This recipe is totally easy, and can be customized to your crowd’s taste buds! We used hot italian sausage because we like things spicy, but you can most definitely substitute whatever you’d like for the sausage, tortellini, and broth flavors. Some great subs I’d recommend would be ground beef, chicken sausage, or veggie-filled tortellini and vegetable broth for vegetarians. Get creative! This is too simple to mess up 🙂
UPDATE: In response to some saying my cook time is too long, I made this recipe again and decided to cut it down a bit.
Ingredients:
- 1 lb. Italian Sausage (We use HOT for the spice, but sub in the meat you’d like best!)
- 20 oz. Frozen Three-Cheese Tortellini (The Buitoni kind is in the specialty refrigerated case in the deli area of the grocery store. I pop them right in the freezer when I get home.)
- 32 oz. Low Sodium Chicken Broth
- 2 Cans Diced Tomatoes – The kind that are seasoned with basil, garlic & oregano. If you don’t have the seasoned ones, you’ll need to add in your own seasonings.
- 8 oz. Cream Cheese or Neufchâtel Cheese – We use the low fat kind when using cream cheese.
- Grated Parmesan Cheese (not pictured) for topping!
1. Take your cream cheese or Neufchâtel out of the fridge, and let it sit while you quickly brown your meat.
2. Add the sausage and tortellini to your Crock Pot. Pour the tomatoes, liquid and all, and broth over the top. Add your cream cheese to the Pot in chunks.
3. Give your Crock Pot a good stir to get everything evenly distributed, making sure the liquids are adequately covering the tortellini.
4. Cook on LOW for a total of 3 1/2 – 4 hours. Stir at 1 1/2 hours, and again at 3 hours, removing the lid for the last 30 minutes of cooking. This will give the sauce some time to thicken up. You can leave the lid off longer if you need more thickening time, but stir every so often.
Ice Cream with a Fork 
Can I make and freeze this? Suggestions please? Making for meals to give to others. Thank you!!
I have frozen it! Heats up great!
I love this recipe. I like to top it with shredded mozzarella and occasionally will add crumbled up bacon 🤤
This is One of my favorite go to recipes. It always turns out great. Took it to work everyone liked it and wanted the recipes. I use mild sausage because I can’t do the spicy. I have also used hamburger and breakfast sausage(Old Folks). I use block cream cheese not the tubs
I made this per recipe, and it didn’t thicken. Any thoughts?
I’ve seen some others mention that it came out more soupy, and I can’t quite put my finger on the reason why. It comes out great for some and not for others, so it must depend on the appliances and exact ingredients? I guess less broth might be better for you! Or more time with the lid off.
Agree. I find myself adding a little more broth and stirring it in when I check it every hour. I also crank it up to high for the last 30 minutes, being sure to stir it every so often if I see it needs it.
I had to add corn starch to thicken it.
I will add that we love it! I’ve also added spinach and shrimp towards the end.
Can i put this together and start it to cook 4 hours while Im at work?
I work an hour from home
Yes! Cook 4 hrs on low!
Is your tortillini frozen then when you add it to the crockpot?
Yes they are!
Mine wasn’t frozen. I am making now. Will it be ok
It will definitely cook faster so just keep an eye on it! you don’t want it to get mushy
Is there a good printable version of this recipe?
I haven’t made one of those, but if you have the Reader View option on your computer it creates a smaller, more concise page you may be able to print!
How many people does this feed comfortably. We like larger servings 😄
with large portions I would say 4 people without many leftovers!
Has anyone made this in an instant pot?
I haven’t been able to find any comments about this. I was wondering the same thing.
Can I used the bags of uncooked tortellini by the spaghetti noodles? do I have to cook them a little first or just throw in the crockpot?
I think those would be fine thrown in the crockpot!
Tried it out in my pressure cooker, this is what worked for me. Brown sausage on saute mode. Once cooked add broth. I like it more creamy so I did half broth half heavy cream. Add Tortellini and diced tomatoes. My tortellini was not frozen. Pressure cook on high for 4 minutes. Natural release 10 minutes. Stir in cream cheese. I also stirred in the parmesan instead of just topping it.
I used Instant pot tonight with the exact receipe and frozen tortellini. Browned sausage on saute and then added other ingredients and cooked for 4 min with a quick release. Added cream cheese and fresh spinach after and let sit for a few minutes. It was delicious. Pasta was just right and not too mushy!
Do you brown the ground sausage before putting it in the crockpot?
Yes!
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I put all the ingredients in my crockpot and cook it on High for about 5-6 hours. It thickens up really nice.
Mine always comes out soupy. What am I doing wrong??
I’ve seen people say that. Hm.. mine comes out fine, but you could try reducing the broth to start and adding more as needed if you’d like.
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Can we please get this so it is printable-it was great!!!
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Can you make this on the stove? Thanks!
I’m sure you could!
I made this the other night on the stove actually! It came out soupy so I have to play with things a bit but here’s what I did. Brown sausage in pot, drain. Then I’m same pot I used 3.5 cups broth, 1 can of the diced tomatoes, all the cream cheese & cooked until cheese was melted added in non frozen tortellini and cooked for desired amount. Next time, I plan on starting with 2c. broth and add more as needed. Kids loved it though!
I tried it on the stove. I used 2 cups of broth as you suggested. I cooked the tortellini and then added to the rest of the dish. I cooked it for probably 45 min and it was perfect.
So good!! My sisters name is Billie and all my kids call her BD she made this for us and now its called BD tortellini in our family!
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One of my all time favorite soup recipes! Quick, easy, and bursting with flavor!! I actually prefer mine to stay soupy. Thank you for a great recipe!
How much Italian seasoning to add with just regular diced tomatoes? Thanks for a great recipe! Family favorite!
I think 1/2 – 1 tsp of Italian seasoning will do the trick! and maybe a clove of minced garlic for good measure 🙂
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YUM!! Hubby says this is a strong “10”!! Right out of the gate, it tastes delish!! Mine is a lil soupy, but perfect!! May thicken as it sits, IF it even lasts that long!! Will add shrimp to it, next time—heck may go ahead and add it to this batch!! Thanks for a very easy and very tasty recipe!!
I don’t use the seasoned tomatoes because it has added sugar. What is the measurement for the spices?
I would do 1-2 tsp basil & oregano, 1tsp garlic powder, then consider adding in some sugar/brown sugar to cut the acidity of the tomatoes!