Making creamy tortellini soup with sausage and spinach is so easy and it will quickly become a favorite, just read the reviews! Filled with sausage, tomatoes, tortellini, and spinach, you get all the food groups in one savory bowl. You can make it creamy or make it without cream, depending on your mood.
We show you how to make our easy sausage tortellini soup in a Crock Pot, an Instant Pot, or on the stovetop too. It's a Whole Lotta Yum!
"This soup is so delicious! I usually have all the ingredients in my pantry. Even my soup hating husband loves this soup! A+!" ~ Stephanie
"I made this for lunch today and WOW! Why didn’t I make this sooner?! So good. It feels decadent but it’s so easy to make. I love it!"~ Marissa
This tortellini soup with sausage is honestly the best!
Not only is this our reader favorite soup, it's been our kids' favorite soup for over 10 years. It's super simple and only takes 15 minutes to put together.
You can make it creamy if you're looking for hearty richness or you can make it lighter by leaving the cream out. Both ways are delicious! We can almost guarantee this will become a new family favorite.
What you'll need
- olive oil (optional)- only needing oil to saute the sausage if you're pressure cooking the recipe
- onion
- garlic
- Italian seasoning
- chicken broth
- canned diced tomatoes - do not drain
- Italian sausage, hot or sweet/mild - we used mild, but the spicy sausage would be yummy too. or mix them together. Chicken Italian sausage is great too.
- frozen cheese tortellini (or fresh) - Our original family recipe uses frozen tortellini, it might be hard to find at some stores. It's ok the swap for fresh cheese tortellini but it'll take less time to cook and it doesn't work well for the IP version unless you add it in at the end.
- parmesan cheese, shredded
- heavy whipping cream (optional)- this is entirely optional depending on if you want a tomato broth version or a creamy version. Cream cheese would be yummy mixed in instead.
- fresh baby spinach - kale is another option
How to make crock pot tortellini soup
- Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Saute the sausage and onion. Add the garlic and Italian seasoning, cook for 1 more minute.
- Drain all but 1 tablespoon of grease.
- Add the cooked sausage to the Crock-Pot, along with the tablespoon of grease. Mix in the broth and canned tomatoes.
- Cook the sausage tortellini soup crock pot recipe for 7-8 hours on low or 4-5 hours on high.
- 30 minutes before the recipe is done, add the tortellini, fresh spinach, cream (optional), and shredded parmesan to the pot. Turn the slow cooker to High and cook until the tortellini floats to the surface and the soup is heated throughout.
- Garnish the tortellini soup with red pepper flakes, more parmesan, and/or fresh basil. Season with salt and pepper as desired. Enjoy!
Jenni's notes
- Small tortellini work best instead of the larger tortellini.
- Use fresh or frozen tortellini for the crock pot or stovetop versions. Frozen tortellini works best for a pressure cooker.
- Tortellini soup does not keep very well, pasta soup absorbs the liquid and expands overnight. Feel free to add more broth the next day if needed.
- The Instant Pot and stovetop instructions are down in the recipe card at the bottom of the page.
More soup recipes
Recipe
Creamy Sausage Tortellini Soup (Crock Pot)
You'll love our easy and creamy Crock pot IIalian tortellini sausage soup, it'll quickly become a new favorite! Filled with sausage, tomatoes, tortellini, and spinach, you get a Whole Lotta Yum in every savory bite.
Ingredients
- 1 cup chopped onion
- 2 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
- 7 cup chicken broth
- 28 oz can + 14 oz can of diced tomatoes undrained
- 1 lb uncooked Italian sausage mild or spicy
- 10 oz small frozen cheese tortellini or fresh
- ½ cup freshly shredded parmesan cheese
- 4 cups fresh baby spinach
- ¾ cup heavy whipping cream optional
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
Tortellini Soup (Crock Pot)
- Preheat a large pan or stockpot over medium heat. Add the olive oil to the pot. Cook the mild or hot Italian sausage and chopped onion until cooked through.
