We’re still deep into cozy soup season, so I’m enjoying my pasta soup style this evening in this super creamy tortellini soup. It’s got a rich and creamy tomato-based broth, hearty cheese tortellini to sink your teeth into, a medley of veggies, and everything you’re going to want on a chilly winter night. Plus, the leftovers are awesome, so come lunchtime tomorrow, you’ll be really glad you made it. ;)
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What’s in Tortellini Soup
This soup, at its core, is super basic, but the ingredients add up to big flavor and a hearty bowl that will keep you full. Here’s a quick rundown of the ingredients in this delicious tortellini soup:
- Vegetables: This soup starts like many other soups with a mirepoix (onion, celery, and carrot) plus a little garlic for good measure.
- Tomatoes: I’ve added two tomato products to this soup, tomato paste and crushed tomatoes. The tomato paste helps thicken the broth and gives a deep tomatoey flavor, while the crushed tomatoes give the soup volume and a little more texture.
- Vegetable Broth: Vegetable broth gives this soup volume and dimension to the flavor.
- Italian Seasoning: I kept the seasoning simple here by using an Italian seasoning blend instead of using several individual spices. If you don’t have Italian seasoning, you can substitute it with a mix of basil and oregano.
- Cheese Tortellini: The star of the show! I used a bag of frozen small cheese tortellini to give the soup extra belly-filling power. You can use just about any flavor of tortellini you’d like for this soup.
- Heavy Cream: A splash of heavy cream makes the broth extra lush, but you can skip it if you’d like! I love adding the cream because it makes the soup taste like a really rich tomato soup.
- Spinach: I finished the tortellini soup off with a couple of handfuls of fresh spinach to give the soup balance and a little more color. You can skip the spinach or add some frozen chopped spinach in its place if you wish.
Buying Tortellini
Tortellini is one of the most expensive ingredients in this soup, so make sure you’re shopping wisely! In most major grocery stores you’ll be able to find tortellini in three places: with dry pasta, in the freezer section (near frozen bread), and with fresh pasta in the dairy case. I find that the frozen tortellini is usually the best price, and you can even use half the amount of tortellini in this recipe if you need to reduce the cost further. If using dry tortellini, you’ll need to boil the tortellini in the soup slightly longer and you may need to add extra water.
What Else Can I Add?
Italian sausage makes a great addition to this soup if you want something a little more meaty, or you could even sauté some bacon in the pot before the vegetables for even more richness. Want to make it extra cheesy? Sprinkle some grated or shredded Parmesan on top of each bowl just before serving.
How to Store Tortellini Soup
After cooking, divide the tortellini soup into single-serving portions and refrigerate until ready to eat. For longer storage, you can transfer the containers to the freezer after they’re fully chilled. To reheat, microwave on high until the soup is heated through, or reheat in a saucepot over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until heated through.
Creamy Tortellini Soup
Servings 8 1.5 cups eachIngredients
- 1 yellow onion ($0.37)
- 2 carrots ($0.29)
- 2 stalks celery ($0.22)
- 4 cloves garlic ($0.32)
- 2 Tbsp olive oil ($0.26)
- 4 Tbsp tomato paste ($0.36)
- 1 28oz. can crushed tomatoes ($1.69)
- 1.5 tsp Italian seasoning ($0.15)
- 4 cups vegetable broth ($0.52)
- 19 oz. cheese tortellini (frozen) ($4.79)
- 1/2 cup heavy cream ($0.82)
- 4 oz. fresh spinach ($1.20)
- 3/4 tsp salt ($0.04)
- 1/4 tsp freshly cracked black pepper ($0.02)
Instructions
- Dice the onion, carrot, and celery. Mince the garlic. Add the onion, carrot, celery, and garlic to a large soup pot along with the olive oil. Sauté over medium heat until the onions soften (about 5 minutes).
- Add the tomato paste and continue to stir and cook over medium heat for about three minutes more.
- Add the crushed tomatoes, Italian seasoning, and vegetable broth to the pot. Stir to combine and dissolve any tomato paste off the bottom of the pot.
- Turn the heat up to medium-high and bring the soup up to a simmer. Let the soup simmer for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add the frozen tortellini to the soup and boil for about 3 minutes, or the recommended time on the package needed to cook the tortellini.
- Turn the heat off. Stir the heavy cream into the soup. Stir the fresh spinach into the soup until wilted.
- Taste the soup and season with salt and pepper to taste (we added about ¾ tsp salt and ¼ tsp pepper).
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Equipment
- Dutch Oven
Nutrition
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How to Make Tortellini Soup – Step By Step Photos
Dice one yellow onion, two carrots, and two stalks of celery. Mince four cloves of garlic. Add the onion, carrot, celery, and garlic to a large soup pot along with 2 Tbsp olive oil. Sauté over medium heat for about 5 minutes, or until the onions have softened.
Add four tablespoons of tomato paste to the pot and continue to sauté with the vegetables for about three minutes more.
Add one 28oz. can of crushed tomatoes, 1.5 tsp Italian seasoning blend, and 4 cups vegetable broth to the pot. Stir to combine and dissolve any tomato paste off the bottom of the pot.
Turn the heat up to medium-high, and allow the soup to come up to a simmer. Allow the soup to simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add one 19oz. package of frozen cheese tortellini to the soup and continue to boil for 3 minutes, or as long as needed according to the package directions to cook the tortellini.
Turn the heat off and stir ½ cup heavy cream into the soup (optional).
