One-Pot Lemon Tortellini Soup with English Peas
Published 4/5/2024
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Get ready to dive into a cozy bowl of goodness with this easy-peasy one-pot lemon tortellini soup! Packed with savory ground chicken, veggies, cheesy tortellini, and a kick of lemon that gives it an extra bright finish.
And the best part? It’s all done in under 35 minutes. Talk about a perfect weeknight dinner recipe.
Whoever decided that soup is only for the cold and dark winter months hasn’t tried this bright and colorful lemon tortellini soup with English peas! It’s — dare I say — the spring-iest soup we’ve ever created 🤩 I love love love the contrast of fresh lemon with nourishing and rich broth and veggies + the addition of tortellini makes it a ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ dish according to my toddler.
Plus, there’s nothing fussy about this soup — it’s ready to serve in 35 minutes, and is made completely in one pot. The meatballs are really just broken up pieces of ground chicken, which means 0 meatball rolling required. Plop the store-bought tortellini and peas in at the end, and dinner is served.
What’s In Our Lemon Tortellini Soup
Chicken meatballs: Made with a blend of Italian seasoning, red pepper flakes, and garlic, these chicken meatballs are easily seasoned and then simply broken apart in the pot when browned.
Veggies: You’ll need the super flavorful combination of minced white onion, a whopping 6 cloves of garlic, chopped carrots and frozen peas for this soup.
Tortellini: Any store-bought tortellini will do! We used a cheese tortellini since we already have chicken meatballs in this soup, but feel free to use a meat tortellini if you prefer.
Chicken broth: The base of this soup! Chicken broth flavor pairs nicely with chicken meatballs, but any broth you have on hand will do.
Shredded parmesan: Don’t skip this! The shredded parm will melt into the soup making it richer and creamier — seriously yum!
Lemon juice: Can’t have lemon tortellini soup without the lemon! We’re using fresh lemon juice as it provides the best flavor. This is what we recommend 😋
Easy Ingredient Swaps
Tortellini –> Ravioli: This is obviously a tortellini soup recipe, but if you don’t have any on hand, store-bought ravioli will also taste delish.
Chicken Meatballs –> Beef or Pork Meatballs: Ground chicken is very lean and still quite flavorful with our seasoning, so we opted for a chicken meatball for this soup. Obviously beef or pork or a combination would also be quite tasty.
Frozen Peas –> Fresh Peas: Truly either will work! The frozen peas will take a few minutes longer to thaw in the soup, but we’ve tested this soup with both fresh and frozen and it doesn’t change the taste or the texture of the peas.
Great Jones
Dutch Oven
The Great Jones “The Dutchess” is our favorite Dutch oven for every day cooking. It’s great for one-pot meals, soups, and more!
Top Tips when Making Lemon Tortellini Soup
- The tortellini will continue to soak up the broth: If you aren’t eating the soup immediately, hold off on adding the tortellini, or know you will have to add more broth when serving.
- When choosing parmesan: Freshly grated parmesan works better than pre-shredded for this recipe. It is less likely to clump when melted in the soup as pre-shredded cheese contains added preservatives that prevents clumping in the bag, but doesn’t allow for it to melt as easily.
Tutorial
How to Freeze Soup & Chili
Learn how to freeze soup and chili with this easy How to Freeze Soup tutorial. We’ll share all of our tips and tricks to perfect freezer soup.
FAQs
The tortellini will continue to absorb the broth as the soup sits, so we recommend adding chicken broth when reheating to retain a soupy thickness without thinning out flavor with water.
In this recipe, you do NOT need to precook your tortellini. So, can I put the store-bought tortellini right in the pot? YES! Tortellini cooks rather quickly in the soup since the broth is already hot.
Storage
Before refrigerating, make sure to let your soup cool. Then, transfer it into an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 3 days.
To reheat: When you’re ready to reheat, we found that it will likely be necessary to add more broth. The tortellini will suck up all of that yummy yummy broth, so just add in a splash or so per serving. Reheat on the stovetop or medium heat until hot.
One-Pot Lemon Tortellini Soup Recipe
Ingredients
Ground Chicken
- 1.5 tablespoons Italian Seasoning
- 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 teaspoon dried chives
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 lb. ground chicken
Other Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- ½ cup dry white wine, sauvignon blanc
- 1 white onion, minced
- 3 large carrots, peeled and chopped into coins
- 1 teaspoon sea salt, separated
- 6 cloves garlic, minced
- 8 cups chicken broth
- 2 cups frozen sweet peas
- 16 oz. cheese tortellini
- 1 cup freshly shredded parmesan cheese, + more for topping
- 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- ¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
Instructions
- Add all the ingredients for the ground chicken to a bowl and gently mix to combine.
- Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium/high heat. When the olive oil is fragrant, break the chicken into small pieces resembling chicken meatballs.
- Cook the chicken pieces until browned on all sides, about 6-7 minutes. Be sure to gently move the chicken pieces around so they don’t stick to the bottom of the pot. Remove the chicken from the pot.
- Deglaze the pot with wine and use a spatula to scrape the brown bits from the bottom of the pot.
- Add the onion and carrots to the pot and season with ½ teaspoon salt. Toss and saute over medium/high heat for 5-6 minutes.
- Add the garlic and saute for an additional 1 minute. Once the garlic is fragrant, add the broth to the pot and bring to a boil.
- Add the peas and tortellini to the pot and turn the heat down to medium. Let the tortellini cook for 3-4 minutes or until the center of the tortellini is hot and gooey.
- Add the chicken back to the soup and stir to combine.
- Remove the pot from heat and slowly add the parmesan to the soup. Add a few tablespoons of the cheese at a time, stirring constantly. Repeat until all the parmesan has been added. If you add the parmesan all at one time it will climb.
- Add the remaining salt and lemon juice to the pot and stir.
- Top with fresh parsley, parmesan cheese, and red pepper flakes. Serve immediately and enjoy.
Tips & Notes
- Any type of tortellini will work for this recipe.
- We used frozen sweet peas, but you can use fresh ones, too. You will just have to let the peas cook a bit longer or to the desired crunch level.
- Freshly grated parmesan works better than pre-shredded. It is less likely to clump.
- The tortellini will continue to soak up the broth. If you aren’t eating the soup immediately, hold off on adding the tortellini, or know you will have to add more broth.
Watch It
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Super hearty and comes to together quickly. This will be a repeat recipe for me!
An instant classic in my kitchen! Perfect twist on a classic tortellini soup.
Yay!
Perfect for a cold spring day!!
Completely agree!