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Slow Cooker Creamy Tortellini Soup

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Slow Cooker Creamy Tortellini Soup is pure comfort food, loaded with vegetables, Italian sausage and cheese tortellini! NO flour and NO heavy cream!

This Slow Cooker Creamy Tortellini Soup is one of my favourite recipes!

Slow Cooker Creamy Tortellini Soup | https://cafedelites.com

Slow Cooker Creamy Tortellini Soup! Another day… another slow cooker recipe! I’m so excited about this Slow Cooker Creamy Tortellini Soup! Loaded with carrots, celery and spinach, soft pillows of cheese tortellini, PLUS incredible flavours, this soup is so super creamy without needing any heavy creams. AND without needing to make a roux to get the thick and creamy texture.

You all know how much of a fan I am of converting heavy cream recipes into healthier ones, right? Well, healthier-ish.

Slow Cooker Creamy Tortellini Soup | https://cafedelites.com Here I am, typing out this post at a ridiculous hour (9:30pm = way past my bedtime), because I couldn’t wait for tomorrow to share it. Impatient is my middle name.

Italian sausage gives this soup an amazing flavour,  BUT you CAN substitute it with ground chicken, turkey or beef sausage, OR plain and simple ground meats. For vegetarian options, leave the meat out all together.

Slow Cooker Creamy Tortellini Soup | https://cafedelites.comNow, about that cream. How does one get a creamy sauce in a slow cooker without needing, well, CREAM? Evaporated milk. Going through my old weight watchers books, I found so many lost and forgotten recipes using evaporated milk and just about slapped myself in the head! How come I haven’t used that method in my recipes yet? Like, what’s wrong with me?

Slow Cooker Creamy Tortellini Soup | https://cafedelites.comOne of the BEST SOUPS I’ve ever tasted. Slow Cooker Creamy Tortellini Soup. The best part being it cooks while you’re NOT EVEN HOME! THIS is why I’m excited. Because coming home from a long ass day to find a soothing bowl of comfort already done for you, and only needing a couple extra additions before serving? Priceless!

Tools Used:

6 QUART SLOW COOKER

FRYING PAN

EVAPORATED MILK

Craving something lighter? Try this Slow Cooker Tortellini Minestrone Soup!

Slow Cooker Creamy Tortellini Soup | https://cafedelites.com

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4.4 from 73 votes
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Slow Cooker Creamy Tortellini Soup
Slow Cooker Creamy Tortellini Soup is pure comfort food, loaded with vegetables, Italian sausage and cheese tortellini! NO flour and NO heavy cream!
Servings: 10
Author: Karina - Cafe Delites
Ingredients
  • 500 grams | 1 pound ground Italian sausage (or ground chicken, turkey or beef), browned*
  • 1 brown onion , chopped
  • 2 large carrots , chopped
  • 2 stalks celery , chopped
  • 4 cloves garlic , minced
  • 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
  • 2 teaspoon beef bouillon powder (or chicken)
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 4 cups beef broth (or chicken or vegetable broth -- I use low sodium)
  • 1/4 cup cornstarch mixed and dissolved in 1/4 cup water
  • 3 x 340 gram | 12-ounce cans full fat evaporated milk or half and half
  • 1 x 340 gram | 12 ounce packet three cheese tortellini (I used dried not fresh; choose any flavour you like)
  • 5 cups fresh baby spinach
  • 1 cup milk
Instructions
  1. Place the browned sausage, onion, carrots, celery, garlic, Italian seasoning, beef bouillon powder, salt, and broth in a 6-quart / litre slow cooker bowl. Cover and cook on high for 4 hours or low for 7 hours.
  2. Uncover and skim any fat that is sitting on the top of the soup with a spoon; discard. Stir in the cornstarch mixture with the evaporated milk (or half and half or cream). Add the tortellini and mix well. Cover again and cook on HIGH heat setting for a further 45 minutes until the soup has thickened, and the tortellini is soft and cooked through.
  3. Add in the spinach, pressing the leaves down to completely submerse into the liquid. Cover again for a further 5-10 minutes until the leaves have wilted.
  4. Pour in milk in 1/3 cup increments, as needed, to reach your desired thickness and consistency (I needed 1 cup); taste test and season with extra salt ONLY if needed, and pepper to suit your tastes.
  5. Serve with crusty warmed bread
Recipe Notes
*Italian sausage gives this soup an amazing flavour, but you can substitute it with ground chicken, turkey or beef sausage. OR use plain ground meats if you don't like sausage. For vegetarian options, leave the meat out all together.

