This Italian sausage tortellini soup recipe is loaded with flavorful sausage and cheesy pasta in an irresistible creamy tomato broth. It has very little prep time and can be on your table in just 40 minutes!
Try my fairly similar Crockpot Tortellini Soup with Sausage if you'd like an alternative cooking method.
Why you'll love it
You know that feeling you get when you eat the perfect bowl of soup, and it warms you up from the inside out? Yes, this cheese tortellini soup with sausage is the best comfort food meal on a chilly day! Italian sausage and tortellini are an iconic duo, and the creamy tomato broth is so good.
One of the awesome things about this soup is that it has minimal prep time. Chop the onion and celery, crumble the sausage (or use sausage meat), and that's essentially it. It means that a complete and filling dinner for your whole family is ready faster on busy weeknights.
What you'll need
- Italian sausage - this variety of sausage adds protein to the soup and has a fantastic blend of herbs and spices
- Onion, celery, and garlic - these staples are the building blocks to any good soup
- Flour - to thicken the broth
- Garlic - one of my favorite ingredients to take soups to the next level!
- Chicken broth - gives the soup additional cozy flavor versus just using water
- Diced tomatoes - tomatoes complement the sausage, and using the juices too is important for depth of flavor
- Italian seasoning - this blend of herbs including rosemary, oregano, and thyme makes the soup special, or you can sub with fresh herbs of your choice
- Cheese tortellini - I use refrigerated tortellini because it cooks faster, but you're welcome to use dried; just note that it'll take longer to cook
- Heavy cream - don't skip the cream! It makes it an out-of-this-world delicious soup
- Spinach - tossing in a handful of baby spinach sneaks in some extra veggies
Tools for this recipe
Check out Natasha's favorite kitchen essentials, gadgets, and cookware!
- Use a soup pot or sturdy Dutch oven for this soup.
- A cooking spoon made of melamine ensures you won't scratch your pots and pans while stirring.
- I recommend this ladle. It's great at not spilling everywhere when dishing up soup.
- For the other half of the onion you'll have left, store in this cute onion saver.
How to make Italian sausage tortellini soup
This is an overview with step-by-step photos. Full ingredients & instructions are in the recipe card below.
In a large soup pot or Dutch oven sauté the crumbled sausage meat until browned. Transfer to a paper towel lined plate, drain most of the fat, and then cook the chopped onion and celery.
Add in the flour and garlic and cook for a minute, stirring constantly. Slowly pour in the chicken broth.
Add the tomatoes, Italian seasoning, and sausage meat. Bring to a boil, add in the pasta, and simmer. Finally, stir in the cream and spinach.
Substitutions and variations
- Be careful subbing the cream because the acidity of the tomatoes may curdle anything with a lower fat content than heavy cream.
- Try a different variety of sausage like chicken or turkey to change it up.
- If you're not a fan of regular diced tomatoes, use petite diced tomatoes or tomato sauce instead.
- Craving something spicy? Throw in some crushed red pepper flakes or use hot Italian sausage.
- If spinach isn't your thing, try kale, but let it cook for a little bit longer.
- This recipe is very flexible, so add in more veggies if you happen to have any on hand that need using up.
Make ahead tip
- If you plan on having leftovers, add the cheese tortellini to individual portions instead when you reheat them. That way, the pasta will cook quickly right in the soup when you need it and won't have gone too soft!
What to serve with sausage tortellini soup
- This is a hearty soup, but a slice of Garlic Bread would be wonderful with it!
- You'll even have time to make my 10 Minute Homemade Caesar Salad Dressing for a side salad, or try my Simple Parmesan Arugula Salad.
- Shaved fresh parmesan cheese takes this soup over the top.
Leftovers and storage
- I recommend eating this soup within a couple of days. The tortellini will soak up the broth and puff up the longer it's in the fridge.
- You can freeze this soup, but if you want to freeze the entire batch, it's best to leave out the cream, spinach, and tortellini and then add them when you're reheating.
- If you freeze leftovers as-is, the pasta may not have the same texture as when first cooked.
I hope you try this sausage and tortellini soup recipe! Questions? Ask me in the comments below! I'd love it if you left a star rating and review below. You can also find me on Instagram.
