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This Creamy Tortellini Soup is cozy, flavorful, and packed with tender vegetables in a rich tomato cream broth. Fresh cheese tortellini, spinach and a touch of cream make it a comforting Italian-inspired meal that is perfect for chilly nights or quick weeknight dinners.
This Creamy Tortellini Soup is comforting and perfect for a chilly day or a busy weeknight. A rich, creamy broth is mixed with vegetables, tomatoes, Italian seasoning is finished off with cheese tortellini, spinach and Parmesan cheese. This is hearty and filling but still light.
The best part of this easy creamy tortellini soup recipe like this is that the soup is customizable. You can keep it vegetarian or add in protein like sausage, ground turkey or shredded chicken. If you want to swap the spinach you can try kale. You also can easily spice up this soup with crushed red pepper, or cayenne red pepper. This is one of those soups that your family will ask for time and time again. If you like tortellini you also might like this Tortellini Sausage Soup, Chicken Tortellini Soup, Easy Italian Tortellini Salad or this Olive Garden Chicken Tortellini Alfredo.
Why You Will Love this Creamy Tortellini Soup
This is such an easy and comforting one-pot tortellini soup for weeknights. Here are reasons we love this soup:
• Comforting and Creamy: The rich, velvety broth paired with tender cheese tortellini makes this soup cozy, satisfying and perfect for chilly days.
• Easy Weeknight Meal: Made in one pot this soup uses simple ingredients. It comes together quickly and is great for busy nights. If you like easy soups you also might like this Vegetable Barley Soup or this Tuscan White Bean Soup.
• Customizable: You can easily add protein, swap vegetables or add more spices and herbs. This soup is a great recipe to use up extra pantry staples you have on hand!
Ingredients for Creamy Tortellini Soup
For exact ingredient amounts and instructions, see the full recipe card below.
- vegetables: this is a veggie packed soup. It uses sweet onion, fresh spinach, diced tomatoes, carrots and celery.
- tomato paste: the tomato paste adds flavor and helps thicken the soup slightly. You also could swap the tomato paste for tomato sauce for a slightly less thick texture.
- dry white wine: this helps to deglaze the pan and adds brightness to the soup. You can sub in vegetable or chicken broth in its place.
- seasoning: the soup is seasoned with Italian seasoning to add a nice earthy flavor.
- tortellini: I like to use fresh cheese tortellini in this soup. You also can use frozen tortellini. You don’t need to thaw the tortellini and can just add it in from frozen. If you don’t want a vegetarian soup you can try a sausage or chicken tortellini. I don’t like using dry tortellini because I find that it looses its shape in soups.
- cream: to make this soup creamy I added cream. You can also use coconut milk, half and half or whole milk or just leave it out for a more brothy soup.
- Parmesan cheese: the Parmesan cheese also helps create a creamy soup and the salty cheese is a great finishing touch.
- tortellini: try a different filling in the tortellini like spinach-ricotta, mushroom or a meat-filled version.
Ways to Vary this Recipe
- protein: add protein to the soup like tofu, shredded chicken, Italian sausage or ground turkey.
- beans: I like adding beans to this soup. Try white beans or chickpeas.
- vegetables: add in veggies like bell peppers, zucchini, kale, mushrooms, peas, green beans or broccoli.
- spice: spice up the soup with crushed red pepper, cayenne red pepper, or a spoonful of Calabrian chili paste.
- herbs: finish off the soup with herbs like fresh oregano, fresh basil, fresh parsley or fresh thyme.
- creamy: to make it even creamier try stirring in cream cheese or mascarpone.
Recipe Tip: Don’t overcook the tortellini or it will become mushy.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Step 1: Sauté Vegetables: Heat a large soup pot or Dutch oven over medium heat and add the olive oil. Once heated, add the onion, carrots, and celery. Sauté onion and other vegetables for about 5-7 minutes or until the onions are translucent. The carrots don’t need to be fully cooked yet.
Step 2: Deglaze: Add the garlic and tomato paste. Cook, stirring (and spreading the tomato paste along the bottom of the pan) for 1-2 minutes. Deglaze the pot with the white wine. Stir for 2-3 minutes, making sure to scrape the bottom of the pan to get any stuck bits off it.
