This hearty tortellini soup is total comfort food in a bowl. A rich and flavourful tomato broth is loaded with cheesy tortellini, chunky veggies and spinach for an easy, one pot meal in under 25 minutes. It is comforting, cosy and so delicious!
Why you’ll love this recipe
- Quick and easy to make – everything is simmered together in one pot, making it a super easy dinner that is ready in 25 minutes from start to finish.
- Great for a fridge clean out – perfect for using up any vegetables you have in the fridge.
- Healthy – packed with fresh veggies and wholesome ingredients, it makes a filling, nourishing and flavour-packed meal that everyone will love.
- Adaptable – you can use fresh, seasonal veggies or your favourite frozen vegetables depending on what you have on-hand.
- Full of flavour – this soup is so good that you’ll want to make an extra batch to enjoy throughout the week or to freeze for a rainy day.
Ingredients you will need
** This post contains tips and instructions to achieve the best possible results. This photo is a great guide for when you are in the supermarket, but for full ingredient quantities and methods, please scroll down to the detailed recipe card below!
- Onion and garlic – along with carrots and celery form the sofrito, the flavour base of the soup.
- Vegetables – I use classic soup vegetables like carrot, celery, zucchini and spinach. But you can customise this recipe to suit whatever you have in your fridge, freezer or pantry. You could also add broccoli, sweet potato, sliced green beans, cherry tomatoes, corn or peas. Spinach can also be swapped for kale.
- Cannellini beans – the canned version, drained first. Alternatively, add a tin of lentils, black beans, kidney beans or chickpeas.
- Tortellini –I love using dried three-cheese tortellini for the best flavour, but add any flavour you like. Look for fresh tortellini in the fridge section of the supermarket, or use frozen or dried tortellini. Or try making your own!
- Italian herbs –a mix of classic Italian herbs like basil, oregano, rosemary and marjoram, as well as tomato and garlic flavours. Alternatively, use dried oregano.
- Canned tomatoes – along with vegetable stock, canned tomatoes add liquid and create the savoury base of the soup. Tomatoes pair perfectly with cheesy tortellini. I recommend diced or thinly crushed tomatoes like Mutti polpa.
- Vegetable stock –adding veggie stock instead of water adds so much more flavour to the soup. Use liquid vegetable stock rather than powdered, for best results. Chicken stock can be used if you don’t require the soup to be vegetarian.
Step by step instructions
Full ingredient notes and quantities can be found in the detailed recipe card below. But here is a brief overview of what you can expect;
Step 1. Soften the garlic, onion, carrot, celery, paprika and herbs in a large soup pot. This forms the sofrito (the flavour base of the soup).
Step 2. Once the vegetables and garlic have softened, add the tomato paste and stir for 1-2 minutes.
Step 3. Add the stock, bay leaf and canned tomatoes and boil, covered, for 10 minutes.
Step 4. The tortellini and zucchini are then added and cooked until tender. Leave the spinach until the last minute to wilt through the soup. Add a squeeze of lemon juice to finish. Serve with a little chopped parsley and fresh parmesan cheese.
Expert tips
- Customise the vegetables to suit what you have available or what you love to eat.
- For an even speedier dinner, the vegetables can be cut and prepared ahead of time and stored in the fridge in an airtight container for 4-5 days, until required.
- Fresh, dried or frozen tortellini can be used for this recipe. Cooking times may vary, depending on the type and flavour that you choose. Cook until the pasta is al dente; tender, but still with some bite. It will continue to soften as it sits and you don’t want it to become mushy.
- The pasta will cause the soup to thicken. So add a little more stock at the end, if required.
- Don’t over-simmer the soup. The vegetables and pasta will become mushy if the soup is overcooked.
- If using frozen vegetables, there is no need to thaw them first. Add them straight to the pot as normal.
- For creamy tortellini soup, remove the finished soup from the heat and stir through a splash of thickened cream.
- Serve it with some savoury muffins, cheesy garlic bread, cheese and bacon scones or toasted sandwiches. The ultimate winter comfort food!
Leftover soup can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge, where it will keep for around 3-4 days. The pasta will continue to absorb liquid and soften as it sits, so you may need to add more stock when reheating. If making the soup ahead of time to reheat later, you can leave the tortellini out until you are ready to reheat and eat it.