Italian Sausage Tortellini Soup
Ingredients
- 16 ounces Italian sausage see note
- 1/2 medium onion chopped finely
- 2 sticks celery chopped finely
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 3-4 cloves garlic minced
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 1 (28 fluid ounce) can diced tomatoes with juices
- 1/4 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 2 generous cups refrigerated cheese tortellini
- 1 cup heavy/whipping cream
- 2 cups (packed) fresh baby spinach optional
- Salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
- Add the sausage meat to a large soup pot (if using whole sausages, take the sausage meat out of its casings and crumble it into the pot). Sauté over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, for 7-10 minutes, or until the sausage is browned all over.
- Take the sausage out of the pot and set it aside on a paper towel lined plate. Leave about a tablespoon of the fat in the pot (drain any excess).
- Add the onion and celery to the pot and cook for 4 minutes or so, then add the flour and garlic and cook for a minute, stirring constantly.
- Add the chicken broth slowly and stir until the flour has completely dissolved.
- Add the canned tomatoes and Italian seasoning to the pot. Also add the sausage back in. Increase the heat to high and bring the soup to a gentle boil.
- Once it's boiling, add the tortellini and reduce the heat so it's gently simmering. Cook for 5 minutes.
- Stir in the cream and cook for another 5 minutes.
- Stir in the spinach and season with salt & pepper to taste.
Notes
- For the sausages, anything around the 16 ounce/1 pound ballpark is fine - it doesn't need to be exact. Here in Canada I buy a 500g 5-pack of Johnsonville mild Italian sausages for this soup. Ground sausage meat is fine too!
- Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy only and should be construed as an estimate rather than a guarantee. Ingredients can vary and Salt & Lavender makes no guarantees to the accuracy of this information.
Nutrition
This recipe was originally published on November 28, 2017. It's been tweaked to be even easier, tastier, and has new photos!
Erica B says
This was INCREDIBLE. So much flavor, so so good. Will be my go to soup this season!
Natasha says
That's great!! So pleased you liked it. 😀 Thanks for your review, Erica!
Staci says
I haven't even tried the tortellini or Spinach with it yet because I'm taking it to a church soup and sandwich dinner tomorrow and I'm going to put those in last minute. BUT I'm already obsessed with this soup. It was extremely easy and gosh it's delicious, honestly can be a great soup alone without the tortellini. I found this recipe last minute tonight trying to figure out what soup to make and this was like the first thing that caught my eye that looked easy. And let me tell you it was. Few ingredients but....wow, flavor town😂! Definitely making again!!
Natasha says
I'm so glad it was a hit, Staci!! 😀
Brandie Fitzgerald says
I have made this last week and my teenage boys begged me to make it again tonight. Great recipe!
Natasha says
I love that!! 😀
Kirsten says
My family asks for this pretty much once a week. It is sooo good! Thank you for this amazing recipe, Natasha.
I always use no-sodium chicken broth, no-salt-added diced tomatoes and add no salt to taste.
Sometimes we add carrots, or parsley, or basil, or grated Parmesan cheese… It is so delicious.
Natasha says
You're very welcome!! I'm so happy it's a family favorite! 🙂 XO
Amy says
This was absolutely delicious! I swapped out the spinach for fresh corn because I knew I would have leftovers 🙂
Natasha says
Excellent!! 🙂
Gabriel Nahoum says
Very high sodium do you have low sodium recipes?
Natasha says
Hi! I'm sure some of them are, but I don't specifically label any of them as such. You can definitely browse thru the recipe index or use the search feature to see what you come up with. Generally speaking, I suggest adding salt & pepper to taste, but in a recipe like this one which has processed ingredients like sausage and tortellini, it would be higher sodium by default. Also, nutrition estimates are pulled from a database and individual ingredients vary, so if you buy lower sodium options, that would be one way to control the salt more.
PKs Pepper says
Soup was amazing. We added freshly grated Parmesan cheese to soup. It was amazing!
Natasha says
Awesome!! 🙂 So glad it was a hit!
Lindsey says
Delicious!. My entire family loved this recipe! I used kale instead of spinach. I gave some to my ex-husband who said “this should be canned and sold.” It’s so so good!
Miranda @ Salt & Lavender says
Haha amazing! So glad you enjoyed it, Lindsey! 🙂
Kimi says
Wasn't sure how this would taste, because I didn't have celery or spinach, but MY GOODNESS, it was so, so delicious and filling!!! Not one single recipe I have tried from this food blog has failed me. I had lots of leftovers - can't wait to make this again.
Miranda @ Salt & Lavender says
Thrilled to hear that, Kimi!! We're so glad you're enjoying the recipes 🙂
Jennifer says
Can you cook it in a crockpot?
