Instant Pot Sausage Tortellini Soup is a family favorite soup with loads of flavor from sausage, cheese tortellini and parmesan. Serve up with fresh breadsticks or cornbread and honey butter.
Note: SLOW COOKER instructions are listed in the recipe card below
Instant Pot Sausage Tortellini Soup
I give this soup 5 stars! It was a hit with each member of my family. With lots of flavor and a bit of creaminess it hits the spot and is comforting on a chilly night. We served ours up with our favorite cornbread. Another option is making homemade Little Casesars Crazy Bread. Either way you’ll have happy taste buds.
What kind of sausage should I use? I used ground breakfast sausage (it might have been the Farmland brand or maybe Jimmy Dean). You can use any type of ground sausage that you like. If you want to bump up the flavor use a spicy sausage or Italian sausage.
What kind of broth do you use? For making soups in the Instant Pot I like to use water and Better Than Bouillon Chicken Base*. I buy mine in the large jars from Costco. I used 4 cups of water and 4 tsp of the chicken base. You can also use canned or boxed chicken broths.
What kind of tortellini did you use? Look for cheese tortellini in the frozen section of your grocery store. They frozen tortellini and ravioli are usually found next to the frozen breads/doughs. I haven’t tried this recipe with fresh tortellini but I’m sure you could with great results. The fresh tortellini might need to cook a little longer than frozen.
What’s up with two types of tomatoes? By using crushed tomatoes and diced tomatoes you get the best of both worlds. The crushed tomatoes have a more pureed texture and the diced tomatoes give you a few chunks of tomatoes in your soup. Alternately, you can use 2 cans crushed or 2 cans of diced.
How are the leftovers? The only issue with this soup is that the tortellini gets bloated and a bit mushy as leftovers. I will definitely still eat it! But it just won’t have the same texture as the first night.
Does this soup freeze well? This isn’t the best soup to freeze because of the dairy separating and the pasta getting mushy. Some other choices of soup that might freeze well are Instant Pot Brunswick Stew or Instant Pot Loaded Frito Taco Soup,
Can I halve this recipe? Yes you can. Just use one type of tomatoes (so you don’t have two cans that are half used). Cook for the same amount of time. Get more info on how to halve Instant Pot recipes successfully.
Can I double this recipe? This soup will only double if you have a large 10 quart Instant Pot. You can 1.5 times the recipe in the 8 quart pot successfully. Find out more about successfully doubling Instant Pot recipes.
Can I use a lactose free dairy option? I am not entirely sure on how it will affect the flavor profile but you can sure give it a shot. Let me know in the comments what you use and if it turns out well.
More Soup Recipes You’ll Love…
Instant Pot Chicken Alfredo Tortellini Soup
Slow Cooker Chicken Alfredo Tortellini Soup
Instant Pot Italian Tortellini Soup
Slow Cooker Italian Tortellini Soup
Instant Pot Italian Sausage and Spinach Soup
Slow Cooker Italian Sausage and Spinach Soup
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Instant Pot Sausage Tortellini Soup
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 5 minutes (plus 5 minute NPR)
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 8 servings 1x
Description
A family favorite soup with loads of flavor from sausage, cheese tortellini and parmesan. Serve up with fresh breadsticks or cornbread and honey butter.
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground sausage
- 1 cup diced onion
- 1/2 cup diced celery
- 1/2 cup diced carrots
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 1 (14 oz) can diced tomatoes
- 1 (14 oz) can crushed tomatoes
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
- 1 (19 oz) package frozen tortellini
- 1 cup evaporated milk or heavy cream or half and half
- 1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese
- Salt and pepper (about 1/4 tsp each)
- Fresh basil, for garnish
Instructions
Instant Pot Instructions:
- Turn Instant Pot to the sauté setting. When display says HOT add in the ground sausage and break it up*. Add in the onion, celery and carrots. Cook for about 5 minutes. Drain any excess grease. Turn off Instant Pot.
- Add in broth, tomatoes, garlic powder and Italian seasoning. Scrape bottom of pot so that nothing is sticking.
- Cover Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the soup button (or manual/pressure cook button) to 5 minutes. When time is up let the pot sit for 5-10 minutes and then move the valve to venting. Remove the lid.
- Add in the frozen tortellini and turn the Instant Pot to sauté. The tortellini should cook through in just 2-3 minutes.
- Add a quarter cup of the hot liquid into the dairy and stir. Repeat. This will help temper the dairy to prevent separating.
- Once tortellini is cooked through remove the Instant Pot liner from the pot and set on the counter. Stir in the dairy and parmesan cheese. Then add salt and pepper to taste (this is important!).
- Ladle into bowls and top with chopped fresh basil.
