Tortellini Soup with Italian Sausage

★ Ingredients You’ll Need ★

You only need 9 basic ingredients.

• Tortellini. If using fresh, add it just a few minutes before serving so it does not become soggy. Dried tortellini will need longer to soften. Choose your favorite filling.
• Spinach. Fresh leaves work great. If using frozen, thaw and squeeze away excess water before adding to your soup.
• Sausage. You want Italian sausage.
• Celery. Chopped.
• Carrots. Frozen or fresh.
• Onion. White or yellow work.
• Garlic. I like to use minced or paste to save time.
• Bay leaves. Remove before serving.
• Chicken broth. I use chicken bullion powder + water as it stores well and is cheaper than cartons.

Use fresh or frozen tortellini.

Either one works. Frozen may take a couple minutes longer to cook if you put it in the soup frozen, but you absolutely can do that. The trick is finding a good brand of tortellini to suit your taste buds. Luckily, there are all sorts of choices — dry, frozen or fresh. Or heck, make your own tortellini if you have those kind of skills! You don't have to be Italian but I'm sure it helps. 😉

I like to keep it easy.

As are most of my recipes, this soup is so so so easy! So you might guess that I opt for the dry tortellini to keep it easy and to save freezer space.

Another trick is the sausage. You can choose Italian sausage or you can try other breakfast sausages. I really enjoy the sausage with thyme added, gives it a nice twist if you make this a lot and want to mix it up.

As far as veggies go, feel free to add kale in with the spinach if you are like me and usually have a giant bag of it and don't know what to do with it all!

★ How to Make this Recipe ★

This soup is easy to prepare in one pot — on either the stovetop in a dutch oven or use your crockpot if you have more time to let things slow cook.

Here's a look at the steps:

• Brown the sausage, soften the veggies in your dutch oven or crockpot.
• Add bay leaves, broth, spinach and tortellini.
• Heat until softened.
• Season to taste.
• Serve hot.

Simple as that. Choose your preferred method — crockpot if you have more time to let things slowly cook or stovetop if you're short on time or want to eat sooner.

★ Tips & FAQs ★

Cook this on the stove or in your crockpot.

If using your slow cooker, brown your sausage and sauté the veggies first by setting your crockpot to high. Stir as needed. Since this is a slow cooker, it'll take awhile — give it a solid 2 hours and check on it since crockpots vary in temperature at the high setting.

Once meat is browned and veggies are softened. Add everything else to your crockpot minus the tortellini and spinach. Cook on low for another hour and a half on high. 30 minutes before serving, stir in the tortellini and spinach.

How can I prevent soggy tortellini?

This is simple yet tricky. You don't want to let it sit in the broth too long or tortellini becomes soggy. However, all tortellini cooks at a different rate and varies depending on what method of cooking you're using. So, best to just wait to add it about 15-30 minutes before serving. And build in a little extra time in case it needs a few more minutes to soften.

Fresh tortellini will need less time to soften than if you're starting with dried.

Soup in a mug is the coziest!

I just love my soups in a big warm mug on a cold day. Add in a soft blanket, some Netflix, the hubs and the kiddos and you have figured out my favorite way to spend an evening.

Shop soup mugs on Amazon

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This Crockpot Tortellini Soup with Italian Sausage was featured on South Your Mouth!