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!

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.