Cheesy Italian Tortellini

This turned out to be one of the best meals I ever made. Here are my adjustments: 1 lb ground turkey browned with a clove of garlic, 1 cup chopped turkey pepperoni, 1 jar Ragu Italian Sausage flavored sauce, 1 can Italian Style stewed tomatoes (I blend smooth), 1 Tbsp brown sugar, 1 tsp Ital seasoning. I cooked 2 pkgs of the frozen cheese tortellini then put into 13x9 pan. I just didn't have time for the crockpot this particular day. Added some cheese, then poured over the sauce and mixed through and topped with more cheese. Bake till cheese melts, which is only 5-10 min. Fantastic! Better than any other Italian dish I have ever made. And easy, too.

I made this last night for my husbnad's italian family, everyone really enjoyed it. I did however change the recipe up like I do w/ all new recipes. First anytime I make a pasta recipe I always add onion and green pepper to the meat as I am browning it. I am not one whom like sausage so I used extra ground beef, I also added a fair amount of pepperoni not too much to give it a little spicy kick. Instead of using original totellini I used garlic and herb, chich I believe gave it a great taste. Also with any pasta recipe I added a little more italian spices, gralic spice and some brown sugar. I don't add too much brown sugar, it does give a smoother taste, but the main reason for adding this to any pasta recipe it is counters the red sauce and keep the heartburn down, this is always worked for me and my family since we do get heartburn easy, so it's not as much for the taste. Overall I found that everyone enjoyed this recipe w/ all the changes. I served it was salad and bread.

I was very impressed with this dish and it exceeded the expectations I originally had of this recipe! I did add some onions and green bell peppers when sauting the lb of italian sausage (I didn't use any hamburger), added some extra italian seasonings, and (thanks to "Ravenmelle's" advice) added just a little brown sugar - which I can see why it would reduce heartburn!!! I didn't see the point in slow cooking this so I mixed all in a 9x13 dish, covered with foil and baked for about 1.5hrs at 325 degrees. I then removed the foil, added the cheese(s) and baked for another 15 minutes (uncovered). Sprinkled a little parmesan over each serving...Viola! Great recipe Tracy! My family gives you a standing ovation!

The only changes made were to add some italian seasoning, a teaspoon of brown sugar, and a small can of sliced olives. I was not impressed with this recipe and probably will not make it again. It seemed too greasy even though I used extra lean ground beef.

All you need is 1 pan plus your slow cooker! Don't drain the mushrooms and use shredded parmesan instead of cheddar.Also, try it with roasted garlic & cheese tortellini!I refusd\ed to serve jarred sauce before making this recipe!

I made this recipe and it was DELICIOUS!! I used 1lb. Italian Sausage (mild) and mozzerella and parmesan (no cheddar). I made the sauce in the crock pot then added fresh 3-cheese tortellini, then poured it in a casserole and topped with the parm & mozzerella, covered with foil and baked at 350 for 40 min covered and 10 min uncovered. It was a big hit with my crowd and I will definately make this one again!! Thank you Tracey for posting this one.

Excellent and perfect for a "fix-it and forget it" recipe! I added a little minced garlic and chopped onion while browning the ground beef and opted for sweet Italian sausage. For the marinara sauce I used "Best Marinara Sauce Yet" from this site that I had frozen as it's one of my favorites and is perfect for just this type of recipe. I didn't use cheddar cheese as I really didn't think it paired well so instead I used shredded Parmesan. Wonderful served with a fresh garden salad and warm bread!

I was very impressed with this dish and it exceeded the expectations I originally had of this recipe! I did add some onions and green bell peppers when sauting the lb of italian sausage (I didn't use any hamburger), added some extra italian seasonings, and (thanks to "Ravenmelle's" advice) added just a little brown sugar - which I can see why it would reduce heartburn!!! I didn't see the point in slow cooking this so I mixed all in a 9x13 dish, covered with foil and baked for about 1.5hrs at 325 degrees. I then removed the foil, added the cheese(s) and baked for another 15 minutes (uncovered). Sprinkled a little parmesan over each serving...Viola! Great recipe Tracy! My family gives you a standing ovation!

