Creamy Sausage Tortellini Soup
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This Sausage Tortellini Soup is deliciously creamy yet not too heavy, with tender carrots and spinach, cheese tortellini, and Italian sausage all simmered in a flavorful broth. Best of all, you just need one pot and about 30 minutes to get this served up from start to finish.
Sausage tortellini soup in a light creamy broth.
The real standard of true love for my recipes is whether my husband and I want to keep it eating over and over for lunch, and this one passes that test with flying colors. It’s got layers of flavor, with ground Italian sausage browned right in the soup pot, followed by colorful veggies and aromatics, broth, herbs, and tender cheese tortellini simmered directly in the soup. This achieves two excellent things: giving some natural body to the broth as the pasta releases a bit of starch, and minimizing your post-dinner clean-up effort.
Serve this soup by itself or paired with breadsticks or garlic knots for an Olive Garden-worthy feast. Salad, steamed peas or green beans, or roasted baby carrots round things out.
Ingredient & Substitution Notes
- Ground Italian sausage. Mild, hot, or sweet, all work here. Mild is my personal favorite, as it’s typically savory yet kid-friendly.
- Veggies and aromatics: carrots, onion, baby spinach, and fresh minced garlic. Feel free to add more carrots if you like, or toss in some bell pepper for added nutrients and a cleaner fridge. Kale is a good substitute for the spinach.
- Fresh cheese tortellini. Substitute dried or frozen tortellini as needed, just be sure to adjust the cooking time according to package directions.
- Chicken or veggie broth. In this case, I made my own using chicken-flavored Better Than Bouillon, which I always keep in the fridge. I do recommend using low-sodium broth or stock so that you can more easily control the saltiness to taste at the end.
- All-purpose flour and butter. These might seem unexpected, but they combine to make a simple roux that enriches the broth without the need for glugs and glugs of cream. This is a little trick borrowed from my lemon chicken soup, and I love how it works here.
- Cream. A little goes a long way, so don’t shy away from it, I say. Heavy cream, light cream, all good.
- Spices and staples: olive oil, Italian seasoning, kosher salt, and black pepper.
That makes up the soup itself. Grab some grated Parmesan and fresh parsley or basil for topping bowls, and a sprinkle of red pepper flakes for the top if you have some people who want a little heat and others who don’t.
Pro Tip
Make it dairy-free. It’s possible to make this soup dairy-free by using rotini, farfalle, or small pasta shells in place of the tortellini, omitting the flour-butter roux, and using Silk non-dairy heavy whipping cream at the end. Yes, it’s a few changes, but it does work and is fun to make a traditionally rich bowl accessible to those who eat dairy-free.
Tips and Tricks for Success
- Invest in a quality Dutch oven. You’ll use it more than you ever dreamed of!
- Make it vegetarian. Simply leave out the sausage (and use veggie broth, of course) and you’ll have a rich, flavorful vegetarian soup. But, give it a taste and be ready to add in an extra pinch of dried oregano, thyme, marjoram, or fennel seeds to make up for some of the sausage seasonings.
- Add a Parmesan rind if you have one. Never toss the hard rind of a Parmesan wedge! Just like in this slow cooker Parmesan white bean soup, you can toss it into a simmering broth for major flavor. Remove and toss the rind prior to stirring in the cream.
- Be judicious with the salt. Depending on the brands of broth and sausage that you use, this soup may have plenty of salt for your taste as-is. Add a little at a time remembering you can always add more but can’t take it back out!
Soup Storage Tips
- Short term? If you just plan to store this overnight and eat for lunch in the next day or so, it is fine in my experience to store the whole soup together in the fridge. These deli containers are the best for storing soup without a giant mess!
- Medium term? If you are meal prepping this soup to eat over the course of several days, you may prefer to cook the tortellini separately — this can just be done in boiling water as you normally would — and store it separate from the broth with sausage and veggies. This guarantees the tortellini will not absorb too much of the liquid over time. Each component can keep in the refrigerator this way for 4-5 days.
- Reheat as you’d expect in the microwave, stirring in between 1-minute bursts until it’s warmed thoroughly, or over medium heat on the stovetop.
Serving Suggestions
I truly believe this soup is a full meal in one bowl, but if you want to go the extra mile, add these divine one-hour breadsticks, garlic bread, or semi-homemade garlic knots for a true American-Italian feast.
Alternatively, or additionally, light salad greens topped with shredded carrots, tomatoes, cucumber, and Italian dressing or balsamic vinaigrette make that soup-salad combo come to life right at home.
More Cozy Soup Recipes
If you enjoy this tortellini soup with sausage, you might also like my creamy tomato tortellini soup or a satisfying vegetarian tortellini soup with white beans.
Lemon chicken, white bean chicken, and creamy carrot red pepper soup are more family favorites that I always love to put on the menu.
If you try this Sausage Tortellini Soup recipe, don’t forget to rate it and leave a comment below. I love hearing how recipes turn out in your kitchen, and it helps other readers, too.
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Creamy Sausage Tortellini Soup
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 8 ounces ground Italian sausage
- 2 medium carrots peeled and chopped into small pieces
- 1/2 medium yellow onion peeled and chopped
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
- 6 cups low-sodium chicken or vegetable broth or stock
- kosher salt and black pepper
- 2 Tablespoons butter
- 2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 9-10 ounces fresh cheese tortellini
- 2 cups fresh baby spinach loosely packed
- 1 cup heavy or light cream
- Parmesan, red pepper flakes, and fresh parsley or basil optional garnish
Instructions
- In a large Dutch oven or stockpot, warm olive oil over medium-high heat. Add sausage and cook, stirring often and crumbling into small pieces, until well-browned and cooked through, about 5 minutes. Remove sausage to a paper towel-lined plate and set aside.1 teaspoon olive oil, 8 ounces ground Italian sausage
- Add carrots and onion to the pot. Cook for about 4 minutes, stirring often.2 medium carrots, 1/2 medium yellow onion
- Add garlic and Italian seasoning. Cook for another 30-60 seconds, just until fragrant.4 cloves garlic, 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
- Pour in about 1 cup of broth and scrape the bottom of the pot well to release any stuck-on browned bits. Add all of the remaining broth plus 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt and 1/8 teaspoon black pepper. Increase heat to bring the mixture to a boil.6 cups low-sodium chicken or vegetable broth, kosher salt and black pepper
- While the broth is coming to a boil, melt the butter and stir in the flour to make a quick roux. Stir this into the broth.2 Tablespoons butter, 2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
- Once the broth is bubbling rapidly, add tortellini directly to it. Cook for 3-5 minutes, or until the pasta is tender according to package directions. Reduce heat a bit if needed; the water should simmer rapidly but not boil over.9-10 ounces fresh cheese tortellini
- When the tortellini is done, turn off the heat. Stir in the browned sausage, spinach, and cream.2 cups fresh baby spinach, 1 cup heavy or light cream
- Sample and season with extra salt and/or black pepper to taste.
- Garnish with grated Parmesan, red pepper flakes, and fresh parsley or basil, as desired. Enjoy!Parmesan, red pepper flakes, and fresh parsley or basil
