Creamy Tomato Tortellini Soup

This creamy tomato tortellini soup is really simple and quick to make and of course delicious. It’s a fantastic comfort food that it’s great for dinner on a cold day. This soup gives you culinary pleasure. I managed to prepare this tortellini soup in less than 30 minutes, so it easily qualifies as a “quick dinner” 🙂 After half an hour, dinner is already on your table!

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Watch this video first and see how easy it is to make this tomato tortellini soup.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe?

• You can make this tortellini soup without much mess. The soup can be easily prepared in one pot because the tortellini is cooked in the soup. Fewer dishes to wash 😉
• You can add your favorite vegetables and meat to this tortellini soup. Chicken breasts go well with the soup and they’re high in proteins. You can boil the chicken breasts in the water in a separate pot, shred them and add them to the soup.
• The taste. That is probably the most crucial point. If you like Italian cuisine, you will love this soup. Tortellini with your favorite filling, strong tomato flavor, and a bit of thick cream makes it hard to resist such a dinner.
• Price. In my opinion, making this soup is not expensive. Ingredients that may cost a little bit more are tortellini. It is worth buying tortellini from a good producer. If you have the opportunity, buy from one of the Italian manufacturers. Of course, homemade tortellini are the best, but not everybody has time to do them.

What are tortellini and tortelloni? And what is the main difference?

Tortellini are stuffed pasta originally from Italy, more specifically from the Italian region Emilia. They look like dumplings and for many, they are considered small dumplings made from pasta dough. They can be found with many different fillings. Cheese, mushrooms, meat… to name a few.

Tortellini have a characteristic shape. There is a popular legend that tortellini was created in the shape of the navel of Venus, the goddess of love in Ancient Rome.

Tortellini are popular around the world and served in a variety of ways. They are often served with simple tomato sauce and sprinkled with Parmesan Cheese. A popular Christmas tradition in Italy is to serve tortellini with plain broth. Apparently, tortellini broth is one of Andrea Bocelli’s daughter’s favorite dishes.

It is also worth mentioning the slightly larger, but less popular cousins ​​of tortellini, namely tortelloni. Tortelloni are remarkably similar to tortellini. They are also stuffed Italian pasta/dumplings, but larger than tortellini and “closed” a little differently. Very often, tortellini are used for soups and tortelloni for dishes with sauce. However, nothing prevents you from using them interchangeably.

Actually, in the main photo of this post, there are tortelloni in the tomato soup, not tortellini. I decided to use tortelloni because that day I found tortelloni with a really tasty filling in a local store.

Leftovers? Better eat the soup the next day instead of freezing it.

The truth is that the soup tastes best when served immediately. The soup can stand in the fridge, but the tortellini will “drink” the liquid and their texture will not be the same as at the beginning. They will become a bit mushy. They may even fall apart.

The soup can be kept in the fridge in an airtight container for up to three days. If you want to put it in the fridge, wait until it cools down to room temperature.

Reheat the soup on the stove over low to medium heat. When reheating the soup, you can add a little (about half a cup) water or even better, broth/stock.

When it comes to freezing the soup, I generally do not recommend it, because there is cream and pasta (tortellini) in it. Both cream and pasta are not good products for freezing. When the cream is defrosted, it separates and loses its consistency. And tortellini can become mushy and lose their firmness.

If, on the other hand, you know you will need to freeze the soup, I recommend cooking the tortellini separately and not adding them to the soup pot. Cook only as many tortellini as you need at the moment. Also, don't add the cream to the pot, just a little bit directly into the soup plate.

Ingredients you will need to make creamy tomato tortellini soup.

Make sure you’re using high-quality ingredients.

Tortelli – Tortellini can of course be made by yourself and they will undoubtedly be tastier, but store-bought ones will work just as well. I just used tortellini with ricotta and spinach. If you can’t buy tortellini anywhere, you can use tortelloni or plain pasta.

Canned tomatoes – Use high-quality canned crushed tomatoes.

Onion and garlic – Vegetables needed to spice up the taste of the soup. If you don’t like any of these ingredients, you can skip them.

Tomato paste/tomato concentrate – Tomato paste adds taste, aroma, and color. Essential in this recipe.

Fresh Baby Spinach – Baby Spinach is great for this soup, but you can replace it with other favorites “greens” like kale or arugula.

Sweet paprika powder – Adds flavor. You can optionally replace it with smoked paprika or hot paprika.

Italian seasoning – You can replace them with oregano, basil, thyme, or other favorite herbs.

Sugar – You can use white or brown sugar. You can omit it if you like.

Pepper and salt – You know… standard in the kitchen:)

Unsalted Butter – A little butter is needed to saute the onions and add a buttery flavor to the soup

Broth – Use chicken or vegetable broth. I don’t recommend beef broth, because it may overshadow tomato flavor.

Parmesan Cheese – I recommend using some Parmesan at the very end. It adds a nice flavor to the soup.

How to make Creamy Tomato Tortellini Soup.

Step 1. Add the butter to the pot. When it melts add the chopped onion and chopped garlic cloves. Cook for about two minutes, stirring occasionally. After this time, add Italian seasoning and sweet paprika powder. Stir again and add canned tomatoes, salt, pepper, and sugar.

Step 2. When the canned tomatoes start to bubble slightly, add the tomato paste, stir, and then pour in the broth. When the broth boils, reduce the heat and simmer over low heat for about 15 minutes. In the meantime, you can taste whether you used enough spices. If not, add more.

Step 3 After this time, add the tortellini to the soup and cook them in the soup for as long as the recipe on the package requires. Cover your pot during cooking tortellini. Note that tortellini cooking time will vary depending on whether you buy fresh or dry tortellini. If you buy fresh tortellini the cooking time will be shorter.

The next step will be to add fresh baby spinach. Add the baby spinach, stir gently, and wait about a minute until the baby spinach leaves lose their volume and wilt. Finally, add the cream and Parmesan. Adding Parmesan cheese is optional, but if you have it, I recommend using it.

Creamy Tomato Tortellini Soup – Printable Recipe