Absolutely! Use a plant based Italian sausage or sauté mushrooms and extra seasoning to replace the sausage. Swap out meat-based broth for vegetable broth and choose vegetable-filled tortellini. Enhance the flavor with additional seasonings.
How Can I Thicken Tortellini Soup?
If the cream isn’t thick and creamy enough for you, add a cornstarch slurry. Mix 1-2 tablespoons of cornstarch with an equal amount of cold water to create a slurry. Gradually pour the slurry into the simmering soup while stirring continuously. Allow the soup to cook for a few minutes until it thickens. Click here for more ways to thicken soup.
Can I Make Tortellini Soup Dairy-Free?
Yes! This soup tastes great even without the cream. Your first and easiest option is just to leave out the cream and serve it as a broth based soup (we do this often and it’s delish). If you like the creamy look and feel, replace the cream with your favorite plant-based alternative. Make a roux by adding flour as shown in how to thicken soup.
What Kind of Tortellini to Use in Tortellini Soup?
Choose your favorite tortellini filling I like beef or cheese tortellini, but spinach and cheese, or mushroom-filled would be great too. Use what you love!
Can I Use Ravioli Instead of Tortellini in Tortellini Soup?
Sure, both are delicious filled pastas, but ravioli is much larger and a little more tender. The concern is that ravioli may fall apart, so handle the soup with care once they’re cooked. Unless you use mini ravioli, it may also be a little more difficult to eat. But as far as flavor – Yum!
What Can I Use Instead of Tortellini?
If you discover your husband ate the tortellini you were saving to use to make a YouTube video on tortellini soup (ask me if that ever happens 🙃😨😮), use gnocchi (soft potato dumplings). These cook up even faster than tortellini so add them in the last 5 minutes along with the spinach.
Short, thick pasta like farfalle (bows), cavatelli or classic macaroni will do the trick too.
When Should I Add the Tortellini?
The star of our show, tortellini, is best added during the final 10-15 minutes of cooking. This ensures that these pockets of goodness are cooked through and maintain their texture without becoming mushy. Check the instructions on your brand of tortellini to see recommended cooking time – use that time as an indicator of how long you want the tortellini to be cooking in your soup.
For the best texture of tortellini when batch cooking or freezing this soup, don’t add the tortellini until you’re ready to serve that batch. In other words, freeze this soup before adding tortellini.
More Soup Recipes To Try
If you love soups as much as I do, check out some of these other soups:
- Mulligatawny – thick and delicious chicken and rice soup
- Beet Borscht – beets and beans for a tasty vegetarian borscht
- Beef and Barley – a classic favorite
- Hamburger Vegetable Soup – a delicious way to use up all your veggies
- Sausage and Kale Soup – for those that love the flavor of Italian sausage
Are you ready to give this tortellini soup a try? What modifications if any, will you make? Let me know in the comments below or please take a photo and tag #getgettys so I can see it and like it!
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Made this soup for my family of 5 and we all really enjoyed it! I also just used the veggies and kale I had in my freezer and it was delicious! The other day I found a bag of frozen veggies at Superstore that includes diced onions, celery, carrots and peppers, which will cut down the time needed to chop veggies considerably, and will likely cut costs too. I’m going to try using it tonight to make the soup again. Yum! Thank you!
Thanks for your comment, Ashley. So glad to hear your family enjoyed this soup! Great use of those convenient frozen veggies!
Just made this soup last evening and it was a huge hit!!! Used the mild Italian sausage and a lighter cream and it was still delicious.
Terrific! Thanks for your feedback and sharing how you made it yours!
This is a wonderful recipe and very tolerant of the changes I made to accommodate the ingredients I had available. I had blanched and frozen carrots, celery and kale from my garden. I added the carrots with the stock and celery and kale when the spinach would have been added. I did not have cream and the soup was delicious without it. I will definitely make this again.
Hi Lynnette, thank you so much for your feedback, so glad you hear you enjoyed it. Thank you for sharing your modifications. I agree, this soup is very open to changes and substitutions – we often have it without cream too!