Begin by sautéing your diced onions and minced garlic in a medium sized pan over medium heat until they become translucent and fragrant. (Both are optional and can be omitted, so if you don't want to use one or the other or both, that's totally fine!)

Once fragrant, add your ground meat of choice (I used mild Italian ground turkey from Publix, however, any meat of your choosing works). You can season the meat how you like and with what you have on hand. (I used black pepper, Italian herb seasoning blend, as well as, cayenne, red chili flakes, and Creole seasoning blend for a touch of heat.)

Once your ground meat is fully cooked, lower the heat, and add the full jar of marinara sauce of your choosing to the pan. You can add a small amount of water to the jar to get the rest of the sauce out. Add that to the pan and stir.

Once that is mixed, add 1 block of cream cheese and fully incorporate it into the mixture. You will have a creamy, tomato-y, meaty sauce base.

While that is on low heat, in a separate pot, cook the 2 packages of tortellini according to the instructions on the package. (I used Rana Cheese Lovers Tortelloni, however, any option works in this situation.) NOTE: Tortellini from the refrigerated section might be quicker to cook + save you time.

Once the tortellini is cooked, you can add it to the pan with the sauce and mix it gently (to minimize bursting the tortellini).

Finally, you can top the pasta with cheese, such as grated Parmesan or whatever cheese you enjoy, or you can top it on the individual servings (as I did). Enjoy! ☺️