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.
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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.
🍅 Ingredients
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 this Italian Sausage Soup Recipe
Stovetop
- 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.
- 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.
- Add broth: Next, add the chicken broth and tomatoes to the soup. Then bring to a boil.
- Boil the pasta: Once boiling, add the pasta and cook for 8-10 minutes, or until the pasta is tender.
- 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
- 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.
- 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.
- Add broth, tomatoes and pasta: Pour in the chicken broth, canned tomatoes, and then the pasta.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
🙋 Questions and Answers
I use Italian style ground turkey sausage. You can use any Italian sausage as long as it is ground and has the casings removed.
This soup is perfect served with crusty bread and a simple side salad. Makes for a simple and easy dinner in every way!
Yes, cool the soup completely then freeze for up to 3 months. I highly recommend you DON'T freeze the soup with noodles, since they become soggy. Instead, if you plan on freezing the soup, boil the noodles separately and just add noodles to the soup you eat.
Thaw the soup overnight in the fridge, on the counter for several hours, or in the microwave. Then add a bit of extra chicken broth to loosen the soup, if needed.
Yes, you can make the soup up to the point of adding the noodles, then store in the fridge for 1-3 days. Boil the noodles separately and store in the fridge as well. When ready to serve, reheat the soup on the stove and add the pre-boiled noodles, fresh spinach, basil, and parmesan.
👨🏼🍳 Tips & 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!
👋 Connect with us!
If you try this recipe, please leave a comment and star rating below to let us know how it is! We’d also love to connect with you on Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest. Tag @borrowedbites or hashtag #borrowedbites to show us your food!
📋 Recipe
Italian Sausage Soup Recipe with Pasta
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground turkey Italian sausage sweet or hot
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 1 28 oz can petite diced Italian style tomatoes
- 1 cup small pasta shells, bowties, orzo, ditalini, etc.
- 4 cups baby spinach
- ¼ cup grated parmesan
- ¼ cup fresh basil chopped
Instructions
Stovetop
- In a pot over med-high heat, cook the sausage until cooked through, breaking it into small pieces.
- 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.
- Add the chicken broth and tomatoes to the soup. Then bring to a boil.
- Once boiling, add the pasta and cook for 8-10 minutes, or until the pasta is tender.
- Remove the soup from the heat and add the spinach, parmesan cheese, and fresh basil. Stir well and serve warm.
Instant Pot
- Select “saute” on the Instant Pot and cook the sausage until cooked through, breaking it into small pieces.
- 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.
- Pour in the chicken broth, canned tomatoes, and then the 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.
- 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.
- Add the spinach, parmesan cheese, and fresh basil. Stir well and serve warm.
Notes
- 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.
- 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.
Nutrition
All nutrition information is provided by a third party and is an estimate only. Use your own nutritional calculator for more specific measurements.
Ryan says
I make this recipe fairly often, and it's delicious. Sometimes I like to add oregano, crushed fennel seed, and garlic for some extra flavor. Seems to work well with the rest of the ingredients. The base recipe is great though, and it's easy to make. Adding beans and/or pesto is a great idea. I'll have to try that next time I make this!
Danielle says
Both pesto and beans are delicious! So happy to hear you enjoy it.
Jaci says
Wow, this was really easy. I made it as directed and it turned out great! Next time I will boil the noodles separately so that I can freeze any leftovers.