Instant Pot tortellini soup is a flavorful, tomato-based soup packed with herbs, spinach, and cheesy tortellini. It’s ultra-creamy without being heavy, and ready in under 30 minutes, making it a perfect dinner for busy, chilly weeknights.
Using your Instant Pot makes dinner after a long, busy day so easy. Ingredients are sautéed in the pot, liquid, seasonings, and pasta is added. In hardly any time at all, dinner is done. Warm and delicious!
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Tortellini Soup is So Creamy
This comforting, cheesy soup can stand alone as a wonderful, filling dinner. The homemade tomato broth is just perfect without overwhelming spices.
The cheese tortellini is tender without being overcooked and spinach is my favorite vegetable to add but you can experiment with other vegetables as well.
Ingredients Needed for Instant Pot Tortellini Soup
- Tortellini - fresh tortellini is used, we love good quality cheesy tortellini.
- Grated tomatoes - Roughly three medium sized tomatoes equals a pound of tomatoes.
- Chicken stock - you can use chicken broth instead also use water, or vegetable stock to make this a vegetarian dish.
- Spinach: It is best to use fresh spinach for this recipe.
Pro Tip
Refrigerated tortellini cooks quickly and absorbs flavor beautifully. You can use frozen tortellini ( no need to thaw, but just add a minute or two to the cooking time). You can also use shelf stable dried tortellini and adjust the cooking time per package directions.
Instant Pot Tortellini Soup
Equipment
- Instant pot
Ingredients
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
- 1 small onion diced
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 1 lb tomatoes (about 1 ½ cups, grated)
- ½ teaspoon salt , or to taste
- ½ teaspoon dry basil
- ½ teaspoon dry oregano
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2 ¼ cup low-sodium chicken stock (or vegetable stock/water)
- 1 cup tomato sauce
- ¼ cup heavy cream
- 1 cup fresh baby spinach
- 1 pound fresh cheese tortellini (refrigerated)
Instructions
- Set the Instant Pot to the sauté option. Heat the olive oil, then add the diced onion and sauté for about 3 minutes until translucent. Stir in the minced garlic and saute for anther 30 seconds until fragrant.
- Add grated tomatoes, dried basil, dried oregano, salt, and black pepper.
- Pour chicken stock (or water) to the pot, stirring well to combine and scraping up any browned bits from the bottom.
- Cancel the Sauté setting, lock the lid in place, and set the Instant Pot to Pressure Cook (High) for 0 minutes. Once the cooking cycle finishes, immediately perform a quick manual pressure release.
- Carefully open the lid and set the Instant Pot back to Sauté. Stir in the fresh cheese tortellini, tomato sauce and baby spinach.
- Bring the soup to a gentle boil and let it simmer for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the tortellini is tender and floats to the top and the spinach is wilted.
- Turn off the Instant Pot. Stir in the heavy cream until smooth and rich. Taste the soup and adjust the salt and pepper if needed.
- Ladle into soup bowls and garnish with extra Parmesan cheese or fresh herbs before serving.
Notes
- Time-Saving Shortcuts: You can substitute the fresh grated tomatoes and spices with 1 ½ cups of your favorite store-bought marinara sauce or crushed canned tomatoes.
- Tortellini Cooking Tip: Refrigerated fresh tortellini cooks very quickly on the Sauté setting. If using frozen tortellini, add 1 to 2 extra minutes to the final simmer on Sauté until warmed through.
- Storage & Reheating: Store leftover tortellini and broth in separate containers. Refrigerate up to 4 days.
Reheat gently on the stovetop or in the microwave.
Nutrition
How to make Instant Pot Tortellini Soup
1- Set the Instant Pot to the Sauté function. Heat the olive oil then sauté onions and garlic. Mix in grated tomatoes and spices.
2- Add the chicken stock to the pot, stirring well to combine and scraping up any browned bits from the bottom. Cancel the Sauté setting, lock the lid in place, and set the Instant Pot to Pressure Cook (High) for 0 minutes. Once the cooking cycle finishes, perform a quick manual release and carefully open the lid.
