This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
This Italian sausage tortellini soup recipe is loaded with flavorful sausage and cheesy pasta in an irresistible creamy tomato broth. It has very little prep time and can be on your table in just 40 minutes!
Try my fairly similar Crockpot Tortellini Soup with Sausage if you’d like an alternative cooking method.
Why you’ll love it
You know that feeling you get when you eat the perfect bowl of soup, and it warms you up from the inside out? Yes, this cheese tortellini soup with sausage is the best comfort food meal on a chilly day! Italian sausage and tortellini are an iconic duo, and the creamy tomato broth is so good.
One of the awesome things about this soup is that it has minimal prep time. Chop the onion and celery, crumble the sausage (or use sausage meat), and that’s essentially it. It means that a complete and filling dinner for your whole family is ready faster on busy weeknights.
What you’ll need
- Italian sausage – it has a fantastic blend of herbs and spices. I use mild.
- Onion, celery, and garlic – these staples are the building blocks to any good soup
- Flour – to thicken the broth
- Chicken broth – another layer of flavor
- Diced tomatoes – tomatoes complement the sausage, and using the juices too is important for depth of flavor
- Italian seasoning – this blend of herbs including rosemary, oregano, and thyme makes the soup special. It comes in a single jar.
- Cheese tortellini – I use refrigerated tortellini because it cooks faster, but you’re welcome to use dried; just note that it’ll take longer to cook
- Heavy cream – don’t skip the cream! The silky texture and taste is so good.
- Spinach – tossing in a handful of baby spinach sneaks in some extra veggies
Tools for this recipe
Check out Natasha’s favorite kitchen essentials, gadgets, and cookware!
- Use a soup pot or sturdy Dutch oven for this soup.
- I recommend this ladle. It’s great at not spilling everywhere when dishing up soup.
- For the other half of the onion you’ll have left, store in this cute onion saver. And easily mince the garlic with a garlic press. No peeling needed!
How to make Italian sausage tortellini soup
This is an overview with step-by-step photos. Full ingredients & instructions are in the recipe card below.
In a large soup pot or Dutch oven sauté the crumbled sausage meat until browned. Transfer to a paper towel lined plate, drain most of the fat, and then cook the chopped onion and celery.
Add in the flour and garlic and cook for a minute, stirring constantly. Slowly pour in the chicken broth.
Add the tomatoes, Italian seasoning, and sausage meat. Bring to a boil, add in the pasta, and simmer. Finally, stir in the cream and spinach.
Substitutions and variations
- Be careful subbing the cream because the acidity of the tomatoes may curdle anything with a lower fat content than heavy cream.
- Try a different variety of sausage like chicken or turkey to change it up.
- If you’re not a fan of regular diced tomatoes, use petite diced tomatoes or tomato sauce instead.
- Craving something spicy? Throw in some crushed red pepper flakes or use hot Italian sausage.
- If spinach isn’t your thing, try kale, but let it cook for a little bit longer. This recipe is very flexible, so add in more veggies if you happen to have any on hand that need using up.
Make ahead tip
- If you plan on having leftovers, add the cheese tortellini to individual portions instead when you reheat them. That way, the pasta will cook quickly right in the soup when you need it and won’t have gone too soft!
What to serve with sausage tortellini soup
- This is a hearty soup, but a slice of Garlic Bread would be wonderful with it!
- You’ll even have time to make my 10 Minute Homemade Caesar Salad Dressing for a side salad, or try my Simple Parmesan Arugula Salad.
- Shaved fresh parmesan cheese takes this soup over the top.
Leftovers and storage
- I recommend eating this soup within a couple of days. The tortellini will soak up the broth and puff up the longer it’s in the fridge.
- You can freeze this soup, but if you want to freeze the entire batch, it’s best to leave out the cream, spinach, and tortellini and then add them when you’re reheating.
- If you freeze leftovers as-is, the pasta may not have the same texture as when first cooked.
I hope you try this sausage and tortellini soup recipe! I’d love it if you left a star rating and review below. You can also find me on Instagram.
Italian Sausage Tortellini Soup
Ingredients
- 16 ounces Italian sausage see note
- 1/2 medium onion chopped finely
- 2 sticks celery chopped finely
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 3-4 cloves garlic minced
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 1 (28 ounce) can diced tomatoes with juices
- 1/4 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 2 generous cups refrigerated cheese tortellini
- 1 cup heavy/whipping cream
- 2 cups (packed) fresh baby spinach optional
- Salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
- Add the sausage meat to a large soup pot. Sauté over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, for 7-10 minutes, or until the sausage is browned all over.
