Slow Cooker Tomato and Tortellini Soup has tender cooked cheese tortellini and spinach in a super flavorful tomato soup. It’s so easy and so good!
Slow Cooker Tomato and Tortellini Soup
On the weekends, it’s not uncommon to find my husband Jack making soup. He will start the day off by filling up a big pot with all of the ingredients to make a fantastic stock or broth (like this one, or this or this) and the house is full of wonderful smells for hours while it cooks!
But lately, we’ve been very busy on the weekend, so staying home while a pot of stock cooks down on the stove for hours hasn’t been possible. That’s where recipes like this Slow Cooker Tomato and Tortellini Soup come in.
This is a simple and creamy soup full of tomatoes and other vegetables – and it gets wonderful flavor by adding a few leftover Parmesan cheese rinds as the soup cooks in the slow cooker!
Helpful Hint: Anytime you use up a wedge of Parmesan cheese – save that rind in the freezer so you can add it later to soups and sauces!
To make it, you’ll quickly sauté some diced vegetables in a skillet along with some tomato paste which serves as a thickener. (If you have a multi-cooker, like ours, you can do this step right in the pot.) Then the tomato soup is cooked the rest of the way using the slow cooker.
The base of this tomato soup is fantastic on its own – but we like to add fresh cheese tortellini, as well as fresh baby spinach just before serving to make this a complete and delicious meal.
Reader Review
“Absolutely amazing!!! My husband and I have been looking for a recipe to mimic this amazing tomato basil soup we had at a restaurant once, and this is the closest we have come yet! But the Parmesan cheese and tortellini make it even better and oh so filling! Thanks for sharing!!!!” -Becca
Key Ingredients & Substitutions
- Vegetable Broth – Homemade or store-bought.
- Tomatoes – We use canned ground or peeled San Marzano tomatoes for this soup, as well as tomato paste.
- Parmesan Cheese Rinds – See tips below.
- Herbs, Spices & Seasonings – Including bay leaf, fresh basil, fresh thyme, salt, black pepper, paprika, and red pepper flakes.
- Vegetables – Including celery, yellow onion, carrots, and garlic.
- White Wine – Such as chardonnay. This is used to deglaze the skillet. You can also use more broth for this step if you prefer.
- Cheese – Romano cheese, or Parmesan if that’s all you have on hand. (If you use Parmesan, use less salt.)
- Heavy Cream
- Unsalted Butter
- Fresh Cheese-Filled Tortellini – Frozen tortellini can be swapped in place of the fresh, but the cooking time once you’ve added the tortellini will be longer. If you use dried tortellini, you will need to pre-cook and drain before adding to this soup recipe.
- Fresh Baby Spinach
Cooking Tips & Tricks
Here are a few helpful tips when making this recipe:
- This recipe is meant for a four quart or larger slow cooker. If you have a smaller slow cooker, cut the recipe in half.
- Keep in mind that the tomato soup is pureed at the end of the cooking time (before the tortellini and spinach are added) so the dice size of the recipe really doesn’t matter.
- If you don’t have any Parmesan rinds on hand, you can add some grated Parmesan at the for additional flavor.
- Scroll down to the bottom of the recipe card to watch a video showing how we make this delicious soup!
Slow Cooker Tomato and Tortellini Soup
Slow Cooker Tomato and Tortellini Soup has tender cooked cheese tortellini and spinach in a super flavorful tomato soup. It’s so easy and so good!
- Prep Time: 30 mins
- Cook Time: 4 hours 30 mins
- Total Time: 5 hours
- Yield: 10 servings 1x
- Category: soup
- Method: slow cooker
- Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients
- 1 quart vegetable stock
- 2 28–ounce cans ground peeled tomatoes (we like Pastene or Cento) Since this soup will be pureed, you could also use canned whole peeled tomatoes.
- A few Parmesan cheese rinds, optional (will be removed after cooking)
- 1 large bay leaf (will be removed after cooking)
- 3/4 cup fresh basil, roughly cut
- 1 1/2 teaspoons fresh thyme (or 3/4 teaspoon dried thyme)
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 cup diced celery
- 1 cup diced yellow onion
- 1 1/2 cups diced carrots
- 1 tablespoon chopped garlic
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- Pinch red pepper flakes (optional)
- 4 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1/2 cup white wine
- 3/4 cup freshly grated Romano cheese (or Parmesan cheese)
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter (to smooth out the acidity, but optional)
- 20-ounce package of fresh cheese-filled tortellini
- 8 ounces baby spinach or fresh spinach, stems removed and chopped (or frozen may be used if fresh is not available)
Instructions
- In a four quart slow cooker, place stock, tomatoes, cheese rinds, bay leaf, basil and thyme. Turn your slow cooker on, setting the timer on high for four and one half hours or low for seven hours, and cover the mixture (this will allow your slow cooker to start heating up).
