Aaaannnd WE’RE BACK! Yesss! I have electricity again! :D Life is good.
For my first recipe after over a week of hiatus, I wanted to start with something super fast and easy. I had to replace everything in my refrigerator and freezer, so I wanted to make something that didn’t require a lot of ingredients and that I could use to stock up my freezer. This soup was perfect.
My grocery store has cheese tortellini in three areas: dry pasta goods, the freezer aisle, and near the dairy with other fresh pastas. I checked all three places and the frozen cheese tortellini was by far the most inexpensive. You will probably want to do some price comparing on your own.
I’ll admit, this soup is not super heavy on the tortellini. Because it’s the most expensive ingredient, I went light with it. Each bowl (2 cups of soup) had about 5 or 6 tortellini in it. If you want to beef this soup up on the cheap, try adding a cup of plain pasta (uncooked). I would go with something small, like orzo or those tiny, short tubes.
Instead of adding extra pasta, I served mine with some crusty french bread to sop up the rest of the rich tomatoey sauce. I also tried a little parmesan sprinkled on top and that was fantastic!
Spinach Tortellini Soup
- 2 Tbsp olive oil $0.32
- 1 small yellow onion $0.57
- 4 cloves garlic $0.15
- 1 (28 oz.) can tomato sauce $1.50
- 1 (28 oz.) can crushed or diced tomatoes $1.50
- 28 oz. water $0.00
- 1 tsp dried basil $0.05
- 1 tsp dried oregano $0.05
- 15-20 cranks fresh cracked pepper $0.05
- 1 (12 oz.) package frozen cheese tortellini $2.99
- 1 (10 oz.) box frozen spinach $1.25
- 2 tsp (or to taste) salt $0.05
- Dice the onion and mince the garlic. Cook both in a large pot along with the olive oil over medium-low heat until they are soft and transparent (about 5 minutes).
- Add the can of tomato sauce, the can of crushed (or diced) tomatoes, and one can full of water to the pot. Add the basil, oregano, a healthy dose of freshly cracked pepper, and stir to combine. Increase the heat to medium-high and bring up to a simmer (about 10 minutes).
- Add the frozen tortellini and frozen spinach (no need to thaw either one). Cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally to break up the frozen spinach. Cook until the heated through, the spinach has completely incorporated, and the tortellini is tender (about 10 minutes). Season to taste with salt – I used 2 teaspoons.
Step By Step Photos
Start by dicing the onion and mincing the garlic. Cook both over medium-low heat in olive oil for about five minutes or until they’re soft and semi-transparent.
See? Soft and semi-transparent. You don’t want the heat too high, or else all of the moisture will evaporate too quickly and the onions will begin to brown, which will give them a completely different flavor. You want them to “sweat” over medium-low heat.
I used one (28 oz.) can of tomato sauce and one (28 oz.) can of crushed tomatoes. If you want a chunkier tomato texture, use diced tomatoes instead of the crushed. If tomato sauce isn’t available in your area, try pureed tomatoes or sieved tomatoes. You may need to use more salt in the end, because tomato sauce has a decent amount in it.
Add the canned tomato products, one can full of water, the basil, oregano, and a healthy dose of cracked pepper. Stir everything to combine and then bring up to a simmer over medium-high heat.
Once the soup comes up to a simmer, add the frozen tortellini and frozen spinach. There is no need to thaw either one, just dump them straight in.
Continue to cook the soup over medium-high heat until the spinach has completely melted in and broken apart (stir occasionally to help this along) and the tortellini is tender – about ten minutes. If you are adding in plain dry pasta, just let it simmer until the pasta has become tender. Season to taste with salt. I used about 2 teaspoons.
Serve hot with some good crusty bread or maybe an extra sprinkle of cheese!
I tried this one out tonight and we loved it. I didn’t have any fresh garlic or onion on hand so I substituted minced versions of each and it worked out well. (1 tsp of the garlic and 2 tsp of the onion for anyone wondering.) Thanks for another awesomely easy and delicious recipe!
Delish! We accidentally overdosed on tomatoes so we added a dollop of light sour cream and that helped reduced some acidity. Definitely got us excited for fall!
It was great! We actually used meatballs instead of tortellinis. Great flavor, so easy, and ready in 30 minutes.
Another great recipe Beth. I made one change to it. I didn’t think the family would like such a heavy tomato broth. I used the diced tomatoes, but I made a quick dashi/veggie stock to replace the tomato sauce. Even my picky eater liked it.
Use a lot of extra water if you’re going to use dry pasta. Just tried this an it’s practically just spaghetti with spinach.
Becca – I think you could just add the dry quinoa and let it simmer until they’re tender. I cook quinoa in chicken broth, so I’m sure it’d work the same :)
This looks amazing! Any tips if I wanna put Quinoa in it instead of tortellini? Should I cook it before I put it in, or can I cook it right in it? Sorry for the silly question, i’m new to the whole soup making thing haha
I made this for dinner last night and it was amazing! I went a little crazy with the tortellini so it was more like tortellini with spinach sauce but it was still simple, affordable and delicious.
Gnocchi would be awesome in this!
considering using gnocchi that I made last week as I don’t have any other pasta at home right now… thoughts?
This was delicious! Thanks for the great recipe:)
SVB – You could probably do this in a slow cooker, although I wouldn’t add the tortellini until the very end. Tortellini in a slow cooker would turn into mush!
So glad that you made it through ok! I make a pot of soup every weekend to have for lunches or those nights when I just want to reheat something. I’ll be making this one for sure!
I will definitely try this.
I just want to say I love your blog. So practical and the recipes are delicious!
I don’t have a pot big enough to make soup over stove-top; would this turn out just as well if I were to make it in a crockpot?
It looks so delicious! Thanks for sharing!
Hi Beth,
How do you think this would taste sans garlic? I’ve recently been told I have a garlic allergy after thinking it was tomatos for months (because whenever I had to test it I just made a giant batch of marinara – what better way to eat lots of it!).
Tortellini in tomato soup with greens–so classic, and so good! I like to use the Trader Joe’s frozen tortellini, personally. :)
glad you’re okay! my husband’s grandma (grandma-in-law?) makes a version of this soup that i love so i know this must be great. :)
Oh yum! Do you think this would freeze well?
I’m so glad you’re back! And this looks just delicious. I like what Stacey’s friends did, adding in a bit of sausage.
How perfect, two days ago a friend brought us a pot of this soup with sausage in it and we were looking around for a recipe! Delicious!
This must make a massive amount of soup.
Looks great. Can’t wait to try it. Welcome back!
This looks super tasty. Glad you made it through okay, and that your power is back! :)