This easy tortellini soup is filled with Italian sausage, spinach, and cheese-filled pasta. The short list of ingredients makes this soup the perfect weeknight dinner. It’s light on the cream but rich in flavor, with an added protein boost from pureed cannellini beans.
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Boy oh boy do I love tortellini. Small pasta dumplings filled with cheese? Count me in.
A simple dinner from the pantry
This recipe is a tomato-free twist on our amazing Tomato Tortellini Soup with Italian Sausage. My husband is sick of tomatoes (sobs!), but I can’t live without tortellini soup, so I adapted the recipe to suit our needs.
This recipe uses four of my favorite pantry and freezer ingredients:
- Mild Italian sausage: I buy it when I see it on sale and keep it in my freezer. The links will thaw very quickly either in the fridge (if you remember to take them out of the freezer first) or in a bowl of warm water (if you haven’t). If you choose the warm bowl method, use the links as soon as they’re thawed to avoid food safety concerns. don’t forget her!
- Frozen tortellini: I always keep a bag of cheese tortellini in my freezer for dinner emergencies. Also, look for fresh tortellini when they’re on sale and freeze them for later.
- chicken broth: Use homemade or store-bought chicken broth or broth for this recipe. Our favorite brand of store-bought chicken broth is Kitchen Basics.
- Cannellini beans: These beans are my secret to a creamy soup without tons of cream. Bonus: they add an extra protein boost to the soup!
The fresh ingredients—Onions, mushrooms, carrots, garlic and spinach– are the ones I cook with a lot and usually have on hand. If you don’t have one of these, you can absolutely skip it or substitute it – see my suggestions below!
I will admit that chopping mushrooms is one of my least favorite prep tasks, and it can also be very time consuming, so I wholeheartedly support purchasing pre-sliced ​​or chopped mushrooms. These mushrooms tend to dry out faster in the package than whole mushrooms, so be sure to choose packages where the edges of the mushroom slices still look crispy and the whites are still very white. Use pre-sliced ​​or chopped mushrooms within a few days.
The same goes for pre-chopped carrots and other ingredients—use those pre-made ingredients if it makes sense for you.
Creamy soup without all the cream!
I learned this trick from Summer’s Creamy Chicken Soup recipe. She mixes a can of drained cannellini beans with some water and a dash of apple cider vinegar (which helps brighten the flavor), then stirs this into the soup along with a small amount of heavy cream (which adds richness, although you can skip it if You want to).
This bean blend adds body and creaminess to soups without so much cream. Cannellini beans have such a mild, sweet flavor that you can hardly taste them in the finished soup.
I’ve adopted this method in many of my creamy soups and love it!
Proposals and Substitutions
- Vegetarian Tortellini Soup: Skip the sausage and double the mushrooms!
- Swap sausage: Not a fan of Italian sausage? You can definitely trade in ground beef, chopped chicken sausage, shredded chicken (fried chicken to the rescue!), or any other meat of your choice.
- Swap vegetables: If you don’t have or don’t like any of the vegetables, feel free to trade in your favorites. Sometimes I omit the mushrooms and add more carrots or swap out the carrots for diced sweet potatoes or butternut squash. Celery is also a great addition.
- Swap tortellini: I love cheese tortellini in this soup, but you can use absolutely any favorite tortellini flavor. You could even skip the tortellini and go for plain pasta instead. Farfalle makes a fun pasta shape for this soup!
Save and freeze tortellini soup
This soup will keep in the fridge for about five days and is easy to reheat. The tortellini tend to get quite soft, but everything tastes so good I don’t mind. If that bothers you, cook and store your tortellini separately and place them in each individual bowl.
If you want to freeze part of the soup, cook the tortellini separately and freeze the soup without them. When ready to serve, cook more tortellini in boiling water and add to each bowl as you serve.
Do you love soups with noodles? Try these recipes
- Tomato tortellini soup with Italian sausage
- Pasta e fagioli
- Italian Wedding Soup
- Homemade chicken soup with noodles
- Turkey Meatball Soup with Spinach and Orzo
Creamy tortellini soup with sausage and spinach
ingredients
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1 teaspoon olive oil
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1 pound bland Italian sausage, skin removed if purchased in links
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1 large yellow onion, diced
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8 ounces mushrooms, diced
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1 teaspoon salt, divided
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2 large carrots, diced
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2 garlic cloves, chopped
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2 liters of chicken broth
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1 pound fresh or frozen cheese tortellini
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10 ounces baby spinach, kale, chard, or other greens (shredded to baby spinach size, if needed)
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1 15-ounce can cannellini beans
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2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
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1/2 cup heavy cream or whole milk
method
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cook sausage:
Heat 1 teaspoon of oil in a large stockpot over medium-high heat and add the sausage. Cook the sausage until completely browned, breaking it up into crumbles as it cooks. When browned, remove the sausage from the pan with a slotted spoon and set aside.
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Cook Vegetables:
Drain all but a tablespoon of fat from the pan (add more oil if you don’t have quite a tablespoon). Add the onions and 1/2 teaspoon salt and cook until the onions are translucent and beginning to brown, about 5 minutes.
Add the mushrooms and another half teaspoon of salt. Cook until mushrooms have released all of their moisture and are cooked, another 5 minutes. Add the carrots and cook for another 2-3 minutes until they look soft around the edges. Stir in the garlic and cook until fragrant, 30 seconds.
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Bring the soup to a simmer and add the tortellini:
Pour a cup of chicken broth into the saucepan and scrape any browned bits off the bottom of the saucepan. Put the sausage back in the pot and add the remaining broth. Bring to a rapid simmer over high heat, then reduce heat to medium.
Add the tortellini and cook according to package directions.
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Puree beans:
In a medium bowl, add the drained beans, 1/2 cup water, and apple cider vinegar. Puree with an immersion blender (or you can do this in a food processor or blender).
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Finish the soup:
When the tortellini are done, add the vegetables and stir until wilted. Stir in the pureed beans and cream (or milk). Taste and add salt, pepper or another dash of apple cider vinegar as needed to enhance the flavors. Surcharge.
LEFTOVERS! This leftover soup will keep in the fridge for about 5 days and is best reheated gently over low heat on the stovetop or in the microwave. The tortellini will gradually soften the longer the leftovers steep.
If you want to freeze part of the soup, cook the tortellini separately and freeze the soup without them. When ready to serve, cook more tortellini in boiling water and add to each bowl as you serve.
