Lasagna Soup

I love Lasagna Soup! I think there have to be a hundred different recipes for it online, but when I mentioned in the grocery shopping video I posted to Instagram that I was going to make it soon y’all let me know immediately that you’d want my recipe in particular. Of course, the whole point of this website being to fulfill your requests, I got on it immediately.

Before we jump into the meat of things, let me suggest that you pair these with the Garlic Poppyseed Bites in my digital cookbook ‘Who Made the Potato Salad?‘ or my Fried Breadsticks recipe. They’re both really tasty additions!

Lasagna Soup Ingredients

Feel free to jump to the full recipe, but here are useful notes about the ingredients you will need to make this Lasagna Soup recipe:

• Mafaldine Pasta: Also called reginette, reginetti, mafalda, or mafalde. I like it because it’s similar to lasagna in shape but more narrow. I think it looks better and is easier to eat in Lasagna Soup. I break them in half if I can’t find the short version. Regular lasagna noodles broken into thirds work just as as well.
• Lean ground beef: The leaner the better. We don’t need the fat. I like using Butcher Box’s ground sirloin. It’s 90/10 so I usually don’t need to drain the meat after I cook it. They’re currently offering what I think is their best deal: two pounds of ground beef free in every box, for the lifetime of your subscription! Click the link to learn more and take advantage of this limited-time offer.
• Marinara sauce: Use a batch of your favorite pasta sauce. Make sure it’s a good one, as it’ll impart most of the flavor! I use the Versatile Red Sauce recipe in my digital cookbook ‘As Seen On IG’. If you’re in the mood for actual lasagna instead of Lasagna Soup check out the Meat Wins! Lasagna recipe that’s in there too.
• Mozzarella, Ricotta, Pecorino Romano: It’s not lasagna without cheese! A bit of mozzarella gets mixed into the soup but the rest is combined to make the ‘filling’ that we’ll put at the bottom of our bowl before we ladle in the soup. Aged Parmesan will work instead of Pecorino Romano.
• Chicken broth: This is what makes it soup: it thins the sauce. How thin is up to you; we like a thicker sauce so I only use eight cups. For a looser version, use up to ten. Beef or vegetable broth would work fine as a substitute.
• Crushed tomatoes, tomato paste: We’ll use to bring the warm tomato flavor front and center. I do not recommend omitting either one, but if you’re in a pinch you can use more marinara sauce.
• Yellow onion, garlic cloves, flat-leaf parsley: The classic aromatics you’ll find in most American-Italian dishes.
• Balsamic vinegar: Adds a layer of flavor, a slight zip that helps cut through the heaviness of the cheese in this Lasagna Soup.
• Granulated sugar: Optional, because it depends heavily on the acidity level of your sauce and crushed tomatoes. I don’t do ‘sweet’ pasta sauce, so don’t concern yourself with that.
• Kosher salt, Italian seasoning, crushed red pepper flakes, garlic powder, cracked black pepper: Why for flavor, of course!
• Olive oil: We use just a tad to start the process off.
• Equipment: You’ll need a large pot for this one! I recommend one with at least a 5 qt. capacity. I used my ScanPan Giant Braiser. Here are all of the tools I used:

How to Make Lasagna Soup 

Full instructions are included in the recipe below, but here is a basic overview of what you’ll need to do, along with some important tidbits to help you make the most of this Lasagna Soup recipe:

• Saute the aromatics and ground beef. Saute the onion in olive oil, then add the garlic and saute that too. Bloom the tomato paste, then stir in the balsamic vinegar. Next, add the ground beef and cook until no pink remains. If there’s a noticeable amount of grease in the pan, strain it.
• Add the sauces, seasonings, and broth. After the ground beef is browned add the dry seasonings, the marinara sauce, crushed tomatoes, and chicken broth. Stir together and bring to a low boil.
• Add the noodles and simmer. Reduce the heat to medium-low and add your noodles, breaking them up so they fit in the pot if desired/necessary. Use the wooden spoon to press them down into the liquid, and keep moving them around until they’re pliable. Cover tightly with a lid and simmer for 10-15 minutes – just until the noodles are al dente.
• Make the filling. While the soup is simmering grab a small bowl and combine all of the ingredients listed under “Soup Filling” in the recipe. Set it aside.
• Add the final touches. Once the noodles are al dente remove the pot from heat. Stir in the minced parsley and the mozzarella. Taste, and add the granulated sugar if needed. Also, add extra salt if you need that too.
• Plate and serve. Spoon a couple of tablespoons of prepared filling into the bottom of your bowl. Ladle the desired amount of Lasagna Soup over it, and serve immediately. Enjoy!

Switch It Up

There are endless variations that you can make with this Lasagna Soup recipe, just like regular lasagna! For example, you could…

• Add leafy greens: A pound of fresh baby spinach or kale will wilt nicely into this soup without having to adjust anything. Cut them into ribbons.
• Swap out the protein: Replace half of the ground beef with Italian sausage, or ground turkey.
• Vegan-ize it: Swap out the cheese for plant-based alternatives and use meatless ground or minced cremini mushrooms for the beef.

Let me know what you think if you try my version of Lasagna Soup! Here’s your Pinterest graphic:

Print