Wonderful dinner and my in-laws even loved it!! I changed it a little as well. I used all sausage and added onion and green pepper as well. I also added some garlic and brown sugar and just cooked it all in a casserole dish for 40 min. on 350 and then added the cheese until melted...so yummy..and I did not add mushrooms!

Fabulous.

I find this to be an "average recipe" I don't see the need to leave it in a crockpot all day. It doesn't make a difference in the taste.

This sauce was hearty, meaty, and flavorful...mixed with the tortellini, it made a satisfying meal that I will make again very soon! It was really easy, too. There's a bunch of allrecipeeps out there giving this recipe high marks, but they've changed it all up! I made it AS IS (minus the mushrooms) and thought it was a keeper. Also, even though it doesn't HAVE to be done in a crockpot, I found that it created waaayy less dirty dishes this way AND I could come home to a ready-made-meal (plus, it makes your house smell like a authentic Italian kitchen!) If you don't have a lot of time, it definately doesn't have to cook so long, but the point is that it CAN cook all day if you have the time :) Lastly, for those of you looking to skip the jarred sauce...you can replace it with a little can of tomato paste and 16 oz of crushed tomatoes, add your own seasoning (plus the other ingredients) and voila! Of course, this way you must cook the full 7 or 8 hours to get the sauce done right.

I made this recipe twice...following the directions, I found it to be an "Average" recipe. The sauce definitely did not need to be cooked for 7 hours. The second time I made it, I substituted pepperoni for the sausage, and cooked the sauce for about an hour, and it tasted just the same, but better to us, because my family prefers pepperoni to sausage.

good kid recipe all around family meal, easy and few ingredients

Wonderful quick and delicious meal! I followed the recipe without making changes and found it to be very tasty. Family really enjoyed and said it's a "keeper." I always cook these recipes the first time as they are written so I can review them. If I want to customize the recipe, I do that next time I make it.

I made this for a family holiday get together. Everyone enjoyed it. There was so much flavor. I used baby bella mushrooms and cut them into halves so we had nice chunks. I also used turkey burger instead of the other meats only because some family members are on restricted diets. I flavored the turkey burger with Italian seasoning while it cooked and people didn't even notice. I will be making this one again.

My three year old loved this! I didn't cook it in the slow cooker, instead I browned my sausage, mushrooms, and an onion, drained the grease and added the sauce and tomatoes to a dutch oven. I didn't add the extra cheese either. We'll have this again.

My eight year old said that I cook better tortellini than Chef Boyardi does. I guess that means that this is a good recipe. I followed this recipe exactly as stated. It was very easy. I will definitely be making this again soon.

This is a quick family meal. I didn't have time to cook in the slow cooker so I prepared it in one pot. It was good and a great dish to whip up quickly. I served it with Sister Shuberts Parker rolls and added a garlic butter to the rolls. The rolls were a bigger hit. I got this recipe off this site also. Overall it is repeatable but not deserving of 5 stars.

UPDATE: MADE THIS AGAIN, BUT THIS TIME I ONLY COOKED FOR 7 HOURS AND DID NOT ALLOW MY SAUCE TO REMAIN IN THE SLOW COOKER (ON THE WARM SETTING) PAST THAT. I ALSO USED 1/2 BEEF, 1/2 (MILD / SWEET) ITALIAN SAUSAGE AND ADDED ~ 1/2 C. CHOPPED PEPPERONI. I KEPT EVERYTHING ELSE THE SAME AS LAST TIME. MY ONLY COMPLAINT IS THAT THE SAUCE WAS A TAD BIT WATERY, SOMETHING I DID NOT EXPERIENCE LAST TIME. THAT ASIDE, MY HUBS AND I REALLY ENJOYED THIS WITH MY CHANGES. NEXT TIME I'LL BE SURE TO PARTIALLY DRAIN MY TOMATOES AND HOPE FOR THE BEST. THANKS TRACY! :) While "OK," neither my hubs or I were all that impressed with this (sorry!). My sauce "sat" in the slow cooker for several hours (after it had cooked) and I think that is what caused it to have an odd texture. Many reviewers skipped the slow cooking step altogether, but it's that VERY thing that drew me to this recipe in the first place. Having said that, I'm sure this would have been MUCH better if baked in an oven. :( Because I thought Tracy's recipe could use a little tweaking, I made several (albeit minor) changes. For starters, I used all (hot) Italian sausage, subbed Italian-blend cheese for the mozzarella / cheddar called for (just seemed more appropriate), added a T of Italian seasoning and omitted the mushrooms alltogether (we HATE mushrooms!). I'm still a sucker for LUVINMYHUBBY's beefy baked ravioli. I like it better and it's just as simple to whip together, IMHO. Thanks anyways, Tracy. :-)

