Everything good about lasagna, none of the layering. This lasagna soup browns beef and Italian sausage into a thick tomato broth, cooks broken noodles right in it, and finishes with a cold dollop of ricotta, mozzarella and parmesan that melts into ribbons as you stir. Forty minutes, one pot.
Table of Contents
Why You’ll Love This Lasagna Soup
Real lasagna is a two-hour project with three separate components and a pan to soak overnight. This gets you the same flavor on a Tuesday with a single Dutch oven.
The cheese topping is the trick. Mixed cold and spooned on at the table, it stays distinct for the first few bites and then melts through the bowl — much more interesting than cheese stirred into the pot.
It’s also flexible in a way lasagna isn’t. Stretch it with more broth, swap the protein, or make the base ahead and cook the noodles fresh, which puts it near the top of our cold-weather soup recipes.
Ingredients for Lasagna Soup
- 1 lb ground beef (85/15) and ½ lb Italian sausage — the pair matters. Beef alone tastes plain; the sausage brings fennel and chile that read as classic Italian-American.
- 1 medium yellow onion and 4 cloves garlic — cooked in the rendered fat so nothing gets wasted.
- 3 tbsp tomato paste — cook it a minute or two until it darkens. This is what makes a 40-minute broth taste like it simmered for three hours.
- 1 tbsp dried Italian seasoning and ½ tsp red pepper flakes — add them with the tomato paste so the oil pulls out their flavor.
- 1 (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes and 1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes — crushed for body, diced for texture. Skip fire-roasted here; it competes with the sausage.
- 6 cups low-sodium chicken broth — sounds like a lot, but the noodles drink a surprising amount. Low-sodium is important since parmesan is coming later.
- 10 lasagna noodles (about 8 oz), broken into 2-inch pieces — regular noodles, not no-boil. Break them into a bowl, not over the pot, or you’ll be picking shards out of the broth.
- ½ cup heavy cream — stirred in off the heat. It rounds the tomato acidity without turning the soup pink.
- 1 cup whole-milk ricotta, 1 cup shredded mozzarella, ½ cup grated parmesan — whole-milk ricotta only. Part-skim is watery and the topping won’t hold its shape on the spoon.
- 1 tsp salt, ½ tsp black pepper, 2 tbsp fresh basil, 2 tbsp fresh parsley — the basil goes in the soup, the parsley in the cheese.
How to Make Lasagna Soup
- Brown the meat. Cook the 1 lb ground beef and ½ lb sausage in a 6-quart Dutch oven over medium-high heat for 7 to 8 minutes, breaking it up, until no pink remains and the bottom of the pot is browned. Drain all but about 1 tablespoon of fat.
- Soften the aromatics. Add the diced onion and cook 4 minutes until translucent, then the minced garlic for 30 seconds.
- Bloom the paste and spices. Stir in 3 tbsp tomato paste, 1 tbsp Italian seasoning and ½ tsp red pepper flakes. Cook 1 to 2 minutes, scraping constantly, until the paste darkens.
- Build the broth. Add the crushed tomatoes, diced tomatoes with their juice, 6 cups broth, 1 tsp salt and ½ tsp pepper. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook uncovered for 15 minutes.
- Cook the noodles in the pot. Add the broken lasagna noodles and simmer 10 to 12 minutes, stirring every few minutes so they don’t stick to the bottom, until al dente.
- Finish off the heat. Remove the pot from the burner and stir in ½ cup heavy cream and 2 tbsp chopped basil. Let it sit 5 minutes.
- Mix the topping. Stir together 1 cup ricotta, 1 cup mozzarella, ½ cup parmesan, 2 tbsp parsley and ¼ tsp salt. Ladle the soup into bowls and drop a generous spoonful on each.
Tips for Success
Serve it the same day you cook the noodles. This is the most common complaint and it’s entirely a timing problem — pasta left sitting in hot broth keeps swelling until the soup becomes a casserole. If you want leftovers, cook the noodles separately and add them per bowl.
Break the noodles small. Two-inch pieces fit on a spoon. Longer shards look rustic in photos and are genuinely annoying to eat.
