One-Pot Wonders

Creamy Tortellini Soup with Sausage

October 22, 2021
5
33 Ratings
Photo by Anna Chwistek | Serving Dumplings
  • Prep time 5 minutes
  • Cook time 30 minutes
  • Serves 4
Author Notes

An ultra creamy tortellini soup with sausage and bell pepper. A comforting soup you can make time and time again. Loaded with Italian sausage, cheese tortellini and tender sautéed bell pepper, all tossed with an Italian seasoning and swimming in a rich tomatoey broth. Jazzed up with Parmesan and a touch of heavy cream for good measure. It’s a 30 minute meal of your dreams, you won’t believe how flavorful this pot of soup is until you try it. Be sure to serve this with a side of garlic bread for a mouthwatering result. —Anna Chwistek | Serving Dumplings

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Ingredients
  • 14 ounces fresh cheese tortellini
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
  • 1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
  • 1 pound mild Italian sausage, no casings
  • 2 shallots, finely chopped
  • 4 garlic cloves, minced
  • 2 tablespoons tomato paste
  • 1 cup puréed tomatoes or crushed tomatoes
  • 4 cups chicken broth
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 1/3 cup grated Parmesan
  • fresh thyme, for serving
  • 1 teaspoon each: dried oregano, dried sage, smoked paprika, black pepper
  • 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes, more for serving
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • salt, to taste
Directions
  1. Heat oil and butter in a large pot over medium. Add bell pepper, sauté for 5 minutes, stirring from time to time. Add onion and garlic, cook for 2 minutes.
  2. Add sausage and spices, break up the meat into small pieces with a wooden spoon, and cook until browned and no longer pink, 5 minutes. Pour in chicken broth and bring to a boil. Add tomato paste and puréed tomatoes, cook for 15 minutes.
  3. Add tortellini, cook for 2 minutes. Then pour in cream and add Parmesan. Stir to combine, simmer for 1 minute. Taste and adjust salt. Finish off with some extra red pepper flakes, black pepper and fresh thyme. Enjoy!

See what other Food52ers are saying.

20 Reviews

KatyDantz September 4, 2024
I made this for dinner (during hot weather!!) because it looked so good, and it tastes amazing. It's so good I sent the recipe to my younger sister and she made it for herself and her friends. She loves it too! This is so good.
AntoniaJames September 3, 2024
I make this without the bell peppers, substituting seared broccoli florets or zucchiini cubes, or throwing in a handful of kale, whatever's on hand. (I also dial back the cream a bit, as we find the soup quite rich enough with the 5-cheese tortelloni from Costo I use, which I highly recommend.).

This makes the perfect one-bowl dinner for fall - super fast, super easy, and super delicious!! ;o)
Nancy March 21, 2024
This was sooo yummy. I have made it several times and it always gets rave reviews. I didn't change anything about the recipe. Thanks FOOD52
Lake2005 April 28, 2023
Turned out great. I added spinach to it just to get some greens in the soup. Will make this again. How long can leftovers stay in refrigerator?
Anna C. April 29, 2023
Hi, I'm so glad you enjoyed the recipe. Leftovers will keep for up to 3 days in the fridge. Happy cooking!
plant59 March 15, 2023
This soup was soooo good! I did omit the red pepper flakes and only used 1/2 tsp black pepper for those who don't tolerate the heat. Also, agree with "Timildeepson" ... add the tortellini to each bowl before serving. Thank you for sharing your recipe!
Karen M. February 15, 2023
Excellent, hearty winter soup. Also very flexible... I used fat free half & half in lieu of cream, white onion in lieu of shallot. Delicious! Caution re substitute: I used a mushroom tortellini (all I had) which unfortunately had a strong gorgonzola in it, not the best choice. Stick with a mild tortellini like cheese or zucchini, the soup is flavorful enough to support it.
BKosuge February 7, 2023
Really love this soup. It's easy and adaptable--I added spinach and forgot the cream and it was still great. Made it three times already this month. Freezes well too.
Kristen N. December 22, 2022
This was delicious. I doubled the onion, garlic, red pepper, crushed toms, broth, cream, and parm. Used 20 oz package of tortellini, and only 1 pound of sausage. Perfect.
Dominika U. November 22, 2022
This was SO good. I really didn't expect it, but it's a touch spicy, a little smokey, really balanced and flavorful. I don't love cheese tortellini but they work so well in this. I added an extra bell pepper and several large handfuls of kale to the soup at the very end (just heat until wilted, a few minutes) for extra veggies. We didn't even use parmesan. It was perfect, really easy, quick, and comforting! Highly recommended.
Vishla November 18, 2022
This is delicious and very flavorful. I will definitely make some adjustments next time. The sausage I found was more than a pound, the tortellini was a 20 oz container instead of 14 oz, the can of tomato was more than a cup, so to make it easy, I will use those sizes and just add more broth and a touch more cream. I found that as the soup rested, it absorbed all the broth! LOL! Even so, it was a really special taste. :)
Ver0nicaB November 18, 2022
This can easily be made dairy-free by using coconut cream instead of regular cream and dairy-free tortellini! It was SO GOOD
Amy February 26, 2022
This soup is delicious and came together quickly. Just the thing for dinner on a cold winter night. I adjusted the spices - 1t oregano, 1/2t thyme, 1/2t basil, 1/4t crushed red pepper - and cut the heavy cream back to 1/2 cup. We added the grated parmesan at the table. Thanks for this excellent recipe.
Timildeepson November 18, 2022
Just a handy tip…. High end restaurants cook and hold pasta separately, then add to each portion at service. This keeps the pasta from overcooking and soaking up all the liquids, especially for leftovers.
Caylee December 29, 2021
This was delicious! My husband asked me to make it again. Super easy. It was even better the next day, even though the tortellinis soaked up most of the broth. Leftovers actually turned into a pasta dish not a soup. I will make this again.
Timildeepson November 18, 2022
Just a handy tip…. High end restaurants cook and hold pasta separately, then add to each portion at service. This keeps the pasta from overcooking and soaking up all the liquids, especially for leftovers.
Emily December 25, 2021
The recipe is oddly written. I changed up the order of operations in way that made more sense to me. Cooked the sausage first with small amount of olive oil. Added red peppers, then shallots and then garlic. Added tomato paste at same time as seasonings, before stock, to develop flavor. Then added tomatoes and stock. Very tasty.
icharmeat September 15, 2022
I've just run across this recipe and I bet it is tasty, but I agree with your order of operations. I doubt the sausage will become too dry by frying it first, which may be the reasoning behind the late addition of sausage. Pretty much everything in the saute wants to be cooked fairly gently. I'm looking forward to trying this. I have kids in college and they need tasty recipes that aren't a burden to prepare so that they don't blow their college dough on pre-made food.
jennygoodson@gmail.com December 20, 2021
Delicious!!! Make exactly how recipe called for and turned out amazing !
Jocelyn G. December 2, 2021
I’ve never made a tortellini soup before, so I don’t have any basis for comparison, but this was very good and flavorful. It doesn’t say to heat an oil for the peppers, etc., so I used a couple of tablespoons. Subbed cashew cream for the heavy cream, which worked perfectly.

One teeny tiny critique-for whatever reason, the ingredients aren’t listed in the order you use them. That’s a little strange, IMHO.