This comforting slow cooker creamy tortellini soup is packed with Italian sausage, tomatoes, cheese tortellini and baby spinach. It’s an easy comfort food favorite when you’re craving something warm and hearty.
Today we’re making a cozy slow cooker creamy tortellini soup that is sure to become an easy family favorite. It’s loaded with crumbly Italian sausage, herbed diced tomatoes, pillowy soft cheese tortellini, baby spinach and flavored with fresh onions and garlic. There’s also Parmesan cheese and a splash of cream to add the comfort element and tie it all together.
This crockpot tortellini soup is comforting, hearty and a great way to warm up during colder months. Serve it with some homemade garlic bread, cheesy garlic bread, garlic knots, or some warm crusty bread you can tear off and dip with.
If you’re in the mood to try out some other slow cooker soups, try this crockpot chicken gnocchi soup, Pasta e Fagioli, beef stew, or this cream cheese and potato soup.
How To Make Slow Cooker Creamy Tortellini Soup (1 Min Video)
Ingredients in Slow Cooker Creamy Tortellini Soup
SLOW COOKER CREAMY TORTELLINI SOUP RECIPE TIPS
- Slow cooker – This is a big meal so you’ll want to use a 6 qt. slow cooker to fit everything in comfortably.
- Sauteing – You can add the onions, garlic, sausage, tomato paste and seasoning directly in the slow cooker and skip sauteing. I do recommend this step though as it brings out even more flavor and a little crunch from the browned sausage.
- Substitute Italian sausage – I used mild ground Italian sausage but hot Italian sausage will also work. If you’re not a fan of Italian sausage, you can substitute the sausage with ground chicken, turkey, or beef.
Recipe Notes:
If you prefer more substance in your soup, try substituting ground sausage with sausage rounds. For a chicken option, try some boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs and shred them later. Alternatively, you can cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces and cook it that way as well to save time on the shredding.
- Diced tomatoes – I used a canned blend of diced tomato with basil, garlic and oregano. I drained the cans but if you want every bit of tomato flavor you can get in your soup though, you can skip the draining.
- Tomato paste – This enhances the flavor significantly. I like using the Cento tomato paste brand of tomato paste that comes in a tube so it stores easily and you can reuse it when needed. It’s less of a hassle and waste than dealing with canned tomato paste.
- Tortellini – I used frozen tortellini for this recipe but you can also use dried or refrigerated fresh tortellini as well. Just adjust the cooking time for fresh tortellini as it cooks much faster.
Recipe Notes:
The tortellini is done cooking once it puffs up and floats to the surface – it should take anywhere from 10-15 minutes. Tortellini is added toward the end because it does not require much time to cook. Adding it in at the start of slow cooking will make it mushy.
- Spinach – When adding in the spinach, press the leaves down until completely submerged so they can wilt in the soup. We add this in at the end because if you cook spinach too long it will be tough and leathery. You want soft, wilted spinach in your soup.
Customize It!
- Crank up the flavor – Add even more flavor with bacon or chorizo.
- Add some herbs – Season with a few dashes of Italian seasoning, basil, or oregano to add some herbs to the soup.
- Add more veggies – If you feel like adding more veggies, try some chopped celery and carrots.
- Substitute heavy cream – You should be able to use half and half or evaporated milk in place of heavy cream.
And that’s about it. Have fun digging in and stay warm! Let me know how you liked it, what substitutions you made or what you paired it with in the comments below.
For more meals with Italian sausage try this cheesy hot Italian sausage pasta bake, slow cooker Italian meatballs, a cheesy ravioli lasagna, these date night lasagna roll-ups, or a bowl of lasagna soup. Enjoy and happy cooking!
MORE SLOW COOKER SOUPS AND STEWS TO TRY
- Slow Cooker Chicken Gnocchi Soup
- Slow Cooker Beef Stew
- Slow Cooker Pasta e Fagioli
- Slow Cooker Cream Cheese and Potato Soup
- Slow Cooker White Chicken Chili
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Slow Cooker Creamy Tortellini Soup
- Total Time: 4 hours 10 minutes
- Yield: 8–10 1x
Description
This warm and comforting slow cooker creamy tortellini soup is packed with Italian sausage, tomatoes, cheese tortellini and baby spinach.
Ingredients
- 1 medium yellow onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 lb. ground Italian sausage
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
- 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 4 cups beef broth
- 2 (14.5 oz) cans diced tomatoes, drained
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 20 oz. frozen/fresh cheese tortellini, about 4 cups
- 3 oz. fresh baby spinach, tightly packed (about 3 cups)
- 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
- 1 cup heavy cream
Instructions
- Over medium-high heat in a skillet, saute onions and garlic until fragrant, about 2 minutes.
- Add in Italian sausage, tomato paste and Italian seasoning and cook until sausage is slightly browned. Transfer meat mixture to a 6 qt. slow cooker.
- Whisk the flour with the beef broth and pour over the meat mixture.
- Add in diced tomatoes and season with salt and pepper.
- Stir to mix and cook on high for 3-4 hours or low for 4-6 hours.
- Do a taste test and add more salt and pepper if needed.
- Add in tortellini, spinach, Parmesan cheese and heavy cream and stir to mix.
- Cook on high for another 10 minutes or until tortellini is cooked through.
- Dish and serve hot with crusty bread.
