This Tortellini with Sausage is a one pot dinner recipe that the whole family will love. In less than 30 minutes, you’ll have this insanely buttery pasta ready to enjoy.
Tortellini with sausage is one of the simplest recipes to make while maintaining all the flavor of a five star meal. You can make it all in one pot, and you don’t even need to boil the tortellini separately! This dish is seriously such a quick and easy pasta recipe that brings comfort and deliciousness to your dinner table.
As you may know, Tortellini is our favorite pasta to cook with! It is so quick and easy to make, not to mention how customizable it is. Multiple of our pasta recipes have included tortellini, and it is truly foolproof. If you like pasta, check out our most popular recipes, Marry Me Chicken Pasta and Sausage Tomato Pesto Pasta.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Minimal ingredients -yet so much flavor.
- Simple and Easy -one pan is all you need.
- Comforting Flavors – perfect for the whole family
Ingredients:
- Italian Sausage -feel free to use whatever kind your prefer.
- Cheese Tortellini -frozen, refrigerated, or shelf stable all work.
- Butter (garlic and herb)
- Minced Garlic -this can be fresh or from a jar, it doesn’t matter.
- Black Pepper -simple yet classic!
- Onion Powder -this is another classic seasoning that will add lots of flavor.
- Italian Seasoning -this is my favorite part, such great flavor!
- Red Pepper Flakes (optional)
- Beef Broth -this will keep the tortellini moist and keep the dish from getting dry.
- Heavy Cream -another moisture component, this will add smoothness.
- Cream Cheese (garlic and herb whipped)
- Grated parmesan -feel free to add as much as you want, you can never have too much parmesan!
- Fresh Basil -make your tortellini a little fancy with some basil garnish to add flavor.
How To Make Tortellini with Sausage
1. Cut up and cook sausage on medium-high heat.
2. Set aside once sausage is cooked through.
3. Turn heat down to low-medium and give the pan a couple of minutes to cool down.
4. Add stick of butter and minced garlic.
5. Cook for a minute or so and then add seasonings and beef broth.
6. Add the heavy cream.
7. Add tortellini and whipped cream cheese.
8. Place on lid, bring to a simmer and cook around 10 min until tortellini is plump.
9. Stir in grated parmesan and basil.
10. Add sausage and stir until well coated in sauce. Enjoy!
Expert Tips:
- Make sure not to overcook the pasta, cook just at the end in the sauce according to the package’s instructions.
- Make sure you add the cream cheese — it’s the key to the creamy sauce.
- If sauce is too thin then just add a slurry of cornstarch and water, stir to combine and add into the sauce, and simmer until thickened.
What to Serve With Tortellini and Sausage:
A crisp salad will always add some freshness to a rich, heavy dish like tortellini. Feel free to make whatever your favorite kind is and pair the two! Cooked vegetables or a nice slice of garlic bread will also compliment the dish very well.
Storage and Make-Ahead Instructions:
This recipe can be stored in the fridge and freezer for later use and reheating. Just make sure when storing this dish it is kept in an airtight container at a steady cold temperature. Refrigerating will only keep it fresh for less than one week, but freezing this dish can keep it delicious for months. To reheat you can use a microwave or put the food in a pot over the stove and slowly reheat, adding water or beef broth to rehydrate as needed.
Frequently Asked Questions:
What mix-ins can I add to tortellini and sausage? Vegetables like peppers, tomatoes, mushrooms, spinach, or even peas are great options! Or if you’re going for more protein feel free to add bacon, chicken or shrimp.
Can I use something else besides cream cheese? While cream cheese is strongly recommended, you can also try ricotta, greek yogurt, or sour cream, but the same taste and consistency is not guaranteed.
Can I substitute the sausage with another protein? Yes! Chicken, steak, or shrimp are all great substitutions.
More Easy Pasta Recipes To Try:
- Crock Pot Mac and Cheese
- Chicken Enchilada Tortellini
- Cheesy BBQ Chicken Tortellini
- Marry Me Shrimp Pasta
One Pot "Stick of Butter" Tortellini
Video
Ingredients
- 1 lb italian sausage
- 24 oz cheese tortellini
- 1 stick butter(garlic and herb)
- minced garlic
- 1.5 tsp black pepper
- 1.5 tsp onion powder
- 2 tsp italian seasoning
- 1 tsp red pepper flakes(optional)
- 1.5 cups beef broth
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 4 oz cream cheese(garlic and herb whipped)
- 1 cup grated parm
- fresh basil
Instructions
- Cut up and cook sausage on med high heat. Set aside once cooked through.
