Creamy Chicken Tortellini Soup - Made 3 Ways!

Creamy Chicken Tortellini Soup is easy and a delightfully creamy chicken soup with tortellini made on a stovetop, slow cooker, or instant pot.

I love this absolutely delicious soup and I adore tortellini. Especially with tomato cream sauce and chicken broth. Tortellini has the perfect shape and quality that always tends to make soups feel more filling and substantial.

According to legend, the shape comes from an innkeeper of old who was inspired by Venus' navel, which he caught a glimpse of after spying on her and Zeus in one of his rooms.

Whatever the origin of this stuffed pasta, I enjoy making it a part of my soup recipes, especially this deliciously creamy, super easy tortellini soup with tomato cream sauce and chicken broth.

I have been making this great recipe for a very long time and it changes slightly, depending on what I have on hand or am in the need of. My family totally loves this soup.

As a matter of fact, I haven't met anyone yet that didn't! This is a family loved soup recipe that seems to never go out of style.

You'll see what I mean as soon as you take that first comforting spoonful.

What is Creamy Chicken Tortellini Soup?

Creamy chicken tortellini soup is a unique type of soup that belongs delicately cradled between soup and pasta. It's almost like pasta with a higher ratio of sauce to tortellini.

It's a pretty thick soup in the sense that the broth is thickened by the cream, but also because there is so much tortellini that it almost isn't a soup at all.

The thickness of the soup is a puzzle that seems to land creamy chicken tortellini soup in the middle of a spectrum that won't allow it to define itself. The only definition for creamy chicken tortellini soup would be to describe it perhaps as similar to a minestrone.

Not because of vegetable content, but purely because it is such a thick hearty stew-like creamy chicken tortellini soup.

In that sense, it takes the literal meaning of minestrone rather than the most common interpretation which is specifically a thick vegetable soup. Of course, even traditional minestrone is not exclusively made of vegetables.

Vegetables

With this soup you have lots of options, especially in the vegetable department. Frequently, I add diced celery and carrots and add them while I'm sautéing the onions.

I also will add fresh baby spinach. Moments before serving the soup, as soon as soup is removed from heat. Baby spinach leaves take no time at all to cook. They pretty much wilt instantly.

Other than that pretty much any vegetable goes. Include any vegetable you would like or need to include. Have some fun and take a chance. It can't hurt to try something new I always say.

My husband wishes nothing would ever change. He likes things to stay the same and living with me I believe makes his life interesting to say the least!

Chicken or Italian Sausage

My slow cooker minestrone soup includes tortellini and Italian sausage. You can easily swap the chicken in this recipe for Italian sausage. I do whenever the mood strikes me or my husband requests it.

Sausage is such a nice refreshing change. Simply replace chicken with an equal amount of sausage and finish recipe according to the directions.

You won't be disappointed. I haven't run into anyone who is yet.

How to Make Tortellini Soup with Chicken Broth

This exciting creamy chicken tortellini soup pulls out all the stops. It uses chicken broth just enough to tip the scales and make the tortellini dish soupier than perhaps an overly sauced pasta dish.

The main contribution to the creaminess of the soup comes from a mixture of tomato sauce and heavy cream that I can only describe as inspired. Tomato cream sauce brilliantly marries two different types of sauce that are typically viewed as opposites.

When they combine, these two sauces create something unique and special that is always exciting to taste. The flavor only becomes amplified when you add it to a chicken broth base which injects a wonderful umami flavor to the already intoxicating dish.

The secret to this flavor sensation is to first cook the tortellini in the chicken broth instead of water. This infuses the flavor into the tortellini itself before you add the tomatoes and the cream to the soup.

Prior to cooking the tortellini in the broth, however, you should first use the pot to cook the chicken. After you remove the chicken, saute the onion and add other flavorings to the pot before you stir in the chicken broth and bring it to a boil to ready it for the tortellini.

This process builds the flavor from the ground up. The chicken gets shredded and added last to complete this amazing creamy chicken tortellini soup.

When to add pasta to soup?

Most people think that if they're making a soup with pasta in it like this creamy chicken tortellini soup that they'd simply add the noodles to the soup and let them cook directly in there.

And that works at first.

The problem with this approach is that noodles don't really stand up to prolonged time in the soup. The next day, when they ladle up their soup, they'll be greeted with swollen, soggy, mushy noodles. We don't want that. There's a better way. 

The best way to make soups with noodles like this tortellini soup is to never add them to the soup. Hold on. Stay with me. The noodles will go in the soup, but they'll go in at the time of serving. You make the noodles separately!

I know what you're thinking. That means that you have to dirty another pot, and that's true. However, a few minutes of washing a pot is worth the payoff of an absolutely delicious soup with nice, firm noodles that have no mushy, soggy grossness going on. 

So make the noodles separately and then put them in a bowl and ladle the soup over them. It comes out so much better. Trust me, you'll be so glad you did it that way, especially with this creamy chicken tortellini soup.

The tortellini noodles really make it, so if the noodles aren't right, nothing is right. 

One final note on adding pasta to the soup that I want to cover is this. Use high-quality pasta. All pasta is not created equal. A high-quality pasta will stand up to cooking, taste better, and give you a better outcome in general.

The good thing is that really great pasta doesn't cost much more than bargain-basement pasta, so it all works out in the long run. 

