The Soup (Creamy Sausage Tortellini)

This creamy sausage tortellini soup, known as "The Soup" on Reddit, is a wildly popular recipe because it's flavorful and easy to make.

This soup features a creamy tomato broth with Italian sausage and cheese tortellini. It is hearty, flavorful and super easy to make.

Why I love this recipe

While browsing Reddit, I kept seeing threads about "The Soup," it was almost like a secret code word. I went on a rabbit hole and discovered this recipe and now I understand the hype.

This tortellini soup yields a flavorful broth that is creamy, packed with tomato flavor and fresh spinach.

This soup is a complete meal: the sausage and tortellini are filling and packed with flavor, you will need no side dishes with this meal.

Main Ingredients:

• Sausage: Use mild or hot Italian sausage. You will need a package of sausage or sausage links (remove the casings). I used chorizo in this soup and it added a ton of flavor and just a little heat.
• Tortellini: Use fresh tortellini (found in the refrigerated section of the supermarket).
• Canned tomatoes: This is the base of the broth and it balances the cream to create a silky soup.
• Heavy cream: Gives the soup the most silky texture.
• Spinach: To balance out the creamy texture and add a pop of color and nutritious greens to the soup.
• Seasoning: salt, pepper and a dash of Italian seasoning are enough on this soup.
• Aromatics: Garlic and onion add the fragrant base to this soup.
• Broth: Chicken broth.

Instructions

Cook the sausage

In a large pot soup, I love using a dutch oven for this, cook the sausage until it is evenly browned. Stir with a wooden spoon often to avoid sticking. Do not add extra oil as the sausage will release some fat.

While the sauce is cooking, prep the onion and garlic.

Once the sausage is evenly cooked, remove from the pot and set aside on a paper towel lined plate.

If there is a lot of fat in the pot, drain some of it and leave about 1 tablespoon to cook the onions.

Make the soup base

In the same pot you cooked the sausage, add the onions and cook them for 3-5 minutes or until translucent.

Add the garlic and stir. Cook for 1 minute until the garlic releases its aroma.

Add the canned tomatoes, broth and seasonings and simmer for 20 minutes.

Finish the soup

Add the sausage and tortellini to the soup and cook for an additional 10 minutes. Add the heavy cream and spinach and cook for another 5.

If you plan on having leftover, I suggest to leave the heavy cream out (use it only when serving the individual portions).

Serve

Add the soup to a bowl and sprinkle generously with freshly grated parmesan cheese. Enjoy immediately.

Serving suggestions

This soup is great on its own and it is very filling.

If you need to add a side dish, crusty Italian bread goes really well with this soup.

If you are looking for a lighter side dish, a simple arugula salad tossed in lemon and olive oil will be delicious.

Storage instructions

This soup can be refrigerated for up to 2 days. Note that when refrigerated, the tortellini will soak up the broth the longer it sits.

If you want to freeze this soup, I recommend leaving the cream out and only using it when ready to serve as a final touch.