This quick and easy creamy tomato tortellini soup can be made with just a handful of ingredients in less than 30 minutes.
Heya, friends. Today’s recipe is SO good and SO easy. It should immediately go into your winter weeknight dinner rotation.
The creamy tomato soup base is a modified version of my ever-popular Tomato Soup recipe , and it’s stuffed with pillowy, cheesy tortellini. It’s perfect for chilly winter evenings and busy weeknights.
Ingredient Notes
- Crushed tomatoes: This is my preferred brand of crushed tomatoes. You can use whole or diced canned tomatoes here as well, but you’ll need to either puree them in a blender or food processor before cooking or use an immersion blender to puree the entire soup before adding the tortellini.
- Refrigerated cheese tortellini: Fresh, refrigerated tortellini works best for this soup. You can usually find tortellini in the cheese and lunch meat aisle next to the ravioli.
- Heavy cream: This recipe won’t use up an entire carton of heavy cream. For storage tips and more heavy cream recipes, check out my post What to Do With Leftover Cream .
How to Make Tomato Tortellini Soup
- Melt butter and cook onions until softened in a 4-quart pot.
- Add garlic and red pepper and cook for 30 seconds.
- Carefully add the tomatoes (they will pop and sizzle when they hit the hot pan).
- Add the broth and bring to a simmer. Simmer covered for 10 minutes.
- Add tortellini, basil, and oregano. Cover and cook until tortellini is al dente.
- Stir in cream and salt and pepper to taste and enjoy!
What to serve with Tortellini Tomato Soup?
Serve the soup with a slice of crusty bread with butter and a simple vegetable side like:
- Parmesan Zucchini
- Broccoli in the Oven
- Steamed Broccoli
- Roasted Green Beans
Can I freeze tomato tortellini soup?
Absolutely, BUT this soup freezes best when the tomato soup base and the tortellini are frozen separately. Follow the soup recipe as written and stop before you add the tortellini.
Freeze the soup and uncooked tortellini separately for up to 2 months. When you’re ready to eat it, defrost just the soup in the refrigerator overnight. On the stove, bring the soup to a simmer and add in and cook the frozen tortellini (and cream) just before serving.
See my post How to Freeze Soup for more freezing tips and tricks.
Can I make this recipe ahead of time?
Yes. Make the soup and store it in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. Reheat gently on the stove when you’re ready to eat.
The tortellini will suck up some of the broth and get a little softer as it sits, so if you prefer, you can also make the soup and stop before you add the tortellini. Refrigerate it and when you’re ready to eat, bring the soup back to a simmer and add in and cook the tortellini (and cream) just before serving.
A Note on Soup Texture
Since we’re using finely diced onions and crushed tomatoes in this recipe, you don’t need to puree the soup before serving the way you do with most tomato soups.
BUT, if you prefer a completely smooth soup base, you can still puree everything before adding the tortellini.
Use an immersion blender to blend until smooth or cool the soup for 10 minutes and then transfer it to a blender or food processor. Process until smooth and then return it to the pot, add the tortellini, and finish the recipe according to the instructions.
More Easy Weeknight Recipes
- Creamy Chicken Tortellini Soup
- Creamy Sausage Pasta
- Buttered Noodles
- Chicken Parm Soup
- Easy Pork Stroganoff
Ingredients
- ▢ 2 tablespoons ( 28g ) butter
- ▢ 1 medium onion finely diced
- ▢ 4 cloves garlic minced or crushed
- ▢ Pinch of red pepper flakes optional
- ▢ 2 cups chicken broth or water plus more as needed*
- ▢ 1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes *
- ▢ 9 ounces ( about 2½ cups ) refrigerated cheese tortellini
- ▢ ¼ heaping teaspoon dried basil
- ▢ ¼ teaspoon oregano
- ▢ ⅓ cup heavy cream
- ▢ Salt and pepper
Instructions
- In a 4-quart pot with a lid, melt butter over medium heat. Add onions and cook until softened, about 5 minutes.