Miranda @ Salt & Lavender says
Hi Jennifer! You can make the similar one I've linked in the body of the blog post. Here it is again: https://bit.ly/3I04srC Enjoy! 🙂
Abby says
What is the old recipe? We loved that one! Not that this new one won't be delicious, but can you post the old one as well? Or email it?
Natasha says
Hi Abby! So, I don't think that I actually changed anything besides minor tweaks to the wording in the recipe to make it more clear (and I also added new photos and made the blog post more thorough with tips/FAQs).
Becca says
Same! I came back to this recipe several times because it looks so different (Did the original have celery in it?). Have made this a lot in the last few years so the visual changes threw me a little haha. Glad it's the same one!
Miranda @ Salt & Lavender says
Hi Becca! Ok so what I believe happened is that Natasha added celery to the ingredients shot without reading the recipe closely for the re-testing and new photos haha. You're welcome to leave it out, but both versions are great! That's the only difference. It's the same soup you love otherwise 🙂
Liz Summers says
I took a lot of liberties with this recipe, but I stayed true to the broth and it was delicious! The broth was really what drew me to try this.
Miranda @ Salt & Lavender says
So happy you enjoyed it, Liz!
Andrew says
This was awesome! My leftovers ended up looking more like pasta than soup, but it still tasted great either way.
Miranda @ Salt & Lavender says
Yay! Thrilled you enjoyed it 🙂
Julie says
This soup is absolutely amazing! I adjusted a tiny bit for my family, but all in all, it was such a huge hit, my husband declared that I can’t make it often because he can’t resist it (and thus, will gain weight)!
Natasha says
Aww I love that!! 🙂
Kelly says
Hi! I took a chance and used light cream (5% cooking cream) and it worked great. Also, I used Italian turkey sausage and kept the tortellini separate as I knew I’d have leftovers. Hearty and delicious 😋
Natasha says
I'm so pleased you enjoyed it, Kelly!!
Paige says
Hey! Can I use beef broth instead of chicken?
Miranda @ Salt & Lavender says
Hi Paige! We haven't tested this recipe with beef broth. If that's all you have, you could try, but it may add an obvious beefy flavor. It's also much darker than chicken broth 🙂
Adele says
Just delicious. I didn't have Italian seasoning on hand, used pesto instead. After trying lots of your recipes, no tweaking is ever needed, but I forgot to get Italian seasoning. This will become a regular in our home. Thank you again Natasha!
Natasha says
That's wonderful to hear! Love the pesto idea. 🙂 You're very welcome, Adele!
Sheri says
So easy and super delicious! I made this exactly as the recipe directed except for using quite a bit more Italian seasoning. It was so yummy! My husband and teenage son both raved about it. Already pinned to my ‘recipes to make again’ board! Thanks for sharing!!
Miranda @ Salt & Lavender says
So glad it was a hit with your family, Sheri!! Thank you for your review! 🙂
Catherine says
Delicious and very easy!! Used green beans instead of celery as we had no celery. Will definitely be making again was a big hit!
Miranda @ Salt & Lavender says
Fantastic to hear, Catherine!
Cindy says
This is the soup I have been looking for! I followed the recipe; no changes. I love it, my husband loves it, and my children love it! A perfect balance of flavors, and quite easy to make. This is a soup I will serve to guests at lunch.
Miranda @ Salt & Lavender says
Aw that's wonderful! So happy your family enjoyed it, Cindy!
Kathy M says
Made this last night for dinner along with a salad and it was delicious. Easy recipe, cut it in half and it was perfect for two.
Natasha says
Excellent! 🙂 Thanks for your review, Kathy!
Susan E Halperin says
Easy, excellent! Thank you. I will make it again Ana again.
Natasha says
Fantastic!! Thanks, Susan!
Michelle says
Husband had 2 bowls. I didn’t follow the recipe exactly because I rarely measure things. I also added some garlic salt and crushed red pepper. Delicious. I would maybe try with some kale instead of spinach, it might hold up a little better with the heat. But overall very, very good.
Natasha says
Excellent! I'm so glad you enjoyed it. I think kale would work too... I even suggest it in the blog post for that same reason haha. Thanks for your review, Michelle!
Katie says
I made this last night with shrimp and subbed out diced canned tomato with crushed canned tomato + fresh diced tomato, and added a dash of red wine and my partner has not stopped raving about it since. Will be a winter staple in our house, thanks!
Natasha says
Love the shrimp idea! Sounds good to me!
