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This hearty Italian Sausage and Tortellini Soup is made so easily in the Instant Pot or Slow Cooker. A flavorful tomato and red wine broth is combined with sautéed veggies, Italian sausage, tortellini, and kale. A healthy and delicious weeknight dinner that is sure to warm you up on a chilly evening!
There are a few things I most definitely love during cold weather: easy soups and a soup loaded with veggies and Italian sausage! My Sausage and Gnocchi Soup and this particular Soup with Sausage and Tortellini are two of my favorite recipes. They are loved by my family, too!
As a nutritionist, I am always balancing the game of healthy meals that taste delicious, but still have elements of vegetables and protein. A hearty soup is such an easy way to accomplish this! This particular soup includes diced zucchini and carrots, fresh or frozen kale, and fresh basil on top. I love adding zucchini to my recipes. Not only tastes great but also adds a nutritious boost to your meals. Since zucchini is in peak season during the summer, it’s the perfect time to get creative in the kitchen—check out my favorite zucchini-packed recipes like Lemon Basil Ratatouille, Zucchini Chips, and Vegetable Garden Pasta for a mix of fresh, healthy, and flavorful options. The pillowy tortellini just adds such a nice texture and elevates the soup to just the right level.
Ingredients to Make this Sausage Tortellini Soup
Let’s gather up these easy ingredients!
- Italian Sausage: a must for the flavor profile. You can do a few different types of sausage here: turkey or chicken sausage. You can also do a spicy Italian sausage (my personal recommendation!)
- Vegetables: diced onion, garlic, carrots, and zucchini. You can also substitute these vegetables with bell pepper or mushroom. But really, any veggies work!
- Canned San Marzano Whole Tomatoes: these are the highest quality tomatoes and also give the broth a perfect flavor.
- Italian Seasoning and Salt: We’re combining dried thyme, basil, and oregano if you need to separate.
- Broth and red wine: I love the addition of red win with chicken broth here. It adds just the right kick of flavor and depth. You can really use any red wine!
- Tortellini: I used fresh tortellini, but frozen also works!
- Kale: Use frozen or fresh!
- Parmesan Cheese and Basil: These are just optional additions, but are also great flavor enhancers.
How to make this soup in the Slow Cooker or Instant Pot!
This soup cooked beautifully in the slow cooker, but did require a few minutes of prep time before hand. Saute the onion and sausage separately, then add the remaining veggies and broth. You will not add the kale or tortellini until the very end, that way those ingredients hold their firmer texture.
For the Instant Pot, you don’t even need a separate pot. You can set the Instant Pot to sauté, and cook the sausage and onion before adding the remaining ingredients.
Other Variations
For a Gluten-Free version, use beans instead of tortellini. I have done this a few times while the husband is away, and liked it even more!
Both of my kids loved this and the husband said it tasted even better the second day. So yes, you will have plenty of leftovers. Enjoy!
Slow Cooker Italian Sausage and Tortellini Soup
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp avocado or olive oil
- 1 lb turkey sausage, or whatever sausage you would like
- 1 onion, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 28 oz can of whole tomatoes, I love the Organic San Marzano tomatoes
- 1 cup chopped carrots
- 1 cup diced zucchini
- 2 tsp Italian Seasoning
- 32 oz of chicken broth
- 1 cup water
- 1/2 cup dry red wine
- 8 oz cheese tortellini, frozen or fresh
- 1 cup kale, frozen or fresh
- Fresh basil to serve
Instructions
- For the Slow Cooker:
- Cook turkey, onion, and garlic over medium heat in a large saucepan
- Place inside slow cooker.
- Add carrots, zucchini, tomatoes, broth, wine, water, and Italian seasoning.
- Cook on low for 4 hours
- Add the kale and tortellini and cook for another 30 – 45 minutes.
- For the Instant Pot:
- Select the saute function on your IP. Once hot, add avocado or olive oil. Toss in chopped onion and garlic. Saute for 2-3 minutes and add sausage. Cook for 5 minutes, or until sausage is almost cooked. Select cancel.
- Now add tomatoes, carrots, zucchini, chicken broth, water, wine, spices, and kale (if frozen, if using fresh add after the pressure cooking). Secure the lid. Select the manual function, and cook on high pressure for 8 minutes.
- Use a quick release. Select cancel. Open lid and add in tortellini (add kale if using fresh kale). Select the saute function, and cook tortellini for 3-4 minutes.
I want to substitute spinach. Do I put this in at the same time as everything else. Also tortellini goes in at beginning of cooking time?
If using the slow cooker, add it altogether at the same time (should be frozen). If doing the Instant Pot, add the tortellini and spinach at the end.
When I first saw this recipe it didn’t have squash or carrots. I have added carrots to get more vegetables in my family’s diet and they make a good addition and don’t change the flavor of the soup. I add frozen tortellini during the last few minutes of cooking. My family loves this soup and it is on my winter supper rotation.
I’ve made it without the tortellini and frozen it and added the tortellini after thawing and it makes a quick meal.
Made this for dinner today. Used mild market pork sausage. I used three cups of kale. I did not have fresh basil so put in a tsp dry as well as a teaspoon of a tuscan seasoning blend with the rest of the ingredients. I cooked the soup 4 hours on low then added the tortellini and cooked it for another hour. The pasta still came out a bit mushy but this soup was good. My husband and I really enjoyed it. Will be on my new soup favorites list.
Yay Michele! So glad you enjoyed it!
Made this last night and it was great. I used vegetable broth and veggie sausage as my wife is vegetarian. Also, I didn’t have the four hours the recipe called for so I just put it all on the stove and cooked on a low boil for about 45 minutes. Tortellini and kale were both tender – even my kids loved it.
Really looking forward to making this. I love kale in soup, and this looks great! I do not like raw cabbage, carrots or kale.
Can you use quinoa instead of tortellini in this recipe?
Yes, absolutely! I have used quinoa and beans 🙂
Amy, hi…my name is Beverly…I am hoping you can help me.
IV been trying to find out how do a couple things on pinerest… I need to know how to post a board where it appears in a search and how to post a recipe with the picture
Thanks
Beverly
Hi Beverly, if you pin from this recipe using the button at the top of the recipe, the picture will show up on your board. Hope that helps.
Hi Amy,
Are fresh tortellini OK too?
Sure! I would just wait until the last hour to add it.
I just wanted to tell you that this recipe is absolutely fabulous. I make it at least once a month and my husband goes crazy for it.it makes several bowls but never lasts long 😉
Awesome! So glad you love it!
Hi Amy,
Do you use breakfast sausage or italian sausage? Also, what’s the portion size for the kidney beans?
Hi Wendy,
I use Italian turkey sausage. I would use 2 cups kidney beans or 14 oz can. Hope that helps!