- Add garlic and red pepper and cook for 30 seconds.
- Add the broth and then add the tomatoes and their juices.
- Place the lid on the pot and bring to a simmer. Simmer covered for 10 minutes.
- Add tortellini, basil, and oregano. Cover and cook until tortellini is al dente, usually about 7-8 minutes.
- Stir in cream and salt and pepper to taste and enjoy!*
Notes
This perfect sweet and spicy Small-batch Gingerbread Cookie recipe will make 6 to 8 large cookies and about 2 dozen mini gingerbread cookies.
It’s that time of year again, time to talk about Christmas cookies! Last week, I posted about these Small-batch Snowball Cookies , and today I have another Christmas cookie for you, Small-batch Gingerbread Cookies!
Gingerbread can be a bit hit or miss. Sometimes it’s too spicy, too hard, too soft.
But this gingerbread is like the Goldilocks version of gingerbread. It has a great spicy kick without being overpowering. When you bite into them, there’s a little snap, but they’re also a bit chewy, so you aren’t going to break your teeth on these tasty little cookies.
Basically, they’re the best, and since this gingerbread cookie recipe is a small-batch gingerbread cookie recipe, you can whip them up whenever you feel like adding a bit of Christmas to your day.
It will make 6 to 8 largish gingerbread cookies or about 2-dozen bite-sized mini cookies (my favorite).
Ingredient Notes
- Unsulfured molasses: The standard molasses you buy at the grocery store is usually unsulfured. It will typically say unsulfured right on the label. If you don’t often cook with molasses, it’s a handy ingredient to have around, especially during the holidays, and once opened, it will keep for about a year. In the grocery store, you can usually find it near the syrups in the baking or breakfast aisle.
- Butter: Salted or unsalted butter is fine here.
- Vegetable shortening: The recipe uses a combination of shortening and butter to achieve the best texture possible, but if you don’t have shortening, you can replace the shortening with the same amount of butter. Cookies made with butter will spread a bit more, but will still be great.
- Egg yolk: Since this is a small-batch recipe you don’t need a whole egg, just the yolk. For ideas on what to do with the leftover egg white, check out my post What to Do With Leftover Egg Whites (I recommend a small batch of Chocolate Chocolate Chip Muffins ).
How to Make Small-batch Gingerbread Cookies
- Whisk together the flour, baking soda, and spices in a small bowl.
- In a medium bowl, beat together butter, shortening, and sugar until light and fluffy.
- Beat in molasses and egg yolk. Switch to a wooden spoon and stir in the flour mixture a third at a time. Mixing in the flour will take a little time. Just keep stirring until it’s all mixed.
- Once your dough comes together, roll it out between two sheets of parchment paper and refrigerate the dough for 45 minutes.
- After the dough is chilled, cut into shapes, refrigerate them for an additional 15 minutes to help them hold their shape in the oven, and then bake until the edges are set. Decorate with icing and enjoy!
Quick Icing for Gingerbread Cookies
And because we are only making a small batch of cookies, I figure you probably aren’t going to want to take the time to make royal icing, so I used a quick faux royal icing on these.
This icing is made with just 3 ingredients, powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla extract. It won’t pipe as cleanly or dry nearly as hard as real royal icing, but it works well as a quick substitute and tastes fantastic.
What kind of molasses do you use for gingerbread cookies?
For these gingerbread cookies, use regular unsulfured molasses . Both light and dark molasses should work, but steer clear of blackstrap molasses which is not as sweet and quite bitter. If you’re wondering what’s up with all the different varieties of molasses, I really like this article on the topic .
Can I use royal icing on these cookies?
Absolutely. If you want to use royal icing, make up a quick batch and go for it.
What other frosting can I use for gingerbread cookies?
It might sound odd, but cream cheese frosting is such a good combo with gingerbread. You can also go with a plain vanilla frosting if you want something more substantial than icing.
Why did my gingerbread turn out hard?
If your cookies turned out hard, they were probably baked too long. Next time bake the cookies for a shorter time, just until they begin to look set around the edges.
