Creamy Tomato Basil Tortellini
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This Creamy Tomato Basil Tortellini recipe enlists fresh, vibrant produce to lighten up a delicious cream-based pasta dinner. The end result is a meal that only tastes decadent and can be on your table in about 25 minutes.
Why We Love This
This dish is so simple and tasty year-round, but really makes the most of fresh produce, especially summer tomatoes and basil! From the cook’s perspective, I love how it’s so quick to pull together — just about 25 minutes, start to finish — and doesn’t need a lot of pots and pans.
In the taste and ingredients department, I love that this delivers a light yet satisfying cream sauce without using globs of heavy cream. Just a little bit of cream bubbled into an already tasty sauce of butter, garlic, and white wine or broth makes for a sauce that hits all the right notes.
Related: Creamy Tomato Basil Chicken
Serving Suggestions
Plate this up as a light main dish, especially in the summer or early fall when the living is easy. In this scenario, pair with a simple green salad or steamed peas, grilled corn, etc.
This also makes a great side dish to any menu for a larger gathering or celebration. The light flavors go really well with grilled steak, ribs, Italian dressing chicken, or the like.
Ingredient & Substitution Notes
A few notes and shopping tips about the ingredients you’ll need; find full amounts in the print-friendly recipe card below.
- Tortellini. My preference is always refrigerated tortellini, which is usually sold in the deli section near fresh cheeses and can be purchased in bulk & tossed in the freezer for use as you need. Dried tortellini also works here but takes significantly longer to cook. I usually use cheese tortellini, or cheese and spinach, but any filling you like is great.
- Fresh garlic. Fresh minced is ideal, jarred minced works just fine. In a pinch, substitute garlic powder at a rate of about 1/8 teaspoon powder per clove, adding more to taste.
- Tomatoes. For this recipe, I love using Roma tomatoes, or any on-the-vine variety or other fresh ones you find at the store or market. Try to discard some of the seeds and juice while chopping, however, so the sauce doesn’t get too watery.
- Fresh basil. The other star!
- Chicken broth, veggie broth, or white wine. Or a combination!
- Cream. As always, a small splash of heavy or light cream goes a long way to make this sauce rich and luscious without weighing it down.
- Squeeze of lemon juice. I probably wouldn’t make a trip to the grocery store just for this, but if you half a lemon on hand, adding a smidge of juice to this sauce livens it up.
- Fresh grated Parmesan.
- Butter. Just a pat adds so much.
- Kosher salt and black pepper.
How To Make Tomato Basil Tortellini
This is an overview; find full ingredients & instructions in the printable recipe card below.
- Cook tortellini in a large pot of well-salted water. Reserve a smidge of the pasta water before draining, in case you want to thin out the sauce.
- To start the sauce, melt butter. In it, sauté the garlic briefly before pouring in the broth or white wine. Let this mixture simmer for 3-4 minutes, until noticeably reduced, before stirring the cream and seasoning with salt and pepper to taste. The sauce may look thin at this point; don’t worry. Keep going, let it simmer, and it will come together.
- Stir in the chopped tomatoes, reduce heat to medium, and let everything bubble a couple minutes more before adding the Parmesan, basil, and lemon juice. The tomatoes may turn the sauce slightly pink — that’s OK!
- Add drained tortellini and stir well to combine. This is when you’ll add reserved pasta water if your sauce thickened up more than you like.
Serve and enjoy. Don’t forget to add lots of extra Parmesan, basil leaves, and black pepper. Yum!
Storage & Reheating
Leftovers keep well in the fridge for 3-4 days in any airtight container. Warm portions in the microwave for 1-2 minutes, or in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. If warming on the stove, add a very small splash of water or broth as needed to prevent sticking and loosen the sauce again.
I’ve yet to try freezing this recipe; if I do, I’ll come back and report how it goes!
Related Recipes
Love easy tortellini recipes? You’re in the right place! Other favorites include creamy pesto tortellini, super easy tortellini with mushrooms and garlic, creamy Tuscan tortellini, and a balsamic Caprese tortellini salad.
Have even more basil to use? Make your own pesto, or a basil vinaigrette that pairs perfectly with a summer pasta salad or regular greens. We also love this quick lemon basil chicken skillet and threading whole leaves onto Caprese skewers or flatbreads for a quick bite.
If you try this Tomato Basil Tortellini, please rate the recipe 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 Tomato Basil Tortellini
Ingredients
- 18-20 ounces fresh tortellini
- kosher salt and black pepper
- 2 Tablespoons butter
- 3-4 garlic cloves minced
- 1 cup chicken or veggie broth or dry white wine, or a mix
- 1/2 cup cream
- 3 medium tomatoes such as Roma or plum
- 1/2 cup fresh-grated Parmesan cheese
- 1/2 cup fresh basil leaves
- juice of 1/2 lemon
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add a generous pinch of salt, followed by the tortellini, and cook just to al dente, according to package directions. Reserve a small amount of the pasta water, then drain tortellini and set aside.
- While the water comes to a boil, start the sauce. Melt butter in a large skillet set over medium-high heat. When melted, add garlic and cook for another 30-60 seconds, just until fragrant.
- Pour in the white wine or broth. Bring to a simmer, then cook for 3-4 minutes, until visibly reduced. Add cream and stir into a smooth sauce. Season with salt and pepper to taste. (I usually add 1/2 teaspoon salt and 6-8 cracks of fresh-ground black pepper.)
- Coarsely chop the tomatoes and discard most of the seeds. Stir tomatoes into the sauce, reduce heat to medium, and simmer for another 2-3 minutes.
- Stir in the Parmesan, basil, and lemon juice. Remove pan from the heat, then add drained tortellini and stir well to combine. Add reserved pasta water 1-2 teaspoons at a time if needed to thin the sauce. Serve right away with more Parmesan and basil, if desired. Enjoy!
Notes
- Yield: In my experience, this recipe yields 4 pretty generous portions. For my family of two adults and two kids, we usually have about one small lunch portion leftover. If serving this as a side dish, you can easily expect to get 6 portions without increasing the amounts.