Keep the cheese cold. Don’t stir the ricotta mixture into the pot. Cold on hot is the whole point — it gives you a creamy pocket that melts gradually instead of a uniformly cheesy soup.
Lasagna Soup Variations
All sausage. Use 1½ lb of Italian sausage and skip the beef entirely. Spicier and richer; drop the pepper flakes if you use hot sausage.
Vegetarian. Replace the meat with 1 lb of cremini mushrooms and one diced zucchini, sautéed until browned, and use vegetable broth. Add 1 extra tablespoon of tomato paste for depth.
Chicken lasagna soup. Stir in 3 cups of shredded rotisserie chicken with the broth instead of browning meat. Faster, and lighter.
Extra tomato. If you want something smoother in the same family, our creamy roasted tomato soup is the quieter cousin.
What to Serve With Lasagna Soup
Garlic bread, and it isn’t close. A wide piece of toasted bread rubbed with a raw garlic clove and brushed with olive oil is all this needs.
A crisp Caesar or a simple arugula salad with lemon balances the richness. Keep the dressing sharp — anything creamy piles on top of the cheese.
For an appetizer that doesn’t fill anyone up, baked chicken meatballs work, and for a different weeknight pasta night, one-pot creamy tomato pasta uses many of the same ingredients.
FAQs
Can I use a different pasta shape? Yes. Mafalda is the closest match because of the ruffled edges, and campanelle or broken fettuccine both work. Use about 8 oz by weight and follow the package time as your guide.
Can I make Lasagna Soup in a slow cooker? Cook the meat and aromatics on the stove first, then transfer everything except the noodles, cream and cheese to the cooker for 4 hours on LOW. Add the noodles for the last 25 to 30 minutes on HIGH.
How do I store Lasagna Soup leftovers? Refrigerate up to 3 days. The noodles will have absorbed most of the broth, so reheat with ½ cup of extra broth per two servings. Store the cheese topping in a separate container. The soup base freezes well for 3 months if you freeze it before adding noodles.
Can I make Lasagna Soup ahead for a party? Yes, and it’s the better way to do it. Make the base through step four up to two days early, then reheat, add the noodles, and finish with cream and cheese right before serving.
Final Thoughts
This is the recipe I make when someone asks for comfort food and I have forty minutes. It hits every note of the original without the pan, the layers, or the wait.
Make the cheese topping generous — it’s the part everyone remembers. Try it this week and tell me whether you went beef, sausage, or both.
Cozy Lasagna Soup
Equipment
- 6-quart Dutch oven
- Large Mixing Bowl for ricotta topping
- wooden spoon
- chef’s knife
- cutting board
- measuring cups and spoons
- ladle
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground beef (85/15)
- 1/2 lb Italian sausage, casings removed
- 1 medium yellow onion, diced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 tbsp dried Italian seasoning
- 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
- 28 oz crushed tomatoes
- 14.5 oz diced tomatoes, with juice
- 6 cups low-sodium chicken broth
- 10 lasagna noodles (about 8 oz), broken into 2-inch pieces
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 2 tbsp chopped fresh basil
- 1 cup whole-milk ricotta
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella
- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
- 1/4 tsp salt (for ricotta topping)
Instructions
- Cook the ground beef and Italian sausage in a 6-quart Dutch oven over medium-high heat for 7–8 minutes, breaking the meat apart until browned. Drain all but about 1 tablespoon of the fat.
- Add the diced onion and cook for 4 minutes until softened. Stir in the garlic and cook for another 30 seconds.
- Stir in the tomato paste, Italian seasoning, and red pepper flakes. Cook for 1–2 minutes, stirring constantly, until the tomato paste darkens.
- Add the crushed tomatoes, diced tomatoes with their juice, chicken broth, salt, and black pepper. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook uncovered for 15 minutes.
- Add the broken lasagna noodles and simmer for 10–12 minutes, stirring every few minutes, until the noodles are al dente.
- Remove the pot from the heat and stir in the heavy cream and chopped basil. Let the soup rest for 5 minutes.
- In a separate bowl, mix together the ricotta, mozzarella, Parmesan, parsley, and salt until combined.
- Ladle the hot soup into bowls and top each serving with a generous spoonful of the ricotta mixture. Serve immediately.