Easy Creamy Sausage Tortellini Soup

Hello and welcome back! I am starting 2025 with a new series called: Comfort Food. Now, this isn’t my typical stick-to-your-ribs comfort food (although most will still be like that), but I am starting a series where I am sharing recipes that are comforting and easy to gift or transport to those in need of comfort. Think new parents, meal trains, loved ones going through a rough time, or people who are looking to prep for rocky days ahead. This Easy Creamy Sausage Tortellini Soup is not only delicious and comforting, but it is a one pot meal that freezes well, transports great, and definitely warms the heart.

I am starting this series because we have been going through a rough time of our own, and we have been eating a lot of comfort food ourselves. If you follow me on social media, you may have seen that I took time off to be a full time caregiver for my father-in-law with ALS. He passed before Christmas, and we had a strong support system that dropped off a ton of food. Before his passing, a lot of food I made was food that was quick, easy to make, easy to clean, and easy to freeze. After a year of eating comfort food, I feel like I have tasted all the recipes on a meal train.

I’ve have made this Creamy Sausage Tortellini Soup so many times this past, and I am happy to finally share it. This is the perfect recipe for those rushed nights where you don’t have a ton of time to cook and you need something to really warm your bones. This is a hearty, cheesy, easy soup that your whole family will love. I started always keeping Italian sausage and tortellini in the freezer because it has become my go-to weeknight recipe that my family reliably loves.

I’m sure this Easy Creamy Sausage Tortellini Soup will be a weeknight recipe your whole family will love too. It is made with simple ingredients, it’s hearty, and easily customizable for dietary needs too.

Sausage Tortellini Soup with Kale vs. Sausage Tortellini Soup with Spinach

Like I said earlier, the Creamy Sausage Tortellini Soup is easily customizable. I prefer adding kale to my soup, but spinach easily can be swapped out. I feel like kale holds up better in soup, keeps its color better, and maintains its texture when frozen unlike spinach. That being said, it’s your kitchen.

You’ll also see in this recipe I use grated carrots, diced onion, and minced garlic. I have made this with red potatoes, with celery, sliced carrots, parsnips, and zucchini. Any of these work well, and the soup is very flexible. Truthfully, any leftover vegetable gets added to a soup in my house. If you are making a bigger batch and freezing, any of the vegetables listed above freeze beautifully.

Freezer Friendly Tortellini Soup – How to Freeze Tortellini Soup

Like my Chicken Noodle Soup, I freeze my soup without the noodles. If I am microwaving this the next day, sure I won’t bother. My kids get soggy next day tortellini as well. If I know I am doing a large batch of soup or gifting this soup that may be frozen, I always do the tortellini separately. Tortellini, whether it is fresh, frozen, or dry, does not take long to cook and gets soggy if included in a soup that’s stored in the fridge.

You’ll see I add cream at the end of this soup (which is optional). If you use a non-dairy milk or cream substitute like cashew milk, you’ll be fine. If you are using regular dairy based cream, you’ll want to not add until you’re ready to serve it (and exclude when freezing). Milk and cream can separate and become grainy when thawed. Good news is this tastes fantastic without the cream and you can skip it altogether.

Lightened Up Sausage Tortellini Soup

This creamy sausage tortellini soup is already a vegetable-forward soup, but you can make it “lighter” with a few adjustments. We are looking at the sausage, vegetable ratio, the cream, the tortellini, and the cheese.

