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This creamy bowl of Pesto Tortellini Zuppa Toscana is the perfect cold-weather dinner. Spicy Italian chicken sausage simmered together with basil pesto, cheese tortellini, kale, a little lemon, and finished with crispy bacon. Add a sprinkle of parmesan cheese to each bowl and serve with crusty bread. It’s hearty, full of greens, and so delicious. A fun twist on the classic and great for just about any night of the week!
We finally have snow here! This has been the weirdest December I’ve ever seen. We’ve had very little snowfall and back to back days of sunshine. Usually by this time of year we have full snow cover and more snowy days than sunny. But this year has just been so strange.
I’m excited to report that we have a couple days of snow in the forecast. Snowy cold days mean soup! And this is one I’ve been looking forward to making for months.
A few years ago I made my own version of the Olive Garden’s very well loved Zuppa Toscana. It’s been such a favorite soup ever since. When I make it for people, they always ask for the recipe.
Back in the fall I had the idea to replace the potatoes in the soup with some cheese tortellini. At the time I had been making a lot of soup, so I held off on this recipe until I had the perfect day to make it.
Well, I finally made it, and I actually think it’s better than the original.
Here are the details
The key to a good Zuppa Toscana is the spicy sausage. So begin with the sausage, you’ll want to brown it with onions and garlic and add in some broth. Then, I love to add chopped sun-dried tomatoes and basil pesto for even more flavor.
This may not be traditional but it really adds so much to this hearty soup. I’ve found that both the addition of sun-dried tomatoes, pesto, and fresh lemon really lighten things up and truly enhance the flavors.
Once you have everything in the soup, add the kale and let it cook down into the broth. Towards the end of cooking, stir in the tortellini, cream, and parmesan.
Then just ladle the soup into bowls and top with crispy bacon. Nothing fancy at all, but so warming delicious.
Really excited to serve this to my family over Christmas break. My cousin Abby loves soup, so this is perfect!
Bonus, this soup is great to have after coming in from the cold and so easy to cook up too.
Looking for winter soup recipes? Here are a few ideas:
Creamy Gnocchi Soup with Rosemary Bacon
Creamy French Onion and Mushroom Soup
Lastly, if you make this Pesto Tortellini Zuppa Toscana 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!
Pesto Tortellini Zuppa Toscana
Ingredients
- 4 slices thick cut bacon, chopped
- 3/4 pound ground spicy Italian chicken or pork sausage
- 1 yellow onion, chopped
- 2 ribs celery, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, chopped
- crushed red pepper flakes
- 6 cups low sodium chicken broth
- 1/3 cup basil pesto, homemade or store-bought
- 1/3 cup oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, oil drained, and tomatoes chopped
- juice of 1 lemon
- kosher salt and black pepper
- 1 bunch Tuscan or curly kale, roughly chopped
- 1 pound cheese tortellini
- 3/4 cup heavy cream or whole milk
- 1/2 cup grated parmesan or asiago cheese
Instructions
- 1. Cook the bacon in a large pot over medium heat until crisp, about 5 minutes. Remove the bacon. If there's excess bacon grease, drain off all but 1 tablespoon. 2. To the pot, add the sausage and onion. Brown all over, about 5 to 8 minutes. Add the celery, garlic, and a pinch of chili flakes, cook 2 minutes. Pour in the broth, 1 cup water, the pesto, sun-dried tomatoes, lemon juice, and season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. 3. Stir in the kale and cook 5 minutes, until wilted, stir in the tortellini. Cook 2-3 minutes, then add the cream and parmesan. Remove from the heat. Stir in the reserved bacon.4. Serve the soup topped with additional parmesan and fresh thyme, if desired.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Did you make this recipe? Please rate & comment below.
This soup is so f**king good my sister made it and I’m a picky eater and I immediately was obsessed and had her send me the recipe I ended up making it for my boyfriend and another time for my mom and myself and both times it turned out perfect and I am not a cook in the slightest but it was so easy and quick and uncomplicated. I’m not someone who leaves reviews either but this sh*t is so good and the checklist was also a brilliant idea I always mess up recipes because I can’t focus but the breakdown of everything def helped! Love this !!
