Tortellini Soup (Slow Cooker)
There’s nothing quite like a big bowl of this Tortellini Soup (Slow Cooker) with Sausage to warm you up on a chilly day. It’s hearty, creamy, and comforting. Serve it with crusty bread for a satisfying dinner.
This comfort food classic is a family favorite and perfect for a weeknight meal or a lazy weekend. Cook the sausage, then let the crockpot do the rest of the work. It’s the kind of soup that simmers on low all day, and your house smells fantastic.
If you’re looking for comfort food recipes, you’ll have to try my easy loaded potato soup, my broccoli cheddar rice bake, and my recipe for squash casserole.
Jump to:
- 💗 Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- 🛒 Ingredients Needed for Tortellini Soup with Spinach
- 📖 Recipe Variations
- 🍲 How To Make This Recipe
- 💭 Pro Tips
- ♨️ Can I Make Tortellini Soup Recipe on the Stovetop?
- 🧺 How to Store and Reheat Leftovers
- ❔ Recipe FAQs
- More Comfort Soup Ideas
- 👩🏻🍳 Recipe
- Tortellini Soup (Slow Cooker)
💗 Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Easy to Make: Scramble the sausage and throw everything into the crockpot. Prep the night before, and it comes together fast in the morning.
- Comforting: This soup is perfect for cozy nights and cold-weather dinners.
- Family-Friendly: A soup your whole family will love.
- Versatile: Choose from regular, hot, or mild sausage. Don’t like sausage, use ground beef.
🛒 Ingredients Needed for Tortellini Soup with Spinach
Gather your ingredients for Creamy Sausage Tortellini Soup and get ready for a cozy evening. For a complete list of ingredients and amounts, see the recipe card below.
- Oil: Helps to brown the sausage and keep it from sticking.
- Ground Pork Sausage: Adds spice and lots of flavor. Choose from hot, mild, or regular sausage.
- Onion, Carrots, Celery, Garlic: Vegetables used to give this soup flavor and texture.
- Chicken Stock: The base of the soup that ties everything together. You may use stock or broth.
- Whole Milk: Adds a bit of cream to the soup base. You can also use heavy cream if desired. I sometimes use half milk and half heavy cream.
- Cream Cheese: This is optional. It adds more creaminess to the base. Stir well to ensure the cream cheese is fully incorporated into the liquid. When using cream cheese, you may notice small bits that have not fully melted; this is normal.
- Diced Tomatoes: Adds more texture and flavor to the soup.
- Spinach: I use frozen spinach for convenience, but fresh will work well too.
- Seasonings: Salt, Pepper, and Rosemary are my seasonings of choice. Add your favorites.
- Tortellini: I have used refrigerated and frozen tortellini, and they both work well.
📖 Recipe Variations
You can certainly experiment and make this sausage tortellini soup your own with a few substitutions.
- Make it Spicy: Add hot sausage or some red pepper flakes for a kick of heat.
- Add-Ins: Add some mushrooms, zucchini, or bell peppers to the soup for more texture.
- Dairy: Use heavy cream instead of whole milk.
- Different Pasta: Swap the tortellini for some ravioli or gnocchi.
🍲 How To Make This Recipe
Step 1: Cook the sausage and veggies. In a large skillet over medium heat, add the oil, sausage, onion, carrots, celery, and garlic. Cook until the sausage is no longer pink, breaking it into bite-sized pieces as it cooks. This step is necessary to render the fat from the sausage.
Step 2: Add to the slow cooker. Drain the grease or use a slotted spoon to transfer the sausage and vegetables to your slow cooker.
Step 3: Add remaining ingredients. Add the remaining ingredients to the slow cooker EXCEPT the tortellini. Stir well. Add the lid.
Step 4: Cook low and slow. Cover and cook for 4-5 hours on high or 6-8 hours on low.
Step 5: Add the tortellini. About 30 minutes before serving, stir the soup to ensure the cream cheese has melted. Add the tortellini, stir, and cook for another 30 minutes.
Step 6: Serve. Ladle into bowls and serve warm with crusty bread or a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese.
If you are a fan of sausage recipes, be sure to check out Pasta with Italian Sausage and Stuffed Manicotti with Sausage.
💭 Pro Tips
- It’s not necessary to cook the vegetables with the sausage first. This is just a personal preference. You can toss them into the slow cooker and let them cook with everything else.
- Cook the sausage first before adding it to the slow cooker. This step is necessary to render the fat from the sausage and prevent your soup from becoming greasy.
- For extra flavor, deglaze your skillet with a splash of broth before adding the sausage to the slow cooker.
- Cut the cream cheese into tiny cubes so it melts evenly. Cream cheese is optional and sometimes doesn’t completely melt in the soup.
- If using fresh spinach, stir it in with the tortellini so it stays bright and green.
- Add the tortellini 30 minutes before serving so it doesn’t get too soft.
