If you're looking for an easy dinner for a busy weeknight meal try this cheesy Dutch Oven Sausage Tortellini Casserole. With flavorful sauce and melty cheese, this tortellini recipe is our definition of comfort food.
Serve this pasta dish with a side salad, some Scarpaccia (Italian Zucchini Tart), and a Chocolate Chip Cookie Brownie for dessert.

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Why you should make this recipe
Because it's delicious and hearty!
We can all use more recipes that are not only quick and easy to make, but also hearty and satisfying, not to mention nutritious.
This recipe has all those elements. Delicious, tender fresh tortellini, Italian sausage, and kale, all combined into a delicious meal that our family loved, and we know your family will love it too.
So grab your Dutch oven, your favorite wooden spoon and get cooking.
Recipe Ingredients
- Cheese tortellini — we used refrigerated tortellini with cheese.
- Sauce — because we added more seasonings, we just went with a simple jarred marinara sauce.
- Produce — kale, mushrooms, and an onion. To save a prep step, we bought sliced mushrooms.
- Sausage — we used mild ground Italian sausage.
- Cheese — shredded Parmesan cheese and mozzarella. We recommend using the block cheese and grating it yourself for best flavor.
- Seasonings — to buoy the flavor, we used Italian seasoning blend, granulated garlic, and black pepper. Salt is needed both for boiling the pasta and for the casserole to taste. You can use fresh garlic or garlic powder instead of granulated.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
Variations
Sauce — Instead of marinara sauce, you could use spaghetti sauce, chunky sauce, vodka sauce, or any of your favorite flavors. Homemade using tomato sauce and herbs like fresh basil is also an excellent option.
Sausage — You can use sweet, mild, or spicy sausage. You can also use sausage links and remove the casings. If you're looking to go meatless, use your favorite brand of plant based ground sausage.
Tortellini — While refrigerated cheese tortellini is classic, there's lots of varied fillings from Italian sausage tortellini, to mushroom, spinach, and more. Dried tortellini, frozen tortellini, and fresh tortellini are all great options, just will have varied cooking times.
How to make sausage tortellini casserole
Step 1 — Heat a dutch oven or large skillet over medium high heat. Once hot, add the olive oil and crumble the sausage. Bring another pot with water to boil.
Step 2 — When the sausage is about halfway cooked, add the onions and mushrooms.
Step 3 — Once the sausage is cooked through, the onions softened, and the mushrooms have turned golden brown add all the seasonings. Mix them in well. Add tortellini into the boiling water that's been generously salted and cook the tortellini pasta according to package directions, until al dente. Reserve a cup of the pasta water.
Step 4 — Stir in the chopped kale and pasta water.
Step 5 — Gently stir in the cooked tortellini.
Step 6 — Stir in the pasta sauce.
Step 7 — Add both the Parmesan and mozzarella cheeses.
Step 8 — Stir everything well, top with more shredded mozzarella cheese (if you fancy), red pepper flakes (if you like it a bit spicy), and serve.
Recipe FAQs
No, your 12 inch cast iron skillet will work too or a large pot.
Yes, if you'd like, you can bake this in the oven at 350°F for 20 minutes. We'd recommend saving a bit of cheese to top so it can develop cheesy brown crust. You can bake in the dutch oven, cast iron skillet, any large oven safe skillet or prepared baking dish.
Store any leftovers in an airtight in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
Reheat this in the microwave or on the stove top in a sauce pan.
Need more ideas for Tortellini
Packaged tortellini is a convenient pasta to make wonderful meals with, like our Tortellini with Sausage. Easy one-pan baked tortellini and Instant Pot Tortellini Soup are other tasty options too.
Other One Pot Meal Recipes
If you tried this Dutch Oven Sausage Tortellini Casserole or any other recipe on my blog, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below. Thanks for visiting!
Get the Recipe
Dutch Oven Sausage Tortellini Casserole
Equipment
- 5 quart Dutch Oven or larger
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 lb mild Italian sausage ground
- 1 cup onion diced
- 8 oz mushrooms sliced
- 1½ teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1 teaspoon granulated garlic
- ½ teaspoon black pepper to taste
- ½ teaspoon salt to taste
- 1 bunch kale de-stemmed and chopped
- 1 cup pasta water
- 24 oz cheese tortellini
- 24 oz marinara sauce
- 1 cup Parmesan cheese grated
- 8 oz mozzarella cheese shredded
Instructions
- Heat a dutch oven or large skillet over medium high heat. Once hot, add the olive oil and crumble the sausage.
- Bring another pot with water to boil and cook the tortellini according to package directions, until al dente. Reserve 1 cup of the pasta water.
- When the sausage is about halfway cooked, add the onions and mushrooms.
- Stir in all the seasonings.
- Stir in the chopped kale, reserved pasta water, and cooked tortellini.
- Stir in the pasta sauce and both cheeses.
- Serve and enjoy.
Notes
Nutrition
Dutch Oven Daddy is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is only an estimate. We recommend running the ingredients through an online nutritional calculator if you need to verify any information.
Cami
Such a perfect fall-time comfort dish! We like to use a vodka sauce with it and it’s a big hit with everyone!
Edward
I love how comforting this recipe was! Thank you for this amazing recipe!
GJ
Quite the Italian dish! Easy to follow and delicious!
D
Looks Good!!!
Ned Adams
Thank you!!
Spencer Adams
Absolutely loved the Dutch Oven Sausage Tortellini Casserole! The flavors came together perfectly, and it was super easy to prepare
Ned Adams
So glad you enjoyed it!
Travis
My wife has italian heritage and this is one that she wanted to try. I can't wait to try it out. Looks amazing.