Rustic Tortellini Soup with Sausage and vegetables is a hearty, filling soup recipe for a delicious healthy comforting meal! Mix it up using your favorite vegetables and tortellini for something to look forward to on busy weeknights!
If youโre a fan of tortellini pasta and you havenโt tried tortellini in soup, I highly recommend you give it a go!
Tortellini is pure magic in soup.
If youโre a lover of chicken noodle soup, minestrone soup, or any soup that includes pasta, just imagine an even more delicious version with little pockets of cheese tortellini exploding flavor into your mouth.
Anywhere a noodle can go, put tortellini. Thatโs my new motto.
Even people who are ambivalent about soup (my partner included) will find tortellini soup with sausage to be exceptional.
Itโs filling and comforting and so enticing because the cheesy tortellini and sausage bring such a powerful punch of flavor.
I use gluten-free cheese tortellini and pre-cooked mild Italian chicken sausage, but you can go with any type of tortellini and sausage you love.
Thereโs plenty of room for customization in this versatile healthy soup recipe!
Letโs discuss the simple ingredients for tortellini soup.
Ingredients for Tortellini Soup:
Tortellini: The star ingredient that brings us together today! Choose any brand and type of tortellini you know you love. I use gluten-free fresh cheese tortellini, but any type of refrigerated tortellini will be delicious. You can even go with raviolis if you prefer.
You can find fresh tortellini in a refrigerated section of your grocery store, often near the meat section or dairy section.
Sausage: To make this hearty soup nice and filling for a complete meal, we use pre-cooked Italian sausage links. All we do is slice up the pre-cooked links into bite-sized rounds and weโre off and running!
If you prefer ground sausage rather than sausage links, feel free to swap out the links for one pound of ground sausage. You can cook the sausage while youโre sautรฉing the onion and celery ribs. While I go with mild sausage, you can absolutely use spicy sausage for a kick of heat!
Avocado Oil or Olive Oil: Used to sautรฉ the vegetables.
Vegetables: Yellow onion, garlic, celery, fresh spinach, fresh tomatoes, and zucchini are the veggies of choice here, making for a rustic soup recipe that includes a nice vitamin infusion.
You can incorporate any of your favorite vegetables here, including carrots, cauliflower, broccoli, yellow squash, butternut squash, etc. Feel free to swap the vine-ripened tomatoes for one 15-ounce can of diced tomatoes.
Chicken Broth: Chicken stock, vegetable broth, or beef broth are all lovely options for the broth portion of the soup.
For a creamy tortellini soup, reduce the amount of broth to 4 cups and add two cups of heavy cream, half & half, or full-fat canned coconut milk.
Seasonings: Dried oregano, dried parsley, salt and pepper are the simple seasonings we use to give this soup an infusion of herb flavor. Salt the soup to your personal preference. If you have Italian seasoning on hand, feel free to use it here instead of the oregano and parsley.
Recipe Adaptations:
- If youโd like, you can sear the sliced sausage in a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat to high heat for a few minutes per side, or until both sides are golden-brown. This step is entirely optional. It simply adds a nice textural element to the sausage for a bit of a golden crust. If you do decide to perform this step, you can do so as the soup is cooking to multi-task.
- Add 1 (15-ounce) can of white beans, black beans, or kidney beans to the soup if you love beans.
- Swap the spinach for fresh kale or chard or leave the leafy greens out entirely.
- Change out any of the fresh vegetables for the ones you prefer.
- Mix it up by using chicken breasts, chicken thighs, ground turkey, ground beef, or shrimp instead of sausage for the protein portion.
- If you love tomato soup, feel free to add 3 tablespoons of tomato paste or 1 8-ounce can of tomato sauce. Fire-roasted tomatoes are amazing here too.
- Add in any fresh herbs you have, such as fresh basil or fresh parsley.
- For a little heat, add 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of red pepper flakes.
- Garlic lovers, add more minced garlic in this sausage tortellini soup!
- Make it in a crock pot by tossing everything in and cooking on High for 2 hours or Low for 4 hours.
Now that weโre experts on the fresh ingredients list, letโs make a big batch of tortellini soup!
How to Make Tortellini Soup:
In addition to the magnificent taste, the best part about this easy hearty tortellini soup recipe is how easy it is to prepare. We simply sautรฉ some fresh veggies, then toss the rest of the ingredients in the pot for a simple 30-minute meal.
Heat the avocado oil over medium heat in a large pot such as a thick-bottomed stock pot (I use my Dutch oven).
Add the chopped onion, celery, and garlic and sautรฉ, stirring occasionally, until the onion is translucent and very fragrant, about 5 to 8 minutes.
