Name: Crockpot Sausage Tortellini Soup
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 240 min
Total time: 260 min
Ingredients: 2 Tbsp olive oil; 1 yellow onion (diced); 1 lb Italian sausage; 4-5 garlic cloves (minced); 4 carrots (chopped); 3 celery stalks (chopped); 15 oz. can crushed tomatoes; 15 oz. can diced tomatoes; 1½ cup marinara sauce; 4-5 cups low sodium chicken broth; 2-3 tsp Italian seasoning; ½ tsp each salt and pepper (more to taste); ¼-½ tsp crushed pepper; 20 oz refrigerated cheese tortellini; 2 large handfuls spinach; ½ cup heavy cream; ⅓-½ cup parmesan cheese (grated); ¼ cup fresh basil (chopped (optional))

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This cozy crockpot sausage tortellini soup is the perfect bowl of comfort for a cold day. Simple prep and only a matter of dumping and stirring after browning the meat–it eats like a full meal so aside from some freshly baked bread, this will be a perfect weeknight dinner the whole family will look forward too every time!

Bowl with sausage tortellini soup topped with fresh basil.

Why We Love This Crockpot Sausage Tortellini Soup
Ingredient Notes
Ways To Vary This Recipe
Step-By-Step Instructions
Recipe Tips
Storage
More Crockpot Soup Recipes
Crockpot Sausage Tortellini Soup Recipe
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Adding tortellini into a soup recipe automatically makes it a meal in my mind, so we love it in soups! This soup adds the Italian sausage for even more heartiness than our other favorite tomato tortellini soup.

For more cozy crockpot recipes, make sure to try these as well: Crockpot Cheeseburger Soup, Slow Cooker Shredded Beef Chili, or this CrockPot Short Rib Ragu or this fan favorite Crockpot Chicken Wild Rice Soup!

Why We Love This Crockpot Sausage Tortellini Soup

I made this for our family last fall and it has been a nonstop request–this soup recipe has it all! Cozy and hearty, a full meal in a bowl and very simple!

This crockpot sausage tortellini soup:

is hearty and healthy without feeling that way
has flexibility with ingredients
is a great weeknight dinner the family will love
has veggies, protein and carbs–can’t beat that!
super simple prep aside from chopping and browning the meat, it’s dump and stir!

Can’t wait to hear what you think–this is sure to be a quick family favorite!

Ingredient Notes

Chopped carrots and celery, spinach, cream, meat, tomatoes and other labeled ingredients.

We prefer cheese tortellini in this recipe, but technically any refrigerated tortellini pasta will work in this sausage tortellini soup. Frozen tortellini should work as well, but cook time will likely be different and I have yet to actually test it in this soup recipe.
Use your favorite Italian sausage in this soup: mild, sweet, spicy, etc. I prefer mild and my husband would like spicy so I just add some extra red pepper flakes to his and he is happy. If you would like to use a turkey sausage, you should be fine to sub that.
Use a marinara you really love for the best soup flavor!
Using the crushed as well as diced tomatoes varies the texture of the soup. You get a rich and hearty broth

Ways To Vary This Recipe

add more fresh herbs: you can certainly stir in some fresh oregano, thyme, etc. along with the fresh basil for more flavor
omit the cream for a thinner broth: I like to make the broth a bit more thick in this recipe, but if you want a thin broth, you can omit the cream and even the parmesan if you’d like.
vary some of the veggies: you can dice up a red or green bell peppers or use kale in place of the spinach if preferred!

Step-By-Step Instructions

Sautéed onions with Italian sausage added to skillet.

Step 1: Heat the olive oil over medium high heat and add the onion and garlic. Sauté until the onions start to become translucent and the garlic is fragrant. Add the Italian sausage and break into chunks.

Browned Italian sausage in skillet with onions.

Step 2: Cook to brown the Italian sausage. Drain any excess grease.

Step 3: Add the chopped carrots and celery to the bottom of the crock pot.

Step 4: Cover with the sausage and onions.

Broth, marinara, tomatoes, and spices added to slow cooker with meat and vegetables.

Step 5: Add the tomatoes, marinara, broth (recommend starting with 4 cups and use the extra to thin out a bit if desired after cooking a bit more.) and seasonings and stir to combine.

Cooked crockpot Italian sausage soup before adding pasta.

Step 6: Slow cook low about 6-7 hours or high for 3-4 hours.

Tortellini, spinach, cream and parmesan added to soup in crockpot.

Step 7: About 20-30 minutes before serving, set the crockpot to high if it’s on low and add in the spinach, cream, parmesan and tortellini. Heat until the tortellini is al dente, stirring occasionally (about 15-20 minutes).

Sausage tortellini soup in slow cooker with ladle.

Step 8: Shift heat to warm or remove from heat when tortellini is ready to avoid over cooking the pasta and it becoming mushy. Top with fresh basil and serve with extra parm!

Recipe Tips

Try not to overcook the tortellini by removing the soup from heat once it becomes al dente. This was the biggest issue for me when recipe testing. If the tortellini sits too long before serving, it will become mushy and fall apart. The best option is to wait until about 20-30 minutes before serving and then turn the crockpot off once it is ready. If you plan to serve this the next day, remove the pot from the crockpot appliance to get as much heat off of it as possible.

For a thicker or thinner soup, do the following: to thicken, you can add more parmesan and allow it to melt in or you can add a tablespoon or two of tomato paste to the soup. A couple tablespoons or cream cheese melted in can also do the trick but will definitely make the broth richer. To thin the soup out, add more broth, about 1/2 cup at a time.

Drain as much of the grease off of the browned Italian sausage as you can to keep the soup from becoming overly greasy and oily in the end. A little will add some depth and flavor, but you don’t want too much!

Crockpot with tomato based soup with sausage and tortellini and ladle spooning soup.

Storage

Store leftover soup in the refrigerator in an airtight container for about 3-4 days. The tortellini will have the best overall texture in the first 2 days.

To freeze, I recommend making it without the tortellini and then freezing the soup base once completely cooled and adding tortellini later. The tortellini just isn’t quite the same once it’s thawed after being cooked.