Name: Tomato tortellini soup with white beans
Total time: 70 min
Yield: 4 generous bowls
Ingredients: 2 tbsp olive oil; 1 onion, diced; 2 carrots, chopped; 1 fennel bulb, tough core removed and diced; 1/2 tsp fine salt; 1/4 tsp black pepper; 2 tsp balsamic vinegar; 2 garlic cloves, minced; 1 can (28 oz) diced tomatoes, with juice; 3 1/2 cups vegetable broth; 1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves; 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes; 12 oz refrigerated cheese tortellini labeled vegetarian; 1 can (15 oz) white beans, drained and rinsed; 5 cups baby spinach; 1/2 cup chopped basil

Tomato tortellini soup with white beans

White beans and spinach join the tortellini in a tomato-and-fennel broth.

Published October 2, 2026 · Updated October 16, 2026

4 generous bowls · Estimated 1 hour 10 minutes

Ingredients & method

Before you start: Prepare: 20 minutes · Sauté and heat broth: 15 minutes · Simmer: 30 minutes · Finish: 5 minutes

Equipment: 5-quart soup pot; pasta pot

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Method

Dice the onion, chop the carrots and remove the tough core from the fennel before dicing it. Mince the garlic, drain and rinse the white beans, and keep the canned tomatoes with all their juice.
Heat the olive oil in a 5-quart soup pot over medium heat. Add the onion, carrots, fennel, fine salt and black pepper, and cook for 8 minutes, stirring regularly, until the onion and fennel begin to soften.
Stir in the balsamic vinegar and garlic, then add the tomatoes with their juice, vegetable broth, thyme leaves and red pepper flakes. Stir across the bottom of the pot to release any softened vegetables that are sticking.
Bring the soup to a simmer, cover and reduce the heat to maintain gentle bubbling. Simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the carrots and fennel are tender when pierced.
Near the end of the soup’s simmer, bring a separate pot of water to a boil and cook the refrigerated vegetarian cheese tortellini according to its package directions. Drain the tortellini when tender; it is cooked separately so its cooking water does not become part of the broth.
Stir the drained white beans into the soup and simmer for 3 minutes to heat them through. If the vegetables are not yet tender, allow them to finish before adding the cooked pasta and spinach.
Gently stir in the drained tortellini and spinach. Heat for 2 minutes, folding the spinach into the broth until it wilts and the tortellini is hot, taking care not to break the filled pasta.
Take the soup off the heat and stir in the chopped basil. Ladle into 4 generous bowls, distributing the tortellini, beans, vegetables and broth evenly.

Use the vegetable simmer to prepare the pasta

The carrots and cored fennel need to be tender before the filled pasta and spinach join the soup. Check both vegetables during the covered simmer, rather than using the softened onion as the only sign of readiness. Keep the canned tomato juice with the tomatoes and drain the white beans separately.

Cook the refrigerated tortellini in its own pot near the end of that simmer. Its package directions control the pasta cooking, and its cooking water is drained away. This is different from a soup that cooks dry pasta directly in the broth; preserve that distinction when planning the pans and liquid.

Fold filled pasta into the finished base

Warm the drained beans once the vegetables are ready, then fold in the tortellini and spinach gently. Reach beneath the spinach to turn it into the hot broth without repeatedly crushing the filled pasta against the pot. Add the basil off the heat as directed.

Ladle from below the surface so each of the four generous bowls receives beans, tortellini and vegetables along with the broth. Use the cheese tortellini labeled vegetarian in the ingredient list; the presence of white beans does not make this dairy-containing soup vegan.