Let's make lasagna but in soup form! If you're too lazy to make a traditional lasagna, but you're craving all its cheesy goodness, you can try this lasagna soup instead! It tastes just like a regular lasagna but lighter and way easier to make. For the pasta noodles, I used bowtie pasta because it's similar in thickness to lasagna noodles.
About This Recipe
So I actually do not make lasagna that often. To be honest, it's way too much work, and there is just too much cheese and carbs for me to handle. But recently I saw some Tiktok influencers making lasagna soup and I knew I had to give it a try. It was much easier to make AND it was much lighter and easier to customize.
The entire recipe only took me about 30 minutes. The best part is you can easily customize the amount of cheese and pasta noodles for every serving. The cheese is added at the end, so each individual person can decide how much they want. For the pasta, you can just add more or less to the pot.
For the meat, I used extra lean ground beef. If you want to do something more flavorful, you could try incorporating some Italian sausages as well. Another option is to add extra spices like paprika or cayenne pepper.
Key Ingredients
Olive oil: This is for sauteeing the vegetables. I used 2 tablespoons. If you want a richer soup, you can add even more. I remember watching a video of an Italian grandma once and she said the secret to Italian tomato sauces was using A LOT of olive oil. So don't be shy with it.
Ground Beef: I used extra lean ground beef.
Aromatics: Onions and garlic.
Tomato paste: This is where the bulk of the tomato flavor and acidity actually comes from.
Diced tomatoes: I used 2 large cans of diced tomatoes. I prefer diced over crushed because I like getting actual bites of tomato when I eat the soup.
Chicken broth: For this, I mixed Better Than Bouillon chicken base with water.
Seasonings: Italian seasoning, sugar, salt, and black pepper.
Uncooked bowtie pasta: You do not have to use lasagna noodles for this. You can use whatever pasta you want. I picked bowtie pasta because it looks pretty and it's similar in thickness to lasagna.
Toppings: Cottage cheese or ricotta cheese, mozzarella cheese, and parmesan cheese.
Instructions
STEP 1: First you want to heat the olive oil in a large pot. Add the beef, onions, and garlic, and cook for 6-8 minutes until the beef is no longer pink.
STEP 2: Add the tomato paste and cook it for 1-2 minutes. The goal is to caramelize some of the tomato paste which will give the soup a more complex tomato flavor.
STEP 3: Add the diced tomatoes, chicken broth, seasonings, and uncooked pasta noodles. Bring to a boil then cook for 10-12 until the pasta is cooked through. If you're making this for meal prep, I suggest cooking the noodles separately so that you can store them separately as well.
STEP 4: Once the noodles are cooked, the lasagna soup is ready to eat. Ladle the soup into serving bowls and top with mozzarella cheese, cottage cheese, and grated parmesan.
Lasagna Soup
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 1 large onion (diced)
- 4 cloves garlic (minced)
- 1 (6-ounce) can tomato paste
- 2 (15-ounce) cans diced tomatoes
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 1 tablespoon Italian Seasoning
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 8 ounces uncooked bowtie pasta
Toppings
- 10 ounces ricotta cheese (or cottage cheese)
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- ½ cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the beef, onions, and garlic, and cook for 6-8 minutes until the beef is no longer pink.
- Stir in the tomato paste and cook for 1 minute. We want some of the tomato paste to kind of "stick" to the bottom of the pot and get a little brown. This will deepen the tomato flavor.
- Add the diced tomatoes, chicken broth, Italian seasoning, sugar, salt, black pepper, and pasta noodles. Bring to a boil and cook for 10-12 minutes until the pasta is cooked through, stirring frequently so the pasta does not stick to the bottom.
- At this point, the soup is ready to serve. Either add the ricotta, mozzarella, and parmesan to the whole soup, OR, ladle the soup into bowls and top them individually. Personally, I like topping them individually because each person can add how much they want.
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