Add about four large handfuls of fresh spinach to the soup, then stir it in and allow the spinach to wilt.
Give the soup a taste and adjust the salt or other seasonings to your liking (we added ¾ tsp salt and ¼ tsp freshly cracked pepper).
I like my tortellini soup garnished with a light sprinkle of Parmesan and some freshly grated black pepper. 😋
Turned out really good, I added a pinch of salt and 2 tsp basil, plus a little more cream. I don’t know if the celery and carrots added to it, but why not throw in the extra veggies :)
Enjoyed this one! Made as written and served with crusty bread. Thanks!
I haven’t tried this recipe yet, but plan to. I’ve searched for a non-creamy version & saw others requesting a previous one, so wonder if it’s possible to still get that.
Cooking for a picky husband and child is challenging when I will eat almost anything put in front of me, and I drool and make yummy noises when I browse budget bytes. So I made a few family preference modifications: left out carrots and subbed in 1/2 red bell pepper I had, added 1/2 pound ground Italian sausage as Beth suggested, and cut the tortellini in half. (I felt it still had plenty!) I also add spinach to the bottom of my bowl before adding my soup. Then I made grilled cheese sandwiches to go with it. A grown up tomato soup! It was great and everyone enjoyed it!! (Though child picked around a few veggies I missed when making her bowl *sigh) thanks for another win, Beth and Team! I sure appreciate you all!
Delicious! Didn’t have fresh spinach so I used some frozen chopped spinach when I added the tortellini. Added some red pepper flakes and also 2 tsp. of balsamic vinegar. I like to finish tomato-based recipes with an acid—vinegar/lime/lemon.
Can this be frozen after making? I used fresh ravioli instead of tortellini since that was what I had. Thanks!
Yes, you can!
Extremely delicious BASE RECIPE I had to add a TON more seasoning… salt and pepper, a little chicken bouillon powder, adobo, and bay leaves. Also in my area the ingredients were a bit more expensive than listed, although i’d say the result was worth it.
I substituted fresh spinach for frozen and just added it before adding the half and half which I subbed for the heavy cream. I decided to add carrot slices in addition to the diced carrots because i love carrots and felt like I wanted something else chunky besides just the tortellini.
This is an extremely easy to follow recipe with a delicious result. I had fun making it and will make it again for sure! Thank you
This was a hit even with a picky 9 year old! Can’t explain it, but my kiddo loves it and so did I! I used beef broth because that’s what we had, and used a little more spinach just to finish the bag. But otherwise, it is a lovely dish. will make again!
This was the first time me or my husband has ever tried tortellini and it was a winner! Made the recipe exactly as written. Wouldn’t make any changes. Perfect for a comforting weeknight meal. I found tortellini at my local Sam’s Club for only $9.78 (48 oz)! I used what I needed and just froze the rest for next time.
super delicious! I added some turkey sausage for more protein.
The soup was only soup the first night. It turned into some stew like pasta dish after it sat. Didn’t taste quite like I expected, but was definitely not a proper tomato soup.
It’s not supposed to be a “proper tomato soup” though…
Indeed, it is spinach tortellini soup! And it is lovely.
Pasta does tend to soak up liquid if sitting in it for any long amount of time, so if you anticipate needing to refrigerate leftovers, an easy fix is to cook and store the tortellini separately, just adding it into the soup itself when you make up your individual bowls. No risk of it bloating or going gummy that way, though I confess that’s never been enough of an issue for me to warrant the extra trouble of keeping them apart – just offering a potential solution to those who might find it useful.
This is a great soup! I was surprised to find that I liked it more the second day. I thought the pasta would be mushy but it wasn’t! The flavors mingled a bit better. I would definitely increase the seasonings, maybe double them.
This absolutely hit the spot – rich and creamy but also packed with veggies. Even my husband, who is not a soup guy, went back for seconds. Might be my new favorite way to have tortellini! I subbed zucchini for celery because I happened to have it on hand and used frozen spinach. And I added a bunch of garlic and doubled the seasonings.
Quick question. I feel this is similar to a recipe that was on the website before. It was a tortellini, spinach and tomato soup. There was no heavy cream is the recipe that I’m remembering. I can’t find it anymore. Is there a way to get that link?
Hi, Martine! What’s your email? I can send you a PDF of the older version of this recipe that was removed from the site and replaced with this updated version. ~Marion :)
Thanks!
Sure thing! ~ Marion :)
Hello, I am a big fan of the original recipe as well. Can you please send me the original by email?
Is the email account associated with your comment the best way to send it to you? Let me know and I will send it over! Otherwise, you can email support@budgetbytes.com directly and request the recipe that way! ~ Marion :)
Yes – the email associated with my comment is the best way to reach me. Please send the recipe to that email. Thank you!
Sent! :)
I would love the original recipe as well! Attempting to minimize my dairy r/t breastfeeding and. A y having dairy intolerance. Thank you!!
KAYLAMRYAN2@gmail.com
Sent!
Hello Marion,
I’m curious about this older recipe. Can you please email me a pdf of the recipe?
Thank you!
Kim
Just emailed it to you. :)
Can I please have the original recipe as well? :)
I’ll email it to you. :)
The original recipe is a family favorite for us. Is it possible to get a copy of that one? Thank you!
Absolutely. :)
Ive made several the recipes on this site and they’re awesome. This one is not so great. Its not really a soup, more like tortellini in a weak pasta sauce. I definitely wouldn’t recommend this one, but I would always encourage folks to check out some of the other recipes on here!