- While the slow cooker starts to heat up, in a large skillet, heat oil over medium high heat. Add celery, onions and carrots and cook for three to four minutes until almost soft. Add garlic, salt, pepper, paprika and pepper flakes and cook for one more minute. Add tomato paste and cook for about two minutes (being careful not to burn), then add wine to deglaze the skillet. Pour this mixture into slow cooker and stir to mix. Cover again and continue to cook for the 4 1/2 or 7 hours.
- After the cooking time is up, remove cheese rinds and bay leaf and discard. With an immersion blender puree mixture until very smooth. Add Romano cheese, cream and butter and stir with a spoon to combine. Taste and add more salt and pepper only if needed.
- Turn the slow cooker to high (if it isn’t already), then add fresh tortellini. Cook until they are fully cooked (approximately 10 minutes), then add spinach. Continue cooking just until spinach has wilted into the soup (only a minute or two). If soup is too thick, dilute with more cream or more vegetable stock.
Notes
Before you begin, you will need a four quart or larger slow cooker. If you have a smaller slow cooker, cut the recipe in half. Secondly, the soup will be pureed at the end, so the dice size of the vegetables in this recipe really doesn’t matter. Lastly, a simple trick is to freeze cheese rinds as you finish a wedge of Parmesan and then use in soups that call for Parmesan. If you don’t have any, you may want to add some grated Parmesan at the end.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Can I make Slow Cooker Tomato and Tortellini Soup ahead of time? Yes, you can. You can make the slow-cooked tomato soup the day before and chill overnight. Then, reheat and add the tortellini and spinach before serving.
- How do I store any leftovers? Cover and chill in the refrigerator for up to four days. Just note that (like any pasta) the tortellini may absorb some of the tomato soup as it cools down.
- How do I reheat the leftovers? Reheat individual servings in the microwave. If the soup has thickened and/or the tortellini has absorbed a lot of the soup, feel free to add a little vegetable stock or water to loosen the soup.
- Can I freeze this soup? You can, but the tortellini will soften as it thaws. If you know ahead of time that you won’t be able to eat the entire recipe, we suggest freezing just the tomato soup. Then thaw, reheat, and add the tortellini and spinach before serving.
Slow Cooker Tomato and Tortellini Soup originally appeared on A Family Feast in January 2014. We’ve updated the post and photos, plus some minor edits to the recipe.
Click here for more delicious Soup recipes!
Very good. Make the day before since I know that soup & stews are always better the next day. I did add the tortellini & spinach, served the next day. Tortellini did hold up. Lots of leftovers which was great for lunch. Would serve it to company. No changes, just used Gluten free cheese tortellini.
Hi Martha, would this soup be fine without the heavy cream?
Sure Sandra! You might want to add a little extra vegetable stock at the end instead if the soup is too thick.
This is delicious and I haven’t added the tortellini or spinach yet! Is it good for the freezer? Maybe before the spinach & pasta?
Hi Chris – We haven’t tried freezing it ourselves, but if you are going to freeze this soup, we’d suggest doing so after the immersion blender step in #3 (if it’s not too late, hold off on adding the cream, cheese and butter, as well as the tortellini and spinach.) Sometimes the dairy items can separate when it freezes/defrosts.
Hello! This looks delicious and I’m planning on making it this week. I’m not familiar with ground tomatoes though. Would that be the same as puréed tomatoes? Thanks!
Hi Sofie – Yes – you can use pureed tomatoes instead.
Oh WOW, this looks awesome and would be great for the upcoming South African Winter.
I tried to convert your measurement for 2 x 28 ounce cans of Tomato, and it amounts to over 2 liters/ quarts? is that correct?
Thanks Flee in South Africa
Hi Flee – I used an online coversion calculator and it looks like 56 ounces is 1.66 liters. Hope that helps!
Awesome Thank you so much, I will def give this one a bash
Thank you form Sunny South Africa
Flee
Absolutely amazing!!! My husband and I have been looking for a recipe to mimic this amazing tomato basil soup we had at a restaurant once, and this is the closest we have come yet! But the parmesan cheese and tortellini make it even better and oh so filling! Thanks for sharing!!!
Thanks Becca! So glad you liked the recipe!
LOVE THIS SOUP!!! One of the best things I’ve ever made. Just had leftover today and had to write a comment. Going to try a bunch more of your recipes too! Also…I’m Martha and I’m a runner too. 🙂
Thanks Martha! (I don’t meet very many other Martha’s….) 🙂 We’re glad you enjoyed the soup!
What kind of white wine did you use?
We used Chardonnay!