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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!
I realize this is a vegetable soup 🙂 but my husband wants chicken. If I add it, just put it in at the beginning with the rest of the ingredients?
Hey Taylor,
You bet, that will work well for you. Please let me know if you give the recipe a try, I hope you love it! xTieghan
Delicious!! Loved all of the different flavors and have leftovers for days now!
Hi Brianna,
Happy Sunday! Thanks a lot for making this recipe, I love to hear that it was a winner! xxTieghan
I’m making this tonight but want to add shredded chicken. Would you cook separately then add at end ? Or cook in with ingredients?
Hi Trisha,
You could certainly add it at the beginning of the recipe or cook separately and at the end to warm through, it’s really up to you:) Let me know if you give the recipe a try! xTieghan
Honestly at first I was not so impressed with the smell while it was cooking. I thought maybe I did something wrong but I followed the directions. Once I added the kale, cream, parm and tortellini it totally transformed. This is truly one of the best soups I’ve ever made and relatively easy to make!
Hi there,
Happy Friday!! Love hearing that you enjoy this recipe, I so appreciate you giving it a try! xxT
A go to soup for so many occasions! The flavors are wonderful! I never use the cream and still is amazing! Thank you!
Hi Adriana,
Thanks so much for giving this recipe a try, I love to hear that it was enjoyed! xTieghan
LOVED this recipe! Everyone went back for seconds. I used the instant pot and added a pound of ground beef to cook with the vegetables. Absolutely amazing and can’t wait for leftovers tomorrow!
Hi Victoria,
Awesome! Thanks so much for giving this recipe a try, I love to hear that it was enjoyed! xxTieghan
Probably the best soup I’ve ever had. I’m a vegetarian but miss the taste of meat in soups and the seasonings she used in this made it soo satisfying sans the sausage!
Hey Sasha,
Awesome! I am so glad to hear that this recipe was enjoyed, thank you for making it! xxT
This is so delicious! I made the full recipe and it’s just me eating-is there a way I can freeze half?
Hi Nicole,
Fantastic!! I am so glad that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks a lot for giving it a try. I would freeze without the tortellini. Have the best week! xTieghan
Delicious recipe, definitely a winner ~ thanks for the great dinner inspiration! Sharing a few modifications based on what I had in the kitchen and some tricks I’ve learned along the way:
Swapped in chicken broth and added diced pancetta to get things rolling. Used baby spinach instead of kale (personal preference). Also, added Parmesan cheese rinds to the soup for ~15min while it simmered to make the broth richer for a cold day. It was a hit with my husband.
Hey Meg,
Fantastic!! I am so glad that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks a lot for giving it a try. Have the best week! xTieghan
super yummy! thanks, tieghan!
Hey there,
Fantastic!! I am so glad that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks a lot for giving it a try. Have the best week! xTieghan
Can’t wait to try this recipe! Do you think it would work with Almond milk? Or is whole milk/cream necessary?
Hey Jamie,
Almond milk would be just fine to use! Please let me know if I can help in any other way, I hope you love the recipe! xTieghan
Oh boy, this soup is delicious. It was the perfect recipe to clean a few vegetables out the the fridge that didn’t have much life left in them. I substituted the kale with spinach, because that’s what I had and added a few mushrooms. It was easy to cook in the slow cooker then when everyone was ready to eat, I added the tortellini, spinach and cream. There’s even enough left over for lunch tomorrow ??
Hey Juli,
Happy Friday! Thanks so much for giving this recipe a try, I love to hear that it was enjoyed! xTieghan
LOOOOOOOVED IT!!!!! I love tortellini so much, so I really enjoyed this
Hey Aisha,
Happy Friday! Thanks so much for giving this recipe a try, I love to hear that it was enjoyed! xTieghan
This was AMAZING. I made this on the stove top and added chicken thighs as in your garlic lemon soup because I wanted some meat. SO good. I let it simmer for awhile. Honestly before adding the cream I was worried it wasn’t going to come together because of the slight change I made, but WOW. And it was even better the following days. Thank you.
Hey Jacky,
Awesome! Thanks a lot for making this recipe. I love to hear that it was enjoyed! Happy Thursday❄️ xxT
I made this in the Instapot and it is delicious! I added some chopped broccoli for more veggies, used a fresh tortellini stuffed with spinach and cheese, and used spinach in the end as I’m not a huge fan of kale.
I kept the tortellini in the leftover soup and I’m glad I did. The pasta absorbed the liquid and turned it into more of a stew. It’s so hearty and healthy, I will be making this one again and again!
Suggestions – add some hot sauce to your bowl or a squeeze of lemon. It’s turns it up a notch!
Hey Cheryl,
Awesome! Thanks a lot for making this recipe. I love to hear that it was enjoyed! Happy Thursday❄️ xxT