Description
Easy ravioli soup recipe featuring cheese ravioli in a flavorful tomato-based broth with caramelized tomato paste, herbs, and Parmesan cheese. Ready in just 30 minutes!
Ingredients
For the Soup Base:
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 small sweet onion, diced
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- Kosher salt & black pepper, to taste
- ½ teaspoon dried basil
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- 6 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 tablespoon dry sherry (optional but recommended!)
For the Body:
- 4 cups vegetable or chicken stock
- 12 ounces frozen (or fresh) ravioli (cheese or your favorite kind)
- 3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese, plus extra for serving
For Garnish:
- Chopped fresh parsley
- Extra Parmesan cheese
Instructions
I always start by heating that olive oil over medium-low heat because my husband burned the garlic once on high heat and we ordered pizza instead. Dice your onion (I cry every single time, but that’s life), mince the garlic, and toss them in with salt and pepper. Three to four minutes later, your onions should look clear and smell sweet – if they’re browning, turn the heat down.
Here’s where my sister’s genius comes in – stir in the basil, oregano, and tomato paste, then let it cook until it changes color completely. I used to rush this part until I watched her stand there stirring for what felt like forever, but when that paste turns from bright red to deep burgundy, you’ll smell the difference. It takes about three minutes of constant stirring, and your kitchen will smell like an Italian grandmother’s been cooking all day.
If you bought the sherry (I keep a bottle just for cooking now), splash it in and scrape up those brown bits with your wooden spoon. My first attempt, I forgot this step and wondered why restaurant soup tasted better – those caramelized bits are flavor gold. No sherry? Skip it, the soup’s still incredible.
Pour in your four cups of stock and crank the heat up to get it boiling. This is when I usually start setting the table because once the ravioli goes in, dinner’s basically ready. The smell at this point always brings my teenagers downstairs asking “what’s for dinner?” even though they saw me cooking.
Dump in the ravioli – I never defrost frozen ones, they go straight from freezer bag to pot. Five minutes for frozen, maybe three for fresh, but honestly I just watch for them to float. My daughter always steals one to “test” if they’re done, which is actually pretty smart.
Turn off the heat first – learned this when my cheese clumped up once – then stir in the Parmesan until it disappears into the broth. This creates the creamiest finish without actual cream, which my lactose-intolerant mom appreciates when she visits.
I warm the bowls in a 200-degree oven for five minutes while the soup finishes – my grandmother’s trick that keeps soup hot longer. Ladle it out, top with more cheese (be generous, life’s short), and sprinkle parsley on top. My kids skip the parsley, but it makes me feel fancy.
Notes
My neighbor uses the expensive bone broth from Whole Foods and swears it makes all the difference, but honestly, decent chicken broth from a carton works just fine for weeknight dinners.
The sherry was my splurge purchase after watching too many cooking shows, but a splash of white wine from whatever bottle’s open works too. Or skip it entirely – my teenage son prefers it without alcohol anyway.
When my mother-in-law visits, she always adds diced carrots and celery with the onions. Takes an extra few minutes but makes the soup feel more like a complete meal. She’s not wrong.
I buy the good Parmesan in a block and grate it myself because the pre-shredded stuff never melts right. But if that’s what you have, just add it off the heat and stir like crazy to prevent clumping.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Category: Soup
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian-American