Italian Sausage Tortellini Soup

We make soup for dinner all of the time. Some like to serve soup as a starter to a meal, but we usually use it as the main course. If you don’t think soup can be a meal all by it’s lonesome, then you haven’t tried Josh’s Italian Sausage Tortellini Soup. This soup has it all-sausage, cheese, pasta, and veggies. You can get your entire meal in one bowl!

Our Tortellini Vegetable Soup is one of our all-time favorite soups, but one night Josh asked if he could make a “meaty man’s” version. I always love it when Josh volunteers to create a recipe. Ok, sometimes I get controlling and want to take over his recipe, but this time I let him have at it. He adapted our vegetable tortellini soup to include Italian sausage and his favorite veggies.

Josh rolled Italian sausage into tiny balls and cooked them before adding them to the soup. The mini Italian sausage meatballs were bite size and a great addition to the soup. Josh also included red peppers, tomatoes, and kale. The kale made the soup pretty. I don’t think Josh added the kale for prettiness since it was a “man’s” soup, but it was a nice touch!

Josh’s Italian Sausage Tortellini Soup is hearty, full of flavor, and easy to make. Josh makes it all of the time. We love easy one pot meals at our house.
And if you have a vegetarian in the family, you can make the soup and leave out the sausage until the very end. Josh always ladles up my bowl before he adds in the sausage. I love the soup without the sausage, but Josh and Caleb prefer to add it in. They like to bond over their meaty man soup:)
There is nothing wimpy about this Italian Sausage Tortellini Soup. It makes a great meal, especially on a cold winter’s day!

Italian Sausage Tortellini Soup
Hearty soup with Italian sausage, cheese tortellini, red peppers, and kale. Everyone always requests this recipe!
Yield: Serves 6
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes
Ingredients:
1 lb. Italian Sausage, rolled into 3/4 teaspoon size balls
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 red bell peppers, diced
1 bay leaf
1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes
8 cups vegetable or chicken broth
2 (15 ounce) cans diced tomatoes
1 1/2 cups chopped kale
2 cups cheese tortellini (fresh or frozen)
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
Salt and black pepper, to taste
Directions:
1. In a large skillet, brown the mini sausage balls until cooked through. This will take about 5-7 minutes. Drain off the grease and place the sausage balls on a plate lined with paper towels.
2. In a large pot, heat the olive oil over medium high heat. Add the onion and cook until tender, 3-4 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook for 2 minutes. Stir in the red peppers, bay leaf, and red pepper flakes. Cook until peppers are soft, about 3 minutes.
3. Stir in the broth, tomatoes, and kale. Add the cheese tortellini and cook until tortellini is tender, 7-8 minutes. Stir in the fresh basil and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Stir in the mini sausage balls and heat until warm. Remove the bay leaf and serve.
Note-you can make this soup vegetarian by using vegetable broth and omitting the sausage. Josh always ladles up my bowl first, and then adds the sausage. This soup recipe is very adaptable!
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Pasta in soups is just awesome! We eat soup as our main for dinner usually once a week. SO good. Comfort in a bowl
This looks great. I love loaded soups! What tortellini do you use?
We usually buy the tortellini at Costco in the big packs. You can use fresh or frozen tortellini.
Your soup looks so amazing! I wish I had some to take to work today! Perfect for lunch!!!!!!
I make a very similar version of this with the sausage just crumbled – it is actually what is for dinner tonight at my house!
I don’t eat beef or pork so will make the meatballs from Italian Hot turkey sausage. Looks yummy!
I love tossing tortellini into soups! This looks beautiful.
A lovely rustic soup!
How clever of Josh to roll the sausage into balls. This soup looks great.
pass a bowl on over here!
Yum! This looks delicious! Perfect for these cold winter days. Are you vegetarain?
I am, but Josh isn’t. That is why you see mostly vegetarian recipes on our site with some meat recipes mixed in. I am lucky Josh loves veggies too:)
Looks like such a comforting bowl of soup!
Wow Maria, I’d love to sink my spoon into a deep bowl of this soup!!
I love using tortellini in soup. They make soup a meal (an on-going Seinfeld fueled debate in my house).
i LOVE having soup as a meal! jason sometimes doesn’t think it’s filling enough but with the multitude of things you can add into it, like what you did here with the pasta and sausage, i’m sure he can be full 😉
You don’t even have to taaaaaaayell me twice.
This looks hearty and delicious Maria!
Italian sausage adds so much flavour to soups like this! I am liking the kale in there!
I love one dish meals! And soup is the best when it is cold! This dish looks so delicious!
This looks so good, I’m going to make it tonight. Thank you!
So hearty and beautiful!
Bring on the soup! Looks delicious!
This look so yummy, I love Italian sausage and pasta, so in a soup?! Win, win!! I love your photos too
This does look like an amazing “man soup” lol. Although I would love a huge ladle of it too! Bring it on 😀
Basically two of my favorite soups combined! I love this one!!
So excited for this recipe! Will definitely be making for us again
We loved it!! 
Yay! So glad you liked the soup!
This looks like a hearty meal! Just this morning, I was saying that I would try to make a tomato-based soup with tortellini or ravioli in it so that I can introduce my little kids to tomato soup. They love chicken noodle soup (especially the noodles) and they love tomato-based sauces, so I’m sure that a tomato soup with some sort of pasta would be perfect. This looks like a winner!
This looks so yummy, Maria!!
I make a soup similar to this that my hubby LOVES. I’m going to have to try our your recipe!
This looks SO comforting and delicious! Perfect one-dish dinner!
This soup sounds so comforting and delicious. I love the addition of kale!
What a delicious looking soup, so hearty and flavorful!
What a comforting bowl of soup!
Nice job, Josh! I love tortellini soup, I can’t wait to make this!
Love hearty soups like this! So flavorful!
MMMmm…I love the addition of sausage. I am a sucker for meatballs, especially little ones in soup – so yummy!
This looks perfectly hearty, Maria! I have some kale around, I think it needs to meet a soup here soon.
I have been thinking about this soup alllll day!! I have tortellini in the fridge. I’m officially on a mission.
Will Josh come over and make soup for us? And you do the cookies. 😉 I’ll clean up!
What a light and delicious weeknight dinner idea! Such beautiful photographs as always too, Maria. 😀
I love this so much. This is basically (and exactly) how I make Minestrone/generic Mediterranean soup. ^_^ I think I’ve been inspired to make Ramen today. Sugoi. –Kai.