Tortellini Soup
Fresh veggies, tender cheese tortellini, and herbs simmered together in one pot. This tortellini soup is easy to make and is ready to serve in about 45 minutes.
Table of contents
I’ve been tweaking and updating this tortellini soup recipe over the last few years and, long story short, it’s a whole lot less fussy than it was when I first shared it back in 2014. Less fussy is always good and even with some edits and a shorter ingredient list it’s still one of my favorite soup recipes.
Last week, I made a batch along with some cheesy toasted bread on the side and a simple romaine salad with the last of my garden tomatoes. The whole spread looked a lot like the soup/salad/breadstick deal you get at Olive Garden but better because, well, it’s not Olive Garden. It’s homemade tortellini soup and without all of the annoyances that come with dining out at a chain restaurant.
Ingredients
It’s a one-pot soup made with some fresh veggies and herbs with some convenience items from the pantry. This tortellini soup recipe takes about 45-ish minutes start to finish which puts it in contention for the coveted weeknight dinner award.
- Olive oil
- Diced onion – I like red onion or you can use white or yellow onion.
- Chopped garlic cloves
- Diced carrots
- Dried Italian seasoning – I’ve also made with just dried oregano, too.
- Crushed red pepper
- Canned fire-roasted tomatoes
- Chicken stock – or you can use chicken broth or vegetable broth.
- Salt and black pepper
- Refrigerated tortellini – I like to use cheesy tortellini but any flavor, like sausage or spinach tortellini, will work.
- Chopped fresh parsley
- Grated Parmesan cheese
A note about the tomatoes: I love Muir Glen fire-roasted tomatoes. They have great flavor. They’re more expensive than the run-of-mill diced tomatoes, but I think they’re totally worth it.
How to Make Tortellini Soup
This tortellini soup starts like a lot of soups do with onion, garlic, and carrots that you saute in a pot or Dutch oven on the stovetop. From there you add the dried seasonings, tomatoes, stock, and salt, and pepper.
Simmer the soup for about ten minutes and, after ten minutes, bring the soup to a boil over medium-high heat and add the tortellini. Adjust the heat to maintain a simmer and cook the pasta in the soup for 8 to 10 minutes.
Right at the end, just before serving, add the chopped fresh parsley. I think this might be my favorite part – as soon as the chopped herbs hit the hot soup they release a wonderfully fresh aroma. You can also use chopped fresh basil.
Ladle the soup into bowls, garnish with Parmesan cheese, and serve.
Recipe FAQ
I have not tested this recipe with frozen tortellini, but it should work fine.
So, parts of the soup can be made ahead. Pasta that sits too long in the soup will eventually absorb all of the liquid. So here are my tips for making the soup ahead of time:
Make the soup up until the point you would add the pasta. Instead of adding the pasta, cool the soup and store it in an airtight container. It will keep well in the refrigerator for three to four days.
When you’re ready to serve it, warm the soup in a pot and bring it to a boil. Add the tortellini and cook it in the soup until it’s tender. Add the parsley and serve with Parmesan cheese.
The soup without the pasta will last for three to four days in the refrigerator. If you leave the pasta in the soup, the pasta will absorb all of the liquid and you’ll be left with mushy pasta and no soup. The recipe I’m sharing serves four, so if you’re not planning to serve all of the soup in one sitting you have a couple of options:
Make all of the broth but only cook enough pasta for the number of people you are serving. Save the leftover broth in the refrigerator and, when you want to serve the leftovers, cook the rest of the tortellini then.
Or, and I’ve done this with success, cook all of the pasta in the soup. If you have leftovers, separate the cooked pasta from the soup and store them separately. The next day, when you’re ready to serve the leftovers, warm the soup, add the leftover cooked tortellini and simmer it just until it’s warmed through.
If you want to add a little creamy richness, stir in some heavy cream or half and half just before you serve it.
You can add some cooked ground beef, sausage, or even some shredded rotisserie chicken if you want it more filling. You may need to add some extra broth if you do.
I’ve added a few handfuls of fresh baby spinach before and it works well. Add it when you saute the vegetables. For some spice, add a pinch or two of red pepper flakes.
A bowl of this easy tortellini soup is the best kind of comfort food for a chilly day – I hope you love it!
Happy soup-making!
More Soup Recipes
I ❤ soup season! Here are a few more delicious recipes – I hope you find some new ones to try!
- Garlic Soup
- Easy Meatball Soup
- Mushroom and Leek Soup
- 25 Comforting Chicken Soup Recipes
- Instant Pot Black Bean Soup
- Italian Sausage Soup
- Tomato Soup with Homemade Croutons
- Crock Pot Poblano Pork Chili
- French Onion Soup with Slow Cooker Caramelized Onions
- Zucchini Soup – recipe from Cooking LSL
Tortellini Soup
This hearty tortellini soup comes together in one pot and is full of veggies and fresh herbs.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Stove
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/2 large red onion, diced
- 4 large garlic cloves, minced
- 2 medium carrots, diced
- 1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
- 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper, optional
- 1 (15-oz) can diced fire-roasted tomatoes
- 1 (32-oz) box chicken stock
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 (9-oz) package refrigerated cheese tortellini
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
- Grated Parmesan cheese, for garnish
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onions, garlic, and carrots. Cook until softened, about 8-10 minutes.
- Add the Italian seasoning, crushed red pepper, diced tomatoes, chicken stock, salt and, pepper. Bring to the pot to a strong simmer for about 10 minutes.
- Add the tortellini to the soup and simmer it until the tortellini is cooked through about 10 minutes. Add the fresh herbs and stir to combine. To server, ladle the soup into bowls and serve with grated Parmesan.
Notes
Please see the recommendations in the post about how to store the leftovers or if you want to make this soup ahead. The pasta does not keep well in the soup – it will absorb all of the liquid.
Nutrition information does not include the Parmesan cheese garnish.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/4 of recipe
- Calories: 400
- Sugar: 11.1g
- Fat: 14.7g
- Carbohydrates: 52.7g
- Fiber: 4.2g
- Protein: 16.3g
Post, photos, and recipe updated from the archives. First published in October 2014.
That looks delicious and perfect for the chilly weather! I love soup season.
I’m totally with you. We are finally getting summer, and it’s lasting more than the usual 3 days but I am so into Fall mode. I want to make soups and I have a few packages of stuffed pasta, and real carrots :-), so I’ll give your recipe a try. All the chopping, stirring, mixing is what I love about cooking, it’s relaxing and takes my mind somewhere else. By the way, my mom would make soups for us in the middle of the summer, I’m talking 90-100 degree weather, because she said that you always need something warm in your body…
Thanks Michelle! Soup season is the best 🙂
I love making soup too and this one looks so good!