Absolutely wonderful! I had enough left to take to work for lunch. Be sure to take the sausage out of the casing (a step I missed!). Cheesy and smells so great!

This was so easy to make and tasted GREAT. The only change I made was to add oregano, garlic, and onion to the meat when I browned it.

We're vegetarians and I made it with veggie ground round and mini raviolis, it was delicious! Next time I'm going to double or even triple the amount of raviolis, there was so much sauce you could definitely add more pasta.

Family really enjoyed this and it was really easy to make! Will do this one again, real soon. Did add garlic powder while browning the meats.

Really good! The only thing I changed was I used 1 lb. of hot Italian sausage and no ground beef.

Delicious and SO easy! I used a full lb. of sausage instead of 1/2 lb. and about 3/4 lb. hamburger instead of 1/2 lb. (We like a lot of meat! : ))

Really tasty , very easy ... I'll make this again ! Thank you

This was a very simple recipe. I used ground turkey instead of beef and used a pound did not have any sausage. I also used cheese ravoli instead of tortellini did not have any on had. I seasoned everything with italian seasons, minced garlic, lemon pepper, fresh onions and accent. That's my typical seasoning and it came out great. I cooked the sauce for 6 hours on low, added the frozen ravoli, put the cheese on top and cooked it for an additional hour. I will try to use tortellini next time.

It was ok.

Made this for dinner with friends. Everyone loved it! I also did not use the slow cooker. I mixed it all in a dish and baked it 1.5 hours before adding the cheese and baking it 15 more minutes. Served with beer and homemade Parmesan breadsticks. So good.

I made this for 10 people but altered the recipe for 12 servings. I used two bags of tortellini and had a TON left over. Probably close to a whole bag. However, the meal was absolutely delicious and everyone loved it. It was a great family meal, easy to prepare and easy clean-up. It was a little on the cheesy side so I might use a little less cheese next time but overall, something I would definitely make again!

I wanted to make this as quickly as possible, so I didn't use the slow cooker. Instead, I diced a small onion and cooked with 2 cloves of minced garlic and 1 lb. of ground beef. Then, I added a jar a "Newmans Own" Mushroom Marinara, the can of diced tomatoes, 1 Tablespoon of brown sugar and 1/4 teaspoon of oregano. While the mix was simmering I cooked the pasta. I mixed the drained pasta with the sauce, poured in a 9X13 pan and cooked at 350 covered for 30 min. Last, I sprinkled the cheese on top (just mozzarella..didn't have any cheddar), and cooked uncovered for 10 more min. YUM! Thank you for the delicious idea!

Delicious. I've put the tortellinis in the oven at "Broil" to toast the cheese...It was perfect...My 3 kids loved it so I know this recipe is a keeper. Thank you.

Off the scale delicious!

Anyway, this was really good. I doubled it and took it to work for a potluck. Thank Tracy!

I loved this recipe! I'm always looking for different ways to prepare tortellini and this was extremely easy and very flavorful. Cooking the meat sauce in the slow cooker gave it a very rich, full flavor. I used fresh mushrooms instead of canned and all ground beef and loved the results. I think it would be just as good with sausage and other vegetables. I also used frozen tortellini which is cheaper than fresh and only had to cook it an extra 15 mins. I have made it more than once and the results were just as good the second time. I don't understand the critical reviews of this recipe, it really is delicious and easy. Try it tonight!

