Italian Sausage Soup Recipe with Pasta

This Italian Sausage Soup recipe with pasta is super easy to make in 30 minutes or less! Whether made on the stove or in the Instant Pot, it’s a warm, healthy soup made with flavorful turkey sausage, spinach, and pasta. Plus it’s great for making ahead, freezing, or meal prep. 

There are a few qualities that make a recipe an instant winner in my book: 

✅ Ultra-simple
✅ Minimal cleanup
✅ Super tasty

This Italian Sausage Soup Recipe with Pasta fits the bill every time I need a quick and easy dinner during the winter. It’s easy enough that anyone in the house could make it (older kids included), plus it is super easy to adjust depending on the ingredients you have on hand. 

We originally borrowed this recipe from a friend, who found it in a Cooking Light Magazine. Over the years we’ve made adjustments to make it even better, including adding Instant Pot instructions. 😉 We've got your back.

Skip to:

• Ingredients for Italian sausage soup
• Helpful kitchen tools
• How to make Italian sausage soup
•  Variations
• For a crowd
• FAQs
• Tips and tricks
• Other easy dinner recipes
• Recipe
• Comments

Ingredients for Italian sausage soup

• Italian turkey sausage: Use ground turkey sausage with Italian seasonings. It can be regular or hot.
• Chicken broth: You can use canned or homemade chicken broth.
• Petite diced Italian tomatoes: Italian style diced tomatoes have extra seasoning in them that add flavor to the soup.
• Pasta: Any small pasta will work, but my preferred pasta is small shells.
• Baby spinach: Use fresh baby spinach, not frozen. It looks like a lot, but it will shrink down significantly.
• Parmesan cheese: Use real parmesan cheese, not the kind from the green bottle.
• Fresh basil: Getting fresh basil is definitely worth the extra flavor!

How to make Italian sausage soup

Stovetop

1. Brown the meat: In a pot over med-high heat, cook the sausage until cooked through, breaking it into small pieces. My favorite tool for this is this meat masher. 
2. Drain: Once cooked, drain most of the liquid from the pot, leaving only about ¼ of what was there. It does not need to be precise. 
3. Add broth: Next, add the chicken broth and tomatoes to the soup. Then bring to a boil. 
4. Boil the pasta: Once boiling, add the pasta and cook for 8-10 minutes, or until the pasta is tender. 
5. Add final ingredients: Remove the soup from the heat and add the spinach, parmesan cheese, and fresh basil. Stir well and serve warm.

Instant Pot

1. Brown meat: Select “saute” on the Instant Pot and cook the sausage until cooked through, breaking it into small pieces. My favorite tool for this is this meat masher. 
2. Drain: Once cooked, push cancel on the Instant Pot. Carefully (the pot will be hot), drain most of the liquid from the pot, leaving about ¼ of what was there. This doesn’t need to be precise. 
3. Add broth, tomatoes and pasta: Pour in the chicken broth, canned tomatoes, and then the pasta. 
4. Cook pasta: Put the lid on the Instant Pot and set the valve to “sealing.” Press manual and adjust the time to 2 minutes for small pasta. If using orzo cook for 1 minute, and if using a thicker pasta like tortellini cook for 3 minutes. The IP will take several minutes to build pressure, then will start counting down. 
5. Release the pressure: As soon as the time is up on the Instant Pot, carefully move the valve to “venting.” Once most of the steam has released, carefully remove the lid. 
6. Add final ingredients: Add the spinach, parmesan cheese, and fresh basil. Then stir well and serve warm.

 Variations

You can easily adjust this recipe based on the ingredients you have on hand. Here are some easy substitutions that taste great in Italian Sausage Soup. 

• White beans: Add a small can of white beans, like Great Northern or Cannellini. This adds extra protein and fiber. 
• Pasta: You can use any small pasta, including small shells, mini bowties, ditalini, or orzo. You can also substitute tortellini. 
• Pesto: Add a bit of pesto on the top for extra delicious flavor.

For a crowd

If you’re serving this to a crowd, be sure to use a large pot or 8 qt Instant Pot to fit a double recipe. I think it is easiest to make the soup ahead and then reheat it before serving. You can make the entire soup ahead except for the noodles. Boil those separately, store in a zipper bag, then add them to the soup about 10 minutes before serving. 

FAQs

Tips and tricks

• Make sure to crumble or mash the ground meat into very small pieces while cooking. My favorite tool for this is this meat masher. 
• If you plan on freezing the soup, making it ahead, or meal prepping, I highly recommend boiling the noodles separately and adding them when serving.

Other easy dinner recipes

• Stovetop White Chicken Chili - This warm and flavorful white chicken chili has a smokey broth, tender chicken, and hearty white beans. So comforting! 
• Broccoli Pasta Recipe - Just 25 minutes to make a simple pasta dish filled with broccoli and fresh lemon. Yum! 
• Chicken Tinga Recipe - Use rotisserie chicken and a simple tinga sauce to make delicious chicken tinga tacos. Perfect weeknight dinner!

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