The soup thickens as it cools and absorbs quite a lot of liquid. Extra milk may be needed when reheating leftovers to reach your desired level of creaminess.

© 2017 CAFE DELITES. All rights reserved. All images & content are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If you want to share this recipe, please provide a link back to this post for the original recipe.

Slow Cooker Creamy Tortellini Soup | https://cafedelites.com

Slow Cooker Creamy Tortellini Soup is pure comfort food, loaded with vegetables, Italian sausage and cheese tortellini! NO flour and NO heavy cream! | https://cafedelites.com

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. I’m craving this tonight. Has anyone tried a non crock pot version? Wondering how it came out. Thank you.

  4. This is amazing! I have made it several times and, leftovers? What’s that? My kids fight over the last bowl !! I use ground chicken with a spice mix from Pensky’s called “Krakow Nights” (polish seasoning) and it’s amazing!
    Question: if it calls for 3 12oz cans of evap milk or 1/2 & 1/2, does that mean you need 36 oz (4 1/2 cups) of 1/2 & 1/2 ? Seems like a lot. Last time it didn’t thicken and it was way too runny (family loved it anyway, but looking to make it a bit more thick).

  6. This is the best soup I’ve ever made or eaten! It is so very easy to make too. I’ve made it a few times at home, and I’ve made it for a potluck to take to church and another at work. I did not have a drop left to bring home either time!! I made it pretty close to the recipe with the exception of I reduced the amount of Italian seasoning to 2 teaspoons when using Italian sausage…it was just too strong for us. Also, I could only find a 20 oz package of tortellini, so rather than saving a few ounces out, I used the entire package. It was perfect! I’ve made another soup from this site that was good…creamy chicken noodle soup. Your website is my go-to when I need a great recipe. Thanks!!

  8. Absolutely amazing. So incredibly good. My 15 year old son said he would eat the everyday he loved it soo much!!!! And I agree!!! Can’t wait to make again and again.

  9. This was absolutely delicious! I followed it to the T and it was perfect as well as simple! Someone already said it was company worthy in taste and appearance…..So true!

  10. I just chopped up 2 stalks of celery and put it in my slow cooker. the 4 cups of broth didn’t look like enough liquid, so I watched the video. In the video it looked more like 2 ribs of celery. Is is supposed to be 2 stalks or 2 ribs?

  11. I made this last night and my wife and I loved it. I’m really glad you gave the editorial comment about the flavor of the Italian sausage. Although my wife is really not a fan of pork sausage I used it without telling her. She really enjoyed the flavor.

    My question….from the recipe and description I anticipated it would be thicker. Mine was really very “soupy” or “soup-like”. I followed everything to the letter and used half-n-half. Did I miss a step or was I expecting it to be too thick? Regardless, it was a winner and has been added to my permanent electronic recipe site.

  12. I am making this right now, can’t wait to see how it turns out!! Office birthday potluck!

    I changed a couple things, no carrots or celery, double sausage and tortillin, added real bacon bits and diced tomatoes. I’m going to make it a little on the thicker side, like a pasta. Using chicken broth and bouillon, and chose evaporated milk. Will add the tortillin an hour before and spinach ten min before serving, at the office!!

    Also, Will top with Parmesan at the end!! Yummy yummy yummy!!

  13. I made this tonight. Absolutely delicious! Definitely company worthy in appearance and taste. I used chicken broth, and skipped the powdered bouillon since I didn’t have any on hand.