My husband and I loved this dish! It is a great fall meal and I definitely will making it again! The only changes I made was I didnt add the mushrooms or cheddar cheese. Thanks for the awesome and easy recipe!

Love it! Instead of 1/2 lb of beef and 1/2 sausage, I used 1 lb of hot italian sausage and it definitely kicked it up a notch. I also used a 24 ounce jar of sauce and am very thankful I did b/c it was still really thick. Also I had a bag of four cheese Italian style instead and loved it. Next time I'll add another can of tomatoes too, maybe some sauteed onions and green peppers if they're around.

This recipe was excellent! It was very flavorful and did not seem dry like a lot of slow cooker recipes do. I don't eat beef or pork so I used ground turkey and italian chicken sausage and it came out great. Made a very large amount and will provide lunch and dinner for at least tomorrow. Very good, filling, flavorful and easy meal!

This was so delicious!! I added a little bit of jalepeno for a kick, and it was fantastic. This is definitely my new favorite spaghetti sauce.

My husband loved this!!! And it was so easy!

I love this recipe! The only thing I changed was I omitted the Italian sausage because we just don't really like it. It seems to have plenty of meat in the sauce with just the 1/2 pound of ground beef. Very easy and SO delicious!

Excellent recipie....my family and I loved it!!!!

If you're going to cook a sauce in a crockpot for 7 hours, you may as well save some money and use canned tomatoes instead of prepared pasta sauce and make a sauce to your liking. Also, cheddar is so not Italian. However, cooking the fresh tortellini in the crockpot is a great idea; makes a great tasting tortellini.

wonderful! this recipe is a keeper for sure! (the only change i made was i did not use hamburger meat...just italian sausage)

This was pretty good! It was extremely quick and easy, and my kids even liked it. I did, however, use spagetti sauce instead and omitted the sausage

Just got done eating this dish and it was wonderful! My boys all loved it. After being at baseball games all evening it was great to come home to a nice warm meal. I used turkey italian sausage but everything else exactly the same. Wouldn't change anything!

I make this for my family over and over again. It is wonderful!

This was delicious but I did make a couple of changes. I added 4 cloves of garlic, green pepper and onion while browning meat. I also used Jeannie-o turkey Hot Itialian sausage and ground turkey. Family did not notice! Very tasty!

Everyone enjoyed! I had everything prepared in the pot and left in the fridge overnight. The next morning plugged it in to cook while at work. Came home and added the cheese and tortellini.. wonderful quick, delicious meal. Thanks for the recipe!

this was fabulous! don't quite understand why it needed 7 to 8 hours to cook when the only thing that needed to be cooked was the meat and you do that beforehand, so maybe to combine all of the flavors? what ever the reasoning, this is delicious!

So easy and such good flavor! I didn't change a thing and will definately make it again! May add some chopped pepperoni!

I use ground Italian sausage instead of the links and ground beef. This is a great recipe!

I made this for the superbowl and followed the recipe to the 't'. That night, I would have given it 3 stars. I stored the leftovers and ate it for lunch the next day. It was much better! This is a recipe, like lasagna, that benefits from sitting and allowing the flavors to marry. I will make this again. As a personal choice in the future, I will use sausage with casings as I did not appreciate the bulk sausage. I will also cut back on the cheddar/mozz, as I thought the cheese was a little overwhelming and distracting. Footnote, I also used 20 oz. tortellini, as a previous poster suggested. I agreed with that poster that 9 oz was not enough.

very very delicious!! Only thing I would add is just a tad bit more cheese if your are a cheese lover but taste very good!

Even better the next day. Used super cheap canned sauce, and it still tasted great! Added onion, garlic and italian seasoning to the browning meats. The house smelled sooo good while it was cooking! Will be making this again and again.

SOOOO yummy!!!

Thisw was great, I used Paul Neuman's sauces (I love his line). *It was easy, hubby loved it. I've also made this with beef Raviolli, some seemed to like this better to make it a meaty dish.

