Creamy Tomato Basil Soup

Tomato basil soup with frozen tortellini takes under 20 minutes total to prepare and cook. In a pressure cooker or as a Ninja Foodi recipe, this healthy great recipe everyone will love!

We’re going to start with onions. Why? Well because I added them to my tomato bisque recipe and it was a crazy cheap way to add flavor and texture. Bam! We are not just making homemade tomato basil soup with fresh basil, but we’re adding cheese filled tortellini noodles inside too!!

Why would we do this….ummmm because it makes it super delicious and makes it a bit heartier for dinner. Faster than our Crockpot tortellini soup but with the same deep flavors served with a grilled cheese sandwich or a slice of garlic bread.

Ingredient Notes

1. Tomato sauce is the base. You could use homemade but I am just using canned to make things easier and faster.
2. Basil leaves, fresh is best diced fine but jarred works too if need be
3. Garlic finely minced is best, out of a jar or chopped from fresh cloves
4. Heavy cream to make it creamy, chicken broth can be substituted if you don’t want it creamy
5. Onions and celery is an optional add in too
6. Salt and pepper to your liking, when made and to taste when serving
7. Tortellini noodles – already filled, we’re going for easy here – you can buy them bagged at the store
8. Parmesan cheese – for the top, the only way to go
9. An immersion blender is handy to make it super smooth

What can you use other than heavy cream?

Instead of using heavy whipping cream you can substitute 1 c. of broth or coconut milk instead. OR you could use 1 c. (or more) of diced tomatoes with the juice if you wanted a chunkier version instead of smooth. Adding more liquid will thin it out, using heavier cream will make it creamier.

Variations

If you wanted to add some fresh tomatoes I would just dice them as you would find them canned. Add with the sauce and you’ll add a bit of texture to the overall dish. For a dairy free version you can use lactose free milk or your favorite alternative to make creamy.

with Tortellini

We added small cheese filled noodles here. It is also a great way of How to Cook Frozen Ravioli, the small kind with meat or cheese inside. Alternatives would to add regular noodles but those cook very quickly, 1 minute max. Egg noodles are better in chicken noodle soup to beef stroganoff soup. They have a tender texture and absorb the flavors of the soup well.

Rotini and fusilli noodles are spiral-shaped and have ridges that help trap sauce or broth. They work well in soups with chunky vegetables or meats, allowing the flavors to cling to the pasta. Orzo is a small, rice-shaped pasta that adds a delicate texture to soups. Ditalini are short, tube-shaped pasta that resembling small tubes.

with Coconut Milk

I don’t know about you but I am always up for Instant Pot soup recipes year round…it doesn’t have to be cold outside. Using lactose free milk or almond products will work except that you may want to whisk in some cornstarch to thicken as those are thin in nature.

in Slow Cooker

I have made slow cooker creamy tomato soup before which is good, but slow cooker means what it says….slooooowwwww. Some days I don’t have that much time so using these directions instead are great. Use the ingredients below adding the cream last (so it won’t curdle) and see what you think.

on the Stove

Our tomato bisque recipe is cooked on the stovetop and tastes amazing but you really have to stand there for quite some time and watch it so it doesn’t burn or boil over.

in Pressure Cooker

Needless to say though, now that I am addicted to using my pressure cooker, this is when this Instant Pot tomato soup was born. I guess you could call it tomato tortellini soup too…whatever, call it what you will. 😉 This is the fastest method of cooking this. I have the directions below to follow in this case.

Reason why I love adding these filled noodles is that you can buy them already filled with either meat or cheese, our choice. You can buy them packaged on the shelf (which aren’t as fresh) and others are frozen. Best choice in our opinion is the frozen cheese version. Most stores have their own brand of them and there are some other expensive bags which basically taste the same.

Why we love Instant Pot Tomato Basil Soup

Soup is a meal my whole family can enjoy together. For the most part, for dinner is crazy cheap to feed all 5 of us. For the most part it is relatively healthy or you can tweak things to make it healthier like using coconut milk instead of heavy cream is an option.

• Pressure cook time is crazy fast using high pressure. After a few minutes and a quick release at the end you can immediately enjoy, this is how to bake frozen rolls on the side to serve together.
• You can cook soups with dry beans super fast like our pressure cooker 15 bean soup
• It allows me to cook from scratch easier because I don’t have to tend to the stove, the pot does the job all on it’s own keeping the temp. steady
• Because when it’s cold or snowy outside all I want is a warm bowl of soup for lunch and dinnertime

How to save leftovers

Now let’s talk about how to save leftover soup if you don’t finish it all. Whether you made this or our Instant Pot split pea soup you always want to wait until it is totally cooled to room temperature first off. You’ll want to transfer it into a container that you can seal shut. It will save for up to 3 days. I would reheat in the microwave for about 1 minute.