This Sausage Tortellini Soup is a tomato-based soup loaded with vegetables, Italian sausage and cheese tortellini. It’s the perfect cold weather soup and freezer friendly!
Got extra Italian sausage? Try my Italian Sausage Soup, this cozy Orecchiette Pasta with Sausage or this hearty Italian Sausage Gnocchi Soup!
Table of Contents
This Sausage Tortellini Soup is the ultimate comfort food!
It’s big on flavor, thick and chunky, loaded with vegetables and tender cheese tortellini. Just don’t forget the crusty bread! (Or make a loaf of Cheesy Garlic Bread for Cheddar Bay Biscuits for dunking).
What we love about this Sausage Tortellini Soup:
- It’s hearty and filling — it really is a meal in one pot!
- It’s big on flavor – thanks to Italian sausage.
- It’s a well-rounded meal — with carbs, protein and veggies all in one pot.
- It’s made in one pot, which means less to scrub!
You can even make a big batch and stick some in the freezer — just leave out the tortellini until you’re serving it.
Ingredients Needed:
- Italian sausage: you can use mild or spicy sausage here depending on your tastes! Italian turkey sausage also works well.
- Carrots, onion, celery: a classic mirepoix which is the base for many soup recipes. I don’t recommend substituting any of these ingredients unless you have to!
- Italian seasoning, garlic, salt: I kept my seasonings simple because the sausage adds so much flavor! Feel free to add or experiment as you like.
- Chicken broth: I always start with low sodium chicken broth and add salt as needed. If you start with salted broth, you may not need to add as much salt.
- Diced tomatoes and tomato sauce: Diced tomatoes add texture but you can swap them for crushed tomatoes if you prefer. Choose any marinara or tomato sauce that you enjoy — it will thicken the soup slightly and add lots of tomato flavor!
- Cheese tortellini: fresh or frozen works just fine here! You could substitute with another cheese-filled pasta if you prefer.
How to make Sausage Tortellini Soup:
This soup is easily made in one pot! Here is a brief overview with step by step photos. Find the complete recipe down in the recipe card.
Start by cooking the Italian sausage to brown it — don’t drain the fat since this will help to cook the veggies!
Add the vegetables and cook until crisp-tender, then stir in the garlic and seasonings to toast.
Add the liquids and bring to a simmer, cooking vegetables until tender.
Stir in tortellini and cook just until al dente.
Tips and Tricks for Making this Sausage Tortellini Soup:
- Hot Italian sausage can be very spicy, so be sure to use mild if you prefer a milder flavor. I didn’t add a lot of extra spices to the soup because the sausage gives so much flavor.
- You can use fresh or frozen tortellini to make this soup. I use fresh, so just take into account the required cook time for the pasta when making your soup. Frozen tortellini may cool down your soup and take longer to come back up to a simmer.
- If you have a leftover Parmesan rind, feel free to throw that in the soup as it simmers for some incredible flavor!
- You can prep this soup ahead by chopping all of your vegetables. You can also cook the soup right through up until the point where you add the pasta, then cool and refrigerate and simply reheat and add the pasta before serving.
How to freeze this soup:
This soup can definitely be frozen! Keep in mind that pasta gets soft after being frozen, so if that’s not your thing then you may want to leave the pasta out until you’re ready to serve.
To freeze, simply cool to room temperature, then place in a large freezer bag or freezer container. I prefer to use freezer bags because they can be frozen flat and thaw out quickly in some lukewarm water.
Variations on this Sausage Tortellini Soup:
- To make this Sausage Tortellini Soup dairy-free, omit the cheese tortellini and substitute regular pasta, and be sure to double check all of your ingredients.
- To make this soup gluten-free, omit the pasta and substitute gluten-free pasta or gluten-free tortellini if available.
- You can certainly add more veggies or swap mine out for the ones your family prefers: peppers, mushrooms, or zucchini would also be great in here!
- To make this soup even leaner, choose Italian turkey sausage instead of regular pork sausage.
The BEST Sausage Tortellini Soup
written by Ashley Fehr
Ingredients
- 1 lb Italian sausage mild or spicy (no casings)
- 3 large carrots peeled and diced
- 1 onion finely diced
- 1 rib celery finely chopped
- 1 ½ teaspoons Italian seasoning
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 cups low sodium chicken broth
- 1 798 ml can diced tomatoes (28oz)
- 1 cup tomato sauce
- 250 grams fresh cheese tortellini about 3 cups
Instructions
- Add Italian sausage to a large soup pot and cook over medium-high heat until browned. Drain any excess fat.
- Add carrots, onion and celery. Cook and stir until onion has softened.
- Add Italian seasoning, garlic and salt and cook 1 minute.
- Add broth, tomatoes and tomato sauce and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium, cover, and simmer for about 15 minutes, until carrots are almost tender.
- Stir in tortellini. Cover and simmer for 5-6 minutes until tender. Serve.
Nutrition Information
Want to save this recipe?
Create an account easily save your favorite content, so you never forget a recipe again.
Tried this recipe?
Tag @thereciperebel or hashtag #thereciperebel — I love to see what you’re making!
Tag @thereciperebel
Marcia E says
I’m making it for maybe the 30th time? We LOVE this soup and it’s the most requested soup!
Jen says
This soup was AMAZING!! I added lots of veggies and used spaghetti sauce because I didn’t have any tomato sauce. It was so hearty & flavorful, I highly recommend!
Katie says
I’ve made this twice using Italian turkey sausage. It is so delicious and hearty, perfect for this 10 degree day we’re having.