Can I freeze these cookies?
Yes! Gingerbread cookies freeze very well. Just store them in an airtight container or freezer bag and they’ll keep in your freezer for up to 2 months.
My dough is crumbly how can I fix this?
If your dough is crumbly, it’s probably because you ended up with slightly too much flour or had a particularly small egg yolk and there wasn’t enough liquid in your dough. Next time measure your flour with a scale (recommended) or using the spoon and sweep method (stir the flour in your container to fluff it up and then spoon it into your measuring cup, sweep excess off with the flat of a knife).
To fix a crumbly dough, add just a bit of milk or water by the 1/4 teaspoon until the dough comes together.
More Christmas Recipes
- Hot Chocolate
- Peppermint Mocha
- Chai Sugar Cookies With Eggnog Glaze
- Perfect Snickerdoodles
More Small-batch Cookie Recipes
- Small-batch Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Small-batch Cut-out Sugar Cookies
- Small-batch Oatmeal Cookies
- Small-batch Shortbread Cookies
Or check out my entire Small-batch Cookie Recipe Archive .
Equipment
- Parchment paper
- Handheld electric mixer
Ingredients
Gingerbread
- ▢ 1 cup + 2 tablespoons ( 135g ) all-purpose flour measured by weight or using the spoon and sweep method*
- ▢ ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ▢ ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ▢ ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
- ▢ ¼ teaspoon ground allspice
- ▢ ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ▢ Pinch of salt
- ▢ 2 tablespoons ( 28 g) unsalted butter room temperature
- ▢ 2 tablespoons ( 24 g) vegetable shortening room temperature*
- ▢ 3 tablespoons ( 38 g) packed brown sugar
- ▢ 3 tablespoons unsulfured molasses
- ▢ 1 large egg yolk
Faux Royal Icing
- ▢ 1/2 cup ( 60 g) powdered sugar
- ▢ 1 teaspoon to 1 tablespoon milk
- ▢ 1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
Gingerbread Cookies
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone baking mat.
- In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, cloves, and salt.
- In a medium bowl, use a hand-held electric mixer to beat butter and vegetable shortening until well-combined. Add sugar and beat on high until light and fluffy, about 1 minute. Add molasses and egg yolk and beat until completely incorporated.
- Add flour one-third at a time and use a spoon to stir until well-mixed and no streaks of dry flour remain.
- Roll the dough out 1/4-inch thick between two sheets of parchment paper, slide parchment paper and dough onto a baking sheet or other flat surface, and refrigerate for at least 45 minutes.
- Preheat your oven to 350°. Cut out cookies, re-rolling dough between parchment paper as needed. Use a metal spatula to transfer cookies to prepared baking sheet and refrigerate for 15 minutes to allow cookies to firm up so they don’t spread too much in the oven.
- Bake for 9 to 14 minutes depending on cookie size, until edges are set. Cool on cookie sheet until cool enough to handle and then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling.
Faux Royal Icing
- Whisk together powdered sugar, 1 teaspoon of the milk, and vanilla. Add milk by the 1/4 teaspoon until icing reaches a consistency where if you run a knife through it, it takes 20 seconds to fill back in completely. Transfer icing to a piping bag or disposable plastic bag with the tip cut off and go wild decorating!
- Allow icing 5 to 10 minutes to set before eating and enjoy!
Notes
Gingerbread Adapted From Food Network
Horse and Dog Gingerbread Treats are a simple and easy way to show your pets you care this Christmas!
But I know that’s not the greatest thing for them, so for the last few years, I’ve been making them some of their own gingerbread cookies. And they LOVE THEM.
Horse and Dog-Friendly Gingerbread
There’s no granulated sugar here, just molasses, and then flour, some ginger and other spices, and a little bit of oil. Ginger’s even a great digestive aid for dogs, so these are some cookies you can feel good about sharing.
