This Lasagna Soup is crazy easy and made in one pot and done in 30 minutes! You can get all your favorite lasagna flavors in one amazing recipe. I make this at least once a week during the cooler months as well as Cheeseburger Soup, French Onion Soup, and Slow Cooker Chicken Pot Pie!
Lasagna Soup
This year has been the year of the soup here at iambaker. I have been trying and testing out new recipes and finding new family favorites that everyone (even my pickiest eater!) enjoys. This soup ranks right at the top! It is everything you love about lasagna… the meats, cheeses, Italian seasonings, and adorable curly noodles… packed into an easy one-pot meal.
Noodles for Lasagna Soup
This might be the most controversial part of this recipe… my choice for the noodles.
When I talked to my MIL about her famous lasagna soup she told me that she will only use the best quality lasagna noodles and that they need to be broken up into the soup. I tried that and found that while it tasted great, people didn’t immediately know it was a “lasagna” soup. The noodles flatten a bit and you don’t always see those adorable little frills on the sides.
So I was on the hunt for the perfect noodle and came across a Mafalda noodle. It is PERFECT. You get the same taste as a lasagna noodle but a prettier presentation! And when you are feeding 5 kids with different tastes you know that presentation can be everything. 😉
How to Season Lasagna Soup
I ran across quite a few recipes that call for 4-12 different seasonings. When testing this out I kept finding that I couldn’t tell the difference between the soup seasoned with Italian seasoning and ones that had 12 different seasonings added. I believe that is because of the fact that this is a “quick” meal and the seasonings just don’t have the time to develop like they would if you were cooking low and slow as an Italian grandmother would. So when you are making this, have no fear! The Italian seasonings will work beautifully and give you all the hints of authentic lasagna.
I recommend making the recipe as-is the first time and then experimenting. You may want to add an additional tablespoon of Italian seasoning, you may want less.
The beauty in this recipe is that you can experiment to your heart’s content!
Can You Make This Lasagna Soup in a Slow-Cooker?
Yes! Crockpot Lasagna Soup is just as easy as the one-pot method!
Follow the directions for browning the meat, onions, and garlic and then add those ingredients to your slow cooker. Add remaining ingredients except for the pasta and cook on low for 6-7 hours or high for 2-3 hours. Thirty minutes before you are ready to serve, add in your noodles. Test the noodle at 15 minutes to see if it is done al dente. I have let them sit for 30 minutes without issue, but that may not be the case if you use a different style noodle or a noodle that is not good quality. (The longer the noodle sits the more chance it has to get gummy or sticky so I don’t recommend adding the noodle until a few minutes before you are ready to dish up.)
Other Variations for Lasagna Soup
As we are a homesteading family and can our tomatoes, I will often use my canned tomatoes and canned sauce in the recipe. This adds extra flavor as our canned sauce has peppers, onion, and garlic added. It’s an amazing addition to this recipe! Feel free to buy different variations of pasta sauce to add a little kick to your final product.
Adding seasonal vegetables is also a fun variation. You can add red and green bell peppers, mushrooms, jalapeno, even spinach!
Play around with your cheeses. I added a jack blend because I am a midwestern girl and we add jack cheese to everything, but you can stick to the traditional cheeses with mozzarella, ricotta, and other Italian cheeses.
Only have chicken stock? You can definitely use that! I have to say, I almost prefer the chicken stock to the beef stock in this recipe, but my kids always seem to notice when I sub it out. Definitely try it at least once and let me know what you think!
If you happen to love garlic bread with your lasagna, I’ve got you covered. My homemade crouton recipe is perfect for this soup. You will never buy store-bought croutons again!
Talk about comfort food! You are going to be hooked once you try it!
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 1 large yellow onion, diced
- 1 tablespoon chopped garlic
- 2 pounds lean ground beef
- 1 tablespoon heaping Italian seasoning
- 2 teaspoons pepper
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 jar (24 ounces) pasta sauce
- 4 cups beef broth (can add up to 4 more cups if you want a runnier soup)
- 1 can (28 ounces) crushed tomatoes
- 12 ounces Mafalda noodles, can use lasagna noodles broken
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
- 1 cup jack cheese blend, shredded
- parsley to garnish
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Heat dutch oven over medium-high heat.