The Recipe Rebel says
Hi Katie! So glad you enjoyed the recipe! Thank you for this review!
Brittany says
Soooo great! I doubled it and did one pound hot sausage and one pound regular. Even my picky kids loved it. So good thank you!
The Recipe Rebel says
Hi Brittany! So glad you enjoyed the recipe! Thank you for this review!
Sue says
Thoughts on using lean ground beef instead of sausage?
The Recipe Rebel says
That could work!
Jen says
Don’t typically leave reviews but the whole family loved this so much (from 2 year old to age 15 and hubby too) so I just had to! Used sweet Italian sausage but then added some of the spices of hot Italian sausage (because I hate fennel seeds) so delicious! Will make again!
The Recipe Rebel says
Hi Jen! So glad you enjoyed the recipe! Thank you for your review!
Mac says
This is one of my favorite soup recipes! I love this so much!
Ashley Fehr says
Thanks Mac! I’m so glad!
Toni says
This is so comforting!! A huge hit for dinner last night!
Ashley Fehr says
Thanks Toni!
Matt says
This sausage tortellini soup is awesome and easy to make. Perfect for the chilly weather. A great mix of pasta and soup!
Ashley Fehr says
I’m so glad you liked it!
Connie says
i made it today for supper/ Very very good.I will be making it again…
Ashley Fehr says
Thanks Connie!
Diana Plank says
Easy to make and everyone loved it!
Ashley Fehr says
Thanks Diana!
Ana Butaric says
Just discovered your recipes and I am looking forward to trying them.
I made the sausage tortellini soup today and my Italian mother in law and I felt like it had too many tomatoes and was very acid. I even put in a tsp of sugar to see if it would help. It didn’t. Perhaps it was the brand of tomatoes? I am finding that every time I use the Hunts brand I encounter the same problem.
Any suggestions?
I might make the soup again with less diced tomatoes, and use San Marzano tomatoes which I believe are sweeter.
Next recipe this week will be the “cream cheese filled lemon blueberry bread”!
Ashley Fehr says
Hi Ana! That will depend on your tastes for sure. We love this soup as is as do many others, but you can definitely reduce the tomatoes or try another kind. You could also add some cream in at the end to balance out the acidity.
Dominique Gosselin says
I can’t wait to try it! I love using Arctic Garden Frozen vegetables (the soup mix) in my soup. What do you think would be the right amount? In cups or in grams? Thank you!
Ashley Fehr says
I would start with 1 cup and you can always add in more if you prefer
Deb Hyden says
Made this last night…Quick and easy…and yummy! I threw in some spinach at the end when the tortellini’s went in. Definitely will become part of our meal rotation- especially for those cold winter nights!
Ashley Fehr says
Thanks Deb!
Karen Chitty-Boe says
I made this recipe with half deer meat sausage and half Jimmy Dean all natural sausage. SUPER delicious!!!
Ashley Fehr says
I’m so glad!
Jess says
I know this was posted a couple years ago but I’m still going to ask a question lol I want to make this and noticed someone mentioned make it spinach- how much can I add of either ingredient? I didn’t see it on there but would love to add some kale! Oh and I’m a total beginner with cooking if you couldn’t tell 😂 thank you!
Ashley Fehr says
Hi Jess! That is totally fine, I do my best to respond to all comments 🙂 The recipe is really flexible! I would start with one big handful, and if you want to add more once you stir it in you definitely can! The kale will cook almost instantly, so it’s easy to just add a bit at a time and go from there.
Mark Rockwell says
Hello. I am very interested in trying this. However, I do not care for diced tomatoes. Can I put them in a blender and then add it to the soup, or can I sub it out for more tomatoe sauce? If I can sub it with more sauce, how much more would I need to add?
Ashley Fehr says
You could add a bit more tomato sauce and a bit more broth and I think it would be just fine 🙂
Dyann Berndt says
Fast, easy, and, best of all, it’s super delicious! (The only thing I did differently was I threw a parmesan cheese rind in with the liquid.)
Ashley Fehr says
I’m so glad you liked it!
Anna Herren says
Made tonight for myself and 3 kids – 10, 13 & 15. We all loved it! Followed recipe pretty closely. Definitely adding it into the “make again” pile.
Ashley Fehr says
Thanks Anna!
Tiffany English says
I was wondering if I could use kale instead of spinach?
Ashley Fehr says
Definitely!
Diane V Reiter says
I made this today for a socially-isolated outdoor luncheon – we had 10 people so I doubled the recipe. OMG – it was such a hit. I served it with focaccia bread. It’s all gone – people took some home.
I did add fresh basil. As I don’t cook sausage very often, I did not remove the casing as that wasn’t in the instructions – it just said to cook it – I would suggest you add “I lb. Italian sausage, casing removed” to clarify – I did see it later when I watched the video. I cooked the sausage and then cut it into smaller pieces.
I would make this again.
Ashley Fehr says
Hi Diane! I’m so glad it was a hit! I purchase Italian sausage like you would buy ground beef, no casings so none to remove. I will make a note to avoid confusion 🙂
Ellen Stanikmas says
OMG! This soup is delicious! And of course its the best day to make it. Here in Massachusetts we have gotten our first snow storm, Hubby just lit a fire, snowing, and a pot of delicious soup of the stove top with some crusty Italian bread. Does it get any better???!!!!! 🙂
Ashley Fehr says
That sounds like the perfect day to me!
Shannon says
Delicious! I’ll definitely be making this soup again!
Ashley Fehr says
Thanks Shannon!