:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/Simply-Recipes-One-Pot-Soup-LEAD-01-255eebe475514fb2818a787901900712.jpg "The Easy Tortellini Soup My Family Begs Me For on Repeat")
As a daily meal provider for seven people—and often more when we have friends or family over—when I find a recipe that is enough to feed an army, is requested over and over again, and has vegetables everyone will eat, I cling to it. Like, slap it in a golden frame and hang it up on my Recipe Hall of Fame, kind of clingy.
When I first made Emma Christensen’s Creamy Tortellini Soup with Sausage and Spinach, I knew it was a winner for those very reasons. What I didn’t know at that time was that it would quickly rise to one of the top requested dinners by my family of all time. It’s just that good!
It’s an easy recipe to make: Brown sausage and chopped vegetables, and add chicken stock, canned beans, store-bought tortellini, and just enough cream to keep it a hearty meal that’s so satisfying.
What first drew me to this soup was that I always have the ingredients (or close enough) on hand. Plus, soup is an easy way to use up the extra vegetables I have in the crisper, like celery, carrots, or even zucchini. And I’m not shy about adding whatever else I want.
A Smart Shortcut
To make this soup even quicker, I brown my onions and garlic with the sausage, and then add in all the veggies (except the spinach!) at once.
How To Make It Creamy Without Too Much Cream
I usually stay away from creamy soups because I don’t like how sluggish I feel after eating—most contain way too much heavy cream. Emma uses a genius trick to make the soup creamy with just 1/2 cup of cream: puréed white beans. I had never heard of doing such a thing and thought it was a brilliant move.
Not only is it delicious, I feel great about feeding my family a nourishing soup, which makes my heart sing. I’ve taken this little trick and modified other creamy soups with it.
Two Things That Take This Soup to the Next Level
Now, let’s chat about two things I never skip when making this tortellini soup:
The first is the apple cider vinegar. It really brightens the soup, so whatever you do PLEASE don’t skip it! I love using Bragg Apple Cider Vinegar because it uses organic apples and is unfiltered and unpasteurized. (If you’re curious about why this is important, you can read about it here.)
My second is homemade chicken stock. I always have chicken stock on hand because it’s cheaper for me to buy fresh chicken, cook it, and make my stock using the bones than it is to buy pre-cooked chicken or boxed chicken stock. I can never go back to using the store-bought stuff because homemade is so much better and budget-friendly. And to make my soup go further, I will add an extra cup or two of stock.
Have I convinced you to try it? I hope that it’ll become a tried-and-true dinner at your house like it has become at mine.