- Turn heat down to low medium and give pan a couple min to cool down.
- Add stick of butter and minced garlic.
- Cook for a min or so and then add seasonings, beef broth, and heavy cream.
- Add tortellini and whipped cream cheese.
- Place on lid, bring to a simmer and cook around 10 min until tortellini is plump.
- Stir in grated parm and basil.
- Add sausage and stir until well coated in sauce. Enjoy!
Can’t wait to make!!!
This was amazing and will be a regular in our house now. I ended up using steak and used French onion cream cheese.
Became a weekly meal in my home. Easy to put together, and I use ground beef instead of sausage.
This is fantastic!!!!
One of my favorites now all the kids love it to but we change it up sometimes and do rana garlic chicken Ravioli with no susage
Just made this today, we used some mild Italian sausage and followed the recipe as directed. Boy was that something tasty! We didn’t have garlic and herb whipped cream cheese though so we just used regular but I think it was still good ❤️. Thank you for that recipe dude, it’s definitely one were saving 😁
Creamy, flavourful and easy clean up! 10/10 recommend!
Making this for the second time! Delicious, thank you for sharing. This time I only had a regular stick of butter and hot breakfast sausage but it was still delicious!
This seems like something that could easily be mafe in an 18wheeler… 🤔
Making this tonight. So hopeful it turns out like yours looks. Can’t wait. Will update comment once done and eaten. Thank you for sharing!!!
Made this tonight for supper it was really good but next time I would put less pepper in or or just leave it out totally wouldn’t miss it with all the seasonings.
Great recipe, made it last night and it was delish. very easy and will do it again! Thank you
I made it for something at work and everyone loved it. I came home with a empty crockpot and someone asking for more. Will definitely make it again. Sooo good 😍😍
This is amazing we absolutely loved it.
This was fantastic! My kids have asked for it again. Very easy! Thank you!
Omg delicious
Absolutely delicious!! I will be making this again
Definitely going to try this
Looks amazing
I made this tonight. The flavor was on point and it was easy to make but unfortunately the sauce broke one me. Completely my fault because I always suck at making cheese sauces. Any tips that can help me out in the future?
I’m guessing heat was maybe a little too high.
Dang! Best I’ve made yet. The sausage and basil conpliment the sauce well, I used fresh 5 cheese tortellini 20 oz pack.
Made this for my family – it was amazing!! I substituted Italian sausage for cajun andouille sausage and it added a little more spice. Definitely will be making again!
I just made this and it’s simmering on the stove. I took 2 bits and oh my!! Knock it out of the park! The only adjustment I made was adding mushrooms. I will definitely make this again.
Made this last night and it’s delicious!!! Shared recipe with my colleagues this morning. Currently eating some for lunch!! This will go on rotation it’s that good!
I made this tonight and it was delicious. I love a one pot meal! My Husband said this recipe was a keeper.
Fantastic 1 pot recipe. Already used it twice but with ground beef and worce sauce
Awesome recipe. We don’t have the whipped cream cheese here in Australia so I just used normal spreadable cream cheese. Great flavours and will definitely be making this again
So easy to make and delicious! My husband LOVED it.
Any way to make this a freezer meal? Is it as easy as cooking but all and putting it in a freezer bag and freezing it?
I don’t typically freeze things like this bc the sauce always separates when reheating.
Absolutely loved it
Just made this. My wife and I loved it, so good! Super Market didn’t have the garlic and herb cream cheese so I used the onion and chive one instead, it worked out just fine.
We made this tonight for dinner and I added fresh baby Spanish
This was a huge hit and will be added to regular rotation! I couldn’t find whipped herb and garlic cream cheese so I used the unwhipped variety and added sliced mushrooms and halved grape tomatoes. Absolutely delicious!!
My brother and sister in law were down for a visit and made this for dinner. Everyone loved it
Thank you again for sharing.
OMG! This was delicious, and definitely adding it to my rotation.
Very filling, easy recipe that looks fancy.
My 9-yr old requested I make this dish and it QUICKLY made its way to the rotation! I didn’t have the garlic butter but added enough garlic to the sauce to make it worth it. Instead of the cream cheese I used Boursin cheese (garlic & herb) and it was superb! Darn grocery store was out of the family size tortellini so I grabbed 2 lbs of sausage since I had 32 ounces of tortellini. I eyeballed the beef stock to add a little more to make the sauce. If you don’t have enough heavy cream you can always add sour cream as a substitute. The entire family loves this meal and it will be on menu again soon! Won’t lie I was worried about the one-pan idea with all my extras but it truly was one pan.
