Instant Pot Italian Tortellini Soup–Italian sausage is browned with onions and garlic and then beef broth, tortellini, tomatoes, green peppers and zucchini are simmered together to produce a soup with ultimate flavor.
Get the SLOW COOKER version of the recipe here
Instant Pot Italian Tortellini Soup
One of my favorite soups growing up was Italian tortellini soup. It has so much flavor and it’s loved by everyone I know. My sister made it the other day on the stove top and my husband told me “you need to make this in the Instant Pot!” You don’t need to tell me twice! I love using my Instant Pot every chance I can get.
Some notes about Instant Pot Tortellini Soup recipe:
Italian sausage: I use mild ground Italian sausage but you can use hot Italian sausage if you like more kick. In the video we used Italian style meatballs.
Canned tomatoes: I like to use petite diced tomatoes because the tomatoes are cut smaller. You could probably use fresh tomatoes with this recipe. It would be about 2 cups chopped, seeded tomatoes.
Better than Bouillon Beef Base: I love using Better than Bouillon because it makes a delicious base for soups. It also keeps for a long time in my fridge. You can substitute with beef broth in a can or carton, if you prefer.
Carrots: I ended up using my handy dandy grater to grate my carrots but you can chop them or slice them however you like.
Zucchini: I cut my zucchini into cubes but you can also cut them into rounds
Tortellini: I usually use a package of frozen cheese tortellini for this recipe. They taste great and are available at most grocery stores. You can also use fresh tortellini that is found in the refrigerated section of the grocery store. Dried tortellini are my last choice but still work. In the video above we used a tri color dried tortellini that we found in the bulk section at Winco.
More Instant Pot Soup Recipes
Instant Pot Lasagna Soup
Instant Pot Chicken Gnocchi Soup
Instant Pot Green Chile Chicken Enchilada Soup
Chicken and Wild Rice Soup from Pressure Cooking Today
Creamy Cauliflower Soup from Peas and Crayons
What Pressure Cooker Did You Use?
For Instant Pot Italian Tortellini Soup I used my 6 quart Instant Pot Duo 60 7 in 1. I also own the 6 quart Instant Pot IP-LUX60 V3 Programmable Electric Pressure Cooker. They are both great pressure cookers! The first one I mentioned has a yogurt making function but other than that they are fairly similar. The price difference between the two is about $20.
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Instant Pot Italian Tortellini Soup
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 minute (plus time to come to pressure and time to release pressure)
- Total Time: 21 minutes
- Yield: 10 cups of soup 1x
Description
Italian sausage is browned with onions and garlic and then beef broth, tortellini, tomatoes, green peppers and zucchini are simmered together to produce a soup with ultimate flavor.
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground Italian sausage (mild or hot, it’s up to you)*
- 1 medium yellow or white onion, diced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 6 cups water
- 1 Tbsp Better Than Bouillon Beef Base
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 (14 oz) can petite diced tomatoes, with juice
- 2 (8 oz) cans tomato sauce
- 1/2 tsp dried basil
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano
- 1 large carrot, grated or sliced into quarter inch rounds
- 1 (10 oz) package frozen or fresh cheese tortellini**
- 1 medium green pepper, diced
- 1 medium zucchini, diced
Instructions
- Heat your Instant Pot by pressing the saute button and adjusting it to the hottest setting. Add in your Italian sausage and break it up with a wooden spoon. Brown the sausage and drain off any excess grease. Add in the chopped onion and the minced garlic. Saute for a few minutes until the onion is translucent.
- Add in the water, bouillon, bay leaf, tomatoes, tomato sauce, basil, oregano, carrot and tortellini. Turn the saute function off and press the manual button to pressure cook on high. Set the timer to 1 minute. Make sure the valve is set to “sealing.” It will take a few minutes for the pot to come to pressure. Once the timer beeps release the pressure by moving the valve to “venting.” Cover the vent by placing a dish rag over the top. The steam will escape for about 5 minutes. Remove the lid when the pot will allow you to.