Slow Cooker Instructions:
- Heat a pan over medium high heat. Add in the ground sausage and break it up*. Add in the onion, celery and carrots. Cook for about 5 minutes. Drain any excess grease. Add to the slow cooker.
- Add in broth, tomatoes, garlic powder and Italian seasoning.
- Cover and cook on low for 4 hours.
- Add in the tortellini and cover and cook for 15 minutes.
- Add a quarter cup of the hot liquid into the dairy and stir. Repeat. This will help temper the dairy to prevent separating. Add the dairy and parmesan cheese into the slow cooker.
- Add salt and pepper to taste (this is important!).
- Ladle into bowls and top with chopped fresh basil.
Notes
How I use paper towels to “drain the grease”–Tilt the Instant Pot to one side while holding the ground meat against the other side with a wooden spoon. This should make most of the grease pool on the tilted side. Lower the Instant Pot down, the meat should stay to its side and the grease on the other. Place a couple paper towels into the grease and use the spoon to sop up the grease. Discard the paper towels.
I used my 6 quart Instant Pot Duo 60 7 in 1*. No changes for the 8 quart. Halve the recipe for the 3 quart pot.
- Category: Soup
- Method: Instant Pot or Slow Cooker
*Karen Petersen is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.
I made this soup tonight. It was wonderful and so flavorful! I made it just as you posted. Delicious!
Thank you Sandy!
I made this tonight and my picky family loved it. I used mild Italian sausage and my husband said he wished I’d used a little spicier sausage but he likes spicy and I don’t so adjust to your tastes. I thought mild Italian sausage was perfect. He did add red pepper flakes on his own bowl. I used tomato sauce instead of crushed tomatoes and half & half because that’s what I had. It’s definitely a make again recipe for us! I think next time I’ll add white cannelloni beans to it. I served it with homemade bread from bread machine. Good meal for cold weather.
★★★★★
I really like the idea of adding the beans! Sounds so good!
This soup is amazing-i used a 28oz can of crushed tomatoes as that was what i had, also I didnt have cream etc so i used Coconut cream and it worked out ok. I think this base soup is an amazing tomato soup and I will try that next-leaving out the sausage/tortellini. Thanks!!
So glad you loved it Julie!
Made this tonight, on a rainy and cold Saturday evening. It was delicious! I liked the comment Bonnie said about fishing out the tortellinis and just adding them back in. There are only 2 of us also so I am going to use this tip! Thank you both! I added this to my soup collection! Stay Warm!
★★★★★
Thanks Linda!!! you too 😊
My family thought this soup was great! Unfortunately, we got a little distracted and served the soup immediately after the pressure release. I had a feeling I should recheck the recipe, but we were hungry and the table was ready. We added a can of sliced mushrooms, which was a nice addition. I look forward to making this tortellini soup again–with the tortellini–but it was yummy even without!
★★★★★
Glad it was still great!
Could you use ravioli instead?
yes that would work!
I made this recipe for dinner this past snowy Saturday. I didn’t have carrots or celery on hand but did use onions and added 3 cloves of minced garlic in place of the garlic powder. I left out the cream because the hubby was complaining about all of the rich creamy soups I’ve been making lately starting to show on his waistline. I tossed in a tsp or so of red pepper flakes which added flavor, not heat. Turned out absolutely delicious! So good that we ate the leftovers for breakfast the next day! This has been added to our favorites list!!
★★★★★
Yum! Sounds like a perfect version!
I made this last night and it was fantastic. I did use mild italian sausage, a blend of mozz/prov cheese instead of parm, and added a tbsp of red pepper flakes to liven it up a bit.
Thanks for sharing!
★★★★★
A tbsp? Wow! Was that hot?
I made this for dinner last night. I used turkey sausage since I’m trying to eat healthy and since I only had about half the called for tortellini I threw in some ravioli I had on hand as well. My wife said it smelled strange, but we both really liked it. This will certainly go into my “make it again,” recipe book.
Glad you all ended up liking it!
Can’t wait to make this tonight! Can I substitute the sausage for ground turkey?
If you do I would add in a lot more seasonings since sausage adds so much flavor!
We love Tortellinis at our house. With only two of us, they get soggy for leftovers. I take the time after I’ve served us to “fish” out the Tortellinis and put them in a baggie. That way when I reheat it I just add them back, as many as I think we will eat. I’ve also been known to freeze the soup without the Tortellinis and then add more when I eat it later.
That’s a good tip Bonnie. Thank you.
Thank you for this tip! I will be doing this also!
★★★★★
Wow! I can’t wait to make this!!! It looks sooo yummy!
Thanks again for all your great recipes!
You’re welcome Susanna! We really loved it!