Fireplace on, kids on the couch and a cup of hot tea– the first thing that came to my mind was a nice soup. The thing with soups is that they can be thin and not very filling. If I’m going to serve a soup to my husband and kids, it needs to be hearty and filling to keep the kids from needing a snack 30 minutes later.

I grab some stuffed tortellini, ground sausage, and some delicious veggies and put the crockpot to work. You can use whatever peppers you have on hand, but I had an assortment and I like the mixture of the flavors and textures.

Crockpot Ground Sausage and Tortellini Soup

Prep time: 5 minutes | Cook time: 4 hours (crockpot) | Total time: 4 hours and 5 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 lb ground sausage
• 1/2 yellow bell pepper, diced
• 1/2 green bell pepper, diced
• 1/4 cup red onion, diced
• 2- 15 oz cans of diced tomatoes
• 32 oz chicken broth
• 1/2 brick of cream cheese, cubed
• 2 tbs corn starch
• 1 package of cheese stuffed tortellini
• 1/4 cup corn starch (this is purposely separate from the 2 tbs)
• 1/2 cup water

Recipe

• Cook the ground sausage in a skillet until almost completely cooked through and then add in the diced peppers and onions. Cook for another few minutes until the peppers get a little soft.
• Grab your crockpot and add in the sausage and pepper mixture, the tomatoes, broth, cream cheese and then finally, add in the 2 tbs of corn starch and using a whisk, whisk until the corn starch is all broken down. Using a large spoon, stir it all around to distribute the cornstarch, veggies and broth.
• Put the lid on the crockpot and cook it on high for 3 hours. Stir every hour and try to break apart the cream cheese as it begins to soften.
• After 3 hours, in a small bowl, whisk together the 1/4 cup corn starch and water.
• Pour the mixture into the crockpot and stir again.
• Add in the tortellini, stir and then put the lid on the crockpot to cook for another 30 minutes.
• After 30 minutes, the tortellini should be warm and the soup should be thickening because of the corn starch.
• Serve warm and enjoy!

XO, Rachel