Betsy says
I just made this with hot Italian sausage and used Basil instead of Italian seasoning. Delicious!!
Natasha says
Fantastic!! 😀
Katie says
Can you sub GF flour?
Natasha says
Hi! So, I don't cook with GF flour so I'm not familiar with how it behaves as a thickening agent. My first thought is to just stir in a cornstarch slurry at the end if you want a bit more thickness to the broth (it's not a super thick broth even with the flour). If you've made roux with gluten-free flour in the past then you could for sure try that, but I can't speak to what the results will be since I haven't tried it myself.
Kaitlin says
This is a family favourite in our home! I always add a few handfuls of baby spinach!
Natasha says
Wonderful!! I like to add in a handful of spinach here and there when I have some too. Thanks for your review! 🙂
Stephanie T. says
I look forward to making this soup every year! (Living in sunny socal, it rarely gets cold enough for "soup weather"!) While I have a few soup recipes in my rotation, this is my favorite. I'm always impressed by how simple, yet flavorful, this recipe truly is. I usually have these ingredients on hand, so I definitely appreciate being able to make something THIS GOOD on a whim!
Natasha says
I'm so pleased you like it so much, Stephanie!! Thanks for your kind review. 🙂
Kirsten Wallace says
So easy, filling, and loved by the inlaws! Delicious! Thank you.
Natasha says
Excellent!! 😀 So pleased to hear that. Thanks for your review!
Amy R Pletcher says
Natsha, Can you make this soup with pantry style tortellini or does it do best with refrigeratored tortellini?
Natasha says
Hi! You could use the dried kind, but I would add it in a bit earlier since it'll need to rehydrate. I'd ensure it cooks for as long as the package suggests. Hope you enjoy the soup! 🙂
Cary says
Hi! This soup was so delicious! Perfect dinner for a cool night. I didn’t have sausage so I ended using an herb ground poultry I had along with spinach and cheese tortellini. I also added some spinach at the end when I added the cream. Overall, I really enjoyed this! I loved the flavor, the consistency and the heartiness of it! Thanks for another great recipe!
Natasha says
I'm glad you were able to adapt it, Cary! 🙂 Thanks for commenting!
Briggitte Rodriguez says
This soup was AMAZING! I followed the recipe exactly as it was & it turned out great. I normally can’t follow recipes that well- but this one was so easy to follow. My took one taste and said it was the best thing I’ve ever made LOL. Can’t wait to try some more recipes on here!
Natasha says
Woo hoo!! I'm so happy it was a hit! Thanks for leaving me a comment! 😀
Miz MyMy says
OMG!!!! THIS ONE'S A KEEPER! SOOO GOOD! I'm so scared I will make this so much that I'll get sick of it & stop liking it! lol Brought leftovers to work & gave several co-workers a 1 spoon taste sample (just enough to make them mad!) everyone said how good it was & of course I gave them your recipe...(sharing is caring ;-D ) & I just sent it to my daughters too. The only problem was while at work I heated it up in the microwave in one of those small glass bowls with the plastic locking lid.....I just laid the lid across the top but it created a vacuum suction which didn't budge for almost 20 minutes...I was getting frantic asking anyone to help free my soup!!! girls, guys, no one could open that doggone thing up!!! They took me to the tool guy who pried the lid off........Heaven !!! Thx Natasha XOXOXO (my tweaks +shallot -onion, +knorr tomato/chicken bouillon granules
- salt) I'm Hooked...
Natasha says
I'm so glad you like the recipe so much!! And thank you for sharing it 😉 Lol I've done that with the vacuum suction. I pry the sucker off (carefully) with a knife lol. XOXO
Anneliese says
I made this with tonight with vegetarian Italian sausage, and it was so delicious!
Natasha says
I'm so glad you liked it! 🙂
Bree says
Do you recommend adding white beans to this for more fiber? Or would they turn to mush? Love your site; it’s one of my go-to’s for quick and delicious dinner ideas 😋
Natasha says
Aww so glad you like my recipes! ♥️ I think adding white beans will be fine. They’ll definitely be soft (like the canned ones already are), but I’ve added them to slow cooker soups before and they’ve been fine.
Karen Bonfield says
This is a great recipe! I did add much more dried basil and oregano and subbed in turkey Italian sausage to make it healthier. Everyone loved it! I added the spinach to the bottom of my bowl, ladled the soup over it and it softened and was delicious!