- Stir in the diced green pepper and the zucchini. Turn the pot to the saute function and let the zucchini get tender for about 5 minutes. Remove and discard the bay leaf.
- Ladle the soup into bowls and serve!
Notes
*You can also make this soup with Italian Style Meatballs as shown in the video above. We used a 20 oz bag of Italian-style meatballs.
**I’ve made this soup with dried tortellini as well. I personally prefer the convenience and taste of frozen tortellini.
Get the SLOW COOKER version of the recipe here
For Instant Pot Italian Tortellini Soup I used my 6 quart Instant Pot Duo 60 7 in 1.
Italian sausage: I use mild ground Italian sausage but you can use hot Italian sausage if you like more kick.
Canned tomatoes: I like to use petite diced tomatoes because the tomatoes are cut smaller. You could probably use fresh tomatoes with this recipe. It would be about 2 cups chopped, seeded tomatoes.
Better than Bouillon Beef Base: I love using Better than Bouillon because it makes a delicious base for soups. It also keeps for a long time in my fridge. You can substitute with beef broth in a can or carton, if you prefer. Just use 5 cups broth and 1 cup water.
Carrots: I ended up using my handy dandy grater to grate my carrots but you can chop them or slice them however you like.
Zucchini: I cut my zucchini into cubes but you can also cut them into rounds
Tortellini: I usually use a package of frozen cheese tortellini for this recipe. They taste great and are available at most grocery stores. You can also use fresh tortellini. Dried tortellini (next to the dry pastas) don’t taste as good and in my opinion sort of ruin the soup. I would suggest not using dry tortellini.
- Category: Soup
- Method: Instant Pot
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It’s a good soup. I doubled the garlic, basil and oregano and added a cheese rind too.
cheese rind! love that idea 🙂
I made this soup but made some modifications. I used 8 cups of beef broth, a pound of Italian chicken sausage, I also added chopped mushrooms and a half a bag of frozen kale ( I’m always trying to sneak more veggies in) and I used a 20oz package of fresh tortellini. After I browned the sausage and onion and garlic I just threw everything else in and set it on high pressure cook for 5 minutes instead of one minute and then adding the bell pepper and zucchini. It came out SO GOOD! The kids loved it just as much as my husband and I did. Will definitely be making this a regular on our soup menu
Mmmm mmm!! Sounds so great!
any thoughts on a turkey or chicken version?
Trying to keep this within religious guidelines; Hindu/Jewish.
Everything I have found on this site has been wonderful!!
I would use a chicken sausage!
I would give this more stars if I could. It was delicious and filling. As another viewer stated, I added more tortellini. I used two 9-oz packages of fresh cheese filled tortellini. I didn’t have Italian sausage so I used 8 oz of pork sausage and added 1/2 tsp additional Italian seasoning to it. I also stirred in a few handfuls of fresh baby spinach before serving. My family loved it!
So glad to hear this Cheryl!
I don’t understand what you mean by 1 tbsp Better Than Bouillon base? How much water do you mix it with?
There is 6 cups of water in the recipe and then you use 1 Tbsp of the base. I buy mine at Costco. It looks like this: https://www.betterthanbouillon.com/products/roasted-beef-base/
I made this soup a couple days ago. It is very good. However, I found that only 10 ounces of frozen tortellini was not nearly enough for the amount of liquid. The soup was very thin. So, I had to cook up more tortellini real quick. I suspect I added at least 20-25 ounces of tortellini. Are you sure about the size bag you used??
Since Karen has not replied to my comment yet, can anyone else tell me your experience with the amount of frozen tortellini? Thx
The recipe says 10 oz bag, frozen or fresh
I always use 20 oz fresh tortellini
I used what she suggested and it turned out perfect.
Can I make this with gluten free noodles or just leave the tortellini out? Then make noodles on the side and add upon serving. If I do the latter, do I adjust the cook time?
To be on the safe side I would cook noodles on the side. And I would cut the water down to 5 cups.
Delicious!! The whole family loved it. I added 1/2 tsp of red pepper flakes and i think next time I’ll use a little more sausage and tortellini or less water- but I like less broth in my soup.
