Creamy Ham and Tortellini Soup with White Beans turns leftover ham into cold weather comfort food. This soup has so much great flavor and the addition of some half-and-half and cheese tortellini makes it super filling and satisfying.
I’m not a huge fan of ham by itself but I love using it as an ingredient in recipes like Pineapple and Ham Cheese Ball, Ham Tetrazzini, and Ham and Cheese Hash Brown Casserole. Ham is especially good in soups like this Creamy Ham and Potato Chowder as well as this Creamy Ham and Tortellini Soup with White Beans which is a recipe I’ve adapted from Carlsbad Cravings, one of my favorite food blogs.
This soup has quite a few ingredients but that’s why it has such great flavor. There’s onion, celery, carrots, and garlic plus dried basil thyme, crushed red pepper flakes, a bay leaf and some parsley. A chicken bouillon cube really ups the flavor.
The diced ham and cheese tortellini plus the beans make this soup filling enough to be a meal in and of itself. Enjoy!
Watch the short video below to see how to make this recipe.
Creamy Ham and Tortellini Soup with White Beans
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 1/2 large onion, chopped
- 1 celery rib, chopped
- 1 carrot, peeled and chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
- 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 chicken bouillon cube, crushed
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 cups chopped ham
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
- 1 (15-ounce) can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
- 2 cups half-and-half
- 1 (9-ounce) package refrigerated cheese tortellini
Instructions
- Melt butter over medium heat in a large Dutch oven.
- Add onion, celery, and carrots and cook until soft, about 5 minutes.
- Add garlic and cook 1 more minute.
- Sprinkle flour over cooked veggies and stir and cook for 1 minute.
- Gradually whisk in the chicken broth. Add bay leaf, black pepper, chicken bouillon, and ham and bring to a simmer.
- Simmer for 20 minutes. Add white beans, parsley, and half-and-half.
- When mixture returns to a simmer, add tortellini. Cook for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and serve.
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Recipe adapted from Carlsbad Cravings
It’s funny that this is adapted from the Carlsbadcravings one because when I was looking for a recipe to use, it was a toss up between theirs and yours! Lol I picked yours as it seemed more basic, which is what I wanted as I was also making my own ham broth for it and didn’t want to take away too much from its own flavor.
But in any event, this soup was Fantastic! My fiance made sure I saved it on my phone so we can use it again in the future. Thanks! 😁
I was also comparing this to Carlsbad Cravings and chose this one because CC has corn starch. Yuck.
This soup is great! It has become a staple for us since I first tried it. I add extra veggies, Spinach, some Cabbage, even butternut squash delicious. Try it, you will love it
This recipe is so good easy to make and my family loves it
Love this soup! Great as is or add extra veggies I like to throw some chopped butternut squash into the mix adds more color and compliments the ham
Your soup was delicious! Although for the beginner the directions are not complete! Will certainly make this soup again!!!
Love this recipe! I made it last night because I had some ham steaks I needed to use up. I was worried it would be a bit bland, but it had a lot of amazing flavor. I rarely measure anything to avoid extra dishes to clean so I didn’t end up with as much sauce as I’d like – but that’s my fault! I plan to try this recipe again, but with shredded chicken or leftover honey baked ham.
Can you freeze this?
Absolute favorite. So tasty.
I fixed this last night for dinner. My husband said it was the best soup he ever ate. I put this recipe in “my favorites” file.
This soup is delicious And has become an instant family favorite. I followed the recipe per the instructions only deviating to add extra vegetables like butternut squash and some chopped cabbage otherwise this soup is perfect
I made this soup yesterday. Thyme and Basil are some of the ingredients but does not tell you where to add them. I added them to the soup after I added the half and half. But this was delicious and will make again.
I’ve made several ham & bean soup recipes over the years, but this is my new favorite! The cheese tortellini and half & half make this super creamy.
I saw this recipe and instantly new I will be making this ,this for my guests at my Bar & Grill. Thanks soooo much.
Made this last night and it was so delicious. My husband said it was a home run. I made it as per instructions except I didn’t have the beans so I used fresh corn which I added at the same time as the tortellini.
All I can say is “WOW”! This is a very flexible and forgiving recipe.
I made this in my electric instant pot pressure cooker, using the LOW saute feature & then warm feature once I added the milk. Instead of Tortellini (I didn’t have any), I used 1/2c dry mini pasta shells I first par cooked on the stove top. I used fresh basil instead of dry and at the end tossed in 3/4c roughly chopped fresh baby spinach. I used half the Half/Half ask for in the recipe due to milk sensitivity. This recipe reminds me of Olive Garden soups, so I shredded some fresh Parmesan cheese on top when serving. Great with a side caprese salad and fresh slices of pineapple.
In other words, you didn’t make this recipe.
I made this and brought it to work, I fed 9 people and they absolutely loved it, thinking of adding peas to the recipe for next time!
Would it freewe well or not because of the half & half?
It looks delish!