Natasha says
That’s a good idea re: the spinach! So glad it was a hit. ♥️
ALEXA B says
I made this for dinner tonight and it was fabulous! I used 16 oz. sausage meat that I rolled into bite sized meatballs before browning. We can’t wait to make this again! Thank you!
Natasha says
Awesome!! ♥️♥️
Fawn says
This was SO good. I would definitely make it again. I used sweet Italian sausage which I thought went well with the acidity of the tomatoes. I would probably use 'petite' diced tomatoes next time though because my kids complained about how big the tomato chunks were (I didn't mind).
Natasha says
So happy you liked it! Good idea re: the petite diced tomatoes. I prefer them too, but I can't always seem to find them at my grocery store unfortunately.
DAWN WILLIAMS says
I added squash zucchini spinach and carrots! Great stuff
Natasha says
So happy to hear it, Dawn!
Laura says
My husband and I don't like chunks of tomato in our soups. What can we use to replace the diced tomatoes? Crushed/pureed tomatoes?
Natasha says
Yes, you could try that.
Steff says
Which type tortellini dried or "fresh" from the refrigerator section? I am thinking dried.
Natasha says
It's the kind that's refrigerated... so "fresh". 🙂 Here's an example: https://www.olivieri.ca/en/product/olivieri-signature-formaggi-aged-parmesan-reggiano-tortelloni
Carol Hall says
Made this for dinner a month ago and my husband loved it. I’m making again tonight before our weather gets too hot. It’s a wonderful dish. Thanks
Natasha says
I'm so happy to hear that, Carol! 🙂 Thanks for coming back and leaving me a comment.
Lanette M Ratkay says
Super easy and taste fantastic! I made it with Hot Italian sausage. This recipe will be added to my go to comfort dishes. Thanks for sharing Natasha!
Natasha says
You are very welcome! So happy you liked it. 🙂
Eric says
It was suggested to me that we have spaghetti for dinner the other night until I seen this dish in my email and I was like wait a minute... I actually have most of the ingredients to make this recipe and it turned out pretty good. I did substitute a few dry herbs for fresh and it was quite tasty. Even my kids (ages 11, 6 and 4) really liked it. Thanks for sharing.
Natasha says
Yay! I am glad the kids liked it! Thanks for letting me know! 🙂
Nikki says
Oh my Lord does this look delicious!!! Cooking for one over here. Just wondering if you know how well this freezes?
Natasha says
Thanks, Nikki! Unfortunately, I find that tortellini just doesn't freeze/thaw all that great when it's in soup. It goes a bit mushy. I think that if you want to freeze it, it's best to add the tortellini in later on. Just make the soup as normal (except for the tortellini part), portion it up, and then add tortellini as needed when you're ready to eat it, and cook for the 8-10 minutes prior to serving.
Nikki says
Sounds great, thank you! Absolutely love your instagram! So thankful I came across it😁
Natasha says
Aww thanks, Nikki! Hope you like it!
Sophia says
Looks delicious! There are many italian sausages i don't get wich you Used. Is it salsicia?
Natasha says
Hi Sophia! I live in Canada, so I just bought the Johnsonville brand "Italian sausage" that my grocery store sells haha. Any Italian sausage would work just fine. 🙂
Eric says
I just used regular pork sausage with Italian seasonings I got from Bulk Barn.
Foodpanda Coupons says
This looks so yummy Natasha and very healthy too. Can't wait to try this Italian sausage tortellini soup.
Natasha says
Hope you like it!! Thank you!
Natasha's Sister says
You first published this like two years ago and still haven't made it for me yet without sausage. Are you going to one of these days??
Natasha says
No.
Rick says
Lol 😂
Shannon says
Have you ever made this using frozen pasta?
Natasha says
Hi Shannon! I haven’t, but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work. Maybe give it a few more minutes.
Angela says
When do you add the sausage back in?
Natasha says
I fixed the recipe - sorry about that 🙂
Marissa says
This looks so delicious, Natasha! And right up my alley for a weeknight meal - hearty, tasty and no fuss to prepare.
Natasha says
Thanks so much, Marissa!!
Debs says
Perfect comfort food! Leftovers may not be great 2-3 days out, but my soup would never be around long enough to find out!
Natasha says
Haha I like your logic! It wouldn't have lasted that long in my house normally either, but I think I made like 6 recipes for the blog that weekend lol. Thanks, Debs!!
CJ says
I made it without the cream and it was still fabulous!
Natasha says
Wonderful! Thanks for letting me know!