What Goes Well With Creamy Tortellini Soup

Soup usually comes served as an appetizer. Heartier stews and soups like Chicken tortilla, slow cooker minestrone, and this creamy tortellini soup are adequate to serve as a whole meal. In that case, you only need to serve it with bread.

A good garlic bread like a stick, or french bread slice, would be a nice compliment to the creamy chicken tortellini soup and also serve as a useful tool in sopping up the remaining sauce.

The soup doesn't need anything else, either to fill it out or round out the flavors. The nature and beauty of a good soup are that everything you need is already right there in the bowl.

You won't even need too much bread but it is still a nice added component that makes the creamy chicken tortellini soup feel more like a complete meal if nothing else.

To make things easier for you, we've compiled a list of wonderful chicken soup sides that you can choose from. A great side makes for a delicious and satisfying meal...especially if you add wonton crisps! Yum!!

Ingredients in Creamy Chicken Tortellini Soup

• olive oil
• chicken breasts (mild or hot Italian sausage will work in a pinch)
• salt and pepper
• butter
• white onion, diced
• garlic paste or minced garlic
• dried basil
• dried oregano
• red pepper flakes
• chicken broth or chicken stock (vegetable broth will work in a pinch)
• cheese tortellini pasta, (dry tortellini or frozen tortellini)
• tomato sauce
• whipping or heavy cream

Options

• celery
• carrots
• fresh baby spinach
• toasted bread for serving and fresh basil for garnish

How to Make Creamy Chicken Tortellini Soup

1. Add the chicken to a medium size bowl and drizzle in the olive oil and half of the salt and pepper. Stir to combine.
2. Heat a large soup pot over medium heat and add the oil and seasoned chicken to the pot. Cook the chicken for about 4 minutes on each side, or until cooked through. Remove the chicken from the pan and cool. Then shred the chicken into larger size pieces.
3. Add the butter to the pot and cook the onion in it until it becomes soft and translucent.
4. Add in the remaining salt and pepper, garlic paste, dried basil and oregano. Stir and cook just until the garlic becomes fragrant.
5. Stir in the chicken broth and bring it to boil over medium high heat.
6. Add the tortellini and cook according to the instructions on the package that you have.
7. Pour in the tomato sauce, heavy cream and add the chicken. Stir to combine and let it simmer for five more minutes.
8. Remove the pan from the heat and serve with bread and fresh basil.

How to Make Creamy Chicken Tortellini Soup in the Slow Cooker

You can easily turn this creamy tortellini soup recipe into a slow cooker recipe. 

Simply, add chicken broth, onion, garlic, salt, pepper, chicken, basil, oregano, carrots, if using and celery, too.

Once the chicken is fully cooked, shred or cube on a cutting board and return to the slow cooker.

Stir in the tomato sauce, cream and tortellini. Then let cook for an additional 20 minutes or tortellini is heated through. 

Serve with toast and some fresh basil if desired. Enjoy every spoonful!

How to Make Creamy Tortellini Soup in an Instant Pot

Set your Instant Pot on “SAUTE” and heat oil and cook chicken until no longer pink.

Add butter and melt.

Add diced onions and stir until tender.

Add salt, pepper, garlic, basil and oregano. Stir.

Add broth and tortellini. 

Close the lid and lock it.

Set the steam release to “SEAL”.

Press “MANUAL” and adjust the time to 5 minutes.

When complete, wait 10 minutes and then manually release the pressure.

Remove lid and press “SAUTE” again.

Stir in the spinach, if using, tomato sauce and cream. Cook for 1 to 2 minutes, or until soup is heated through.

Taste and adjust seasonings as necessary.

Serve with toast and fresh basil. Enjoy every spoonful!

Can You Freeze Creamy Tortellini Soup

I don’t recommend freezing it because of the dairy and tortellini. 

Technically, you can freeze anything. I'm not being facetious. I'm only pointing out that if pressed, you could get away with freezing this creamy chicken tortellini soup for a later date.

I just can't recommend it. The soup just won't come out as good, or even close to what it is was when you first made it. The problem is with both the cooked pasta and the cream.

The milk solids in cream will separate as the soup thaws, resulting in a grainy texture with a lot of separation. 

Anytime you make a soup with cooked pasta or rice, you are going to run into the problem of shape and consistency.

When you freeze the soup it changes the chemical structure. So it won't just bounce back the way it originally was. Plus you essentially need to cook it a second time in order to make it soup again which inevitably results in overcooked pasta.

Because of that, making creamy chicken tortellini soup in advance and freezing it for later again is not recommended.

Having said that, Tortellini is among the more structurally sound pasta, so there is some forgiveness there. The soup fares better if you keep it in the refrigerator for a couple of days, but even that is not going to be quite as good as when you first make it.

Keep that in mind as you prepare this recipe which contains 4-6 servings.

If you do decide to store any remaining soup strain out the creamy broth and store separately. When it's time to reheat boil the tortellini and chicken for one minute and drain.

Heat the broth to boiling and simmer. Then add the tortellini back into the soup. Stir and enjoy.

How to Store Creamy Chicken Tortellini Soup

This soup can be stored in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 5 days.

When reheating, the soup will have separated. Simply stir the soup together then reheat as usual.

You'll Love This Creamy Chicken Tortellini Soup

Give this creamy chicken tortellini soup a try, and I'm sure you'll love it as much as my family does. With all that creamy goodness enveloping tender chicken and perfectly cooked tortellini noodles, this recipe will quickly become a regular part of your recipe rotation.

Give it a try!