Tortellini Sausage Soup
Healthy and hearty, this tortellini sausage soup is super easy to put together and offers a warm, wonderful meal on busy nights.
I love this soup. What began as a make-it-because-I-have-all-the-ingredients-meal has quickly become one of our favorite family soups.
Full of flavor and vegetables and all things good and soupy, we could eat this every week and never tire of it (but thanks to the million other soup recipes I want to try, we don’t eat it that often).
Healthy and hearty, this is a great one to keep in mind as you are frantically cooking bigger, time-taxing meals for the holiday season.
It’s super easy to put together and offers a warm, wonderful meal on busy nights (and is a delightful contrast to the heavier, decadent fare of the holiday season).
It’s a fun one to serve in our family because each person has their favorite “thing” to try for when scooping out a ladle for their bowl.
It might surprise you (not!) that the carrots and zucchini aren’t the first things sought after by the boys but thanks to their small size (the veggies, not the boys), they end up in their bowls anyway and get gobbled up as the boys search for the sausage and tortellini.
Have a great Thanksgiving! If you are in need of turkey leftover ideas, check out this post (or if you are like me, hoard all the turkey to eat on leftover rolls smothered in mustard). Otherwise, I’ll see you next week!
What to Serve With This
- Fresh, seasonal fruit or this simple fruit salad
- Broiled or toasted cheese quesadillas slices
- Baked Chicken Taquitos
Tortellini Sausage Soup
Ingredients
- 3 links Italian sausage, the kind that is uncooked in casings – see note
- 4 cloves garlic, finely minced
- 1 onion, diced
- 4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
- ½ cup apple cider
- 1 (15-ounce) can diced tomatoes
- 1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce
- 1 cup chopped carrots
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 2 medium zucchini, grated (no need to peel)
- 2 tablespoons dried parsley
- 8-10 ounce package refrigerated or frozen cheese tortellini
Instructions
- Remove the casings by slicing down one side of the sausage and peeling the casing back from the sausage. In a large pot, cook the sausage over medium heat until it starts to brown, using a wooden spoon to crumble as it cooks. Add the chopped onion and garlic. Continue cooking until the onions are translucent and the sausage is cooked through. Drain any excess grease, if needed (alternately, if your sausage is extra lean, you may need to add a drizzle of olive oil to keep it from sticking).
- Stir in the chicken broth, apple cider, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, carrots, oregano, and basil. Bring the soup to a simmer, cover, and simmer for 30 minutes. Stir in zucchini and parsley simmer for 10-12 minutes. Add the tortellini and cook until tender (usually only a couple of minutes, even when the packages call for 7-9 minutes cooking time, I only cook the tortellini for 4-5 minutes so it doesn’t fall apart). Serve immediately with freshly grated Parmesan, if desired.
Notes
Recommended Products
Recipe Source: adapted from Our Best Bites
FANTASTIC recipe! Different from any other “sausage tortellini” soups I’ve ever tried. Wonderful flavor, loaded with veggies, and hearty. My husband raved about it- and he doesn’t give compliments easily! I cooked the tortellini separately so it could be added to individual bowls. (Worked perfectly for leftovers.) Thank you, Mel! You have never let me down. ❤️
Thanks so much, Caroline! Very happy you and your husband loved this one!
Do you think Sweet Italian Chicken Sausage from Trader Joe’s will work?
Yes, I think so!
I finished making the soup. In my opinion, needs a bit of salt and black pepper. Going to be have this for dinner tonight when the wife comes home. I think this is a keeper.
Delicious! I made it this morning in anticipation of a busy day. I had it sitting on warm for a few hours. Then tonight I had my son turn it up to simmering before I got home. Threw the tortellini in, made a Caesar salad, and dinner was ready! Fantastic.
I doubled the recipe, only used 2 tsp total of parsley, and added a couple pinches of red pepper flakes. Also a tad more tortellini to just use up the bag. Delicious!
A friend brought me this soup as a post-baby-coming meal and it was a HUGE hit with alllll the picky eaters in my house! About 90% of my family hates nearly all soups, so when she told me she brought soup, I was a lot nervous. But I shouldn’t have been. Every single person loved it, and wanted more! When I begged her for the recipe, she sent me here, and I’ve made it several times since.
I have never done the sausage your way though, I’ll admit. I’ve done the classic Jimmy Dean chuck, as well as the Adele’s chicken sausage links sliced into medallions. Both were amazing. Next I’m going to try it in the instant pot. When I’ve mastered that, I’m going to move on to making it a freezer-to-instant pot, dump-and-go recipe (though I’ll have to figure out a way for the zucchini to work out. Suggestions welcomed).
This was delicious and easy…my two favorite results when trying a new recipe. Thanks for posting it!
So yummy! Love that it’s not cream based.
Wow. Wow. Wow. That soup was AMAZING. Do yourself a favor and make special trip for the apple cider vinegar. It really adds a wow factor. My husband ate three bowls, and he’s not a huge soup person. I used leftover marinara sauce instead of plain tomato sauce, and it was yum!