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Crockpot Tortellini Soup with Sausage
Finally, a crockpot recipe that is SUPER easy to make yet packed with flavor. The creamy goodness of this sausage tortellini soup is a win with all ages and makes for great lunch leftovers.
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground Italian pork sausage (sub: turkey or chicken sausage)
- 2 (14.5-ounce) cans petite-diced, Italian-style tomatoes, juices and all*
- 1 (32-ounce) carton low-sodium chicken broth (4 cups)
- 2 cups fresh spinach, roughly chopped
- 1 (19 oz.) bag frozen cheese tortellini (sub: gluten-free tortellini or bowtie pasta)
- 1 (8-ounce) block cream cheese, cut into cubes (do not use low-fat)
- Salt and pepper, to taste
*If using plain diced tomatoes, add a dash of garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and dried basil to the soup.
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Instructions
- Brown Sausage: In a large skillet, brown the sausage over medium high heat until there is no more pink showing, about 4 minutes. Drain any excess grease.
- Slow Cook Soup: Add the sausage, diced tomatoes (juices and all), and chicken broth into a 5-quart or larger slow cooker. Stir to combine. Cover and cook on LOW for 6-8 hours. Then, turn to HIGH. Stir in the spinach and frozen tortellini, replace the lid, and cook for about 30-45 more minutes, until warmed through (check a tortellini to make sure it’s very warm in the middle).
- Temper & Add Cream Cheese: Place the cubes of cream cheese in a glass or ceramic bowl. Microwave in 10-second increments until softened, stirring in between. Then, use a ladle or dry measuring cup to add a little of the hot soup liquid to the cream cheese. Stir until fully combined and smooth. Then, stir the cream cheese into the soup until blended smoothly.
- Serve: Taste and season with salt and pepper, if desired. Soup will thicken as it sits. Serve warm.
Notes/Tips
Softening Cream Cheese: Step 3 in the recipe is important. Otherwise the cream cheese will not fully melt in the soup and leave little curdles. If you don’t have a microwave, try this water bath method.
Flavor Boost: One reader mentioned that she likes to add fresh, chopped basil for more flavor at the end. Chopped parsley or chives would also enhance the flavor.
Tip for Picky Eaters: If your kids don’t like the chunks of tomato, blend them up first and then add. Or use canned pureed tomatoes instead.
Gluten-free option: Use gluten-free tortellini or bowtie pasta in Step 3. Check it sooner, to make sure it doesn’t get overdone.
Substitutions/Variations:
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- Ground Italian pork sausage – You can sub ground turkey or chicken sausage.
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- Petite-diced, Italian-style tomatoes – If using plain diced tomatoes, add a dash of garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and dried basil to the soup.
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- Fresh Spinach – Kale will work instead.
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- Cream cheese – A sub can be sour cream or whipping cream instead, although the soup will be a little thinner. Be sure stir a little of the soup into the sour cream in a separate bowl first to make sure it doesn’t separate when added to crock pot.
Recipe Updates: On 10/5/22, we retested and updated this soup recipe so that it can work as an all-day slow cooker meal. We also wanted to make sure the spinach kept its color and the cream cheese melted well into the soup. We think this new method/recipe works much better!