Another excellent and easy to follow recipe. My six year old daughter loves this. Well done.

Even though I didn't have all the ingredients, it still turned out terrific! The whole family loved it and I added it to our "Family Favorites" file! Note: I didn't use mushrooms or the tomatoes because I didn't have those on hand, so I'm sure it would taste even better with them. Also, I used two cups of an italian cheese blend in place of the cheddar and mozarella.

This is very easy to make and everyone loves it. I make a couple of modifications: First, I use only Italian sausage and no ground beef, which imparts much more flavor. Secondly, I reduce the amount of shredded cheese I add. With the cheese in the tortellini I found that the dish just became too cheesy for us, though your tastes may vary. Finally, and most importantly, use a lot more tortellini than the recipe calls for. I always use at least a 16oz package, and even then there is still more than enough sauce.

This is such an easy recipe, for those nights you didnt plan anything for dinner. Really depends on the kind of tortellini you get.

Quick, easy and DELICIOUS!

This was excellent. I think this was true restaurant quality. I did add extra garlic, onions and mushrooms, and i used ground turkey-the sauce was wonderful cooked on low for about 7 hrs. I would have given it 5 stars if I could have only dirtied one pan.

loves it! husband asked me to make it every week! I used bulk sausage and no ground beef in mine though.

A bit heavy on the meat, I thought, and not as special as I was expecting.

We were all surprised at how good this is since we are not huge slow cooker fans. I used all ground beef and 1.5 jars spaghetti sauce. I did not have Italian tomatoes, so used petite diced and added a good bit of Italian seasoning and garlic powder. I used a 19 oz. bag of frozen tortellini and added fresh basil before serving. Super easy and super good!

This is so good and so easy. I love how I can start it in the morning, and it only takes a few minutes of work at the end. I doubled the recipe, and changed it a little by adding a sauteed onion, a few cloves of garlic, about a teaspoon of brown sugar, and two small drained cans of sliced black olives. Then at the end, before I added the cheese, on top I added a pound of frozen chopped spinach. I used one cup each of cheddar, monterey jack, and mozzerella cheese on top of that. I will definitely be making this again.

This was a great easy recipe! Nice change for the slow cooker too! I spiced up my sauce some just because store bought usually is a little flat for me. Also added a little spinach. Thanks!

This was really good, even though we added too much cheese.

I've made this a few times tweaking it...but got too far away from the original receipe to count it. I've even made this on the stove and the taste was the same. Unless you're making your own sauce, this doesn't need to cook all day.

Pretty good and easy to make. You can also use this recipe and cook it in the oven if you need it in a hurry. Pretty good stuff. Thanks so much Tracy

Hi Tracy!...what a wonderful recipe!!! YUMMMMY!!! I did add the brown sugar,onions and, a few of my own seasonings.I placed it in the oven, and it was absolutely delicious! I will try this in the crockpot next time i make this great recipe. Thanks again for a wondeful recipe! i certainly will be cooking this one again! A real keeper!!

My family loved this. Used more sauce- by accident. Worked out fine - meal was delicious.

I substituted the kielbasa for sausage and cooked it on high for 4 hours. It still came out pretty good and it was a way to use up some leftover meat.

OMG! This was awesome! So great, that my daughter asked where do I get these good recipies.

6 year old LOVED, husband and I thought OK. I used 20 oz package of tortellini, as there's no way 9 oz would have made 6 servings, but perhaps it was a bit too much for the amount of sauce. will figure out a better amount next time

This was pretty good, and definitely rich, but not really out of the ordinary. I may make it again sometime, but I'm not in a real rush.

I made these changes with much success: Browned 1lb ground beef and added to crockpot along with 2 jars spaghetti sauce, 1 pkg frozen onions, 1 pkg frozen green peppers, 1 tsp Italian seasonings, .5 tsp garlic salt, 2 Tbs brown sugar and 1 pkg diced pepperoni. Cooked on low for 8 hours. Served with noodles.

