Creamy Tortellini Soup
Dried spices and herbs add layers of flavor to Creamy Tortellini Soup. Italian sausage and kale make this a hearty and healthy meal.
Servings: 6
Cost: $10.00
Equipment
- Dutch Oven, Instant Pot or Slow Cooker
Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp Olive Oil
- 1/2 cup diced Onion
- 16 oz Italian Turkey Sausage (pork or chicken Italian sausage also work)
- 3 cloves Garlic, minced
- 1 tsp Smoked Paprika (can use regular paprika)
- 5 cups Chicken or Vegetable Stock
- 1 28 oz can Crushed Tomatoes with Basil
- 1 Parmesan rind (see note)
- 4 large leaves Kale, stems discarded, leaves chopped (sub baby spinach)
- 8 oz Fresh Cheese Tortellini
- 1/3 cup Heavy Cream
- Grated Parmesan Cheese, for serving (for serving)
Instructions
Stovetop:
- Heat a Dutch oven or large saucepan over medium heat. Add olive oil. When oil begins to shimmer, add onion and sauté until starting to soften, about 3 minutes.
- Add sausage and cook, breaking it apart until fully cooked, 8 to 10 minutes. If sausage releases a lot of oil, drain excess oil.)
- Stir in garlic and smoked paprika.
- Pour stock and crushed tomatoes over sausage. Add parmesan rind (if using). Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a low simmer and cover.
- Simmer soup until kale is tender, ~10 minutes.
- Remove lid and add kale and tortellini to soup. Simmer until tortellini is tender (check package for recommended time).
- Stir in cream. Taste and season with some salt if needed. Enjoy!
Slow Cooker:
- Heat a Dutch oven or large saucepan over medium heat. Add olive oil. When oil begins to shimmer, add onion and sauté until starting to soften, about 3 minutes.
- Add sausage and cook, breaking it apart until fully cooked, 8 to 10 minutes. (If sausage releases a lot of oil, drain excess oil.)
- Stir in garlic and smoked paprika and cook for 1 minute more.
- Transfer onion-sausage mixture to the bowl of a 6-quart slow cooker. Stir in stock, crushed tomatoes, and parmesan rind (if using).
- Cook on low for 6 to 8 hours or high for 3 to 4 hours (this is just to develop the flavors since everything is pre-cooked, so feel free to adjust the time as needed).
- In the last 20 minutes of cooking, stir in the kale and tortellini. (Check the tortellini periodically - the soup is ready when the tortellini is tender).
- Remove lid and stir in cream. Taste and season with some salt if needed. Enjoy!
Instant Pot:
- Turn Instant Pot’s sauté function to normal / medium. Add olive oil. When oil begins to shimmer, add onion and sauté until starting to soften, about 3 minutes.
- Add sausage and cook, breaking it apart until fully cooked, 8 to 10 minutes. If sausage releases a lot of oil, drain excess oil.)
- Stir in garlic and smoked paprika and cook for 1 minute more.
- Turn off the sauté function. Slowly pour in stock while scraping any browned bits off the bottom of the pot (this is key - if any browned bits remain they could cause the burn error).
- Stir in crushed tomatoes and parmesan rind.
- Close and lock the lid. Set steam valve to Sealing. Cook on manual / high pressure for 5 minutes.
- Let pressure release naturally for 5 minutes and then manually release any remaining pressure.
- Turn on the sauté function to normal / medium. When soup is simmering, add kale and tortellini. Simmer until tortellini is tender (check package for recommended time).
- Hit Cancel on the Instant Pot. Stir in cream. Taste and season with some salt if needed. Enjoy!
Notes
Italian Turkey Sausage - I like to use turkey or chicken Italian sausage because it is a bit lighter while still adding all of the flavor of Italian sausage. It also works great with pork sausage and will create a more rich broth.
Crushed Tomatoes with Basil - If you can't find crushed tomatoes that already contain basil, try adding 1 tsp of dried basil with the paprika or a few chopped fresh basil leaves stirred in at the end of cooking so that you get some of that basil flavor.
Parmesan Rind - Adding a parmesan rind will give the soup extra flavor and make it slightly more creamy. When you've grated a full wedge of parmesan and all that is left is the hard rind, be sure to save them (freeze them if not using right away) and let one simmer in your favorite soup. Remove the rind before serving.
Nutrition
Calories: 341kcal | Carbohydrates: 26g | Protein: 20g | Fat: 18g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Cholesterol: 73mg | Sodium: 1606mg | Potassium: 536mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 4270IU | Vitamin C: 84mg | Calcium: 155mg | Iron: 9mg