- Add the minced garlic and Italian seasoning and cook for one more minute.
- Drain most of the grease from the pan, I like to keep at least 1 tablespoon in the pot to go into the soup since it adds a lot of flavor.
- Put the seasoned sausage mixture into a large crockpot, be sure to scrape up the bits of sausage from the bottom of the pan you cooked it in and add those to the crockpot also. Add the chicken broth and a can of diced tomatoes. Stir all ingredients together.
- Cook the tortellini soup crock pot recipe for 4-5 hours on high or 7-8 hours on low.
- Add the tortellini, parmesan cheese, and fresh spinach, plus the cream if you're using it. Heat until the tortellini is cooked through.
- Garnish with red pepper flakes, more parmesan, and/or fresh basil. Season with salt and pepper as desired. Enjoy!
Instant Pot
- Turn your pressure cooker to Saute and heat your pot.
- Saute the sausage in 1 tablespoon of olive oil for 5 mins, you can drain the sausage after cooking, but be sure to leave at least 1 tablespoon of grease in the pot for cooking the onions and garlic so they won't stick.
- Add the chopped onion and minced garlic to the cooked Italian sausage and saute for 2 more mins. Stir in the Italian seasoning and mix the seasoning sausage mix together.
- Add about a ½ cup of the chicken broth to the instant pot to help scrape up the brown sausage bits from the bottom of the pot. Press Cancel to turn off the Saute function.
- Add the remaining chicken broth, canned tomatoes, and frozen tortellini.
- Pressure Cook on High for 1 minute. Some instant pots have this as the Pressure Cook setting and others call it Manual.
- Let the instant pot tortellini soup do a Natural Release for 3 minutes and then do a Quick Release to release the remaining pressure in the pot.
- Turn the pot back on Saute. Add in the fresh baby spinach and stir until wilted, which only takes 1-2 minutes. Slowly stir in the parmesan cheese, after it's melted, add the ¾ cup whipping cream. I like to add a little parmesan at a time, wait for it to melt, and then add a little more. This keeps the cheese from clumping or sticking to the pot.
- Garnish with red pepper flakes, more parmesan, and/or fresh basil. Enjoy!
Stovetop
- 1. Preheat a large stockpot over medium heat. Add the olive oil to the pot. Cook the sausage for 5 minutes, add the chopped onion, and saute the mixture for 5 more minutes. Add the minced garlic and Italian seasoning, and cook for 1 more minute.
- Add the chicken broth and tomatoes, then turn the heat up to high to bring it to a boil. Once hot, turn the pot down to medium heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
- Stir in the tortellini, spinach, shredded parmesan, and cream if you're using it. Cook just until the tortellini are cooked through and the spinach is wilted, for 3+ depending on whether you're using fresh or frozen tortellini. Garnish and enjoy!
Notes
- Try to find the small tortellini, it works better in the recipe. Some brands only carry the larger tortellini.
- We don't recommend fresh tortellini for the Instant Pot version, it'll cook to fast and get soggy. If you only have fresh for your IP, stir it in at the end until cooked through.
- Hot Italian pork sausage, mild/sweet Italian pork sausage, or Italian chicken sausage all work well. Use either already ground sausage or remove sausage from the casing if you're using something like Johnsonville Italian sausage.
- The spinach is optional, chopped baby kale would be another option but might take longer to wilt than spinach.
- Tortellini soup does not keep very well, pasta soup absorbs the liquid and expands overnight. Feel free to add more chicken broth the next day if much of the liquid was absorbed into the tortellini.
Nutrition
Serving: 1gCalories: 442kcalCarbohydrates: 27gProtein: 21gFat: 28gSaturated Fat: 13gPolyunsaturated Fat: 16gCholesterol: 80mgSodium: 1535mgFiber: 3gSugar: 6g
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
Marina says
Hello - I’m making the crockpot recipe. Do I add the tortellini, spinach, cream and, cheese before cooking on high for 4-5hrs or after just until tender/wilted?