More sausage is always a good idea 🙂
I am making this tortallini soup right now but because I have only a 16 oz can tomatoe sauce and used a small can of Rotel with Habanero with it as I love spicy, make anything spicy and even eat habanero’s right outta the jar or raw off the plant stock. Also don’t care for zucchini so used frozen mix veggies and a table spoon of Italian seasoning. Would have used hot sausage but all I had was mild, so also several shake’s of red pepper flakes. Allie
This is awesome and so easy! I have made it once with crushed tomatoes and now have a pot going with petite diced tomatoes. Thanks for sharing this recipe.
Yum! I love this one too so very much.
Love it. It’s very delicious.
Thank you Lina!
Made this with Costco frozen Italian meatballs and crushed tomatoes. Can’t wait to make it again. Both of us loved it.
Can you halve this recipe? I cook for only 2 of us, also can you use ground beef? I am out of sausage. Thanks
You could use whatever meat you choose and season to your liking
Yes you can. Just halve the ingredients and keep the same cooking time. Add in extra seasonings to taste for the sausage.
Yay! So glad you found it. I love the idea of crushed tomatoes. They are my fave.
Made this tonight and it was delish!!! Love all the veggies!
Me too!
Delicious! I added some parmesan/romano on top and served with garlic toast.
Garlic toast!! Yum
This was delicious! Thank you! I used frozen veggies (green peppers and zucchini). YUM!!
Good to know! Thanks for sharing!
All I have is dried tortellini, how would you change the cooking method?
I would cook for 3 minutes instead of 1.
Run, don’t walk to your local grocer to get supplies and make this ASAP! It was so good! We like our veggies tender, so I sauteed them (minus zucchini) a bit with the onions and sausage. I put the zucchini in after assembling the soup and before starting the pressure cook cycle. I used Italian diced tomatoes, extra garlic, and 2 bay leaves. 1 minute of pressure cooking, 2 minutes of natural pressure release and then quick release. Perfection! Veggies were tender but held their shape. The flavor was amazing! Thanks for the great recipe!
Tasted soooo good! I added a little extra tortellini and it turned out great!
Can you use chicken as my stomach cannot handle sausage.
Yes but I would add extra seasonings. Cut up the chicken into chunks so it cooks the same rate as everything else.
Really enjoyed this. Nice base for other Soup creations as well.
We had this for dinner tonight, and it was delicious. I followed the directions as written, and it came out great! I will definitely make this again. Thank you for the wonderful reicipe.
If I have the 8 qt IP, is there any adjustment to time needed? Still haven’t figured out if size matters in IP cooking. Thank you.
For this recipe no changes are needed!
If you read label, better than bouillon does Not have msg.
Since I don’t eat beef or pork, I would substitute Italian chicken sausage. For the broth/bouillon which do you think would be better —chicken or vegetable?
I would say chicken. I bet it will taste great!
Can you freeze leftovers or with the tortellini and veggies go mushy?
They’ll be a little mushy.
It’s perfect for a cold winter evening!
I agree!
Made this for dinner tonight. It was delicious. Thank you!
Signed up to receive emails. Looking forward to trying more of your recipes.
Hi Robyn, I’m so glad you liked it! I hope you find lots of good recipes 🙂
One of the best meals I’ve made in awhile.. Entire family loved it! It’s perfect for a cold winter evening!
So glad!!
Just made this as is, except had to add frozen vegan meatballs instead of sausage. The whole family devoured it!!! Thank you!
Hooray!!
it’s delicious – thanks you!
so glad!
Hi Karen. I am interested in trying your recipe. But, I am unable to use better than bouillon because I react badly to a msg. I know you said you can use broth in its place. May I ask what changes in the recipe that would make. For example would I use less water? Thank you for your help.
I would use 5 cups of beef broth and 1 cup of water!
So just clarifying… total recipe is now 7 cups water and 5 cups beef broth?
no. It will be just 5 cups beef broth and 1 cup water.
This looks amazing! Thank you so much for converting it to the IP as well, it saves me guesswork. haha!
I think you’ll really like it!