Place the soup into a large saucepan or pot and heat over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until simmering and steaming hot all the way through.
Tortellini soup can be frozen for up to 3 months. To freeze, allow the soup to cool completely and place it into a freezer-safe, airtight container (or portion into single-serve containers). The tortellini will continue to soften in the freezer, so you have the option of leaving it out until reheating, if suitable. Thaw in the fridge overnight and reheat on the stove (or in the microwave) until steaming hot all the way through.
Related recipes
For more healthy, comforting and warming soups, try these recipes!
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Tortellini Soup
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 brown onion diced
- 3-4 cloves garlic crushed
- 2 carrots medium, diced
- 2 stalks celery diced
- 1 tablespoon dried Italian herbs or dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1-2 bay leaf
- 400 grams canned crushed tomatoes 1 x 400 gram can of chopped or crushed tomatoes
- 6 cups vegetable stock plus a little more, if needed
- 400 grams canned cannellini beans drained. Or use black beans, chickpeas or kidney beans
- 1 zucchini medium, diced
- 2-3 cups cheese tortellini or your preferred flavour of tortellini or ravioli
- 2 cups baby spinach leaves
- 1-2 tablespoons lemon juice to taste
- salt and pepper to season
To serve
- fresh parsley or swap for basil
- fresh, shaved parmesan cheese or a vegetarian cheese alternative.
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large soup pot over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, carrots, celery, Italian herbs and paprika, sauteing for 4-5 minutes, until the vegetables soften slightly.
- Add the tomato paste and cook, stirring, for a further 1-2 minutes.
- Increase the heat to high. Add the bay leaf, canned tomatoes and stock and bring to the boil. Cover and reduce the heat, simmering the soup for 10 minutes.
- Add the cannellini beans, zucchini, and tortellini and continue to simmer for 5 minutes, or until the tortellini is cooked through. (Frozen tortellini will take a few extra minutes).
- Remove from the heat and add the spinach and lemon juice. Stir until the spinach has wilted.
To serve
- Divide the soup into bowls and top with the freshly shaved parmesan and a little fresh parsley or basil.
Notes
- Customise the vegetables to suit what you have available.
- For an even speedier dinner, the vegetables can be prepared ahead of time and stored in the fridge in an airtight container for 4-5 days, until required.
- Fresh, dried or frozen tortellini can be used for this recipe. Cooking times may vary depending on the type and flavour that you choose. Cook until the pasta is al dente; tender, but still with some bite. It will continue to soften as it sits.
- The pasta will cause the soup to thicken. So add a little more stock at the end, if required.
- Don’t over-simmer the soup. The vegetables and pasta will become mushy if the soup is overcooked.
- If using frozen vegetables, there is no need to thaw them first. Add them straight to the pot as normal.
- For creamy tortellini soup, remove the finished soup from the heat and stir through a splash of thickened cream.
- Serve it with some savoury muffins, cheesy garlic bread or toasted sandwiches. The ultimate winter comfort food!
- Storage; Store any leftover soup in an airtight container in the fridge, where it will keep for around 3-4 days. The pasta will continue to absorb liquid and soften as it sits, so you may need to add more stock when reheating. If making it ahead of time to reheat later, you can cook the soup but leave the tortellini out until you are ready to eat it.
- Reheating; Place the soup into a large saucepan or pot and heat over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until simmering and steaming hot all the way through.
- Freezing; Tortellini soup can be frozen for up to 3 months. To freeze, allow the soup to cool completely and place it into a freezer-safe, airtight container (or portion into single-serve containers). The tortellini will continue to soften in the freezer, so you have the option of leaving it out until reheating, if suitable for your needs. Thaw in the fridge overnight and reheat on the stove or in the microwave until steaming hot all the way through.
- Please note that the nutrition information is based on the soup being divided into 6 bowls, with one bowl being one serve. The nutritional information is an estimate only and does not take into account any additional toppings or sides served with the soup.
- This recipe is made using Australian cups and spoon measurements. Any reference to cups or spoons in this recipe is in Australian metric. Due to cup sizes varying from country to country, I advise adjusting if necessary.
Nutrition
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Update notes: This recipe was originally published in July 2020, but was re-published with new information and photos in April 2023.
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