Fried Tortellini with Creamy Marinara
Change up your pasta routine by deep frying your tortellini with a delicate panko and parmesan breading.
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About Fried Tortellini with Creamy Marinara
I mentioned earlier this week that I had more plans for this marinara sauce recipe, and I’m a woman of my word, even if I’m only using the marinara for dipping this time around.
I’m also in the midst of a lot of projects for this website – the biggest of which is a redesign (pretty exciting!) – so my time is a little short, both for cooking up new foods and composing lengthy posts.
But that’s exactly why the timing of this recipe couldn’t have been more perfect, because it has provided me with plenty of tasty snack food while I ride the ways of creative inspiration.
I tend to forget to eat once I dive deep in the groove of coding and Photoshop, so these little deep fried morsels are probably the only reason why I can still muster up the strength to type.
We’ve also got a small get together happening this evening (for the epitome of nerdiness: a new Dungeons and Dragons campaign, which I’m really looking forward to) so between cleaning the house and setting everything up, our guests might arrive to find only a (very large) plate full of fried tortellini to get them through a night of adventuring.
But that all depends on how well I manage my time and just how addicted I’ve allowed myself to become to these glorious alternatives to deep-fried cheese.
Or a new variety of deep fried cheese.
However you want to look at it, it still works.
And, okay, my addiction is quite a bit at this point.
I already love three cheese tortellini on its own, but coat it in panko, deep fry it, and dip it in a cool & creamy marinara sauce?
…
Oh, did I need to actually answer that?
I thought it was kind of obvious.
For the record: deep fried cheese is always in the green in my book.
Always.
And if there’s a special place in your heart for tortellini, you’ll know exactly what I mean.

Fried Tortellini with Creamy Marinara
Ingredients
Creamy Marinara
- 1 tablespoon heavy whipping cream
Fried Tortellini
- 9 ounce three cheese tortellini, (1 pkg) refrigerated type
- 2 egg, large, beaten
Instructions
Creamy Marinara
- Combine marinara and heavy whipping cream in a small mixing bowl and mix together. If desired, heat sauce for 30 seconds in the microwave. Set aside while preparing the tortellini.
Fried Tortellini
- In a medium saucepan, prepare tortellini per package instructions, leaning toward the lower end of cooking time. Drain tortellini and set aside to cool slightly.
- In a large skillet, heat vegetable oil over medium / medium high heat.
- Combine & toss panko and parmesan in a large bowl. In two more separate bowls, add beaten eggs and flour.
- Dip tortellini in the flour, then then egg, and finish off by tossing in the panko/parmesan mix.
- Add tortellini to skillet and cook each side until golden and crispy, roughly 1-2 minutes for each side. Place fried tortellini on a paper towel lined plate.
- Serve immediately with creamy marinara dipping sauce.
Nutrition
I do my best to provide nutrition information, but please keep in mind that I'm not a certified nutritionist. Any nutritional information discussed or disclosed in this post should only be seen as my best amateur estimates of the correct values.