Hey Riley,
Happy Sunday!! Thanks a bunch for making this recipe and your comment, I’m so glad to hear it was a winner!
I have been making this soup for a couple years now and it is one of my absolute FAVORITES. The tortellini, pesto and sundried tomatoes really make it stand out. I use a whole pound of turkey sausage and sub half & half for the heavy cream to cut down on the calories. Sometimes if I don’t feel like messing with the bacon I’ll leave it out and you would never notice because the soup has so much flavor. Lately, I’ve been buying tortellini that is 24 oz. and I’ll just use it all and add like 1 extra cup of chicken broth to make up for the extra volume. Thank you Tieghan!! Big fan! 🙂
Hey Bev,
Perfect! So glad to hear this recipe always turns out well for you, thanks a bunch for making it so often!
I don’t have kale but a bag of frozen spinach. Would that work instead of kale?
Hey Suzanne,
Totally, that will work nicely for you! I hope you love this recipe, please let me know if you give it a try!
Absolutely delicious! This is definitely going to be in our soup rotation. It’s different and filling. I accidentally used some roasted red peppers in a jar because I thought it was sun dried tomatoes and ended up using both and it was perfect. The bacon is a nice garnish, but definitely not needed and can be optional, in my opinion.
Hi Lettie,
Perfect! Love to hear this recipe turned out nicely for you, thanks for making it! Happy Holidays!🎁🎄
I’ve been making this for years now and it’s easily my favorite soup. We don’t love kale so I use spinach. Highly recommend this recipe (we also just use one lb of sausage).
Hey Kimberly,
I’m grateful you love making this recipe and took the time to comment. Delighted it always turns out!
Happy Thanksgiving!
Our daughter introduced this to us. We are foodies, and she first cooked it for a bunch of those in the food industry. We have all gone completely nuts over this soup. It is honestly one of the best soups we have ever had! She also won a cooking soup cook-off with it.
Thank you so much, Amy:) I love to hear this recipe is always enjoyed, I appreciate you making it!
Great recipe, but I think next time I might not add as much pesto as it called for…I felt like there was just a little bit too much. Would definitely make again though.
Hey Erin,
Fantastic! I appreciate you trying this recipe, I am so glad to hear it turned out well for you!
This was outstanding!
Hi Suzanne,
Fantastic!! I’m so glad to hear this recipe turned out well for you, thanks a bunch for making it:)
This is hands down a favorite recipe for my husband and myself! I make it almost once a week and do enough so we can have leftovers the next day! It’s seriously so good, I love anything with sun-dried tomatoes but what really does it for me is the pesto. It adds so much flavor.
Hey Jennifer,
Thanks so much! Love to hear this recipe always turns out well for you, I appreciate you making it so often! xx
My husbands company does soup Mondays in January and February. They each take turns bring a soup on Monday. One of his coworkers brought in this would and my husband loved it sent me the recipe so I am making it tonight….hopefully I love it too so I can add it to our Sunday soup rotation at home !
Thanks so much! I hope you love this recipe, let me know how it turns out for you! Happy Sunday! xT
Hands down one of the best things I can ever made. So delicious.
Hey Tiffany,
Yay! Love to hear this recipe was a hit, thanks for making it! Have the best weekend:) x
I’ve been making this for years and years and it’s probably my favorite recipe. We use a pound of sausage and either spinach or baby kale. It’s so easy and fast but incredibly delicious. Thank you!
Hi Kim,
Wonderful! I’m so glad this recipe always turns out nicely for you, thanks for making it so often! Merry Christmas!!🎄🎁☃️
Can you use frozen tortellini
Hey Erica,
Sure, that would work nicely for you! I hope you love this recipe! xx
This was such a good recipe for a cozy night in! We used gluten free tortellini, but followed to the T otherwise. This turned out fantastic!
Hey Eryn,
Happy Monday! Thanks a lot for making this recipe, I’m so glad to hear it turned out well for you! Have a nice week:) xx