This is our absolute favorite, best ever Lasagna Soup! We start with a creamy tomato base loaded up with veggies and seasoned Italian sausage. Pour the soup over lasagna and top with a scoop of cheese–delish!
Or, try our Crockpot Lasagna Soup with tortellini!
Lasagna Soup
Lasagna is one of my favorite comfort meals (tied with Shepherd’s Pie). And when the weather gets cold, it’s all I crave. So, it was about time I converted it into a soup just as crave-worthy!
But for as much as I love lasagna, I’ve never loved lasagna soup recipes I’ve tried. So, this year, I set out to create a lasagna soup just as good as actual lasagna. And I couldn’t be more excited to share this recipe–I’m obsessed with this soup!
It’s got a creamy tomato base (that isn’t overwhelmingly tomato-y) balanced with beautifully sautéed veggies. Plus we add in some spinach at the end which adds a nice contrast to the richness of the soup. This soup utilizes seasoned Italian sausage (delish) instead of ground beef and the pasta is cooked separately (no bloated pasta!). Instead of ricotta on top, we use mascarpone cheese (a personal favorite) and Parmesan. Finished off with fresh basil, and I don’t know if I’ll even be making lasagna this winter knowing this soup exists!
What are the 3 main components of lasagna?
There are three main components that make a great lasagna: the meat sauce, the pasta, and the cheese. Here’s how each component is incorporated in this soup:
- Meat. We prefer this lasagna soup recipe made with Italian sausage. Depending on personal preference, use mild or spicy sausage (see “quick tip” below)
- Pasta. We use lasagna pasta sheets in this recipe. You can either break up the pasta before boiling or use sharp kitchen shears to cut up the pasta once boiled. We prefer smaller pieces of the pasta as it incorporates better in each bowl soup that way. It’s much easier to eat a spoonful of soup with small pasta pieces than large sheets!
- Cheese. Authentic Italian Lasagna is made with a béchamel sauce while American-ized lasagna typically has some kind of combination of ricotta, Parmesan, and mozzarella. Feel free to get creative and use whatever cheese (or combination of cheese) you like best. Our favorite cheese in this soup is mascarpone and Parmesan. More on this below!
QUICK TIP
For more heat (and flavor), use spicy sausage, and if you’re sensitive to spice use a mild or sweet sausage instead. If some of your guests want more spice and others don’t, use mild sausage and serve red pepper flakes on the side!
The more marbled and colorful the sausage, the more flavor it will contribute to this soup. If using sausage in casings, don’t forget to remove those casings before browning.
Depending on the sausage used, you may be left with a little or a lot of grease. If there is more than 1-2 tablespoons, drain off the grease and/or dab the sausage in the pot with some paper towel before continuing with the recipe.
You’ve Got To Try Mascarpone Cheese!
If you’ve had a chance to try our Baked Ziti recipe, you likely need no convincing how good mascarpone cheese is. For recipes that typically call for Ricotta cheese, Mascarpone is my favorite replacement. It’s ultra creamy, smooth, and adds a lovely richness to Lasagna Soup.
If you aren’t familiar, mascarpone cheese, it’s similar to cream cheese but uses a base of whole cream rather than milk (so you know this is going to be good!). It can be found usually in one of three places in the grocery store: the deli counter, in the dairy section (near the cream cheese or sour cream), or in the specialty foods section (near fancier cheeses like brie).
After adding in a scoop of mascarpone, we then add a sprinkle of Parmesan or Parmigiano Reggiano on top. Grab a block of either to freshly and finely grate on the small sides of a grater or microplane right on top of the bowls of soup.
SHORTCUTS
“Lazy Lasagna Soup”
Here are our favorite short-cuts to make this Lasagna Soup Recipe easy to prepare!
- Try freshly made mirepoix (a combination of finely chopped onions, celery, and carrots) from the produce section of the grocery store. You can even find it in the frozen vegetable section of the store; this is another huge time saver! If you don’t want to purchase this mix, you can use a food processor to quickly chop equal amounts of onion, carrot, and celery. Going the food processor route adds an extra dish, but isn’t too much more time consuming.
- Use pre-minced garlic (or a garlic press) as another time saver.
- Make this lasagna soup vegetarian (which also naturally makes it easier/quicker to prepare) by leaving out the Italian sausage.
The full recipe card is below, so here are our top tips for preparing this recipe.
How To Make Lasagna Soup
- Salt the pasta water: Salting the water is the only chance you have to season the actual pasta, so make sure the lasagna is well salted as it cooks–otherwise this entire Lasagna Soup will taste under-seasoned.
- Take time to sauté the tomato paste until it darkens. Even though it seems a little strange since it’s all very dry, we’re unlocking loads of flavor by taking the time to sauté the paste and aromatics before adding in the liquid. (We use this method in our favorite Sausage Rigatoni recipe!)
