Tuscan Tortellini Soup
Swiss chard and cheese-filled tortellini are the star ingredients in this light and delicious Tuscan Tortellini Soup. It’s loaded with vegetables and Swiss chard, and it’s ready in 30 minutes. This soup was very easy to make on the stove-top but you can also make it in the slow cooker and the Instant Pot. 🙂
During the cold and winter seasons, I make soups every week, and because I am a creature of habit I always make my family’s favorite soup loaded with fresh vegetables.
The other day my daughter Lizzy asked me to make a new one. Something different and tasty.
I can tell you to my surprise, this Tuscan Tortellini Soup became a new favorite.
Super easy to make, and DELICIOUS!!
How To Make Tuscan Tortellini Soup…
Most of my soup recipes start with a simple base of olive oil, garlic, onion, and celery. Then I usually improvise by adding whatever I find in my refrigerator and pantry.
This time I decided to add some fennel, fresh ripe tomatoes, oregano, Swiss chard (only the greens), and frozen tortellini from my freezer, and the Tuscan Tortellini Soup was born!
Additional Ingredient Added…
- When I went looking in my freezer, I noticed I had parmesan rinds in a container and decided to take one rind and drop it into the soup, for at least the last 10 minutes of cooking.
- Adding in more parmesan cheese to soups always enhances its favor.
- The parmesan cheese rind slowly melts while the soup simmers, giving this Tuscan Tortellini soup a rich flavor and a light creamy appearance, without adding any cream to the broth.
Also, while the soup simmers, I like to get started on making a salad to go with it so that dinner can be ready in about 30 minutes.
Plump ripe tomatoes, cheese-filled tortellini with extra healthy greens make this flavorful Tuscan Tortellini Soup turn out delicious!
It makes a great starter for dinner and reheats beautifully for lunch the next day.
Perfect for meatless meals! Serve this soup with extra grated parmesan cheese at the table.
And enjoy!!
Cook’s Notes and Tips:
- Frozen cheese-filled tortellini is what I used for the recipe and only half of a 19-ounce package, (approx. 8 or 9 ounces used). Tortellini tends to expand and absorbs a lot of broth in soups and therefore a small amount goes a long way.
- If tortellini is frozen, allow them to defrost for about 10 to 15 minutes before tossing them into the soup. It helps speed up the cooking process.
- You can also use refrigerated tortellini with this recipe and follow the directions on the package for the time needed, but it’s always tossed in in the last 10 minutes or less.
- I used a small bunch of Swiss chard. It’s best to use only the green leaves of the Swiss chard for this soup. Reserve the white stalks for another stew, soup, or recipe. If you prefer to use the stalks, you will need to slice them (like celery) and cook them in the beginning along with the garlic, celery, onion, and fennel.
- If you need to learn how to clean chard? Then check out: How to Clean Swiss Chard?
For a Slow Cooker…
- Use a 6-quart size. Stir together olive oil, garlic, celery, onion, fennel, tomatoes, broth, water, basil, oregano, salt, and cayenne pepper.
- Cover and cook on low for 6 hours or on high for 3 hours.
- Then add in tortellini, Swiss chard, and 1 Parmesan cheese rind and continue to cook on high for an additional 20 to 30 minutes, or until the tortellini are tender.
For your Instant Pot…
- Set your settings to “saute.”
- Drizzle olive oil and add garlic, onion, and fennel and saute for 2 minutes, until vegetables are softened.
- Then add the rest of the ingredients and follow the directions to your Instant Pot.
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Looking for More ‘One-Pot’ Healthy Recipes?
- Easy Pasta Fagioli Soup
- Butternut Squash Soup ( Diary-Free)
- Classic Italian Minestrone Soup
- Italian Style Zucchini and Tomato Soup (Vegan)
- Butternut Squash Risotto with Cheese and Sage
Yield: 6 to 8 servings
Tuscan Tortellini Soup
Swiss Chard and cheese-filled tortellini are the star ingredients in this light and delicious Tuscan Tortellini Soup. You are going to LOVE how it tastes and how easy it is to make!
Prep Time
10 minutes
Cook Time
30 minutes
Total Time
40 minutes
Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp. olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves -sliced
- 2 stalks of celery - sliced
- 1 onion - chopped
- 1/2 bulb of fennel, cored, and thinly sliced
- 3 ripe tomatoes - chopped
- 4 cups of vegetable broth
- 2 cups of water
- 5 fresh basil leaves
- 1/4 tsp. dried oregano
- 1 tsp. salt
- pinch of cayenne pepper
- 1/2 pound of frozen cheese-filled Tortellini ( half of 16-ounce or 19-oz package)
- 5 to 8 cups of Swiss Chard (Only the greens, No white stalks or stems) - chopped
- 1 Parmigiano-Reggiano rind
- grated Parmesan cheese, for serving
Instructions
- In a large soup pot, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add the garlic, celery, onion, and fennel and saute ( stirring occasionally) until the vegetables are softened about 3 to 5 minutes.
- Add the chopped tomatoes, broth, water, basil leaves, dried oregano, salt, and a pinch of cayenne pepper.
- COVER with a lid and raise the heat to high and bring soup to a rapid boil. Then lower the heat to low and simmer the soup for 15 to 20 minutes. All the vegetables will be softened and tender, ready for the greens and tortellini to be added.
- Toss in the cheese-filled tortellini, chopped greens of Swiss chard, and toss in one Parmesan rind into the soup and raise the heat again to HIGH. The soup needs to come to a low boil again.
- Cover and simmer the soup for an additional 8 to 10 minutes, or until the tortellini are tender.
- Turn off the heat and ladle soup into serving bowls. Serve with grated Parmesan cheese at the table.
- Fish and remove the Parmesan cheese rind before storing leftovers in the refrigerator.
- Yields: 6 to 8 servings
It’s still cold enough here to enjoy soups and this one looks wonderful!
Thank you Susan!!