- You’ll need a large crock pot. I used a 6 quart slow cooker. It filled it up to the top. For more slow cooker recipes, be sure to check out these recipes for easy soup and sides.
♨️ Can I Make Tortellini Soup Recipe on the Stovetop?
Absolutely. You’ll need a large soup pot for tortellini and sausage soup. Cook the sausage and vegetables until the sausage is no longer pink. Drain the grease, then continue with the recipe instructions, bringing it to a boil and reducing to a simmer. Cook until the vegetables are tender, about 25 minutes. Add tortellini in the last 7-10 minutes of cooking. I usually omit the cream cheese when cooking on the stovetop and use heavy cream instead.
Slow Cooker Steak Tips is another easy recipe that is perfect for a weeknight meal.
🧺 How to Store and Reheat Leftovers
Sausage tortellini soup is great for lunch the next day or, even better, for dinner. Here are a few suggestions for storing and reheating leftovers.
- Refrigerate: Store cooled soup in an airtight container for up to 3–4 days.
- Freeze: Freeze in individual portions for up to 2 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge before reheating.
- Reheat: Warm on the stovetop or in the microwave until heated through. Add some heavy cream if desired.
❔ Recipe FAQs
No. It’s best to add it in the last 30 minutes to keep it from becoming mushy.
Yes. Half-and-half will make it even creamier.
This usually happens when it’s cooked too long. Add it to the last 30 minutes of cooking time.
Yes. A sprinkle of Parmesan or mozzarella adds the perfect finishing touch.
More Comfort Soup Ideas
If you tried this Tortellini Soup (Slow Cooker) recipe or any other recipe on my blog, please consider leaving a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below. Thanks for visiting!
👩🏻🍳 Recipe
Tortellini Soup (Slow Cooker)
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 1 pound ground pork sausage I used mild and hot
- 1 large onion diced
- 2 cups carrots diced
- 1 cup celery diced
- 1 tablespoon garlic minced
- 5 cups chicken stock or broth
- 2½ cups whole milk
- 8 oz. cream cheese cut into chunks, optional
- 14 oz. can diced tomatoes
- 10 oz. frozen spinach 9-12 ounces
- 1 teaspoon each salt, pepper, dried rosemary
- 16 ounces refrigerated or frozen cheese tortellini
Instructions
- Cook the sausage and veggies. In a large skillet over medium heat, add the oil, sausage, onion, carrots, celery, and garlic. Cook until the sausage is no longer pink, breaking it into bite-sized pieces as it cooks.
- Add to the slow cooker. Drain the grease or use a slotted spoon to transfer the sausage and vegetables to your slow cooker.
- Add remaining ingredients. Add the remaining ingredients to the slow cooker EXCEPT the tortellini. Stir well. Add the lid.
- Cook low and slow. Cover and cook for 4-5 hours on high or 6-8 hours on low.
- Add the tortellini. About 30 minutes before serving, stir the soup to ensure the cream cheese has melted. Add the tortellini, stir, and cook for another 30 minutes.
- Serve. Ladle into bowls and serve warm with crusty bread or a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese.
Notes
- It’s not necessary to cook the vegetables with the sausage first. This is just a personal preference. You can toss them into the slow cooker and let them cook with everything else.
- Cook the sausage first before adding it to the slow cooker. This step is necessary to render the fat from the sausage and prevent your soup from becoming greasy.
- For extra flavor, deglaze your skillet with a splash of broth before adding the sausage to the slow cooker.
- Cut the cream cheese into tiny cubes so it melts evenly. Cream cheese is optional and sometimes doesn’t completely melt in the soup.
- If using fresh spinach, stir it in with the tortellini so it stays bright and green.
- Add the tortellini 30 minutes before serving so it doesn’t get too soft.
- You’ll need a large crock pot. I used a 6 quart slow cooker. It filled it up to the top.
I made this soup two nights ago for dinner and it was fabulous! Reheated the leftovers tonight and they were just as good if not better than the first night. I served it with toasted cheesy bread. YUM!
The easiest tortellini soup ever! Love how flavoursome the broth gets after cooking low and slow. Super delicious!
This soup looks so warming and comforting!! Perfect for these cold days we’ve been having – can’t wait to make it soon!
This is very filling and savoury. Hot sausage is my preference.
I love that this is so creamy, the cream cheese really is the star because I prefer soup to be thicker!
I could go for a big bowl of this flavor packed, hearty and comforting soup.
Used beef with a bit of chili powder for heat with the sauce and a hit!
This is such a delicious, hearty soup! It was just the thing for a cold day like today!
the tortellini soup came out great! It was super creamy and satisfying!
This hearty, comforting and flavor packed soup is going on my “must make list” right now. I can’t wait to dig into a big bowl of this deliciousness!
This recipe was so delicious! I especially love the sweetness the carrots gave the soup!