One-Pot Wonders

Spinach Tortellini Soup by Joanna Gaines

by:
December 23, 2021
4
14 Ratings
Spinach Tortellini Soup by Joanna Gaines
Photo by Amy Neunsinger
  • Prep time 15 minutes
  • Cook time 20 minutes
  • Serves 6
Author Notes

"The tortellini add a lot of substance to this soup, making it a great all-in-one dinner. This version is my favorite combination of flavors, but it can easily be tailored based on your own palate and what’s in season in your area. For instance, you can swap the spinach for really any green that you prefer. If you want a heartier base, add more roasted tomatoes, or for a lighter consistency, try increasing the chicken broth. The best part? Almost any combination will yield really great leftovers." —Joanna Gaines

From Magnolia Table, Volume 2 by Joanna Gaines. Copyright © 2020 by Joanna Gaines. Reprinted by permission of William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers. —Food52

Test Kitchen Notes

Traditional tortellini are ring-shaped, bite-size stuffed pasta from the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy. Frozen tortellini are a modern convenience and weeknight godsend. Thanks to them, this one-dish dinner from Joanna Gaines can get on the table in under 30 minutes, without so much as breaking a sweat. And it’s ripe for riffing, too. While of course you can’t have spinach tortellini soup without, well, spinach, don’t let that stop you from swapping in whatever leafy green you have around. (We won’t tell.) Tuscan kale, baby arugula, or Swiss chard would all be thrilled to step in. Likewise, the canned cannellini beans could be swapped out for chickpeas or even meaty pintos. If you don’t have, or don’t want to buy, both parsley and basil, pick your favorite and just double the quantity to ¼ cup of a single herb (and on that note, we bet dill or chives would be great). To make the dish vegetarian, simply ditch the chicken broth and replace it with an equal volume of vegetable broth, or mushroom broth for bonus umami. All that said, the bread alongside for dipping and dunking is nonnegotiable—don’t skip it. Pro tip: If you love this spinach tortellini soup the first time you make it, double the batch the next time, then freeze the leftovers in pint containers for even speedier dinners or lunches down the road. Just pop in the fridge the night beforehand, let thaw, then heat up on the stovetop or in the microwave.

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—The Editors

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
  • 1/2 medium onion, cut into medium dice
  • 1 tablespoon minced garlic
  • 6 cups (1 1/2 quarts) chicken broth
  • 1 teaspoon (14 1/2-ounce) can diced fire-roasted tomatoes
  • 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
  • 1 (9-ounce) package cheese tortellini
  • 1 (14 1/2-ounce) can cannellini beans, rinsed well and drained
  • 6 cups baby spinach
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • Juice of ½ lemon
  • 1 cup shaved Parmesan cheese (about 4 ounces)
  • 1 loaf French bread, for serving
Directions
  1. In a large soup pot, melt the butter over medium-high heat. Add the onion and garlic and sauté, stirring constantly, until the onion is soft and tender, 3 to 4 minutes.
  2. Add the broth, tomatoes, and Italian seasoning and bring to a rolling boil. Add the tortellini and beans and cook until the tortellini are cooked through, about 2 minutes.
  3. Reduce the heat to medium and add the spinach, parsley, basil, and salt and pepper to taste and stir until the spinach is just wilted, 1 to 2 minutes. Squeeze the lemon juice over the soup.
  4. Ladle into bowls, sprinkle with the Parmesan, and serve immediately with torn bread for dipping.
  5. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 days or in the freezer for up to 2 months. Let the soup thaw before reheating.
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See what other Food52ers are saying.

  • Robin Duncan
    Robin Duncan
  • T Lynn Brown
    T Lynn Brown
  • cosmiccook
    cosmiccook
  • KarenLee53
    KarenLee53

Popular on Food52

15 Reviews

cosmiccook
cosmiccook October 15, 2024
Forgot to address the typo--ONE teaspoon from a 14 ounce CAN of tomatoes?? 1/2 teaspoon of "Italian" herb is ridiculous--1/2 tablespoon at a MINIMUM! Try marjoram, chervil, savory, rosemary, fresh basil.
 
cosmiccook
cosmiccook October 15, 2024
rather bland and uninspiring--these are from 52's site! For umami/flavor--try fish sauce, PARM rinds added to stock &/or mushroom powder (Trader Joe's has their take)!
https://food52.com/blog/18150-be-a-genius-do-this-one-thing-have-better-soups-all-winter
Now, THIS soup is a winner--I've made it for years w some tweaks! https://food52.com/users/7027-antoniajames
 
KarenLee53
KarenLee53 October 13, 2024
I really felt this soup needed a lot of help. Seriously lacking in flavor. I took the suggestion of another reviewer and added Italian sausage and tomato paste, but even then felt it needed something else. Added some pesto and that helped enormously. I had just been to the farmers market and had butternut squash and zucchini. Roasted the butternut and added both toward the end. Much better. The end.
 
Charrish1
Charrish1 October 6, 2024
Made this excellent!!!!!!!!
 
caf2800@ptd.net
[email protected] October 6, 2024
Great start!
Mushrooms, Sweet Italian sausage, and Tomato Paste
made it excellent! Thank you, Joanna
 
molly M.
molly M. October 6, 2024
great soup!! love this!+ QUICK QUESTION? anyo ne try using well drained frozen spinach? always in freezer? im sure fresh is best but just. curious if someone else has tried? thanks
 
allig
allig September 28, 2024
Delicious soup! It has become a staple in our home.
 
Alicia M.
Alicia M. October 29, 2023
What a great recipe! Goes together quickly but the ingredients make for a delectable early winter's dinner. Don't forget the lemon juice at the end. What a nice final layer of WOW!
 
Robin D.
Robin D. February 16, 2022
This recipe is wonderful and so quick and easy. There is a type regarding how much tomato to add - it should be one can. I had more than 6 cups spinach so all of it went into soup. I didn’t rinse the beans. DELICIOUS
 
cosmiccook
cosmiccook January 12, 2022
This recipe is a hack from BA 2004 -- I get you can't copyright recipes for the most part but still.
https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/cheese-tortellini-soup-with-cannellini-kielbasa-and-kale-106143
 
T L.
T L. January 10, 2022
Why drain and rinse the bean? You're throwing away flavor and body that would improve the soup. Do like J. Pepin and rinse the can and add it to the pot...get every last bit of goodness!
 
Carol
Carol May 12, 2021
I have made this soup many times and it’s easy and delicious. I increased broth to 8 cups and used a 19 oz. bag of frozen tortellinis. The secret to this soup are the fire roasted tomatoes, great flavor.
 
Steve M.
Steve M. April 30, 2020
I think she means a 14 1/2 oz can of tomatoes, not a teaspoon.
 
Linda
Linda October 6, 2024
We just made this soup. She definitely meant the entire can.
 
Sunanda
Sunanda April 27, 2020
It looks fulfilling appetite. Thank you for the recipe, in this lockdown period always trying to make something different and today I'll try this out.