My Italian Sausage and Tortellini Soup recipe is a a savory, creamy soup filled with flavorful sausage and cheesy tortellini. This one pot meal is a family favorite and makes a beautiful meal for those chilly, cozy nights.
This winter has been particularly harsh in Michigan. In the seven years that we have been here, it has never been this bad. We have had snow since the week of Thanksgiving and with the exception of one little melt off, we have been buried again. And it is still coming down.Not to mention, the actual air temperatures are dropping below zero for the next two weeks. If you read the website often you might be sick of hearing me talk about the weather, but as someone who eats seasonally and has outdoor animals, the weather tends to drive so much of my life. It has left me craving food in bowls this season – warm, hearty meals that fill me up, can be eaten for several nights or lunch or even frozen.
My Italian Sausage and Tortellini Soup recipe is one of my favorite recipes to eat during these long, cold seasons. It is a hearty soup packed with flavors that make it taste just like a savory pasta at my favorite Chicago restaurant back home. The sausage and cheese tortellini compliment one another in a truly beautiful manner and the broth is a tomato and cream base that pulls all the flavors together.
Picking the sausage and cooking it
You can use sweet, mild or spicy Italian sausage in the Italian Sausage and Tortellini Soup recipe. I usually use sweet or mild. However, if you prefer a little bit of spice go ahead and use the spicy sauce for an extra kick. You need 1 lb of Italian sausage and if you cannot find the uncases sausage, use the cased sausage and slice the casing. Then brown the sausage a large soup pot. Once it is browned, remove it and set it aside on a plate lined with a paper towel to soak up any extra grease.
Creating the soup base
Once the sausage has been cooked, the soup base is created with onions, garlic, optional crushed red pepper flakes, carrots and celery. All of this is softened and then flour is added in to help thicken the soup. Next I add a nice, dry white white to deglaze the pan and round out all of the flavors. It helps to cut the acidity from the tomatoes and will brighten the flavor of the soup.
The broth
I then use chicken stock in the Italian Sausage and Tortellini Soup recipe. It helps to create a heartier flavor within the soup. Diced tomatoes go in next and I often used canned diced tomatoes for this recipe because we typically make this in the colder months of the year. I could buy tomatoes from the grocery store right now, but frankly winter tomatoes in Michigan taste like sadness. I’d rather have good, quality canned diced tomatoes like Cento or Dei Fratelli. Dried spices then get added to the pot and everything is brought to a rolling boil.
The proper tortellini
Once things have been boiling for a few minutes the sausage is added back in and cooked more fully. Next the tortellini is added into the pot. You want to make sure you are using a fresh tortellini from the refrigerator section. This will cook more quickly allowing you to make the meal faster and honestly it just tastes better since it is fresher too.
The last bits
After the tortellini is cooked, heavy cream is stirred in and the Italian Sausage and Tortellini Soup recipe is finished off with fresh spinach. Make sure to use heavy cream. Due to the fat content in it, you should not have issues with curdling. Additionally, I like fresh spinach versus frozen. There is a bit too much water content in frozen spinach and it throws off the taste profile of the soup a bit.
Tips for making my Italian Sausage and Tortellini Soup recipe
- When deciding on a white wine to use for the Italian Sausage and Tortellini Soup recipe, you do not have to use an expensive wine. However you should go with a dry white wine to get the most flavor benefits. Chardonnay or even a Sauvignon Blanc (not as dry) are both good options.
- Remember to look for that fresh tortellini in the refrigerator section of the grocery store. If you absolutely cannot find it you can go with a dry option but that will soak up more broth and you might need an extra cup of chicken stock.
- I do not recommend subbing anything for the whole milk and heavy cream. The fat content is what keeps it from curdling as the soup cooks and anything else with less fat is at risk for curdling.
- I have a measurement for the spinach in the recipe below but I honestly end up going with however much I can crammed into my pot. I love greens in soups so I just feel you can never have enough. If you love spinach too feel free to add more. If you prefer kale, you can substitute for kale.
Saving the leftovers
Place any leftovers from the Italian Sausage and Tortellini Soup recipe in an airtight container in the refrigerator. To reheat, place individual bowls in the microwave for about 1 minute and 30 seconds to 2 minutes. You can reheat it on the stove but just be aware the tortellini might start to fall apart on you if the heat is too high. You really have to just simmer it on the stove to be reheated there.
Also, you can freeze the leftovers and save them for up to two months. Thaw them in the refrigerator and then reheat pre the instructions in the previous paragraph.
Looking for more soup recipes?
If you love a good bowl of soup like my Italian Sausage and Tortellini Soup recipe, try these too.
- Zoupa Toscana Soup with Cauliflower {HERE}
- Steak & Cauliflower Soup {HERE}
- Loaded Baked Potato Soup {HERE}
- Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup {HERE}
- Italian Sausage and Cabbage Soup {HERE}
- Homemade Minestrone Soup {HERE}
- Beet Soup {HERE}
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Thank you so much for stopping by today, friends! I hope you love my Italian Sausage and Tortellini Soup recipe. You can find the full, recipe below. I hope you will come visit us again. Happy eating.
Italian Sausage and Tortellini Soup recipe
Equipment
- Large soup pot or Dutch Oven
Ingredients
- 1 lb Italian Sausage, uncased
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 medium yellow onion, diced
- 5 cloves fresh garlic, minced
- 2 medium carrots, slice/diced
- 2 large pieces of celery, sliced
- 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
- 3 tbsp flour
- 1/2 cup dry white wine
- 32 oz chicken stock
- 28 oz diced tomatoes See note
- 2 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1/2 tsp dried basil
- 1/2 tsp course sea salt
- 2 bay leaves
- 20 oz refrigerated cheese tortellini
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 16 oz fresh spinach
- Fresh parsley for topping
Instructions
- Add the Italian sausage to your large pot over medium heat and brown it. Then remove it from the pot and place it on a plate lined with a paper towel to catch the extra grease. Set it aside.
- Back in the pot add in the extra virgin olive oil over medium heat. When it is shimmering, add in the onions. Cook them for 5 minutes, stirring regularly until they are soft and translucent. Then add in the garlic and cook for another 3 minutes. If you are using the crushed red pepper flakes, add those in now too.
- Add in the carrots and celery and cook for another 3 minutes, stirring regularly. Next add in the flour and coat everything. Cook for another 2 minutes.
- Pour in the white wine and deglaze the pot, scraping the brown bits from the bottom. Let it reduce by half and then add in the chicken stock, the diced tomatoes, dried oregano, dried thyme, dried basil, sea salt and bay leaves.
- Bring everything to a rolling boil for 5 minutes and then add the Italian sausage back in. Cook this on a rolling/light boil for another 5 minutes.
- Next add in the tortellini and turn the pot down to a simmer. Simmer for 5 minutes and then stir in the heavy cream.
- Once the time is up, turn the heat off on the pot and stir in the spinach until it wilts. Remove the pot from the heat and then serve with fresh parsley, sea salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste.
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