Sausage tortellini soup is a hearty soup made with cheese tortellini, crumbled Italian sausage, and nutritious veggies. Cook up a batch of this creamy, flavorful soup in 30 minutes or less in a single pot!
We love tortellini soup around here - beef tortellini soup and creamy chicken tortellini soup are reader favorites. Tortellini turns a simple soup recipe into a hearty and filling meal, stretching a single pot of soup to easily feed more people.
Sausage tortellini soup is hearty and comforting, making it perfect for a cold winter evening. It has a mild, savory flavor with a little spice from the crumbled Italian sausage.
Serve sausage tortellini soup for a quick weeknight meal, or on a cold weekend as you curl up to watch the big game on tv.
Ingredients and substitutions
- Italian sausage - Ground hot or mild sausage works for this recipe. If you purchased sausage links, remove the casings from the sausage before cooking.
- Olive oil - Can be substituted with your favorite neutral cooking oil.
- Mirepoix - Onion, celery, and carrot are a classic blend of aromatics used to add depth of flavor to homemade soup.
- Garlic - I recommend using fresh minced garlic or substituting two gloves of garlic with ½ teaspoon of garlic powder. Jarred garlic often tastes (and smells) overpowering and harsh.
- All-purpose flour - Thickens your soup by creating a roux with the olive oil.
- Seasoning - Italian seasoning and red pepper flakes add depth of flavor to your soup. Italian seasoning can be a homemade blend or a combination of your favorite dried Italian herbs, like sage, rosemary, oregano, and basil.
- Broth - I used chicken broth, but vegetable broth or pork broth are great substitutions.
- Cheese tortellini - You'll need one package of about 9 to 10 ounces of refrigerated (or frozen) uncooked cheese tortellini for this recipe. Small uncooked ravioli can work as a substitute.
- Whole milk - Milk can be substituted with half & half or heavy cream for a richer, thicker soup.
How to cook tortellini
For this recipe, we're cooking the tortellini directly in our soup base. Extra water is added to account for the liquid tortellini soaks up as it cooks. Refer to the package directions of your pasta for specific cooking times, as this can vary from brand to brand.
To cook your tortellini separately, omit the water listed in the recipe, and instead bring a salted pot of water to a boil. Cook your tortellini according to the package directions for al dente pasta, drain well, then add to your soup base (or to each individual soup bowl).
What to serve with tortellini soup
Tortellini soup is hearty and can be served on its own as a complete meal. To stretch your soup even further, it can be served with a side dish. Here are a few ideas:
- Garlic butter croutons
- Parmesan crisps
- Crusty bread
- Buttermilk biscuits
- Freezer garlic bread
- Breadsticks
- Garlic bread cheese balls
- Side salad
- Chopped kale avocado salad
- Winter chopped salad
Leftovers and freezing
Sausage tortellini soup leftovers will keep in a tightly sealed container for 2 to 3 days in the refrigerator. If soup is stored with tortellini, the pasta will continue to soak up liquid and get soft as it sets.
If you plan to have leftovers, I recommend cooking your tortellini separately (and omitting the water listed in the recipe), then portioning tortellini into each bowl of soup before serving. Store cooked tortellini and soup base separately from each other.
Soup base (without tortellini) can be frozen for up to three months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator, then reheat on the stovetop or in the microwave.
Recommended
Sausage Tortellini Soup
Ingredients
- 16 ounces ground Italian sausage
- 3 tablespoons olive oil, *
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 2 celery ribs, diced
- 2 carrots, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 32 ounces chicken broth
- 12 ounces water, **
- ½ teaspoon Italian seasoning
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 10 ounces refrigerated cheese tortellini, uncooked
- 8 ounces whole milk
Instructions
- In a stock pot over medium heat, crumble Italian sausage and cook until browned. Remove sausage from pan, set aside, and cover to keep warm.
- Supplement leftover sausage grease with olive oil for a total of ¼ cup of grease/oil (you may not need all of the oil listed). Add onion, celery, and carrots to pan, cooking until lightly browned around the edges, about 3-4 minutes. Add garlic and cook an additional 30 seconds.
- Add flour, tossing vegetables to coat, creating a paste. Cook for one minute.
- Whisk in chicken broth and water, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Add Italian seasoning, red pepper flakes, and tortellini. Bring to a simmer, cover, and reduce heat to low. Cook tortellini according to package directions for al dente pasta (times will vary from brand to brand).
- Remove lid and stir in milk and reserved sausage. Warm soup for one minute over low heat, then remove from heat and serve.
Equipment Recommendations
Notes
- *You may not need all of the olive oil listed. This depends entirely on how much grease is released from the ground sausage. You'll need a total of ¼ cup of oil/grease in your pan. This oil is used to create a roux with the flour in a later step.
- ** If you intend to have leftovers, omit the listed water in the recipe and cook your tortellini separately. Store leftover soup base and tortellini separately, then reheat individual portions together on the stovetop or in the microwave.
- Leftover soup will keep for 2-3 days in a tightly sealed container in the refrigerator. Tortellini will continue to soften and soak up liquid as it sits.
- Soup base freezes well (without tortellini) up to three months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and reheat on the stovetop or in the microwave. Tortellini can be cooked separately on the day of serving.
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