Homemade Vegetable Tortellini Soup

This soup is a homemade combination of two of my favorites soups:  Minestrone meet Creamy Tomato Tortellini. It’s hearty, it’s filling, and it’s perfect for the cold weather.

But honestly, why didn’t I think about making minestrone creamy until now?? And adding tortellini in place of the boring plain noodles? I guess it’s better now than never. Now that I’ve tried this version I don’t know that I can ever go back to the basics.

This soup is completely delicious and easy to make; especially when using Honeyville’s freeze dried zucchini and celery.  No joke, all I had to do was measure out the amount for each vegetable and soak them in water to rehydrate.  After about 10 minutes, I drained the water and added it to the soup like I would have if they were freshly chopped.  Using freeze dried vegetables halved my chopping time, if not more! Thank you Honeyville! After prepping the vegetables, all you’ve got left is about 15-20 minutes of simmering until you’ve got a soup worth remembering.

Although the ingredients list is a little on the long side, it includes mostly pantry items making it affordable.  Not only that, but one of the main things I love about this recipe is that you can make it your own. For example, extra vegetables that are sitting in your fridge (mushrooms, squash, peppers, corn, green beans) make great add-ins, or you can add more broth/half and half depending on preference. Any change can be made stress free because the taste will stay amazing!

This Homemade Vegetable Tortellini Soup Recipe is one you’ll definitely want to add to your dinner rotation.  It’s flavorful, colorful, and a perfect balance of healthy food meets comfort food.

Homemade Vegetable Tortellini Soup

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1.5 cups diced yellow onion
• 1 cup diced carrots
• 1 cup diced celery or freeze dried celery (buy here)
• 1 1/2 Tbsp minced garlic (about 4 cloves)
• 3 (14 oz) cans low-sodium vegetable broth
• 2 (14.5 oz) cans diced tomatoes
• 2 Tbsp tomato paste
• 1 1/4 cups quartered sliced zucchini or freeze dried zucchini (buy here)
• 2 tsp dried basil
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 1 (9 oz) pkg. refrigerated three cheese tortellini
• 1 (14.5 oz) can dark red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 2 cups chopped fresh spinach
• 1/2 cup half and half
• Finely shredded parmesan cheese, for serving

Directions

1. Heat oil in a large pot over medium-high heat.  Add onions, carrots, and celery, saute 5 minutes.
2. Add in garlic and saute 2 minutes longer.  Add in chicken broth, tomatoes, tomato paste, zucchini, basil oregano, and thyme.
3. Season with salt and pepper to taste and bring mixture to a boil, then cover and simmer 10 minutes, or until veggies are almost tender.
4. Add in tortellini and cook about 7 minutes or until cooked through, then add in kidney beans, spinach, and half and half and cook until warmed through and spinach is wilted, about 2 minutes longer.
5. Serve warm with parmesan cheese.  Enjoy!