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This super simple Healthier Slow Cooker Creamy Tortellini Vegetable Soup is the perfect fall dinner…great for nights when you’re craving Italian, but want something warming and healthy too. A mix of vegetables, simmered with Italian seasonings, a splash of wine, kale, and cheese tortellini. Finish each bowl off with an extra sprinkle of cheese and serve with crusty bread. It’s hearty, full of greens, and so delicious. Great for just about any night of the week. Plus the leftovers the next day make for the best lunch!

As promised…a new slow cooker recipe to start off the week. And a healthier one too. But don’t worry, it’s still creamy, cozy, and of course, delicious. I mean, it’s October, I wouldn’t share a non-cozy recipe at this point in the year. Cozy is always the way to go when the weather begins to turn cooler.
To be completely honest, I don’t love all soups. To me, a dinner soup needs to be hearty. It needs to be brothy, but it also needs texture, carbs, and preferably some cheese on top too. French onion? Yes – yum. Hearty, thick chili? Of course. Ramen with double the noodles? Yes, 100%.
But a brothy soup with just a few vegetables just doesn’t do it for me, which brings me to this soup. It’s vegetable soup, but it’s not your average vegetable soup. This one is creamy, cheesy, and made with not just vegetables, but cheese tortellini too.
It’s all the things I love in a bowl of soup, yet made on the healthier side too. Promise you guys, this one is good, and kid-friendly too!

This soup just sounded good to me. I’ve never done an Italian-style tortellini soup, but oddly I’ve done a Mexican-inspired tortilla soup with tortellini. Not sure where I got that idea, but it sure is different. Nothing like this bowl of tortellini soup.
When I presented the idea of a vegetable-based tortellini soup to my sister-in-law, she gave it a double thumbs up. Granted Lynds loves a bowl of soup, but she’s also picky about her them. So instead of second-guessing my ideas, like I always do, I took her double thumbs up and I ran with it. And the verdict? I am very, very happened I listened. This is such a delicious bowl of warming soup. And I love that I was able to make it a touch healthier than the versions you might find in a restaurant.
And my favorite part…well, aside from the taste…this is actually the easiest soup to make. You can cook it low and slow in the slow cooker, or speed things up by cooking it in the instant pot, or you can even cook it on the stove-top.

I love to start this off on the stove-top. I know it’s annoying, but I really think cooking your vegetables with the dried herbs and spices before slow cooking adds so much wonderful flavor. If you have an all-in-one browning slow cooker then you can do this all in the slow cooker bowl. I literally just hit purchase (before starting this post) on this all-in-one All-Clad slow cooker with a browning function. I cannot wait for it to arrive this week!
Cook the onions with a mix of my favorite Italian spices…the dried herbs, fennel, and smoked paprika. They are all KEY here. They add so much flavor, almost like Italian sausage, but minus any of the meat.
Once the onions have been seared, add everything to the bowl of your slow cooker. Then add tomato paste, a good splash of dry white wine, and plenty of vegetable broth. Cover and cook low and slow.

I like to just let my soup cook all day long. The house smells incredible as this simmers away in the slow cooker. But, as I mentioned, I’ve also included directions for the Instant-Pot and stove-top variations, in case you’re in a crunch.
Once the soup has finished cooking, before serving, stir in a few large handfuls of kale, cream or milk, parmesan cheese, and the cheese tortellini. Cook another few minutes and then that’s it.
Easy. EASY. But yet so delicious.

I’d highly recommend serving this soup with a side of crusty bread. If you own the HBH Super Simple cookbook, there’s a really good, really easy, no-knead bread recipe that’s perfect to pair with this soup.
If you’re planning to enjoy this soup leftover, be sure to first remove the tortellini from the broth before refrigerating. That way the tortellini won’t soak up all the broth. Then just add them back in before serving.
Alright, and with that, I’m going to leave you all to it. If your Monday night needs some warming soup, this should be it. I’m actually beyond excited to make this again today on Instagram stories. It’s the perfect fall soup.
Cannot wait!

Looking for other fall soup recipes? Here are a few ideas:
Creamy Wild Rice Chicken Soup with Roasted Mushrooms
Instant Pot Broccoli Cheddar and Zucchini Soup
Instant Pot Pesto Zuppa Toscana
Lastly, if you make this Healthier Slow Cooker Creamy Tortellini Vegetable Soup be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Love this soup! Such a versatile broth that you could add just about anything To this soup and it would be delicious!
Hi there! Thanks so much for giving this recipe a try, I’m so glad to hear you enjoyed it! xTieghan
Love this recipe! Can I prepare this ahead of time and freeze it? Thank you!
Hi Emily,
Awesome! I am thrilled to hear that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks a lot for making it. Yes, I would freeze without the tortellini. Happy Holidays!❄️ xT
So delicious. I had to swap out Kale for spinach but otherwise made this as directed in a crockpot. Very hearty and flavorful.
Hi there! Thanks so much for giving this recipe a try, I’m so glad to hear you enjoyed it! xTieghan
LOVED this one! Super easy and delicious. Only suggestion would be to add a bit more spice!
Hi there! Thanks so much for trying out this recipe! So glad to hear it was enjoyed ? xTieghan
Made this tonight in my InstantPot and I will be making it again and again. It’s so delicious!
Thanks so much for trying out this recipe! So glad to hear it was enjoyed 🙂 xTieghan
I really liked this one! The flavors in the broth worked well together and really amplified the tortellini. I did make one small alteration… I swapped out the smoked paprika for regular old paprika. Just a preference thing.
Thanks so much for giving this recipe a try, so happy to hear you enjoyed it! xTieghan
A hearty soup but a bit disappointing in flavour. It’s an ok recipe but something is missing and it tastes a bit bland.
Hi Faith, I’m so sorry to hear that this recipe was not what you were expecting. Please let me know how I can help. xTieghan
So yummy and filling and easy to make. We didn’t have paprika so we subbed ancho chile powder which I thought added a really nice sweet heat to it. Will definitely be making it again.
Made this for dinner and it was a huge hit! Will definitely make again.
Hi there! Thanks so much for trying out this recipe, so glad to hear it was enjoyed! xTieghan
This soup is delicious, I made it exactly as written with one slight exception. The market was out of kale, so I substituted baby spinach. Perfect for fall.
can I substitute spinach for Kale?
Wondering your thoughts on a dairy free option? I’m thinking coconut milk and either cavatappi noodles or a non-cheese tortellini?
I just made a dairy free version yesterday and it was delicious. I used silk brand dairy free “heavy whipping cream” and a vegan tortellini that I bought at Whole Foods.
If adding Italian sausage, would you recommend cooking before placing into the slow cooker? Would you cut it or crumble it?
Hi there! Yes, I would recommend cooking the sausage before. Hope you enjoy! 🙂 xTieghan
Also curious about this! I think I plan to cook first…
This was delicious. It had so much flavor and it warmed my heart eating it haha. Thank you!
I made this for my family tonight, and it was an absolute delight! I used mostly fresh herbs as I had them all at the ready in my garden, but otherwise followed the recipe to a T. Thank you for sharing your wonderful talents with us, my family and I’s tummies and tastebuds truly appreciate it!
I made this on the stovetop and it was super easy. I did not use fennel and the soup was still great. Another family favorite ?