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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!
Here is the story:
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.
To make this tortellini soup:
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!
Delicious and so easy!
I made in my pressure cooker with perfect results!
Thanks for a great Fall recipe?
Happy Thursday! So glad this recipe was enjoyed and thanks for making it! xTieghan
Made this on a cold/rainy football Sunday and it was perfect! It made the house smell amazing we couldn’t wait for it to be ready. Will definitely be making it again, may just put half the tortellini in to make it more “soupy”!
Hey Amanda! This is awesome, I’m so happy to hear this recipe turned out the way you’d hoped! 🙂 xTieghan
Is there one particular way you recommend to make this – stove, crock pot, or instant pot? Does slow cooking it result in better flavors?
Hi there! Any of these methods will work great, it’s really whatever is convenient for you! xTieghan
My new favorite recipe. I have both of your cookbooks and love everything I have ever tried. I made this recipe last week and it was fantastic! I love the flavor combinations. I added cayenne pepper instead of red pepper flakes. I don’t like the flavor of red pepper flakes. I put in less fennel seeds and substituted the kale with spinach. It turned out amazing! I’ve added to my frequently used recipe list. Thank you Soo much for this one!
Hi there! Thanks so much for making this recipe, I hope you enjoyed it! Happy Weekend 🙂 xTieghan
Delicious! Thank you for the recipe Tieghan
Hey Laura! Thanks so much for making this recipe, I hope you enjoyed it! Happy Weekend 🙂 xTieghan
I made this for my family last night with a few tweaks and it turned out delicious! I used dried tortellini instead of fresh, Italian sausage spice mix instead of dried basil and dried thyme, canned coconut milk instead of milk or cream and I tossed in some rotisserie chicken. I’ll definitely be making this again!
Hi there! Thanks so much for making this recipe, I hope you enjoyed it! Happy Weekend 🙂 xTieghan
I love all of your recipes! Thank you. How long does this soup last in the fridge?
Hey there! Thanks so much! I would say about 3-4 days 🙂 xTieghan
Can you freeze the tortellini soup
Hi there! Yes, I would recommend freezing the actual soup separately from the tortellini and then adding the tortellini in when you are wanting to serve! 🙂 xTieghan
This looks great, excited to try it! Question: Do you chop up the carrots and celery into tiny cubes, or are they big chunks as shown in your photo? I would imagine the former, as I generally do for soups, but I wasn’t sure. Thanks!
Hi there! Yes, I would chop into smaller pieces! 🙂 xTieghan
Can I use coconut milk instead of whole milk? Is there a different alternative that is better? (I am Dairy sensitive)
Yes, coconut milk would work just fine! 🙂 xTieghan
I used canned coconut milk instead of milk or cream and it tasted delicious!
Do you need to use the wine? Will it still taste good if omitted?
You can omit it and sub chicken/veggie broth! 🙂 xTieghan
This soup was delicious and so flavorful. I used more red pepper flakes (i love some heat) and used some chicken and beef broth because that’s all I had available at home. LOVED it. Will be making it again this winter!
Hey there! Thanks so much for giving this recipe a try, I hope it was delish! Have a great week 🙂 xTieghan
Do you think cubed butternut squash and mushrooms would be a good addition with the flavor profile?
Hi there! I think that would be a delicious addition! I hope you love it 🙂 xTieghan
this soup was fun to make, and made the house smell amazing simmering in the crockpot all day! I do have to agree with a few previous commenters that the flavor of the broth did fall a bit flat for me. If I made again I would try to increase amount of spices for more flavor and/or use a more high quality vegetable broth. Everything else was spot on! Thanks for the recipe!
Hi there! Thanks so much for trying out this recipe, so glad to hear it was enjoyed! And thank you for the feedback as well, it’s much appreciated! Have a wonderful week! xTieghan
I’m eating my first bowl of this now…the broth turned out surprisingly subtly flavored, though I did not have fennel seeds so that may be the reason why. Overall, a very satisfying meal!
Just put everything in the crockpot! Although, I read the directions wrong and used chicken broth instead of vegetable broth! ?? I hope it will still turn out ok!
Did it come out ok probably even better