  14. I am making this tonight and got dried tortellini with cheese out of the bulk section. I think I put too much in so I had to add regular whole milk. I didn’t have any more condensed milk. I’m sure it will still taste great.i guess I could always add more cornstarch to thicken it out if need be. I’m looking forward to dinner tonight. 😊

  20. Made this for dinner tonight and it is amazing. I will be trying lots of the other delicious recipes. Thanks

  22. My App tells me there’s a total of approximately 3,396 calories in this meal, as is (varies by brand, milk type, etc). If you break that into 10 servings you will have approx 339.6 calories per serving. Keeping to serving size is the difficult part. 🙂

  23. I’m so happy to hear that Jules! Do you have access to my fitness pal? I find when I calculate calories, our different ingredients tend to give out different results, which effects the end result, so I do encourage my readers to calculate recipes with your own products and ingredients. That way, you know exactly what your eating! I’m so happy to hear you loved this soup! Yay got leftovers!

  24. Still waiting on an answer about calories, but…OMG is this good! Made it last night for company and everyone RAVED about it! The best flavour – excited to have leftovers for lunch!

  25. Has anyone figured out the calories/serving? I looked and cannot see them posted anywhere – sorry if I’m just missing it! This is in my slow cooker while I’m at work! Cannot wait to try it.

  27. I”m making this dish tomorrow and putting in some homemade meatballs I have in the freezer leftover. My meatballs have carrots in them so I know this will be great!! I’ll post review after I try it.

  28. I made this today! House smelled divine coming home after work & it’s delicious!! Has anyone frozen leftovers? Does it freeze well?

  30. Thank You! This recipe turned out amazing. I embellished as most will, but the original recipe was monumental in bringing “comfort” food back into my home. Should have ended here, but…..bacon, I impulsively added 6 strips of bacon. I feel like I should be ashamed, but after the simmering stopped.
    I was left with the” Best” soup/stew/comfort sauce that I had made to date. per. my daughter

  31. I want to make this tonight but don’t have time to do it in the crockpot. Do you have a stove top version of this recipe? Thanks so much! I already bought all the ingredients and I’m ready to go!

  33. I see you used dried tortellini in this recipe, do you need to adjust the cooking time at all if using fresh tortellini?

    I currently have a batch cooking, smells fantastic, so I’ll find out for myself before you respond to this, just posting the question for others.

  34. This looks amazing! I can’t wait to make it! Silly question though, could I use cubed beef boullion instead of powdered? My local store doesn’t seem to carry powdered bouillon.

  35. So, where in the grocery store do you find dried tortellini? Or how long would frozen tortellini need to be in the slow cooker???

  36. This sounds so yummy!! Was wondering if you would know how to adjust for frozen Tortellini? Thanks!

  37. I only have a 3 litre slow cooker, is this big enough? Or do I need to scale down my ingredient amounts used?

  38. So i don’t have cornstarch…is there a substitution?

    Also you mentioned cream…is that heavy whipping cream? If so…how much?

  39. I made this tonight, with some modifications due to what I had on hand, and it was FABULOUS! I used Andouille Sausage and diced boneless, skinless chicken thighs. I cooked it in my Instant pot instead of slow cooked. I had a can of large cream of chicken soup, and added that along with 4 cups of the chicken broth (then skipped the cornstarch and evaporated milk part). I cooked the noodles separately and added per bowl so all the broth wouldn’t be soaked up overnight. My beau was sick today and this is just what the doctor ordered! Served it with fresh home made bread…full and content. Thanks for the recipe!!

  40. I want to make this recipe. However I only have a 4 at crockpot. So my options are use that or do it on stove top and use my Dutch oven. Suggestions? Tips? Obviously if I chose to make it in my crockpot the recipe would be different because it is for a 6qt crockpot and I have a 4qt. Thanks!

  41. Can I use portabella mushrooms instead of meat? When would you add them? Sauté them first?

  42. This was a super delicious meal! Any idea of the calorie content in one serving if made exactly as your recipe is listed? Thank you !