- Let’s chat fennel seed. I grab this fennel seed and then crush it up in a coffee/spice grinder to a fine powder. A mortar and pestle can also crush down the seeds, or add them to a bag and crush with the bottom of a frying pan or rolling pin!
STORAGE
Lasagna Soup Recipe Storage
When I make soup, I typically want to enjoy it for leftovers at least one more time throughout the week. This is tricky when there is pasta in a soup recipe because the pasta will continue to absorb liquid becoming bloated and often mushy. So I wanted to make sure this recipe would work well as leftovers which is one of the reasons we cook the pasta separately. Here’s how to store this soup and have leftovers for days:
- Put pasta in a container in the fridge
- Add the soup “base” in a separate container in the fridge
- Keep cheese in it’s original packaging separate in the fridge.
When ready to warm, add soup base and re-heat gently over low heat (don’t want to break the cream sauce). You may need to add a few splashes of chicken stock to thin it again. Add pasta to soup bowl (no need to warm the pasta, the soup will warm it through when poured over.) Pour the heated soup over, garnish with cheese, and enjoy just like you did the day you made it!
Can You Freeze Lasagna Soup?
This soup doesn’t freeze very well, because of all the dairy in it. If you want less soup, try halving the recipe instead!
What To Serve With Lasagna Soup
This soup is indulgent and rich-tasting, so it benefits from having a light and fresh side dish like a salad. Here are our favorites:
And then, nothing beats dunking some crusty warmed bread or rolls in a good soup recipes! Our favorites: these no-knead Dinner Rolls, this crusty (and easy) No-Knead Bread, or a slice of toasted French Bread–delish!
More Comforting Soup Recipes:
Lasagna Soup
This is our absolute favorite, best ever Lasagna Soup! We start with a creamy tomato base loaded up with veggies and seasoned Italian sausage. Pour the soup over lasagna and top with a scoop of cheese–delish!
Lasagna Soup
This is our absolute favorite, best ever Lasagna Soup! We start with a creamy tomato base loaded up with veggies and seasoned Italian sausage. Pour the soup over lasagna and top with a scoop of cheese–delish!
Instructions
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PASTA: Break lasagna into small pieces. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Once boiling, add 2 tsp fine sea salt and then the broken lasagna pieces. Cook according to package directions. Drain, do not rinse in water, but toss with 1 tbsp olive oil. Set aside for now.
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VEGGIES: Meanwhile, In a very large, heavy-bottomed pot set heat to medium-high, add remaining 1 tbsp oil. Once hot, add in mirepoix. Season to taste (I add 1 tsp salt & 1/2 tsp pepper). Cook until beginning to soften, about 4 minutes. Press veggies to edges of pan and add sausage in the center. Let sear, then break and crumble, until browned. (If there is more than 1-2 tbsp grease, drain off excess)
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TOMATO PASTE: Once sausage is browned, add garlic, spices, and tomato paste. Sauté, stirring constantly, until very fragrant and tomato paste begins to darken, about 3-5 minutes. (It’s really dry, but this is adding loads of flavor!)
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FLOUR & CHICKEN BROTH: Sprinkle flour on top and mix through. Cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. While stirring constantly, gradually pour in the chicken stock. Scrape the bottom of the pan really well and continue to pour in chicken stock until all added. Add bay leaves. Increase heat to high. Bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce heat to low and simmer (uncovered) for 15 minutes. Stir occasionally, taking time to scrape the bottom of the pot well to keep it from catching.
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FINISH SOUP: Add the cream, then bring it to a low simmer until nicely thickened. Add in spinach and stir just to wilt, another 1-2 minutes.
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SERVE: Add a handful of cooked pasta to the base of a bowl. Spoon the soup right on top and stir together. Top each bowl with a big scoop of mascarpone cheese. Use a microplane to grate Parmesan cheese on top of everything and if desired, garnish with fresh basil. Enjoy!
Recipe Notes
Note 2: Fennel: I grab this fennel seed and then crush it up in a coffee/spice grinder to a fine powder. A mortar and pestle can also crush down the seeds, or add them to a bag and crush with the bottom of a frying pan or rolling pin!
Note 3: Cheeses: We’re obsessed with mascarpone cheese in this soup, but you can use ricotta instead of desired. For the Parmesan, grab a block of cheese and finely grate on the small sides of a grater or microplane right on top of the bowls of soup.
Nutrition Facts
Serving: 1serving | Calories: 496kcal | Carbohydrates: 29g | Protein: 16.7g | Fat: 34.4g | Cholesterol: 82.3mg | Sodium: 723.9mg | Fiber: 2.9g | Sugar: 8.1g
We do our best to provide accurate nutritional analysis for our recipes. Our nutritional data is calculated using a third-party algorithm and may vary, based on individual cooking styles, measurements, and ingredient sizes. Please use this information for comparison purposes and consult a health professional for nutrition guidance as needed.
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