Easy and delicious crockpot tortellini soup

I first found this Crockpot tortellini soup recipe on Salt and Lavender and we all thought it was to DIE FOR. It’s so good and so filling. My husband especially loved it as he’s a huge fan of anything that involves Italian Sausage. 

I didn’t change much with this recipe, as it was already pretty much perfect. The first time I made this recipe, I swapped out the spinach for green kale, as I happened to have a bundle in my fridge. It was delicious, but it does take a few extra minutes of cooking time for the kale to become tender. The last time I made this, I just went with spinach. Both ways are delicious! I did decide to leave out the celery but opted to add mushrooms and olives. The great thing about this dish is that it’s versatile and you can add or subtract ingredients depending on what you have on hand.

What kind of sausage should I use?

Any kind of Italian sausage would be perfect in this. We prefer to go with hot to add a little spice to the dish, but mild would be great as well. You could even leave the sausage out completely if you want to make it vegetarian, but you’d probably want to add some spices in its place like onion and garlic powder, red pepper flakes, parsley, and fennel seeds. 

A great camping meal

Crockpot tortellini soup makes a fantastic camping meal. If you’re like me, you like to travel with a crockpot in the RV (and if you don’t, you should start!). My slow cooker has come in handy many times over the years and I never leave home without it. Now, not every destination we’ve traveled to has made us want to eat a hot, steamy bowl of soup. For example, when we were visiting Moab, Utah in July and it was, oh say, 100 degrees, it was in fact not soup weather. I think my family would have left me on the side of the road had I tried to make everyone eat this soup during that trip. But, this past May when we took a road trip to Oregon and down the Pacific Coast Highway, it was the perfect weather for a meal such as this. There were several chilly evenings where we all huddled around the campfire with our fleeces wrapped around us, that soup was positively perfect. And can I just say that I love not many things more than sitting around a campfire with a big mug of soup in between my hands. 

How to prep crockpot tortellini soup for a camping trip

Prepping this meal for camping is super easy.

• The bag of tortellini can go straight into your fridge or cooler.
• Pre-cook the sausage, pre-chop the onion, carrots, olives, and mushrooms, and store everything in airtight containers. Put the ingredients in sealable bags if you’re trying to save on room.
• Buy a small container of whipping cream, because that’s all you’re going to need.
• I would absolutely always, always, always pack bouillon for a camping trip to make broth at the campsite. It’s so easy to do and saves room. Save room where you can.
• For everything else, pack it up and keep your ingredients organized so that you can find everything when you need it.
• When it’s time to cook, simply follow the recipe and get ready for a delicious-smelling camper by the time you’re ready for supper! 

Serving the soup

In Natasha’s recipe on Salt and Lavender, she notes that this soup is delicious with freshly grated parmesan-and I couldn’t agree more. However, I went a little rogue the last time I made it and added a dollop of ricotta cheese and I gotta say, that really took it over the edge for me. So that is a permanent addition in our books now. But either way you go, you can’t go wrong.  

Yield: 6 servings

Crockpot Tortellini Soup

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 4 hours

Total Time: 4 hours 15 minutes

This slow cooker tortellini soup with Italian sausage is so easy and so freaking delicious it's the perfect addition to your RV meal recipe book. We know it's become a faovite in ours.

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Ingredients

• 16oz Italian Sausage (we like to use hot for a little spice)
• 1/2 medium yellow onion
• 2 medium carrots, chopped into small pieces
• 3-4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 - 14oz can fire roasted diced tomato with juices
• 1 - 28oz can crushed tomatoes
• 2.25oz can sliced olives
• 8oz sliced mushrooms
• 4 cups chicken broth (I like using Knorr Caldo Con Savor De Pollo to make the broth)
• 18oz package refrigerated cheese tortellini
• 3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1 bunch spinach (roughly chopped)
• Ricotta cheese (optional)
• Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Brown sausage in a skillet until browned, then transfer to crockpot.
2. Add onion, carrots, garlic, tomatoes, and broth to the cooker. Close the lid and cook for 4 hours on high, 6 hours on low.
3. When there is about 45 minutes left to go, remove lid and skim fat off the top if needed. Add the tortellini and mushrooms, then replace lid. If temperature was set to low, turn it on high now.
4. When the tortellini is cooked through and tender, add the spinach and heavy whipping cream. Replace lid again and cook for another 5-10 minutes.
5. Taste taste for seasoning, add a dolop of ricotta, then serve! I like to pair this soup with hawaiian rolls.