This was absolutely amazing! Fan favorite at my house❤️
We loved this!! We subbed in jalapeño cream cheese for a kick and it was insane. Thank you for sharing!
Made this with spicy Italian sausage and oh-hh it’s delish!!🔥🔥
Was very easy to make and was a hit with my family. Will definitely make on our regular rotation of recipes.
Oh so good. Definitely going to be a staple in this household
My man is a long haul trucker, so I like to make him big pots of yummy to take on the road with him. I modified the recipe a little bit, doubled the sauce, added chicken, onions, spinach, and mushrooms. Chefs kiss and trucker approved ❤️💋
This is such an easy one pot meal. I opted to use ground Italian sausage and added spinach at the end. All 4 of us adults love it. I’ll be making this again
This was good! I kept the cream cheese plain as I don’t love the garlic & herb Philly (am a
Philly Cc addict and always have 10 plain bricks in fridge, tho)!! Just getting over a bug so left out red pepper flakes for no spice. It was delicious! Very, very rich. 18-yr old Daughter who hates sausage loved she could easily pick around the larger pieces to eat just tortellini!
I made this tonight but did not use sausage as I had Chicken Mozzarella tortellini. Because of that I used chicken broth. I added cut up grape tomatoes at the beginning and spinach at the end. My god it was amazing. Loved it.
Fantastic recipe! My family does not like sausage, so we substitute with chicken and replace beef broth with chicken broth and it’s now in our weekly rotation!
Thank you!
Made this tonight. It’s absolutely fantastic. Very flavorful and very rich. It’s like tortellini Alfredo on steroids!
Made this tonight. Absolutely amazing! Rich and flavorful. It’s like Alfredo on steroids!
Fantastic! Will be adding to our biweekly rotation. So flavorful!
This was an absolutely delicious one pot meal – super easy. All my stores were out of the butter suggested, so I used regular butter and it turned out perfect. My 16 yo absolutely LOVED it. This will be on our regular rotation!
I’m a caveman in the kitchen – can’t boil water without messing up – but this looked good so I gave it a shot. Everybody at dinner absolutely raved about how delicious it was.
NOTE: The only negative I found is that it’s not nearly as good reheated, so I’ll try scaling the recipe to the number of guests that I anticipate from now on.
How much minced garlic?
I never measure but a 2 cloves or so should suffice.
What would be a good substitute for the beef broth? Unfortunately my stomach can’t handle beef broth.
Can you do chicken broth instead? That would work. Or, maybe dilute the beef broth 50/50 with water.
Dish is awesome but any tips on how to prevent the sauce from breaking? I had on low heat but still broke a little.
I’m thinking it prob just needed whisked more if you followed everything else per directions.
Brought leftovers to work and everyone wants the recipe. I also used Boursin cheese instead of cream cheese, and u added 1/2 bag frozen spinach! Delicious!
Easy – Check!
Delicious – Check!
Kid approved – CHECK!
Super quick and yummy dinner for a busy weeknight! We will definitely add this to our rotation, thank you!
Loved this recipe. Made for the family and was a great hit. I used frozen tortellini and worked great. My daughter ask for the recipe. It was great. I have tried some of your other tortellini dishes and loved all of them.
Thank you!
How much butter is considered in 1 stick? Just in case I can’t find the specific one used in the recipe.
8 tbsp!!
Made it today. Easy and delicious. I will be making it again.
I did reduce the amount of the butter, black and red pepper by half and increased the broth to 2 cups.
It looks very delicious
I have made it two times. It is so good, the only thing I changed was I added jalapeno cream cheese for some extra heat.
Is the grated parmesan cheese fresh grated or the kind that comes in shaker bottle?
You can use either. I typically grate my own.
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This is delicious!! Easy to make and packed with flavor. I added baby spinach as well, as some others did and it was worth it!
Try this tonight! I substitute bratwurst because I don’t like italian sausage. The sauce and tortellini were amazing but I didn’t care for the sausage in it. Definitely going to make this again, just without the sausage. So yummy!
So good! On our rotation now – my 16yo son loves it! I use Boursin in place of the cream cheese. Thank you for the recipe!