Creamy Slow Cooker Tortellini Soup

Slow Cooker Tortellini Soup is pure comfort food that is loaded with chicken sausage, veggies, kale, and three-cheese tortellini. It is a classic dish that is hearty and loaded with flavors.

Making soups in the Crockpot is probably one of the easiest dishes you could make. We have plenty of delicious recipes to warm you up during colder days. Check out our Ham Split Pea Soup, Bacon Ranch Potato Soup, and Ultimate Baked Potato Soup. 

Crockpot Tortellini Soup 

Slow Cooker Tortellini Soup with sweet Italian chicken sausage, carrots, celery, kale, and three-cheese tortellini is so creamy and irresistible that it will become your go-to easy meal. This dish is incredibly easy to make and tastes like it has been served at a fancy Italian restaurant.

All you have to do is basically dump all ingredients into a slow cooker in the morning and let it do its job. Then, when you come home later, you will be welcomed by a delicious and warm bowl of soup to south your soul.

The Tortellini Soup is deliciously filled with perfectly cooked veggies, flavorful sausage, and cheesy tortellini. Also, the creamy texture is amazing and if you want to make it even better, top it with a bit of shaved Parmesan and serve it with some fresh bread. Definitely, use the bread for dipping!

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How do you make tortellini soup?

Please note, we have made this dish in the Instant Pot by using the Slow Cooker option. However, you can make it directly in the Crockpot, by following the exact same steps. It works perfectly fine in both cases. 

1. In a skillet, brown the sausage along with the onions and sauté for about 3-5 minutes. Please note, this step can be skipped as well, and simply all everything to the slow cooker. However, we found that browning the meat gives it a nice boost of flavors.
2. Then, drain most of the fat and add the sausage mix and the remaining ingredients to the slow cooker (except for the cream, spinach, and tortellini).
3. Cover the lid and set the cooking time on LOW for 7-8 hours, or HIGH for 3-4 hours.
4. About 30 minutes prior to serving, add the cheese tortellini, cream, and spinach. Season to taste.
5. Serve warm

TORTELLINI SOUP VARIATIONS

This recipe is delicious and flavorful as is. However, you can also customize it to your tastes. Some great alternatives:

• Add other Proteins: It works great with other meats as well. For example, try other meats if not a fan of sausage. Beef, turkey, chicken thighs, breasts, or chicken sausage can be used instead. Please check out our Chicken Tortellini Soup, is yummy!!!
• Incorporate other Vegetables: Also, feel free to add other vegetables to the mix such as spinach, zucchini, green beans, peas or corn.
• Various Kinds of pasta: We love making it with cheese tortellini as the original/classic recipe calls for. But, you can easily swap it with other flavors of tortellini. Use meat or cheese variety of them. Also, try mini ravioli or even noodles. 
• Stovetop version: If you would rather make it on the stovetop, feel free to do so. Here is the stovetop version. 

How to make Tortellini Soup in the Instant Pot?

1. Add the rest of the ingredients with the exception of cream and kale. Stir well to combine.
2. Select High Pressure -> adjust timing to 5 mins -> followed by 10 mins NPR. Release manually any remaining pressure.
3. Open the Instant Pot, select Sauté and stir in cream. At this point add the cornstarch mixture if you would prefer a thicker soup. Simmer uncovered for 5 minutes.
4. Turn off Instant Pot and fold in fresh spinach.

HOW TO FREEZE Crockpot TORTELLINI SOUP?

• Cool the soup completely.
• Then, use a cup to transfer the soup from the pot into freezer-safe quart bags.
• Squeeze out excess air and seal the bags.
• Lay the bags flat in the freezer.
• The bags can nicely be stored in the freezer for up to 2-3 months.

HOW TO REHEAT it?

• Thaw the soup overnight in the fridge or add the frozen bag to a large casserole dish and place it under running warm water.
• Next, transfer it to a dutch oven or saucepan over low-medium heat.
• When reheating, you may need to add a bit of milk or cream, add a ¼ cup at a time.
• Stir to combine and simmer for 2-3 minutes.

Looking for more comforting soup recipes? Check these out!

• Slow Cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup
• Instant Pot Creamy Tomato Soup
• Corn Chowder with Bacon
• Panera Bread Creamy Tomato Soup Copycat
• Cabbage Roll Soup
• Ham Split Pea Soup

Recipe Tips:

• Choose your favorite sausage, this recipe is adaptable so you basically can use whatever sausage you prefer. I went for a sweet sun-dried tomato Italian chicken sausage because it gives the dish an amazing flavor. BUT you can totally add a spicy version to heat up the dish a bit more. Or use simple ground meats (ground chicken, beef, or sausage). 
• You can use sliced sausage or ground sausage, it is up to your personal texture preference, however, it is very important to brown the sausage, it will add so much more flavor to the soup, so please don’t skip this step.
• Also, for a vegetarian option, leave the meat out all together. 
• If you don’t like kale you can replace it with spinach or you can use half spinach and half kale.
• The recipe doesn’t ask for any flour, corn starch is used to thicken the sauce. I highly recommend using it over the flour.
• Garlic and red pepper flakes will give this recipe an amazing flavor, so feel free to taste and adjust as you please.
• You can use your favorite tortellini in this Slow Cooker Tortellini Soup recipe. I prefer three cheese tortellini, but I loved the version with porcini mushrooms tortellini and lobster tortellini.