So good! I used all sausage, added 1 T brown sugar and 1 t. italian seasonings. So easy too! Thanks!

I really like this recipe as is because it is super easy and tastes great. I've made it about 5 times and have even made it without the cheese just to be a little healthier and it is always really good. I agree, it doesn't really need to cook 7-8 hours, but it is just nice to know you can let in sit in the slow cooker however long you need to and just add the tortellini whenever you are ready to eat.

Made this for a potluck at work. Everyone loved it. A few things I did differently though. I used all spicy italian sausage, made the sauce the night before the potluck, and included 4 Bay leaves. The morning of the potluck I put the sauce in a crock pot - cooked it on high for an hour to get it hot and then put it on low for 3 hours. I added frozen tortellini during the last 90 minutes of cooking and put mozzarella cheese on top during the last 30 minutes of cooking. If you like your italian food very cheesy, stir about a cup of shredded mozarella into the tortellini/sauce mix before topping it with the cheese listed in the original recipe. Enjoy :-)

I also used turkey sausage and ground turkey. Still very tasty and I will cook again, except will add peppers.

This is good and tasty. I used frozen tortellini and it was about twice as much as called for. Added a bit of hot water to the sauce to compensate. That worked just fine. No need for all that cheese. I topped it with a bit of parm when served. That saved a lot of fat, I think.

Very good and easy to make. I just used hamburger and added a can of stewed tomatoes.

great and tender i drained juices off then reheated it and put Italian dressing on it.

Good and easy. I used a can of pizza sauce as opposed to the marinara sauce in the recipe.

So good, even better 2nd day if u have leftovers ;) I did not brown meat or add extra cheese, I love cheese but too much is no good because unfortunately it is fatty.

Very good and easy to make.

I used all Italian sausage and threw in onions, peppers, and mushrooms.

I didn't like this at all. I see no reason for the slow cooker. The sauce was very thick and dry. Sorry.

I found this recipe to be very 'tomatoey'. It was not what I was expecting. I think a lot of the flavour is expected to come out of the Italian-style diced tomatoes, and it really isn't strong enough to give it enough flavour. The addition of the sausage was sort of awkward to us, although I'm sure it is supposed to add to the flavour as well. It was nice for something different, but I did not keep this one in my recipe book.

This was so easy and so delicous! I amde the following the night before. I added some garlic to the pan browned the meat together, dumped in a 32 oz jar of spag sauce, one can of italian seasoned tomatoes and some herbs. Cooked it on low all day in the cooker. I used 3 cheese tortellini about 20 minutes before. Turned it up on high sprinkled with mozzerella cheese....it was a hugre hit with my family! This will be in the regular rotation! Thanks for the quick, easy and delicous recipe!

I have only made this once but I just bought all the ingredients to make it again. It was so easy and so delicious!!!

This dish gets 5 stars for easy preparation, but 4 stars for taste. My husband and I thought it was good, and my 13 year old son loved it. Very very easy to prepare. Add a salad and bread and you're set to go. I really don't think this needs to cook anywhere close to 7 hours though.

This recipe is fantastic! The only changes I made were that I used fresh mushrooms instead of canned and I also added fresh garlic and green peppers. I will definately make this again.

This was a great recipe! I didn't have a slow cooker so I just cooked it on the stove low all day while I was at work (and had my boyfriend keep an eye on it). Also, I was in a hurry that morning to throw it together before work, and I didn't read the directions carefully and I thought it said to add the tortellini in the beginning...not at the end, with the mozz and cheddar. I decided to leave it and see what happens; I had cooked tortellini before in pasta sauce instead of boiling water so I figured it would be okay. It was! Everything still turned out perfectly, even with my faux pas and lack of a slow cooker. Thank you! (I added a little Italian seasoning too.)

Turned out great. I used ground turkey instead of ground beef, fresh tomatoes instead of canned, and fresh sliced white mushrooms. I also added chopped Italian parsley, ground fennel seed, black pepper, garlic powder, and chopped garlic.

so good great for the Steeler game I put fresh parm. out for people to grate themselves all was happy