Creamy Italian Sausage Tomato Tortellini Recipe
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This Italian Sausage Tomato Tortellini Recipe turns a package of frozen tortellini into a creamy, comforting dinner with sausage, tomatoes, spinach, and Parmesan.
Keep a bag of tortellini in the freezer, and you’ll always have the start of a quick dinner! This one-pan recipe adds Italian sausage, cherry tomatoes, spinach, and a creamy tomato sauce for a satisfying meal that’s on the table in around 25 minutes.
Cheese tortellini cooked with Italian sausage, cherry tomatoes, spinach, Parmesan, and a creamy tomato sauce in one skillet.
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Why You’ll Love This Italian Sausage Tomato Tortellini Recipe
- Dinner in around 25 minutes: A useful recipe to have up your sleeve when you haven’t got much time to cook.
- One-pan convenience: The tortellini cooks right in the sauce, keeping cooking and cleanup straightforward.
- Makes good use of freezer staples: Frozen tortellini means you can keep the main ingredient on hand for those “what are we having for dinner?” nights.
- A complete meal on its own: With pasta, sausage, tomatoes, and spinach all in the pan, you don’t necessarily need to make side dishes.
- Easy to bulk out: Add extra spinach or other vegetables you need to use up if you want to stretch the meal further.
Looking for more fuss-free dinner inspiration? Browse our Pasta Recipes for more ideas.
Pair This Tortellini Dish With…
You don’t need much alongside a hearty bowl of tortellini, but bread and a simple vegetable side work particularly well.
How Do I Make Italian Sausage Tortellini?
Check out the recipe card below—you can print or save it for later—please leave a review and star rating!
Italian Sausage Tomato Tortellini
Cheese tortellini cooked with Italian sausage, cherry tomatoes, spinach, Parmesan, and a creamy tomato sauce in one skillet.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 medium onion diced
- 2 medium garlic cloves minced
- ½ pound Italian sausage casings removed
- 2 cups cherry tomatoes halved
- 3 cups marinara sauce
- 1 cup low-sodium beef broth
- 12 ounces frozen tortellini not thawed
- 3 cups baby spinach
- ¼ cup heavy cream
- ½ cup Parmesan cheese freshly grated
- ¼ cup fresh basil leaves roughly chopped, plus more for garnish
- Sea salt and black pepper to taste
SUGGESTED PRODUCTS
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic, season with salt and black pepper, and sauté for 2-3 minutes, until they begin to soften and become fragrant.
- Add the Italian sausage, breaking it into small pieces with a wooden spoon. Cook for 4-5 minutes, until browned and mostly cooked through.
- Add the cherry tomatoes, marinara sauce, and beef broth to the skillet and stir to combine.
- Increase the heat to medium-high and bring the mixture to a boil. Add the frozen tortellini and cover the skillet. Reduce the heat to medium and cook according to the lowest al dente cooking time on the package, usually 6-8 minutes.
- Remove the lid and stir in the baby spinach and heavy cream. Cook for 1-2 minutes, just until the spinach has wilted.
- Remove the skillet from the heat. Taste and adjust the salt and black pepper as needed, remembering that the Parmesan will add extra saltiness.
- Stir in the freshly grated Parmesan and chopped basil until combined.
- Garnish with additional fresh basil, if desired. Serve immediately with a garden salad and breadsticks, and enjoy!
Notes
Tips
- Keep the tortellini frozen until you’re ready to add it directly to the skillet.
- Check the cooking instructions on your tortellini and use the shortest recommended al dente cooking time to avoid overcooking it.
- For a quick way to halve cherry tomatoes, place them between two flat plastic container lids, press gently on the top lid, and carefully slice horizontally between the lids with a serrated knife.
- Wait to add the Parmesan before making any final salt adjustments, as the cheese adds plenty of savory, salty flavor.
Substitutions
- UK readers: Italian sausage isn’t as widely available in UK supermarkets as it is in the US. Use good-quality pork sausages instead—simply remove and discard the casings, then crumble the sausage meat into the pan. For a flavor closer to Italian sausage, choose sausages seasoned with herbs or fennel.
- Marinara sauce is essentially a tomato-based pasta sauce. UK readers can use a good-quality tomato and herb pasta sauce if marinara isn’t available.
- In the UK, heavy cream is sold as double cream.
- You can use fresh refrigerated tortellini instead of frozen, but adjust the cooking time according to the package instructions.
Leftovers
- Let leftovers cool before transferring them to an airtight container and refrigerating.
- The tortellini will continue to absorb some of the sauce during storage, so you may need to add a splash of broth or water when reheating.
- Reheat thoroughly until piping hot throughout before serving.
- Freezing the finished dish isn’t recommended, as the cooked tortellini and creamy sauce may change in texture after thawing.
Nutrition
Calories: 702kcal | Carbohydrates: 55g | Protein: 31g | Fat: 41g | Saturated Fat: 15g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 16g | Cholesterol: 101mg | Sodium: 1996mg | Potassium: 1173mg | Fiber: 8g | Sugar: 13g | Vitamin A: 3666IU | Vitamin C: 40mg | Calcium: 356mg | Iron: 6mg
Nutritional information is always approximate and will depend on the quality of ingredients used and serving sizes. If you need exact calories and macros, please do your own calculations.
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One to Keep for Busy Nights
This is the sort of recipe worth remembering for those evenings when dinner needs to happen without becoming a whole production. Keep tortellini in the freezer and a jar of pasta sauce in the pantry, and you’re already halfway there.
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