  44. Hi Richard. The amounts are listed in the recipe box. If you click or tap on the ‘CLICK HERE FOR THE RECIPE’ you will see the entire recipe come up 🙂

  48. I am going to try this! Can you tell me the serving size that will yield the 10 servings you indicated?

  49. I’m not the best cook in the world..actually not the best cook on my street so I actually need the amounts of items used in recipes. Is there a place on your site for the tortellini soup that has the actual amounts?
    Thank you…I’m anxious to make this…

  51. Karina,
    I made this recipe tonight and I must say I am pretty proud of myself. I made a few alterations to it and it turned out absolutely delicious. Thank you so much for sharing.
    My daughter and I were only able to eat one bowl. Looks like we will be eating tortellini soup for the next week straight.
    Jerri

  52. this recipe was ALL THE RAGE at my house tonight. My crazily diverse family ALL loved it and that is saying something. I used Cream of Chicken with Herbs and Cream of Celery as my soups, used Beef Stock instead of broth and used HOT Italian sausage as my meat. I did add quite a kick of crushed red pepper and smaller amounts of black pepper and garlic salt at then end as well as some freshly shredded parmesan as a final ingredient and topper. IT WAS AMAZING and I do not typically GUSH about recipes bc I always change them or find them bland.

    this is going to be a sure-fire regular meal at our home. I am so happy with it, i want to invite people over and make it again just to share it.

  54. Made this yesterday since I knew I had plans after work…left it on warm for my husband. Got a text from him stating “the soup is sooooo good! On my second bowl”. I would say it was a hit 🙂

  55. I just made this tonight -and it was awesome! I did a vegetarian version, so I used chopped up spicy veggie sausage patties and vegetable broth. I forgot to buy milk, so I used half a cup of cream. I definitely will be making this again!

  56. I made this for dinner tonight and witnessed a small miracle. (Who am I kidding, it was a HUGE miracle!) Both of my children ate it all, no complaints, asked for seconds, and declared it was their new favorite food, even better than pizza. My very picky child ate all of the vegetables.
    I made it on the stove, and added an extra cup of broth. I used one can of evaporated milk, a cup of cream and a cup of milk.
    It was delicious! Thank you!

  59. Hi Bev! Yes you can use other veggies if you don’t like the ones listed. Bell peppers definitely would give the soup flavour if onion is missing. In regards to the milk, the evaporated milk or half and half add to the thickness of the soup. I’m afraid fat free milk won’t give you a creamy consistency, but you could add a couple tablespoons of extra flour to help with that!

  61. Hi Jen! Yes definitely! Just boil the sausage and veggies for 20 minutes on low heat before adding the rest of the ingredients. Once the Tortellini is soft, add in the spinach, turn off heat, and allow to wilt before serving.

  62. Nicole you will need to thaw it first to room temperature and at it at the end. Adding frozen spinach will lower the temp of the slow cooker and will cause a longer cook time.

  66. Hi Jose. No I haven’t tried that and feel we never need too. The Tortellini doesn’t get mushy when we’ve stored it and reheated it! I hope that helps!

  67. I saw a few people mentioned cooking the tortellini separate and storing it separately to keep the noodles from getting mushy. Have you had any experience with that?

  68. Can this soup be made on the stove top instead of a slow cooker?? And do any of the directions change because of it?( creamy tortellini soup)

  70. Hi! This looks really good, but I was wondering if a few substitutions would work well in this? I don’t care much for celery or onions, would broccoli, zucchini, or bell peppers work? And is regular fat free milk alright or does it need to be evaporated or half and half?

  73. I made a batch of this soup for Christmas dinner. It was outstanding — a huge hit! I then made another batch last night to bring to work to share with the office. For the office batch, I chose chicken sausage (vs. pork as some at work can’t/don’t eat pork) and half-and-half (vs. evaporated milk). It was better than the Christmas batch! This will definitely be added to my recipe box as a go-to comfort soup. Soooo delicious! 🙂

  75. Does this recipe truly serve 10 adults? I want to make this for an easy family dinner that will involve 9 people & do not want to end up short! TIA

  77. Hi John. It shouldn’t effect time by too much. Have a look after the suggested time, and if it’s not done, maybe another hour or two should do it!

  82. Delicious!!! Both kids liked it (and that’s saying something for my pickiest eater!) and I love how I have lots leftover.

    Do you know if it freezes well?

  84. Ah Wendy I’m glad it worked out! Yes it’s important to thaw it completely as it will reduce the temperature of the soup considerably. 🙂

  86. On step 4 you say to add in the milk 1/3 cup at a time. This is extra on top of the evaporated milk?

    I have this cooking now…can’t wait!!