The recipe is super simple to throw together and the dough is easy to work with. Plus, the treats are indistinguishable (to the eye) from regular gingerbread cookies , so if you make human and dog gingerbread cookies at the same time, have fun with hungry friends and family refusing to tell them which is which. 😉
Ingredient Notes
- All-purpose flour: This recipe uses all-purpose flour, but if you’d like to use whole wheat flour, you can. Be sure to measure your flour using a scale (recommended) or the spoon and sweep method (stir the flour in your container to fluff it up and then spoon it into your measuring cup, sweep excess off with the flat of a knife). Too much flour can make your dough crumbly and hard to mix.
- Molasses: If you don’t usually cook with molasses, it’s a handy ingredient to have around, especially during the holidays, and once opened, it will keep for about a year. In the grocery store, you can usually find it near the syrups in the pancake or baking aisle.
How to Make Gingerbread for Dogs and Horses
- Whisk together dry ingredients in a medium bowl.
- In a small bowl, whisk together molasses, water, and oil. Using a wooden spoon, slowly mix liquid ingredients into the flour mixture, stirring until well-combined and uniform in color
- Roll or pat dough to 1/4-inch thick and cut into shapes.
- Bake for 20 minutes and allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet.
Can dogs eat gingerbread?
Regular gingerbread? Probably not. THIS gingerbread? Yes. Gingerbread is often on the list of foods not to feed to pets. This is because many gingerbread recipes contain nutmeg, which is toxic to dogs in large quantities.
This recipe contains no nutmeg and only dog and horse-safe ingredients, but as always, please consult your vet if you have any questions or concerns about what you are feeding your pet!
Can I freeze gingerbread treats?
Yes! Freeze treats in an airtight container or freezer bag for up to 3 months.
How to store gingerbread treats?
Store these treats in an airtight container at room temperature.
Can people eat these cookies?
You can eat them if you want, but you probably won’t want to. They’re very dense, pretty crunchy, and not very sweet.
More Dog Treat Recipes
- High-value Dog Treats
- Watermelon and Yogurt Frozen Dog Treats (Pupsicles)
- 2-ingredient Pupsicles (3 ways)
More Christmas Recipes (for People!)
- White Chocolate Peppermint Mocha
- Chai Sugar Cookies with Eggnog Glaze
- The Best Crockpot Hot Chocolate
- Small-batch Snowball Cookies with Kisses
- Small-batch Cut-out Sugar Cookies
Easy Horse and Dog Gingerbread Treats
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups ( 180 g) all-purpose flour measured by weight or using the spoon and sweep method*
- 1 tablespoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ¼ cup molasses
- ¼ cup water
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 325°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone baking mat.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together dry ingredients.
- In a small bowl, whisk together molasses, water, and oil. Using a wooden spoon, slowly mix liquid ingredients into the flour mixture, stirring until well-combined and uniform in color (some times I work the dough a little by hand to make sure all streaks of flour are mixed in–see recipe notes on dough texture).
- On an a clean, smooth surface, roll or pat dough to ¼-inch thick and cut out shapes, gathering dough and re-rolling as necessary. Bake for 20 minutes and allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet.
Notes
Nutrition
Recipe Slightly Adapted From Dog Treat Kitchen
Tomato Tortellini Soup
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons ( 28g ) butter
- 1 medium onion finely diced
- 4 cloves garlic minced or crushed
- Pinch of red pepper flakes optional
- 2 cups chicken broth or water plus more as needed*
- 1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes *
- 9 ounces ( about 2½ cups ) refrigerated cheese tortellini
- ¼ heaping teaspoon dried basil
- ¼ teaspoon oregano
- ⅓ cup heavy cream
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
- In a 4-quart pot with a lid, melt butter over medium heat. Add onions and cook until softened, about 5 minutes.
- Add garlic and red pepper and cook for 30 seconds.
- Add the broth and then add the tomatoes and their juices.
- Place the lid on the pot and bring to a simmer. Simmer covered for 10 minutes.
- Add tortellini, basil, and oregano. Cover and cook until tortellini is al dente, usually about 7-8 minutes.
- Stir in cream and salt and pepper to taste and enjoy!*
