Creamy Sausage Tortellini Soup is loaded with bold Italian sausage, pillowy cheese tortellini, and fresh kale in a rich and savory broth. It’s a cozy, one-pot dinner that’s ready in just 30 minutes!
What To Know About This Creamy Sausage Tortellini Soup Recipe
- Bold Flavor: Italian sausage, garlic, and herbs bring it all home!
- Easy To Make: One-pot dinner in just 30 minutes.
- Hearty: It’s a full meal in a bowl!
- Veggie Filled: With kale, tomatoes, carrots, bell pepper, celery, and more.
- Oh So Creamy: With cheese-stuffed tortellini in every bite.
- Great Leftover: Perfect for weekly meal prep.
Ellen’s Notes
Just like my crockpot tortellini soup, this stovetop version has been a weeknight hero in our house! The combo of creamy broth, spicy sausage, and cheesy pasta is just magic. Bonus: This soup recipe is totally customizable depending on what you’ve got in the fridge. (Check our ingredient notes for easy swaps!) We love serving it with crusty bread, a glass of wine, and calling it a night. I always make a double batch as the leftovers are just as tasty the next day!
Key Ingredient Notes
Below you will find helpful notes for key ingredients you need to make this creamy sausage tortellini soup recipe. See recipe card below for measurements!
- Italian Sausage: You can use any type of ground meat, but we love the flavor Italian sausage adds. Pick up a mild, hot, or sweet version based on your preference—making sure the casing is removed!
- Bell Pepper: You can use any color of bell pepper that you like best or happen to have on hand, but a yellow, red, or orange bell pepper will have a sweeter, milder flavor.
- Diced Tomatoes: You can use any flavor of canned diced tomatoes. Fire roasted diced tomatoes are always tasty for a little extra charred flavor.
- Broth: I find that beef broth really creates the best flavor in this soup, but you can use any flavor of broth or a combination of water and bouillon.
- Heavy Cream: Half and half is a good substitution if you want the broth to be a little less creamy. In a pinch I have also used evaporated milk!
- Fresh Kale: Remove the stems and give the kale a gentle massage under running water so it’s tender. You can also use spinach, collard greens, or Swiss chard.
- Tortellini: While I usually just use cheese tortellini, you can use whatever flavor you have. I usually use the fresh refrigerated tortellini, but frozen tortellini works just as well. Just make sure to add a few extra minutes of cook time.
- Parmesan Cheese: If possible, use freshly grated parmesan cheese for the best flavor and consistency.
What Other Veggies Would Be Good In This Soup?
We used onion, celery, carrots, bell pepper, kale, garlic, and canned diced tomatoes in this soup. However, you also add mushrooms, leeks, diced potatoes, riced cauliflower, or even some cannellini beans. Feel free to play around with it and use what you have on hand!
How to Make Creamy Sausage Tortellini Soup
We use flour to create a roux, making the broth rich and thick. However, you can also use cornstarch instead. Just stir in a cornstarch slurry (1 tbsp cornstarch whisked into 1 tbsp water) into the soup when you add the tortellini. Below is a quick recipe overview, but please scroll down to the recipe card for full instructions.
How To Serve Sausage Tortellini Soup
Garnish your soup with freshly grated parmesan cheese, chopped fresh parsley, or red pepper flakes for extra flavor and a pop of color. We like to serve this hearty soup with a slice of crusty bread on the side—perfect for dunking into that creamy broth. Think French bread, garlic bread, or sourdough. For a side, a light green salad like our roasted beet salad with goat cheese will balance the richness of the soup.
Planning For Leftovers?
If you are making extra soup with the plan to have leftovers, don’t cook the tortellini in the pot of soup. The tortellini will soak up some of the broth when stored and the texture can change a little. So instead, I prefer to cook the tortellini separately and add it to each individual bowl when ready to serve!
Creamy Sausage Tortellini Soup
Ingredients
- 1 lb Italian sausage, casing removed
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 1 cup chopped carrots
- 1 cup sliced celery
- 1 bell pepper, seeded and diced
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic, or more – measure with your heart
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour, or 1 tablespoon cornstarch – check notes below
- 1 (15 oz) can petite diced tomatoes, or fire roasted tomatoes
- 6 cups beef broth
- 1 cup heavy cream, or half and half
- 2-3 cups kale, stems removed, or spinach
- 1 (10 oz) package refrigerated tortellini
- ½ cup grated parmesan cheese, plus more for serving
- salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- In a large soup pot or dutch oven, brown the sausage (breaking up any of the large clumps as it cooks) with the onion, carrots, celery and bell pepper. Cook until the sausage is no longer pink, about 8 to 10 minutes. Add the garlic and Italian seasoning and sauté for an additional 30 seconds.
- Whisk in the flour, stirring continuously, for about 2 minutes, until the flour starts to brown and becomes fragrant. Add the tomatoes, stir, then slowly add in the beef stock while constantly stirring. Bring the soup to a simmer and cook for about 15 minutes.
- Add the cream, stir, and let simmer for 2 minutes more. Then stir in the kale and tortellini and simmer for 4 minutes, until tortellini are cooked and kale is wilted.
- Stir in the parmesan cheese until melted and season to taste with salt and pepper. Garnish with parmesan cheese, crushed red pepper flakes, and fresh parsley on top. Serve with a piece of crusty bread to soak up the broth!
