Let’s face it. Lasagna is a labour of love. It requires commitment, patience, and more than one pan. Easy Lasagna Soup takes the fast lane. All the love, but low on the labour. All the meaty Bolognese flavour and pasta satisfaction in one bowl and without the mountains of washing up.
If the concept of Not Soup Soup has piqued your abstract interest, get a load of this Instant Pot Chicken Tortilla Soup, for a twist on taco night, or Stuffed Pepper Soup for a deconstructed version of a classic.
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One pot lasagna soup
I get regular requests from my family for my lasagna but putting one together can feel like a Herculean task! There’s the meat sauce to make, the white sauce, lovingly layering Bolognese and béchamel and lasagne sheets, then the oven time on top.
We’re looking at 4 hours in the kitchen here. And monstrous amounts of washing up!
While I’m flattered, I needed a rapid version I could fall back on. Thus, the one pot lasagna soup was born.
Like all lasagnas, it begins with Bolognese. This rich, robust and meaty Italian sauce makes a sumptuous soup base in 30 minutes. Then pour in chicken or beef stock for liquid, soup-like consistency and add broken lasagna sheets and cook for another 5 minutes.
I like to add spinach here, or another dark leafy green, for extra nutritional value. That’s a total of 35-40 minutes!
Yes, but what about the cheese? Obviously, you need cheese, but you can forget about the béchamel. I just stir in 50g/ ½ cup of sharp Parmesan once the soup is cooked and land a generous scoop of creamy ricotta on each steaming bowlful.
Presto! Drastically lower in calories and lighter on the stomach. You’re welcome!
There is no replacing a best lasagna recipe, but it’s nice to have options, right?
Oh, and if you love the idea of taking a classic and turning it into a soup, you’ll need to check out my bacon cheeseburger soup!
Recipe tips and notes
- The foundation of the soup is a Bolognese sauce. Take your time over it and the rest will fall into place.
- I use extra lean ground beef (5% fat), it makes for a leaner meal that is not overwhelmingly slick. There is plenty of flavour in this soup already, so there’s no need for extra fat.
- If you prefer it, swap ground beef for ground pork or turkey, or even Italian sausage.
- This is a thick and stewy soup. If you want more liquid, up the stock to 1.5 litres/ 6 cups.
- Make sure you break the lasagna sheets into halves or quarters, so they are bite sized. No-one wants to be slapped in the face with wet pasta.
- I will always sneak in some extra veg if I can. I’ve used fresh spinach in this recipe as that is what I had in the fridge. You can use frozen spinach or kale if that’s what’s available to you.
- I stir in freshly grated Parmesan cheese directly into the soup at the very end for that cheesy taste. I recommend grating your own cheese on a fine grater. This way it will blend beautifully into the liquid. I can’t guarantee the pre-grated stuff doing the same as it’s coated in starch.
- Finally, serve your soup with a dollop of mild ricotta as a nod to the absent béchamel sauce and for an indulgent creaminess.
Serving suggestions
Who eats lasagna without garlic bread? No-one, ever. Here’s a few recipes that bend to how much time you have, or impression you want to make.
Super quick and easy cheesy air fryer garlic bread is stuffed with mozzarella and garlic and herb butter and done in under 10 minutes!
Salty no-knead focaccia bread studded with garlic and rosemary, earns accomplished baker’s points, and is ideal for soaking up soup.
Impressively golden, brioche style, garlic butter dinner rolls are pleasingly round, subtly sweet and delicately garlicky. And not too tricky to pull off!
Storage and leftovers
Soup is filling. Pasta soup even more so. If you have leftovers on your hands, store them in an airtight container and in the fridge for 2-3 days.
The broken lasagna sheets will absorb some of the liquid in that time, so your soup might not be as soupy when you come to reheat it. Don’t worry, just add some water or more stock. And, by the way, that soup is going to taste even better second time around.
This easy lasagna soup recipe also makes for a good freezer. Just leave out the pasta when preparing it, and the cheeses.
It’ll keep in the freezer for 2-4 months. When you come to need it, first, defrost it overnight in the fridge. The next day, bring it to the boil on the hob, use a bit of extra stock if it looks too thick, then add the lasagna shards until they are cooked.
Don’t forget to stir in the Parmesan and add your splodge of ricotta!
More hearty soup recipes
Easy Lasagna Soup
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp This is an affiliate link.olive oil extra virgin
- 1 onion diced
- 1 carrot diced
- 1 celery stalk diced
- 2 cloves garlic
- 500g/17oz This is an affiliate link.tomato passata/crushed tomatoes
- 2-3 leaves fresh basil or 1 tsp dried basil
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 450g/1 lbs ground beef lean or extra lean
- Salt to taste
- 1 tsp sugar optional
- 1 litre/4 cups beef or chicken stock
- 8-9 uncooked lasagna sheets broken in half or quarters
- 50g/2 cups fresh spinach
- 50g/ ½ cup grated Parmesan
- 125g/ ½ cup ricotta for serving
Instructions
- In a large and deep frying pan or a Dutch Oven heat 1 tbsp of olive oil, then add diced onions, carrots, celery, minced garlic and cook on low heat for 10 minutes without colouring the vegetables. Then add ground beef and brown it until the beef is no longer pink inside while stirring the whole time and making sure to break up the beef. Pour in the canned tomatoes with a generous pinch of salt.
- Sprinkle in some dried oregano and torn basil leaves (reserve a few small ones), bring everything to a boil. Then turn the heat down and let it simmer with a lid ajar for for 20 minutes stirring it once in a while, then add 1 tsp sugar if the taste is a bit too tangy.
- Pour in the prepared stock and bring to a simmer, then add the broken lasagna sheets and cook for 5 minutes, then add the spinach and cook for 3-4 minutes longer.
- Add in the grated Parmesan and the reserved sliced basil leaves to the soup and stir to combine. Serve the soup topped with a dollop of ricotta and additional parmesan cheese.
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