Slow Cooker Tomato Basil Soup with Tortellini

Warm, comforting, and hearty — all words that describe this simple and easy to make slow cooker tomato basil soup. It’s going to be a huge crowd pleaser!

Apparently I’m on a HUGE soup kick lately. Can you blame me though? My daughter stayed home from school yesterday with a little cold and it rained ALL day. Literally ALL DAY WITHOUT STOPPING. Ick. If that doesn’t call for soup, I don’t know what does.

We still had a great day though. My little six-year-old type-A daughter came to me with a clipboard and a pen and requested I make a list of the all the things we were going to do that day so she could check them off as we progressed through our day. I made the list, and she took it one step further and added a box after each item so she could check them off as we completed each task.

We stayed in our pajamas, did puzzles, read books, ate lots of snacks, made muffins, made pumpkin cutout cookies, did homework, and just had a relaxed, fun day. Check, check, check and check. She’s back to school today and I’m trying to get back into my routine.

Maybe I should make a list.

1. Think of recipes other than soup.
2. Eat some soup.

I think I can handle that today.

Oh gosh but look at that slow cooker tomato basil soup! So warm and cozy. Let’s just eat soup all winter long. Wednesday I shared the easiest meatball soup with orzo, and Monday we had the 5 ingredient slow cooker green enchilada soup. Apparently it really is soup week on Rachel Cooks! Also, a reader asked me if they could use shredded chicken in my super popular Italian Turkey Bean Soup and now I can’t wait to try that! It sounds so amazing.

If you’re anything like Ben and I and like your soup thick, you’re going to love this slow cooker tomato basil soup (you’d love the creamy chicken and wild rice soup too — some people get a little fired up about how thick that one is). If you like it to actually be like soup and less stew-like, feel free to add some water or broth to this (or milk if you want it creamy!).  Also, the longer it sits, the thicker it will get, so be prepared for that. The second day it was more like tortellini with tomato sauce. Which we also loved. Really no complaints at all from Ben or I.

Enjoy! Happy souping.

PS: I typed “souping” in Google because I couldn’t believe my computer didn’t give me a red squiggly line under it implying that I’m making up words. What comes up? An article in the NY Times headlined “Souping is the new Juicing.” VALIDATION. (I’m ignoring the second headline stating “Souping: Yet Another Dead End Dieting Trend” — hush up HuffPo.) Let’s celebrate with squash soup.

Slow Cooker Tomato Basil Soup with Tortellini

Yield: 6-8 servings

Total Time: 4 hours 10 minutes

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 4 hours

Warm, comforting, and hearty — all words that describe this simple and easy to make slow cooker tomato basil soup. It’s going to be a huge crowd pleaser!

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Ingredients:

• 1 cup diced carrot (about 3 carrots)
• 3/4 cup diced yellow onion (about 1 medium onion)
• 3/4 cup diced celery (1-2 stalks)
• 3 cans (28 oz each) tomatoes (whole, crushed, or diced)
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 20 oz refrigerated 3 cheese tortellini
• 1/4 cup minced fresh basil, more for garnish
• Parmesan or mozzarella cheese for garnish (optional)

Directions:

1. In a 6 or 7-quart slow cooker, combine carrot, onion, celery, tomatoes, bay leaf, basil, pepper, garlic powder, and salt. Stir to combine.
2. Cover and cook on high for 5 hours (or low for 8 hours). Uncover and blend until smooth using a hand-held immersion blender. If you don’t have an immersion blender, you can also puree this in batches in a traditional blender (be very careful!).
3. Add tortellini and continue to cook on high for 10 minutes or until tortellini is cooked through. Stir in fresh basil and serve immediately topped with additional fresh basil and cheese.

Note: If you let this sit longer (and don’t serve immediately), the tortellini with soak up a lot of the liquid and it will become more like tortellini with marinara. We kind of loved it that way too but if you’re going for soup, just add a little water, chicken broth, or vegetable broth. Or you could add a little milk for a creamier version of this soup.

All images and text ©Rachel Cooks.

Verdict:  Loved this cozy soup!
Husband’s take: He couldn’t get enough of this soup. He probably wished there was meat but he didn’t complain.
Changes I would make: None are necessary.
Difficulty: Very easy.