    Thanks!

  87. This soup was good but cooking longer. Heads up when using frozen tortellini (didn’t read suggestion to thoroughly thaw before adding). It will cool down the temperature considerably and the tortellini won’t be cooked. I usually don’t eat creme based soups as I find them too rich and heavy but this was tasty. Thank you for sharing!

  89. Made this dish today, followed recipe exactly as written and it was absolutely fabulous! But, i cannot find reasonable nutrition info for it anywhere. Besides doing the math from each ingredient, does anyone know or have a link on calories, protein, sodium, and carbs, at the very least?

  104. This soup is out of this world good! So flavorful and hearty! I substituted heavy cream for the evaportaed milk, chicken broth and bouillon instead of beef and used fresh tri color tortellini. The colors made this soup pop. Great as a stand alone meal or side dish for holiday dinners! Thanks for such a great recipe it was hit with the entire family

  105. I made this soup last weekend when single digit temps kept us in the house. I also got out the bread machine and made some crusty french bread. The family went crazy over it. My daughter has been asking for the leftovers for lunch every day since. It smelled so good all afternoon, I could hardly wait for dinner. It was worth the wait and will be a new winter staple in our house. Thank you for sharing and so easy.

  107. This soup was fabulous! Easy to make and ingredients that were readily available. No need to add salt. Very flavorful on its own. I used mild Italian sausage. I will probably use even more vegetables (same selections, just more quantity), and fewer tortellini the next time. So easy and so satisfying!

  108. This looks very good! Just to clarify…you add a total of 36 ounces of evaporated milk? 3 12-ounce cans in all? Thank you.

  109. This was delicious, thick and creamy. Used fresh cheese and spinach tortellini. I browned the sausage then rinsed with hot water to get rid of excess fat and used chicken stock as I like the lighter flavor with pork sausage and a spoonful of Better than Bullion. I used low fat evaporated milk due to diet needs…also upped the amount of carrot and celery and doubled the amount of spinach (I have diabetes and need to offset carbs as much as possible) I ran a knife thru 12 oz of fresh baby spinach so they wouldn’t drip off the spoon. Hubby loved this and there was enough for lunch today for me and dinner again tonite. Always a plus at the holiday time not to have to cook again?

  110. what does 3x 340 grams/ 12 oz cans of evaporated milk mean? Is that saying I need **3** 12 oz cans?

  111. This was truly delicious. I omitted the bouillon altogether and just used beef broth. I used frozen tortellini. I also used fresh spinach and half & half. I would love to add fresh mushroom next time. I did feel I needed to add extra beef broth and half and half toward the end because it got pretty thick. Maybe because I had to cook it on the stovetop due to time constraints? We made quick, homemade Cheese Drop Biscuits to go with this and it was perfect. My kids said it was better than something at Olive Garden!

  112. Love this soup! Followed instructions exactly. Big hit in my house. Will definitely make again. Might add a few more carrots next time.

  117. I’m confused about ingredients… is it three 12 ounce cans of evaporated Milk and one 12 once package of tortellini?

  120. This was very tasty and easy to make. I used half a bouillon cube and omitted the salt and found the flavour perfect.

  121. We loved this hearty soup! My guy sent me the link to this recipe (something he has never done before), so I surprised him and made it for dinner last night. Since it was a last minute decision, I made it on the stovetop instead of in the crockpot. It is true comfort food. It is rich, creamy, delicious and filling. For stovetop, I basically followed the steps in the instructions but used my own judgement for cooking times. I used beef broth, frozen spinach instead of fresh and omitted the cup of milk at the end because the soup was at the right consistency for us without it. I’ll be making this often. Thank you for an awesome recipe that I’m adding to my collection of FAVORITES!

  123. This was so delicious! I followed it exactly and it was a hit with my family. Even my picky kids licked their bowls clean!

  125. Great Great recipe! Only thing is that the next time I prepare this meal, I will probably go easy on the bouillon. Although it had great flavor it was a bit on the salty side.

  128. This looks and sounds wonderful. When adding the cornstarch mixture, evaporated milk, and tortellini, should the temp be on high so it will thicken?

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