Step 3: Add Broth & Simmer: Add the broth, diced tomatoes, salt, Italian seasoning, and pepper. Bring the pot to a boil then reduce the heat to medium low to keep a gentle simmer. Simmer until the carrots are tender, about 10 minutes.
Step 3: Add Broth & Simmer: Add the broth, diced tomatoes, salt, Italian seasoning, and pepper. Bring the pot to a boil then reduce the heat to medium low to keep a gentle simmer. Simmer until the carrots are tender, about 10 minutes.
Step 4: Add Tortellini: Add the tortellini and cream and heat for about 3-4 minutes. Don’t overcook the tortellini or it will become mushy.
Step 5: Add Spinach and Cheese: Sprinkle the parmesan cheese and spinach in and stir until the cheese is melted and the spinach wilted. Remove from the heat and serve hot with a sprinkle of parmesan, if desired.
What to Serve with this Creamy Tortellini Soup Recipe
- salads: pair a Lemon Arugula Salad Recipe with Parmesan Cheese, Arugula Salad with Capers or this Kale Salad with Lemon Dressing.
- vegetables: some vegetables that would pair nicely with the soup are Mediterranean Roasted Vegetables, Curry Roasted Cauliflower or this Za’atar Roasted Carrots.
- potatoes: add potatoes alongside your soup. Try these Lebanese Spicy Potatoes (Batata Harra), Lemon Cilantro Roasted Potatoes or these Air Fryer Twice Baked Potato.
Storage Instructions & Make-Ahead Tips
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3-4 days.
- If you freeze this, the tortellini will be soggy so I don’t suggest this. If you think you want to freeze some of the soup I would leave the tortellini out and just add it when ready to reheat the soup.
- To make this soup ahead of time I suggest leaving the tortellini out of the soup. Cook it and store it separately. When you are ready to heat the soup you can add the tortellini in the last few minutes of heating.
Recipe FAQ
Yes, you can use frozen tortellini. Add it directly to the soup without thawing it and cook until just tender.
Yes, but for the best texture, cook the tortellini separate and add it when reheating. This prevents it from becoming too soft.
There are a lot of great options. Try adding in sausage, shredded chicken, white beans or chickpeas to the soup.
You can leave out the cream and Parmesan cheese. You can swap the cream with almond milk, cashew cream or coconut milk.
More Soup Recipes
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Creamy Tortellini Soup
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 medium yellow onion, diced
- 3 medium carrots, sliced
- 2 stalks celery, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- ½ cup dry white wine, see note
- 6 cups low sodium vegetable broth
- 1 – 14.5 ounces can diced tomatoes
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1/2 teaspoon coarse ground pepper
- 16-18 ounces bag fresh cheese tortellini
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1/4 cup parmesan cheese, plus more for garnish
- 3 cups baby spinach
Instructions
- Heat a large soup pot or Dutch oven over medium heat and add the olive oil. Once heated, add the onion, carrots, and celery.
- Sauté for about 5-7 minutes or until the onions are translucent. The carrots don’t need to be fully cooked yet.
- Add the garlic and tomato paste. Cook, stirring (and spreading the tomato paste along the bottom of the pan) for 1-2 minutes. Deglaze the pot with the white wine. Stir for 2-3 minutes, making sure to scrape the bottom of the pan to get any stuck bits off it.
- Add the broth, diced tomatoes, salt, Italian seasoning, and pepper. Bring the pot to a boil then reduce the heat to medium low to keep a gentle simmer. Simmer until the carrots are tender, about 10 minutes.
- Add the tortellini and cream and heat for about 3-4 minutes. Sprinkle the parmesan cheese and spinach in and stir until the cheese is melted and the spinach wilted.
- Remove from the heat and serve hot with a sprinkle of parmesan, if desired.
Notes
- If you aren’t making this vegetarian on purpose, you can use chicken broth.
- If you don’t want to add wine, you can use an additional ½ cup broth.
- You can use frozen tortellini instead, if desired. Add it in about 10 minutes after you start simmering the liquid so it cooks in time.
- If you use normal broth instead of low sodium, don’t add any salt until you taste the soup as to make sure it isn’t too salty.
- You can use kale instead of spinach.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3-4 days.
- If you freeze this, the tortellini will be soggy so I don’t suggest this.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This is an easy tortellini soup that is perfect for a family meal.