Pumpkin tortellini soup features flavorful sausage bits and tender cheese-filled tortellini in a creamy roasted pumpkin soup base.
If you had to choose one thing to live on this fall what would it be? For me, it’s this pumpkin soup hands.down.
With maybe a Starbucks apple crisp macchiato coming in close second (they’re worth the hype, trust me)
If you haven’t tried your hand at making pumpkin soup from scratch before, let this be your sign to make it happen this year! It doesn’t get much better than this version that includes sausage and LOTS of tortellini pasta in the ingredient lineup.
It definitely feels like fall has arrived in Wisconsin so we’ve been churning out ALL the soups lately. We’ve got a couple more incredible ones that are slated to hit the website later this month!
But for now, it’s alllll about this pumpkin soup. Get ready to be obsessed.
This Pumpkin Tortellini Soup features…
- A creamy, luxurious roasted pumpkin soup base
- Tender cheese-filled tortellini pasta
- Flavorful bits of browned sausage
- Wilted kale
Making the Pumpkin Tortellini Soup
(scroll down to the bottom of post for the full recipe)
Ingredients You Will Need
- Pumpkin
- Olive oil
- Tortellini
- Kale
- Yellow onion
- Carrot
- Garlic
- Chicken broth
- Heavy whipping cream
- Sausage
- Thyme
Fresh Pumpkin vs. Canned Pumpkin
If you are able, we highly recommend using fresh pumpkin in this recipe. You will need 1 small pie (also called sugar) pumpkin that’s about 4 lbs.
If you don’t have time to roast a pumpkin for this soup, canned pumpkin is certainly an option. Though do be aware, the flavors may not be quite the same.
If you opt to go the canned pumpkin route, you will need one (15 oz) can pumpkin puree. You may want to start with 1 cup less broth and add more as needed to thin soup. Follow recipe instructions for adding pumpkin to broth and blending per recipe instructions.
Tips for Perfect Pumpkin Soup
- Roast pumpkin – cut pumpkin into quarters and scoop out seeds. Rub the insides with a little olive oil, salt, and pepper and roast at 400F 40-45 minutes until the pumpkin is very tender. Don’t rush this roasting process, it’s worth it in the end!
- Brown sausage – while the pumpkin is roasting, you can begin to build the rest of the soup. Start by browning Italian sausage in a little olive oil, breaking sausage up into bite-sized pieces.
- Saute aromatics – remove the sausage from the pot and saute onion, carrots, and garlic in the drippings.
- Simmer pumpkin in broth – scoop the roasted pumpkin into the pot, discarding skins, and bring to a low simmer in chicken broth. Don’t skip this step, this is where the pumpkin is soaking up a lot of the flavor.
- Blend soup – you can use an immersion blender for this step, or just work in batches by transferring soup to a high-speed blender. I prefer the blender option here as I think it makes for a smoother soup texture.
- Add whipping cream – for just a touch of richness, fold a little whipping cream into pureed soup. You can also use coconut milk here!
- Add sausage – fold the sausage back into the pureed soup.
- Add al dente cooked tortellini – for best results, don’t add the tortellini until just before you’re ready to serve. Because we’re pre-cooking the tortellini, it can tend to get a little too soft if it sits in the hot soup too long. Make sure you cook the tortellini to al dente or even slightly more tender so it preserves its texture in the soup.
- Wilt kale – similarly to the tortellini, add the kale at the very end so it just wilts a little bit, but still holds its shape.
Recipe Variations
- Try another winter squash – a small butternut squash or acorn squash would be a great stand-in for the pumpkin. Make sure you use one that’s roughly 4 lbs.
- Make it vegetarian – skip the sausage and use veggie broth in place of the chicken for a meat-free version of this soup.
- Swap out the greens – spinach would be a great stand-in for the kale.
- Use a different meat – chicken cubes, ground turkey or chicken would be great substitutes for the Italian sausage.
- Skip the tortellini – another small pasta shape such as penne, elbows, or mini shells would work great in place of the tortellini.
Storing Soup
Soup may be stored in refrigerator up to 6 days. To reheat soup, reheat individual servings 1-2 minutes on high in microwave or in a pan on the stove.
Due to the tortellini, we do not recommend freezing this soup without making a minor adjustment to ensure tortellini does not get mushy.
For freezing, we recommend making soup according to recipe instructions, but not adding the tortellini. Freeze soup up to 1 month, then add tortellini after soup is thawed and reheated.
It’s just plain cozy food, you guys. The roasted pumpkin makes the texture INCREDIBLY smooth and silky, the sausage bits add a lovely meatiness, and the tortellini gives it a rich, cheesy kick.
The actual definition of fall in a pot if you ask me. Lunch, dinner, snack, nothing’s off the table here!
Save this recipe using the ‘save to recipe box’ button below. If you make it, please let us know! Leave a comment + star rating below, or take a photo and tag it on Instagram with #wholeandheavenlyoven
A few more cozy fall soups to try next!
Sausage Pumpkin Tortellini Soup
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Ingredients
- 1 medium pie pumpkin, cut in quarters, seeds removed, and inside scraped clean (about 4 lbs)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 lb Italian sausage, casing removed
- 1 medium yellow onion, finely diced
- 2 medium carrots, diced into 1/4-in cubes (about 1 cup)
- 3 medium cloves garlic, minced
- Pinch freshly grated nutmeg, optional
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 1 teaspoon fresh minced thyme
- 1 (12 oz) refrigerated or frozen package three cheese tortellini, cooked according to package instructions until al dente
- 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1 cup firmly-packed chopped kale
Instructions
- Evenly coat insides of pumpkin wedges with 1 tablespoon olive oil. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Place pumpkin wedges cut side-down on baking sheet and roast at 400F 40-45 minutes or until pumpkin is very tender when pierced with a fork.
- Once pumpkin is cool enough to handle, peel off skin and discard. Set pumpkin aside in a bowl.
- In a Dutch oven or large pot, heat remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium-high heat. Add Italian sausage and cook 3-5 minutes until browned. Transfer to a medium bowl and set aside.
- In remaining pan drippings over medium-high heat, saute onion and carrots until tender, about 3-5 minutes. Add garlic and nutmeg if using and saute 1 additional minute until fragrant.
- Add chicken broth and pumpkin to pot and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Remove soup from heat and use an immersion blender or transfer in batches to a regular blender to blend soup on high 30-60 seconds until very smooth.
- Pour blended soup back into pot and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. (if soup seems too thick from pumpkin, thin with a little extra chicken broth as needed)
- Remove soup from heat and add thyme, tortellini, sausage, whipping cream, and kale. Let soup stand 5 minutes until kale is wilted. Season soup with additional salt and pepper to taste and serve warm. Enjoy!
Renee says
Thanks for the recipe with pumpkin! It was good, but the next time I make it I will increase the nutmeg and leave out the tortellini.
Sarah says
Thanks for sharing your adjustments, Renee! Happy to hear you enjoyed this soup. 🙂