3- Set the Instant Pot back to Sauté. Stir in the cheese tortellini and baby spinach. Bring the soup to a gentle boil and let it simmer stirring occasionally, until the tortellini is tender and the spinach is wilted.
Turn off the Instant Pot. Stir in the heavy cream until smooth and rich. Taste the soup and adjust the seasoning.
Storage
- If you have leftovers, store the soup and cooked tortellini separately in the fridge. Tortellini absorbs broth like a sponge over time so it is better to store separately then reheat together.
- Store in an airtight container and refrigerate up to 4 days.
- Reheat tortellini soup in microwave or stove top until thoroughly heated.
Recipe Variations
Want to customize your Instant Pot Tortellini Soup? Here are a few reader favorite ways to mix things up:
- Creamy Chicken Tortellini Soup: Add cooked, shredded chicken breast or rotisserie chicken into the pot along with the spinach at the very end to heat through.
- Sausage or Ground Beef Tortellini Soup: Use the Instant Pot’s Sauté function first to brown ½ pound of mild or spicy Italian sausage (or lean ground beef) with the onions and garlic. Drain any excess grease before adding the remaining ingredients.
- Mediterranean Tomato and Herb: Add a 14-ounce can of crushed fire-roasted tomatoes and 1 teaspoon of dried Italian seasoning (or a blend of oregano, basil, and thyme) to the broth for a vibrant, tuscan style flavor profile.
- Spinach and White Bean to give it a vegetarian protein boost: Stir in a rinsed and drained can of cannellini or white beans at the end for added texture and plant based protein.
- Add a couple of tablespoons of tomato paste for even more rich tomato flavor and to help thicken the soup more.
Serve With
- Homemade garlic bread, crusty bread or a green salad goes best with a delicious bowl of tortellini soup.
- A sprinkle of Parmesan cheese on top is a welcome addition as well.
- Add a little spice with a dash of red pepper flakes.
FAQs
Zero minutes means the Instant Pot heats the soup base as it comes to pressure, then ends the pressure cooking cycle. The tortellini is added afterward and cooked using the Sauté setting to prevent overcooking.
I don't recommend freezing this soup once the heavy cream and tortellini are added, as dairy can separate when thawed and pasta tends to break down and become soggy. If you want to freeze it, freeze the tomato-herb soup base prior to adding the cream, spinach, and tortellini.
When making instant pot tortellini soup, fresh is best but frozen works as well. You may need to cook the tortellini a few minutes more to make it sure it is fully cooked.
Yes. In a large Dutch oven or soup pot, sauté the onions and garlic in olive oil over medium heat. Add the spices, grated tomatoes, tomato sauce, and stock. Bring to a simmer for 10 minutes. Stir in the tortellini and cook according to package directions (about 3–5 minutes). Turn off the heat, stir in the heavy cream and spinach, and serve.
For the best texture, prepare the tomato soup base ahead and refrigerate it separately. When ready to serve, bring it to a simmer, cook the tortellini until tender, then add the spinach and cream.
More Soup Recipes
- Harira Soup
- Egyptian Mulukhis (Green Soup)
- Crock Pot Lasagna Soup
- Instant Pot Beef Barley Soup
- Instant Pot Beef Bone Broth
- Instant Pot Chicken Potato Soup
- Instant Pot Chicken and Rice Soup
Della
Love this soup recipe! Yummy!
Lisa Boebinger
The Instant Pot Tortellini Soup looks delicious, but i don't have an Instant Pot. What would be the changes i would need to do to use just a regular pot instead?
Amira
Lisa, you will saute onion and garlic as usual in your soup pot then add the grated tomatoes, stock, cream and all the spices and simmer for 20 minutes. Add the tortellini and cook for another 10 minutes or until it is cooked.
John V
I confess I have never heard of grating tomatoes? So when it says "1 lb tomatoes" you mean whole tomatoes, not canned. Correct? Wish there was a video to clarify some of this. Looks delicious, though.
Amira
John, in the ingredients notes of the post it says " Grated tomatoes - Roughly three medium sized tomatoes equals a pound of tomatoes. " so you use fresh tomatoes and grate them using a box grater. I hope this helps.