WholeLottaYum says
Hi Marina! You add the tortellini, spinach, cream, and cheese at the end after the rest of the mixture has cooked for 4-5 hours. The tortellini and spinach are very quick cooking and just need a few minutes. Enjoy! This is a favorite! Jen
Barbara Hunter says
I made the crockpot tortellini soup and it’s way too runny. I added the correct amt of tomatoes, chicken broth and cream but it’s just too runny. Cooked on low 8 hours. How do I thicken it a bit??
WholeLottaYum says
Hi Barbara, I'm not sure why it's too runny. Is it possible too much liquid was accidentally added? To fix runny soup you can either remove some of the liquid with a ladel and add more seasoning if it needs it, transfer it to the stove top on a simmer to let some of the liquid evaporate, or you can add more ingredients like if you have another package of tortellini.
Krystal says
Hi there I have made this a few times and kept forgetting to ask how long you cook the tortellini for? It’s delicious thank you for the recipe!
Rehoboth says
Appreciate for your excellent work.
Thanks
Shelley Good says
Tried this and it is DELICIOUS! It will be a go-to meal from now on. Thanks for sharing.
Devon says
hi! I'm making this right now, except I accidentally added the cream with the chicken broth.. I've made this soup before (the correct way lol) and it was delicious so im really hoping I didn't ruin it 😕
Audri says
I'm making this currently but I was wondering if we are meant to drain the cans of tomatoes or not? thanks!
WholeLottaYum says
Hi Audri! You do not want to drain the tomatoes, just dump them in as is 🙂 By chance you already did drain them, I'm sure all will turn out just fine! Enjoy your soup! Jen
Kasidy says
Could I substitute bow tie noodles for tortellini?
WholeLottaYum says
Hi Kasidy, Yes! You can substitute bow tie noodles for tortellini, they'll take a little longer to cook but will still taste great. Jen
Judy F says
This soup is amazing! Couldn’t agree get enough of it! Will make over and over again!
Juana says
Where did the stovetop recipe go? This is the one I’ve used.
WholeLottaYum says
I'm so sorry! I just added the stovetop instructions back to the recipe card. I'd recently changed things since Google doesn't like it when people put all cooking methods in one card but prefer them to each be their own separate recipe. I usually make the stovetop version too 🙂 Enjoy!
Brianne says
Just a note- the recipe “card” is missing the cream add step. Found it in the detailed instructions. Making this right now!
WholeLottaYum says
The cream is optional! But it gets added at the end when you add the tortellini and spinach. I hope you enjoyed the soup!
Stephanie Smith says
This soup is so delicious! I usually have all the ingredients in my pantry. Even my soup hating husband loves this soup! A+!
Rehoboth says
Excellent recipe
Thanks
WholeLottaYum says
thank you so much!
Jennifer says
Can i use cream cheese instead of parm? I don’t have any parm. If so, how much?
WholeLottaYum says
You can just leave out the parmesan. If you want to add cream cheese to the recipe it makes a good replacement for the heavy whipping cream or using both. Make sure the cream cheese is soft or it won't break down as well (you can microwave small cubes for 15 seconds). Stir the cream cheese into the soup when you add the meat and tomatoes. The cream cheese won't be broken down at this point since the soup will be cold but it'll break down later in the cooking process. Give it a good stir before adding the tortellini and other ingredients at the end.
Kristy Lopez says
I just tried this for the first time and it was a hit! I doubled the recipe for a family of 7. I wasn’t a fan of how runny it was so I added corn starch to lightly thicken it. I had to add salt and pepper to it. I also didn’t double the garlic as 2 tablespoons per recipe was a lot. Overall it’ll be a dish I use and pass down with my children! Thanks so much!
Stacy says
How much cornstarch did you add? I’d like to make it more like a pasta sauce so my kids will eat it!
Maggie says
The crockpot recipe states to add "a can of tomatoes " in step?4. Did I miss somthing or do we only add 1 can of diced tomatoes to the crocpot recipe?