Crockpot Sausage Tortellini Soup
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!
Servings: 6
Equipment
- Crockpot (6 quart)
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)
Instructions
- 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. Cook to brown the Italian sausage. Drain any excess grease.
- Add the chopped carrots and celery to the bottom of the crock pot. Cover with the sausage and onions. 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.
- Slow cook low about 6-7 hours or high for 3-4 hours. 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). 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
Notes
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.
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!