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Add in oil and then chopped onion. Cook for 3-4 minutes or until partly translucent. Add in garlic and cook for 1 minute.
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Add in ground beef and sprinkle with Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper. Cook until browned, stirring occasionally.
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(If necessary, drain)
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Pour in pasta sauce, 4 cups beef broth, crushed tomatoes, and stir to combine.
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Add in Mafalda noodles and allow soup to simmer for 8 minutes, or until noodles are al dente.
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Add in heavy cream and cheeses, stir until combined.
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Serve immediately.
Recipe Video
Save a little cheese for garnish if you would like! We have also added an Italian Cheese blend or fresh parmesan as a garnish.
WE LOVED IT!! IS DO AGAIN DINNER
Thank you so much for this recipe! I’m making it right now in my slow cooker 😁 I’m so excited to eat it tonight! Im making a salad and getting some yummy Italian bread from a local bakery. A perfect meal for a cold rainy night! I’m so excited it looks and smells so good!
Made this tonight. Abosolutely amazing! Followed the recipe as is, but had to use broken lasagna noodles since I was unable to find mafalda without breaking the bank. I made sure all the pieces were uniform though because I believe you eat with your eyes first. It was pretty thick which we loved!! Ate it with soft baked breadsticks. Perfect!
Made this using bowtie pasta because couldn’t find the one in the recipe. Followed the advice to make it a bit soupier. Very tasty
I made this today. I made it exactly the way the recipe said too. Next time I will likely add peppers and mushroom. Very flavorful. Love it.
Lasagna Soup a must try. Looks really good.
I’d recommend browning and draining the ground beef prior to combining with the seasonings so no flavor leaves with any drained fat. I also like to prep the noodles separately with seasoned stock/broth so I can easily accommodate the low carbers. Lastly, for the low carbers, small torn shards of low-carb wraps make acceptable “noodles” for this yummy dish. Thanks for this great recipe!
This was really good. I did have to sub a few things because I was missing some ingredients and couldn’t go to the store. I used 1 lb ground beef and 1 lb ground pork. I used a can of petite diced tomatoes instead of crushed tomatoes. I used campanelle pasta because I could never find the marfalda or whatever it was. I thought I had mozzarella, but I didn’t. In a pinch, I chopped up 5 string cheese sticks!😂
The soup is more of a stew. I didn’t add any extra broth to make it runnier. I like it thicker.
This is very filling, and it makes a ton! We have lots of leftovers, even though all of my family of 6 liked it… even the pickiest kid!
Made this tonight and followed the recipe down to the noodles. It was good and we will have it again soon. Served with a salad and bread. Thank you!!
It was pretty good as written the first time I made it. This time I added more onion, garlic, chopped yellow&orange peppers, sliced black olives, chicken broth instead of beef and more seasonings and my family loved it!
We loved it. I used ground turkey, bc we don’t eat red meat often- I could not even tell the difference in this recipe! Next to me I think I will add some sauteed mushrooms and fresh greens, just to see what it’s like, add more nutrients. Thanks for the recipe!
I have some picky eaters that will not touch tomatoes. I want to try to substitute in like tomatoes sauce or paste. What would you suggest to replace the crushed tomatoes and what would the measurements be?
Can I omit the cream
My family and I LOVED this sooo much! I added a teensy bit of sugar to cut some of the acidity. Also I had a container of ricotta cheese in my fridge that was about to expire, so I left out the heavy cream and mixed the ricotta in instead. It was great! My grocery didn’t have Mafalda noodles, so radiatori was a great sub also. My picky 4 year old, who is especially averse to anything with “soup” in the title, gobbled hers up and said, “Dis soup is ahhhhh-mazing!” This will be a regular in our lineup!
This is delicious than you so much for sharing.