Transfer the zucchini, tomatoes, chicken broth, oregano, parsley, salt and pepper to the pot and stir well. Bring the mixture to a full boil and cook, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes, until the zucchini is tender.
Stir in the sliced sausage, tortellini, and baby spinach. Return the soup to a gentle boil and allow it to cook for at least another 5 minutes, or until the sausage and tortellini are heated through and the spinach has wilted.
Serve tortellini soup in big bowls with freshly grated parmesan cheese and enjoy! Garlic bread and cornbread pair nicely with this cheese tortellini soup as well.
Store any leftover soup in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
As is true with many soup recipes, this one is even better the next day! So the next time you’re craving soup, whip this one up to have on hand for days!
The way I see it, an easy tortellini soup recipe like this is perfect for enjoying any night of the week, but also for special occasions. Guaranteed to be a family favorite!
It comes together quickly and simply yet includes such impressive flavor that it is great for entertaining guests as well.
Enjoy this simple soup recipe during the fall and winter season, or anytime the need for soup arises!
If you love hearty soup recipes, also try out these reader favorites!
More Healthy Soup Recipes:
- Hearty Ground Turkey Soup with Vegetables
- Creamy Sweet Potato and Quinoa Stew
- Instant Pot Lasagna Soup
- Ground Beef and Cabbage Soup
- Moroccan Chicken Stew
- Instant Pot Lamb Stew
- Coconut Curry Vegetable Soup
Put this amazing meal on regular rotation during soup season!
Tortellini Soup with Sausage
Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp avocado oil
- 1 small yellow onion chopped
- 2 large stalks celery chopped
- 5 cloves garlic minced
- 1 medium-sized zucchini chopped
- 2 vine-ripened tomatoes chopped
- 6 cups chicken broth
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp dried parsley
- ยพ tsp sea salt to taste
- ยผ tsp black pepper
- 1 12-oz package pre-cooked Italian sausage links, sliced*
- 1 9-oz package tortellini**
- 2 cups baby spinach
Instructions
- Heat the avocado oil over medium heat in a large pot such as a thick-bottomed stock pot (I use my Dutch oven). Add the chopped onion, celery, and garlic and sautรฉ, stirring occasionally, until the onion is translucent and very fragrant, about 5 to 8 minutes.
- Transfer the zucchini, tomatoes, chicken broth, oregano, parsley, salt and pepper to the pot and stir well. Bring the mixture to a full boil and cook, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes, until the zucchini is tender.
- Stir in the sliced sausage, tortellini, and baby spinach. Return the soup to a gentle boil and allow it to cook for at least another 5 minutes, or until the sausage and tortellini are heated through and the spinach has wilted.
- Serve tortellini soup in big bowls with freshly grated parmesan cheese and enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
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Made this tonite! So good…did not use tomatoes and was out of celery, so I used yellow squash and carrots in it’s place. It was absolutely delicious and so simple to make. Thanks for sharing
Right?! I just love how easy it comes together and it’s just so flavorful with those yummy tortellini and the sausage. So thrilled you made it with what you had on hand – It’s such a versatile recipe! xoxox
This looks so warm and cozy! Could you use frozen spinach in place of the fresh and if so would you suggest thawing it first?
Hi Cindy! I’m so happy you like the idea of the soup! I’ve never tested it with frozen spinach but I’m positive it will work great. No need to thaw it first! Just toss it in and continue cooking the soup until the spinach has heated through ๐ Hope you enjoy!! xoxo
Can you make this without tomato?
Hi Michelle! Absolutely! The soup will still taste great without the tomatoes. Hope you enjoy! ๐
Hello! Recipe sounds great. Where do you find gluten free tortellini? Also which brand? Thank you
Hi Lynne! Most grocery stores now carry gluten-free tortellini (and ravioli) in addition to regular tortellini. I have seen them next to the regular tortellini and have also seen them in a separate freezer section where gluten-free items are kept.
The brand I use is Taste Republic 4-Cheese Tortellini Pasta, which I buy from Whole Foods (https://amzn.to/3e5KnHt). At the Whole Foods I shop at, the regular and GF tortellini is in the same refrigerated section. I’ve seen several different brands of GF tortellini at various grocery stores, but have only tried Taste Republic…they’re absolutely delicious! Hope this helps! xoxoxo ๐
@Julia, Yes! you certainly have helped and your recipe sounds delicious. Thank you
Sincerely,
Lynne T
I just came in from a cold morning walk to see this recipe. It warmed me just reading it.
I’m so thrilled to hear it! It truly is the most comforting meal!