Tortellini soup is one of my favorites and with this recipe it may become one of yours too.
Of course, being half Italian, that just makes sense. I was born with taste buds that enjoy Italian flavors. (I love Eastern European flavors too. That’s my other side).
But I don’t just love this easy soup recipe because I’m Italian. This tomato tortellini soup is SO good and so easy to make that I sometimes actually crave it.
Tomatoes and vegetables come together in a really flavorful soup that is surprisingly quick and easy to make.
The flavors blend together beautifully, with that bit of fresh basil mixed with the tomatoes and pasta.
This is one of those soups that I think you can even get picky eaters to enjoy.
The kids will love the pasta in the soup. If they don’t like vegetables, buzz it up using a hand blender or in your regular blender before you add the tortellini. Then they’ll just see pasta swimming in a great red soup.
If basil is not your thing, you can replace it with oregano. Or if your family doesn’t like any of that leave the herbs out entirely.
Use them if you can though because they add oodles of flavor.
What is Tortellini?
I love tortellini, but if you aren’t familiar with it you might wonder exactly what it is.
Tortellini is a stuffed pasta shaped into a small navel like shape with a hole in the middle. the inside of the little pasta pocket is filled with wonderful fillings.
The most common tortellini fillings are ricotta cheese or meat.
I love both but particularly the cheese. It gets my vote most times and it’s what I use when I make this tortellini soup recipe.
When you bite into the tortellini and get that mix of tomatoey soup with pasta and cheese, it’s amazing.
The tortellini pasta can be made using regular white pasta, or, as you can see below, you can use other pasta sheets like this red tomato or green spinach pasta.
You can see examples of all three pasta colors below.
Do You Make or Buy Your Tortellini?
I tend to make a lot of what I eat from scratch. Certainly not everything, but a fair bit.
That said, I don’t have the time or the talent to make my own pasta for this tortellini soup. Buying is my choice.
You can certainly take the time to make your own tortellini. That would taste amazing. BUT don’t think that you are cheating by using store bought tortellini.
Frozen tortellini that you can buy right out of your grocery store freezer section is just fine. Great in fact.
I don’t know what brands are available where you live, but the frozen tortellini I can buy at my local grocery store or Italian specialty store is really good.
It’s perfect to use in this tummy warming soup.
You can also sometimes find semi-dried tortellini. It is partially dried but not as dried as the spaghetti in a box that we usually buy. It cooks up in minutes.
So if you are a purist go ahead and make your own tortellini.
For the rest of us, frozen or semi dried is fine.
How to Make Tortellini Soup
Like most soups, a great tortellini soup starts with tasty broth.
And tasty broth starts with fresh vegetables. In this case, the classic trio of onions, carrots and celery form the base of the soup broth.
I mince a couple of cloves of garlic and add it to the vegetables once the onions and celery have had a chance to soften.
Adding the garlic to the hot oil right at the beginning is not a good idea, because over cooking garlic can make it bitter.
Adding it just a bit later, after the onions, celery and carrots have been added to the pot and cooked a bit, prevents that.
Add your stock, either chicken or vegetable stock to the pot. Again you can use your own homemade stock here or use the canned or tetra pack stock.
Either works. It’s your choice and your preference.
I hope you enjoy this wonderful soup recipe. Let us all know by using the comment section that you will find under the Pinterest button.
(And please, if you like this recipe I would love you to post it to Pinterest and your other favorite social media sites).
Tortellini Soup Recipe with Tomatoes and Vegetables
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon avocado oil, or cooking oil of your choice
- 2 carrots, chopped
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1 stalk celery, sliced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon fresh basil, chopped
- salt and pepper to your taste
- 3 cups vegetable stock, or chicken stock
- 28 ounces canned tomatoes, chopped or blended
- 8 ounces cheese tortellini, frozen, (or meat tortellini)
Instructions
- In a large saucepan, heat the oil over medium heat. Cook the carrots, onion, celery, basil salt and pepper for about 2 minutes, then add the chopped garlic and cook until the onion is softened, about 5 minutes.
- Add the stock and tomatoes. Bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
- Add the tortellini as well as zucchini and chick peas if you are using them (see the Optional section below). Simmer until the tortellini are tender and not too firm, about 10 minutes.
- Serve the soup while it's nice and hot. This recipe will make about 8 servings.
Notes
Serving Idea:
Serve the tortellini soup topped with fresh chopped basil and a bit of Parmesan cheese.Optional:
Add even more nutritional value to the soup with a couple of add-ins. You can add either or both of these. They will make the soup even more delicious and nutritious.
1 cup rinsed and drained canned chickpeas1 zucchini, shreddedNutrition
Want another Italian soup recipe? Have a look at my minestrone soup recipe here.
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