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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!
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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!
Quick How-To Video:
Healthier Slow Cooker Creamy Tortellini Vegetable Soup.
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 yellow onion, chopped
- 2-4 cloves garlic, minced or grated
- 2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves, (or 2 teaspoons dried)
- 1 tablespoon dried basil
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano
- 1-2 teaspoons fennel seeds, use to your taste
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 pinch crushed red pepper flakes
- kosher salt and black pepper
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 6 carrots, chopped
- 4 celery stalks, chopped
- 1/2 cup dry white wine, such as Pinot Grigio or Sauvignon Blanc
- 6 cups low sodium vegetable broth
- 4-6 cups roughly chopped kale
- 1/2 cup whole milk or heavy cream
- 1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese, plus more for serving
- 1 pound fresh cheese tortellini
Instructions
Slow Cooker
- 1. Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. When the oil shimmers, add the onion, garlic, thyme, basil, oregano, fennel, paprika, and a pinch each of salt and pepper. Cook 5 minutes, until very fragrant. Remove from the heat and add to the bowl of your crockpot. Stir in the tomato paste, carrots, and celery. 2. To the crockpot, add the wine, broth, and a pinch of red pepper flakes. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 4-5.3. During the last 15 minutes of cooking, stir in the kale, cream, parmesan, and the tortellini. 4. Serve the soup topped with additional parmesan and fresh oregano, if desired.
Instant Pot
- 1. Set Instant Pot to sauté. Add the olive oil, onion, carrots, celery, garlic, thyme, basil, oregano, fennel, paprika, and a pinch each of salt and pepper. Cook 5 minutes, until very fragrant. Stir in the tomato paste. Turn the Instant Pot off.2. To the instant pot, add the wine, broth, and a pinch of red pepper flakes. Cover and cook on high pressure for 6 minutes.3. Once done cooking, use the natural or quick release function. Set the Instant Pot to sauté. Stir in the kale, cream, parmesan, and the tortellini. Cook until the kale is wilted, about 10 minutes. Turn the Instant Pot off. 4. Serve the soup topped with additional parmesan and fresh oregano, if desired.
Stove-Top
- 1. Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. When the oil shimmers, add the onion and cook 5 minutes, until golden. Add the carrots, celery, garlic, thyme, basil, oregano, fennel, paprika, and a pinch each of salt and pepper. Cook another 5 minutes, until very fragrant. Stir in the tomato paste. Add the wine, broth, and a pinch of red pepper flakes. Simmer over medium heat for 20-30 minutes, until the carrots are tender. 2. About 10 minutes before serving, stir in the kale, cream, parmesan, and the tortellini.3. Serve the soup topped with additional parmesan and fresh oregano, 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.
I added baked diced chicken into the pot with the tortellini. Great add for a more dinner feeling recipe. Also, I used spinach instead of kale. This soup was a hit and I’ll be making it again!
Thank you so much Carrie! I am really happy to hear that! xTieghan
Wow, what a delicious soup. This was my first time making one of your recipes. It turned out great. Couldn’t be happier with it. Thank you.
Thank you so much Rica! I am really glad you enjoyed this! xTieghan
Hi! If I plan on making a bunch of this, do you think it would freeze okay? As in with the cream/pasta/parm too? Thanks!
Hey Jeanna,
I would freeze but keep the tortellini separately. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
Can the milk or cream be left out? I understand it will not be creamy.
Hey Ilene,
Yes totally fine to omit. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
Would this soup freeze well? Thanks in advance!
Hey Kristyn,
I would freeze this soup with the tortellini separate. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
Hey Tieghan! This soup looks amazing! I just happen to have everything but the kale on hand already! I do have half a bag of tricolor coleslaw mix (shredded green and purple cabbage + carrots) in the bottom of the fridge. Do you think I could sub that in for the kale, or would it change the taste/texture too much?
Hey Kate,
In place of the kale I would use spinach, I don’t think cabbage would be the best option. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
Made this soup this week and really loved it. It’s a keeper for me! LOVE soup season!!!!!!!
Thank you so much MaryAnn!! xTieghan
We love this soup. Delicious and filling. Wonderful flavors and a great use of all our stored garden vegetables. We used spinach, which we always have in the fridge, instead of kale. Perfect for our chilly fall New Hampshire weather.
Thank you so much Diane!! I am really glad this turned out so well for you! xTieghan
Hi! Can’t wait to make this this week. Can we sub 2% milk instead of whole or heavy cream? Or do you believe it wouldn’t be creamy enough? Thanks!
Hey Sophie,
2% milk is totally fine to use! I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
I immediately pinned this recipe when I first saw it, and we were counting down the days until it was cool enough to make. It was SO delicious! I doubled the amount of veggies that it called for, but other than that pretty much followed the recipe exactly for the stovetop version. Can’t wait to make this when we can safely have guests over for dinner again!
Love that! Thank you so much for trying this one, Alex!! xTieghan
Hi, Tieghan! Currently have your 5-ingredient beer bread in the oven as I type this 🙂
This may be a silly question, but I’m curious–In the first step when you sauté the onions, garlic, and herbs, is there a reason you instruct doing it in a large pot before transferring to the slow cooker? Would it be alright to do this in a smaller pan, or will I be missing out on some magic cooking trick that’ll take everything up a notch?
Thank you for your incredible work!
Hey Mila,
You just want to use a pot that has enough room. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
Made this for dinner and absolutely loved it! I swapped out spinach for kale, and it was great. I didn’t have tomato paste so I omitted it, but that definitely resulted in a slightly less appetizing colour of the broth so next time I’d be sure to add that in. Despite that, it was still absolutely delicious. I made HBH’s soft pretzels to go with it. I will make this over and over!
Amazing!! I am so glad you enjoyed this soup, Leah! xTieghan
Really good for a fall dinner!! My husband didn’t particularly like the kale but the veggies and broth tasty! Thank you for your great recipes!!
Thank you so much Deborah! I am really glad this turned out so well for you! xTieghan
Hi I accidentally bought ravioli think that will work?
Hey Robi,
Yes that will be fine to use. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
This was absolutely delicious! Made it on the stovetop and added my own spin: mushrooms along with the onions, browned some chicken sausage and used chicken stock. So simple and a hit. Will make again and again!
Thank you so much Kalilah! xTieghan