I love soup. And I love lasagna. So this one pot lasagna soup is the ultimate, in my opinion. Lasagna is incredible when it comes out of the oven all hot and bubbling, but it usually involves dirtying a lot of dishes and at least an hour or more to create those craveable layers of pasta, meaty sauce, and melted cheese. Which, don’t get me wrong, is totally worth it. Sometimes. Other times, it’s cold and blustery out and I find myself craving lasagna without all the work that goes into it. Enter this one pot lasagna soup. If it’s chilly where you live and you are craving a big bowl of comforting soup, be sure to also try our Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup, Homemade Tomato Basil Soup, and Cheeseburger Soup next.
Why This Recipe Works
You get all the flavor and texture of lasagna with way less work, fewer dishes, and a lot less time. Although the ingredient list is long, it’s mostly pantry staples utilizing dried herbs to develop the flavor of the broth.
Ingredient Notes
This is a quick overview of some of the important ingredients you’ll need for this lasagna soup recipe. Specific measurements and full recipe instructions are in the printable recipe card at the bottom of the post.
Meat: I like to use a combination of mild Italian sausage and lean ground beef in this lasagna soup recipe. It makes for a substantial, satisfying meal with tons of hearty flavor. Lasagna noodles: Broken up dried lasagna noodles are added to really get across that classic lasagna taste and texture in soup form. But other pasta shapes like farfalle, mafalda (they look like mini lasagna noodles!), or even shells will work here. Vegetables: We pack in the vegetables in the form of onion, carrots, and zucchini, plus plenty of diced and crushed tomatoes for flavor and texture. Herbs & spices: Don’t be overwhelmed by the length of the list of recipe ingredients as most of them are just plenty of Italian herbs and spices like dried basil, oregano, rosemary, fennel, thyme. They create that classic lasagna taste that everybody loves. Cheese: Mozzarella and parmesan are added to the soup base, then ricotta is dolloped over individual servings for melty, cheesy goodness, just like a plate of lasagna.
How to Make Lasagna Soup
Start by browning ground beef, Italian sausage, and chopped onion in a large dutch oven or other heavy bottomed pot. Break up the meat as it cooks so you don’t end up with any large chunks. Add the crushed tomatoes, diced tomatoes, and tomato paste to the pot, then pour in half of the chicken broth. The different types of tomatoes provide depth of flavor and different texture, but you could get away with all crushed or all diced tomatoes if that’s what you have on hand. Add the chopped vegetables and herbs, then stir together and bring to a simmer. Simmer for 5 minutes. At this point, you may want to portion out some of the soup for eating later, rather than adding the noodles all at once. Otherwise they will continue to absorb the broth after the soup is done and you will end up with mushy lasagna noodles when you reheat leftovers. Add the broken up lasagna noodles to the soup, along with the remaining chicken broth and continue to cook just until the noodles are al dente. Sprinkle the grated mozzarella cheese into the soup and stir so it gets all melty and gooey. Be sure to taste and adjust seasonings if needed. Once the soup is done, serve it with dollops of ricotta cheese on top and a sprinkle of fresh chopped basil or parsley and some additional parmesan cheese.
Storage & Reheating
If you think you might have leftovers, I have two recommendations for storing and reheating so you don’t end up with mushy lasagna noodles. The first is to cook the noodles separately in a pot of salted, boiling water until al dente, then add them to individual bowls and ladling the soup over the top of the noodles. This way you can store the cooked noodles and soup separately for easy reheating later in the week. They will both keep in the fridge for about 5-7 days. The second approach is to separate out the soup that you think will not be eaten right away and store this in the fridge or freezer until you want to eat it. This is best done after adding the vegetables but before adding the noodles. Store the unfinished soup in the fridge or freeze for up to 3 months. When you are ready to eat the leftover soup, just reheat it to boiling on the stove over medium to medium-high heat and add the noodles to cook until al dente.
Freezing
This soup freezes really well without the noodles. Just let it cool to room temperature, then transfer to a freezer-safe container leaving an inch of space at the top and freeze.
Tips & Variations
Lightened-up version: If you want to cut back on calories a bit with this lasagna soup, you could easily sub in ground turkey and cut back on the cheese. It won’t be quite as lasagna-y, but it’s still a phenomenal (and much lighter) soup that way. Look for loose Italian sausage so you don’t have to remove it from its casings to make things easier. If you leftover ricotta cheese, whip up some Lemon Ricotta Pancakes for breakfast the next day! Italian seasoning: If you want to save time or are missing any of the herbs, you could simply use 2-3 Tablespoons of Italian seasoning blend in place of the dried herbs.
More Soup Recipes to Try
Easy Cheesy Taco Soup Easy Minestrone Soup San Francisco Cioppino Seafood Stew Zuppa Toscana (Crock Pot or Stove Top)
This post was originally published in October, 2016. The photos and content were updated in January, 2022.
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