Tomato Spinach Tortellini Soup

Published December 16, 2018. Updated January 12, 2022

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Tomato Spinach Tortellini Soup with fresh tomatoes and spinach (plus there’s also fresh garlic and basil)! It’s such a tasty, colorful soup and it’s brimming with cheesy flavor and so much fresh goodness. Such a comforting soup you’ll want to make year round!

Tortellini Soup with Spinach Tomato and Garlic in a white serving bowl set over a ruffled white plate, sitting on a dark wooden tabletop with a side of bread.

Cheese tortellini is one of the tastiest ingredients! I absolutely love it and I also how the store-bought, refrigerated tortellini adds a major short cut and makes it so much easier.

I love it tossed with pesto or another easy sauce for a quick dinner and I also love to add it to soups.

This is a soup I love to make in the summer but obviously I love it in the winter too when it’s so cold outside, and it’s perfect for the month of December with it’s perfectly festive natural red and green colors.

Ingredients for Tortellini Soup with Tomatoes and Spinach

  • Roma tomatoes (or canned tomatoes)
  • Extra virgin olive oil
  • Yellow onion
  • Garlic
  • Chicken broth
  • Refrigerated three cheese tortellini
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • Granulated sugar
  • Fresh spinach
  • Fresh basil
  • Parmesan cheese

 

Ingredients needed to make tortellini soup shown here including tortellini, spinach, tomatoes, onion, parmesan, garlic, chicken broth, basil, olive oil.

How to Make Tomato Spinach Tortellini Soup

  • Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
  • Once water in pot boils, carefully drop tomatoes into water and boil until easy to peel, about 4 minutes (if a few of them aren’t peeling easily even once you slice through the skin, you can cut an “X” in the bottom of the tomato then return to water for about another minute until skins slightly pull alway).

Boiling tomatoes in a large pot for tortellini soup.

  • Remove from boiling water, let cool on a cutting board (or for faster cooling chill in a bowl of ice water) then peel seed and dice into bite size pieces, set aside.

Showing how to make tortellini soup. Starting by sauteeing onion and garlic in a large pot.

  • Heat olive oil in a pot over medium heat, add onion and saute until tender, about 5 – 6 minutes. Add garlic and saute 30 seconds longer.
  • Pour in chicken broth, sugar and season with salt and pepper to taste then increase temp to medium-high heat and bring to a boil.

Boiling tortellini in broth mixture to make tortellini soup.

  • Once it reaches a boil, add tortellini, season with salt and pepper to tastes and boil 7 minutes (or longer if directed on tortellini package).

Adding fresh tomato and spinach to tortellini soup.

  • Stir in tomatoes, spinach and basil and cook until spinach wilts, about 30 seconds. Serve warm topped with Parmesan cheese.

Completed tortellini soup in a large red cast iron pot with a wooden spoon.

Can I Use Canned Tomatoes?

Boiling, peeling and seeding the tomatoes takes just a little bit of time, but once you get the hang of it’s a breeze. The fresh tomatoes in this soup are so delicious, but in the winter if you can’t find good fresh ones (or if you just don’t have the time to prep the fresh) the canned work great too.

If you are using canned tomatoes in place of fresh add them when adding the chicken broth. Use 2 (14.5 oz) cans or a 28 oz can.

Regular cut or petite cut will work great, or try it with canned San Marzano’s or canned Roma’s (break them up with your hands since they come whole).

Close up image of tortellini soup in a red pot set over a wooden tabletop.

Can I Use Dried Basil?

Dried basil could be used here as well, it won’t be quite as good as the fresh but it will work. If going that route use 2 tsp dried, adding it along with the chicken broth.

Can I Use Frozen or Shelf Stable Tortellini?

Refrigerated tortellini is best in my opinion but frozen tortellini could be used here as well. Add additional cook time as needed (according to package label). Skip shelf stable tortellini the quality is the least of the three options.

Overhead image of tortellini soup in a large red pot.

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Tortellini Spinach Tomato Garlic Soup
4.83 from 17 votes

Tomato Spinach Tortellini Soup

A delicious tortellini soup that's brimming with fresh tomatoes, fresh spinach, fresh garlic and fresh basil! It's such a tasty, colorful soup that's loaded with cheesy flavor and so much fresh goodness. Such a comforting recipe with simple ingredients that you'll want to make year round!
Servings: 7
Prep20 minutes
Cook30 minutes
Ready in: 50 minutes

Ingredients

Instructions

  • Heat a pot of water to a boil and fill a medium mixing bowl with ice water. Once water in pot boils, carefully drop tomatoes into water and boil until easy to peel, about 4 minutes (if a few of them aren't peeling easily even once you slice through the skin, you can cut an "X" in the bottom of the tomato then return to water for about another minute until skins slightly pull alway). 
  • Remove from boiling water, let cool on a cutting board (or for faster cooling chill in a bowl of ice water) then peel seed and dice into bite size pieces, set aside.
  • In a pot, heat olive oil over medium heat, add onion and saute until tender, about 5 - 6 minutes. Add garlic and saute 30 seconds longer. 
  • Pour in chicken broth and sugar, season with salt and pepper to taste, then bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
  •  Once it reaches a boil, add tortellini, season with salt and pepper to tastes and boil 7 minutes (or longer if directed on tortellini package).
  • Stir in tomatoes, spinach and basil and cook until heated through and spinach wilts, about 30 seconds. Thin soup with more chicken broth if desired. Serve warm topped with Parmesan cheese.

Notes

  • 2 (14.5 oz) cans diced tomatoes can be used here in place of the fresh, add canned tomatoes along with chicken broth if going this route.
  • This makes a big batch of soup and tortellini doesn't make great leftovers in here because it will start to get soggy overnight. With that said if you aren't planning on feeding a big family then scale the recipe down to half.

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136 Comments

  • Christine Easley

    I love this soup! When you have the taste for a “comfort food” soup, this recipe checks all the boxes. I have made it both with fresh tomatoes as well as canned. Fresh is always better, but can’t always get home grown, so the canned will serve just as well. I also find that I do need to add more broth especially once the tortellini absorbs some of it. For me it is a main dish with a crusty bread and a salad…manga, manga!!

    • Jaclyn

      Jaclyn Bell

      Sorry that was an error! No water in the soup you’ll just need plenty of water for boiling the tomatoes.

  • Las Vegas Michael

    Excellent, healthy, and supper easy to make. I did use the “cheat” of canned tomatoes but I added some fresh diced tomatoes at the end as well to brighten it up. My only tip is to buy baby spinach and give it a rough chop before you added it to the soup. I recommend this and will definitely make it again.

  • Margarita valdez

    Wow! First time making Tortellini with spinach! Double wow!! Sobeasy! And spelled delicious! So proud of myself! Family was happy we all loved it thank you so very much! Itvwas great! We are making this more often!😁🤗😍🤪🥘👍👌

  • Connie Thomas

    cook tortellini separately.. only what you need to feed 1, 2, or 3. Add to soup before serving. You can freeze the rest without the pasta. Add it later when you defrost and after heating. Much better than soggy, over cooked tortellini.