• Italian Sausage Substitute – You can easily swap this sausage out with a ground turkey or chicken sausage. If you want to make your own so you can control the fat content and calories, I have a pretty great recipe for Homemade Italian turkey sausage. If you use a low fat option, however, you need to do two things. First, you’ll need to remove the turkey sausage after browning and add at the end (with the cream and kale). Ground turkey simmering for that long will dry out. Second, you’ll still need some fat for the vegetables. I would recommend 1-2 tbsp of olive oil.
• Adding More Vegetables – If you want to bulk up this recipe so the vegetable to tortellini ratio is different, I recommend adding potatoes, zucchini, celery, and/or parsnips. You can roast these separately or cook them in with everything but it will affect timing, seasoning, and liquid ratio. For every two cups of vegetables, add another clove of garlic, 1 tbsp of Italian seasoning, big pinch of salt, and 2 cups of chicken broth. For every 4 cups of vegetables, you’ll follow what I just said but also add another can of crushed tomatoes and another 1 tbsp of Parmesan.
• Heavy Cream Substitute – My favorite lower fat and higher protein swap for heavy cream is actually blended cottage cheese. I am not a fan of cottage cheese on its own (texture nightmare for me), but it works well here. You can also use whole milk, half and half, low fat cream cheese, a milk alternative (cashew milk is my go-to), or Greek yogurt. That list is ranked based on which I would choose. You actually don’t need the cream, but it is delicious (and not that much cream). That swap really depends on what you’re after.
• Tortellini Substitute – Why are we reading this paragraph? It’s tortellini soup. You can, I guess, swap the tortellini out, but then it is not tortellini soup. lol. You could, in theory, use a different “healthy” pasta like Barilla Protein Plus for a sausage pasta soup, but you will be missing the extra layer of comfort from the pillowy cheesy tortellini. I do recommend that you keep the healthy pasta alternatives separate and add when serving because they all can get a little funky if overcooked.
• Parmesan Cheese Substitute – Similar to the tortellini, I wouldn’t swap out the Parmesan (unless it’s a allergy concern). Not all Parmesan is created equal. Higher quality parmesan (the non shaker cheese variety) has such a better impact of flavor that a little goes a long way.

Yield: 8

Easy Creamy Sausage Tortellini Soup

This Easy Creamy Sausage Tortellini Soup is not only delicious and comforting, but it is a one pot meal that freezes well, transports great, and definitely warms the heart.

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 40 minutes

Total Time 50 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 lb. Italian Sausage
• 2 cups diced onions
• 6 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 cup grated carrots
• 3 tbsp tomato paste
• 2 bay leaves
• 28 oz. crushed tomatoes
• 6 cups of low sodium broth (I used beef, but you can also use chicken or veg)
• 3 tbsp Italian seasoning
• 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
• kosher salt to taste (I used 3 tbsp, but it depends on your broth, sausage, and cheese)
• 1 bunch of kale (about 8 cups)
• 16 oz. tortellini
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• olive oil or cooking spray

Instructions

1. Remove sausage from casings. Saute on medium in a large pot with olive oil or cooking spray
2. Once sausage is fully cooked, add onions, grated carrots, and 1 tbsp salt. Cook until onions are translucent (about 5 minutes)
3. Add garlic and tomato paste. Stir well and cook for another minute.
4. Add your Italian seasoning, bay leaves, broth, and crushed tomatoes. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer.
5. Allow soup to simmer for 20 minutes.
6. Add parmesan and tortellini. Cook tortellini based on package instructions.
7. Add kale, torn into bite size pieces and cream during the last minute of cooking. Stir to wilt kale.
8. Taste and adjust seasoning. I add 2 more tbsp of kosher salt and a little pepper, but it depends greatly on your choices of products.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

8

Serving Size:

1.5 cup
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 416Total Fat: 17gSaturated Fat: 7gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 0gCholesterol: 56mgCarbohydrates: 46gFiber: 6gSugar: 6gProtein: 19g

Meal Train Idea – Tortellini Soup

This Easy Creamy Tortellini Soup is an excellent meal train recipe. If you are bringing this over to someone, I suggest making the soup as directed without the addition of cream or tortellini. I send this soup in freezable large deli containers with tortellini uncooked. My favorite tortellini is the ones they sell at Costco. Include some fresh bread, some Parmesan cheese, cream, and you’re all set. If you want to go the extra mile, include a large Caesar Salad.

When being on the receiving end of a meal train, recipes like this were our favorites because they can also be easily eaten for lunch. This also doesn’t require many dirty dishes and it’s pretty flexible. The deli containers and tortellini can be frozen if the person receiving it doesn’t need it right then.