Tools/Ingredients I used to make this Instant Pot / Slow Cooker Tortellini Soup Recipe:

• Instant Pot – I use it all the time, either the Pressure Cooker function or the Slow Cooker function, I also like that I can just sauté / brown the meat and veggies directly in the pot using the Sauté function.
• Crock Pot – I love this one because the pot can be used for stove-top browning and then placed in the slow cooker for final slow cooking.
• Dried Parsley – never use fresh parsley in the slow cooker or pressure cooker, after many hours of cooking it will be all brown and wilted.
• Chicken Bouillon Powder – it is more concentrated than chicken broth, so it will add a more prominent chicken flavor.
• Garlic Powder – love this one, I add it to almost all the savory meals, also great to make meat rubs and seasonal veggies.
• Cornstarch – I prefer using cornstarch instead of flour to thicken sauces, and this organic brand is my favorite.

Slow Cooker Tortellini Soup

Slow Cooker Tortellini Soup is loaded with chicken sausage, veggies, kale and three cheese tortellini, that is hearty, delicious and full of flavors.

5 from 2 votes

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Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 8 hours

Total Time: 8 hours 30 minutes

Servings: 6 servings

Calories: 439kcal

Author: Catalina Castravet

Ingredients

• ▢ 5 Italian chicken sausages or 1 pound ground Italian sausage of choice*
• ▢ 2 tablespoon olive oil
• ▢ 1 sweet onion (chopped)
• ▢ 2 large carrots (chopped)
• ▢ 2 stalks celery (chopped)
• ▢ 10 cloves garlic (minced)
• ▢ 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
• ▢ 2 teaspoon chicken bouillon powder
• ▢ 4 cups chicken broth
• ▢ 1 cup water
• ▢ ½ teaspoon salt
• ▢ ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
• ▢ ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes*
• ▢ ¼ cup cornstarch mixed and dissolved in ¼ cup water
• ▢ 3 x 12-ounce cans full fat evaporated milk
• ▢ 9 ounces package three cheese tortellini
• ▢ 5 packed cups fresh kale (stems removed and chopped)
• ▢ 1 cup heavy cream

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Instructions

• ▢
  Add the olive oil to a large skillet and brown the sausage for 2 - 3 minutes over medium-high heat. If using an Instant Pot, select the Sauté function, wait until it reads HOT, add oil and the sausage and sauté for 2 - 3 minutes.
• ▢
  Add the browned sausage, chopped onion, chopped carrots, chopped celery, and minced garlic to a 6 quart Slow Cooker or Instant Pot.
• ▢
  Add the Italian seasoning, chicken bouillon powder, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, chicken broth and 1 cup of water to the pot. Stir well, cover and cook on high for 4 hours or on low for 7 hours.
• ▢
  If using an Instant Pot select -> Slow Cook -> Adjust -> Less for "LOW" heat and "MORE" for High heat - after that adjust the timing, 4 hours for "MORE" and 7 hours for "LOW".
• ▢
  Uncover and using a spoon, discard any fat that is sitting on the top of the soup.
• ▢
  In a large bowl, whisk the corn starch with the water until fully combined and smooth. Add the mixture to the pot. Stir in the evaporated milk and add the tortellini to the pot, stir gently but well to combine all the ingredients.
• ▢
  Cover the pot and cook on HIGH ("MORE" on Instant Pot) for another 45 minutes.
• ▢
  Uncover, add in the chopped kale, gently press the leaves down to completely submerge into the liquid. Cover again and cook 15 mins on HIGH ("MORE" on Instant Pot) until the leaves have wilted.
• ▢
  Uncover, pour in the cream little by little, stirring gently until you reach the desired consistency.
• ▢
  Taste and adjust for salt and pepper if needed.
• ▢
  Serve and enjoy!

Notes

Italian sausage can be substituted with ground chicken, turkey or beef sausage. If using beef sausage or ground beef, replace the chicken bouillon and chicken broth with beef bouillon and beef broth, same quantities apply. Please note that the soup will thicken even more when cold, when reheating you may need to add a bit of milk, add ¼ cup at a time. Preferably heat it on the stove top if you will be adding more milk. You can add more red pepper flakes, if you would like the soup on the spicy side.

Nutrition

Serving: 0g | Calories: 439kcal | Carbohydrates: 40g | Protein: 22g | Fat: 22g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Cholesterol: 70mg | Sodium: 1906mg | Potassium: 588mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 8g | Vitamin A: 8580IU | Vitamin C: 73.3mg | Calcium: 223mg | Iron: 3.2mg