- Take the sausage out of the pot and set it aside on a paper towel lined plate. Leave about a tablespoon of the fat in the pot (drain any excess).
- Add the onion and celery to the pot and cook for 4-5 minutes.
- Add the flour and garlic and cook for a minute, stirring constantly.
- Slowly add the chicken broth and stir until the flour has completely dissolved.
- Add the canned tomatoes and Italian seasoning to the pot. Also add the sausage back in. Increase the heat to high and bring the soup to a gentle boil.
- Once it’s boiling, add the tortellini and reduce the heat so it’s gently simmering. Cook for 5 minutes.
- Stir in the cream and cook for another 5 minutes.
- Stir in the spinach and season with salt & pepper to taste.
Notes
- For the sausages, anything around the 16 ounce/1 pound ballpark is fine – it doesn’t need to be exact. You can either buy ground sausage meat or, if using whole sausages, take the meat out of the casings.
- This recipe is also in chapter 5 of the Salt & Lavender: Everyday Essentials hardcover cookbook.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
© Salt & Lavender Inc. Content and photographs are copyrighted. Sharing this blog post is much appreciated, but copying and pasting full recipes without authorization to social media is strictly prohibited.
This recipe was originally published on November 28, 2017. It’s been tweaked to be even easier, tastier, and has new photos!
What is the old recipe? We loved that one! Not that this new one won’t be delicious, but can you post the old one as well? Or email it?
Hi Abby! So, I don’t think that I actually changed anything besides minor tweaks to the wording in the recipe to make it more clear (and I also added new photos and made the blog post more thorough with tips/FAQs).
Same! I came back to this recipe several times because it looks so different (Did the original have celery in it?). Have made this a lot in the last few years so the visual changes threw me a little haha. Glad it’s the same one!
Hi Becca! Ok so what I believe happened is that Natasha added celery to the ingredients shot without reading the recipe closely for the re-testing and new photos haha. You’re welcome to leave it out, but both versions are great! That’s the only difference. It’s the same soup you love otherwise 🙂
I took a lot of liberties with this recipe, but I stayed true to the broth and it was delicious! The broth was really what drew me to try this.
So happy you enjoyed it, Liz!
This was awesome! My leftovers ended up looking more like pasta than soup, but it still tasted great either way.
Yay! Thrilled you enjoyed it 🙂
This soup is absolutely amazing! I adjusted a tiny bit for my family, but all in all, it was such a huge hit, my husband declared that I can’t make it often because he can’t resist it (and thus, will gain weight)!
Aww I love that!! 🙂
Hi! I took a chance and used light cream (5% cooking cream) and it worked great. Also, I used Italian turkey sausage and kept the tortellini separate as I knew I’d have leftovers. Hearty and delicious 😋
I’m so pleased you enjoyed it, Kelly!!
Hey! Can I use beef broth instead of chicken?
Hi Paige! We haven’t tested this recipe with beef broth. If that’s all you have, you could try, but it may add an obvious beefy flavor. It’s also much darker than chicken broth 🙂
Just delicious. I didn’t have Italian seasoning on hand, used pesto instead. After trying lots of your recipes, no tweaking is ever needed, but I forgot to get Italian seasoning. This will become a regular in our home. Thank you again Natasha!
That’s wonderful to hear! Love the pesto idea. 🙂 You’re very welcome, Adele!
So easy and super delicious! I made this exactly as the recipe directed except for using quite a bit more Italian seasoning. It was so yummy! My husband and teenage son both raved about it. Already pinned to my ‘recipes to make again’ board! Thanks for sharing!!
So glad it was a hit with your family, Sheri!! Thank you for your review! 🙂
Delicious and very easy!! Used green beans instead of celery as we had no celery. Will definitely be making again was a big hit!
Fantastic to hear, Catherine!
This is the soup I have been looking for! I followed the recipe; no changes. I love it, my husband loves it, and my children love it! A perfect balance of flavors, and quite easy to make. This is a soup I will serve to guests at lunch.
Aw that’s wonderful! So happy your family enjoyed it, Cindy!