- Enjoy!
Notes
- Crank up the flavor – Add even more flavor with bacon or chorizo.
- Add some herbs – Season with a few dashes of Italian seasoning, basil, or oregano to add some herbs to the soup.
- Add more veggies – If you feel like adding more veggies, try some chopped celery and carrots.
- Substitute heavy cream – You should be able to use half and half or evaporated milk in place of heavy cream.
- Scroll up to RECIPE TIPS for more useful tips, suggestions and ingredient substitutions.
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 4 hours
Comments & Reviews
This soup recipe is amazing! We doubled the recipe and cooked it in our Ninja Foodi and it all fit. We also added baby portobello mushrooms. Highly recommend!
Love, love, love this soup! My local coffee shop served it one day and I was hooked! Our family was getting so bored with chili this winter. This soup really woke up our taste buds. The tortellini was a welcome change along with the Italian sausage. You guys knocked it out of the park!
The slow cooker is absolutely unnecessary. There is no ingredient that needs to be cooked longer than 20 mins. It’s still a nice pot of soup, but I don’t understand the slow cooker.
We wondered this too, but since we had made the white chicken chili recipe from this site and it was a big hit, we decided to follow the instructions. That being said we tasted it throughout the 3 hour slow cook and found the longer it cooked the more the sausage flavor permeated the broth and the tomatoes became less acidic.
This is a family favorite! I later swapped sausage for hot sausage and there is even more flavor!
Yum! Hot sausage is delicious. I bet it was fun finding spicy bits in the soup now and then. Thanks for sharing, Tera!
My s/o cannot stand canned tomatoes. Has anyone tried to make this without it?
You could skip adding the tomatoes or find another vegetable filler. The tomato paste will be enough as a base for the soup.
Love making this delicious soup. Made it for friends they enjoyed it very much.
One of my favorite go to dishes..
I’m happy you found a staple that your friends enjoy as well! Thank you for letting me know how well-loved this recipe is and for sharing the food 🙂
Can I use cream cheese and how much instead of cream
You should be able to use cream cheese as a substitute for the heavy cream. It will taste a little richer and slightly different but works as a dairy aspect. I would start with maybe a tablespoon or two first – just make sure to add it at the end like you would the heavy cream so the cream cheese does not curdle if cooked too long. Cover and simmer until the cream cheese melts smoothly into the soup.
Excellent soup. I split the sausage and chorizo. My family likes A little spice.. Oh so good. Can I make this on the stove top?
Yum! I love chorizo and I think that’s an excellent way to add something something to the soup. Little chunks of spicy intense flavor swimming in the soup ready to be scooped up and enjoyed as a treat is great!
Yes, you can make this on the stovetop. Simmer for however long you want or have the time for but the longer the better. The only thing I would watch is to make sure your heat is medium-low when adding in the heavy cream and to add the tortellini in last. It doesn’t take too long to cook at all. You’ll know it’s done once they start floating to the surface.
So yummy! Loved it! Easy to make and delicious.
That’s great to hear! Always happy to hear that 🙂
Made this for my Galentine’s Day party with some friends. It came out so yummy and everyone asked me for the recipe!
I love it! Thanks for making it on such a special day with friends and I’m glad it was such a success.
We had this soup for our Sunday lunch and it was perfect! The creamy texture and delicious flavor of the tortellini and sausage pairs together so well!
It’s a good combination! Soft, pillowy tortellini and sausage. I like browning my sausage a little bit longer than normal so there are some crunchy bits too 🙂
I’m in the process of making this recipe, and I’m excited to try it. Thank you for posting it! The recipe was well written and easy to follow.
Okay, I just tried it, and it is YUM!! I had 2 servings bc a) it’s cold, and b) it’s so good! This will be repeat dish at my house.
I’m always happy to hear a recipe is easy to follow and THANKS for reporting back with your success! Enjoy any future bowls of comfort! 🙂
I’ve been looking for simple fall/winter soup recipes and this one looks promising. I don’t really care for Italian sausage, so I was wondering if I could substitute ground country sausage (like Jimmy Dean) in the recipe. Looking forward to trying this recipe very soon.
Good question! You can absolutely substitute ground Italian sausage with Jimmy Dean’s (I use that a lot in my cheesy dips). Any kind of protein will work like ground turkey or chicken, or even rounds of any kind of sausages like kielbasa or andouille. Substituting the protein will not make or break the recipe, so you can get creative!
Great soup. Can you freeze leftovers
Thanks, Beverly! You can freeze the soup but leave out the tortellini and heavy cream. The tortellini will keep absorbing the soup and will turn to mush if frozen. Creams when frozen will change in flavor and texture. I suggest adding in the tortellini and heavy cream once it’s reheated for best results. Good luck and let me know how it goes if you do end up freezing it!
Really great recipe! I think personally, I would add just a tad less sausage in mine next time and think about another veggie of some sort. That’s really nit picky though because this recipe was SO simple and delicious. The only thing I wasn’t completely sure about was when cooking the sausage if I needed to cook all the way through and lightly brown or take off the stove once it started to brown. I split the difference ?
Thanks for being the first to leave a review! 🙂 As for cooking the sausage, it’s entirely up to you on how crunchy you want the sausage to be. I like a little crunch in my soup, so I wait until a few pieces are golden brown.