Lasagna Soup — the cozy one-pot dinner: all the flavor of lasagna with none of the layering. Rich tomato broth, well-browned beef, ruffled lasagna noodles, a mozzarella blanket with a proper cheese pull, and a ricotta dollop in the middle, exactly as the pin serves it. (The pin shows the finished bowl without a printed ingredient list, so this is the complete standard recipe for exactly the soup in the photo.) Every step below comes with its own photo.
All the Flavor, None of the Layering
Ready in about 40 Minutes
Serves 6
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground beef (or half beef, half Italian sausage)
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 2 tsp Italian seasoning
- 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
- 1 can (28 oz) crushed tomatoes
- 6 cups chicken broth
- 9 lasagna noodles, broken into bite-size pieces
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- Salt and black pepper, to taste
- To serve: 1 cup ricotta
- 1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella
- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan, plus fresh basil or parsley
Step by Step
Brown the Beef
Heat the olive oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat and brown the ground beef with the diced onion for 6-8 minutes, breaking the meat into small crumbles, until it is deeply browned in spots and the onion is soft. Browning is not just cooking here — those dark crusty bits on the meat are the difference between a soup that tastes like lasagna and one that tastes like tomato water with beef in it. Drain off all but a spoonful of the fat; leave a little, because it carries the seasoning into everything that follows.
Bloom the Paste & Seasonings
Stir in the garlic, tomato paste, Italian seasoning and red pepper flakes and cook for 1-2 minutes, stirring constantly, until the paste darkens to a brick red and coats the meat. This step is called blooming, and it transforms tomato paste from raw and tinny to deep and sweet while waking the dried herbs up in the hot fat. It is the single biggest flavor upgrade in the whole recipe — two minutes that make the soup taste like it simmered all afternoon.
Add Tomatoes & Broth
Pour in the crushed tomatoes and chicken broth, scraping the bottom of the pot to lift every browned speck into the soup. Bring it to a boil, then reduce to a lively simmer for 5 minutes so the flavors marry and the broth takes on that rich orange-red color in the photo. Season with salt and black pepper now, but go a touch lighter than perfect — the cheeses at the end bring their own salt, and you will fine-tune after they go in.
Break in the Noodles
Break the lasagna noodles into rough 1-2 inch pieces — over the pot, straight in, jagged edges welcome — and stir them down into the soup. Simmer for 10-12 minutes, stirring now and then so the pieces do not clump or stick to the bottom, until the noodles are just tender with the faintest bite. This is the whole charm of the dish: the wavy ruffled edges of lasagna noodles, the part everyone fights over in a baked lasagna, in every single spoonful. The pasta will keep drinking broth as it sits, so err on the side of a slightly brothy pot.
Make It Creamy
Stir in the heavy cream and simmer for just 1 more minute. The broth turns the warm, creamy orange you see in the pin — not a cream soup, but a tomato broth with the edges rounded off. Cream also tames the tomato acidity, which is why this soup tastes mellow and rich instead of sharp. Taste and adjust the salt and pepper now, for real this time. Prefer a classic brothy version? Skip the cream entirely; the soup is the original either way, and the ricotta dollop still gives you richness in the bowl.
Serve with the Cheeses
Ladle the soup into warm bowls and go straight to the pin’s finish: a generous handful of shredded mozzarella over the hot surface (it will melt into that stretchy blanket within a minute), a big dollop of ricotta right in the center, a snowfall of Parmesan, and fresh basil leaves or a sprinkle of parsley. Eat it with a spoon and immediately — the mozzarella pull in the photo only exists in the first few minutes, when the cheese is at maximum stretch. Crusty bread on the side is not optional in spirit: there is broth worth chasing around the bowl, and it was in the picture for a reason.
Pro Tips
- Brown the beef properly — grey, steamed meat makes a flat soup. Let it sit undisturbed for a minute at a time so real crust forms.
- Bloom the tomato paste — 2 minutes in the hot fat is the difference between canned-tasting and slow-cooked-tasting soup.
- The ricotta dollop is the lasagna layer — it stands in for the baked cheese layer. Stir a little Parmesan and a pinch of salt into the ricotta and it tastes exactly like the real thing.
- Undercook the noodles slightly — they keep softening in the hot broth on the way to the table. Just tender in the pot is perfect in the bowl.
- Mozzarella goes on in the bowl, not the pot — melted into individual servings, it stays stretchy; stirred into the pot, it clumps and sinks.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use Italian sausage instead of beef?
Yes — half beef and half Italian sausage (sweet or hot) is the most popular version of this soup, and all-sausage works too. Sausage brings fennel and extra seasoning with it, so taste before adding the full measure of Italian seasoning and salt.
What if I don’t have lasagna noodles?
Mafalda pasta is literally mini lasagna noodles and is perfect here. Otherwise, bowties (farfalle), campanelle or broken pappardelle give a similar ruffled bite. Small shapes like ditalini make it a different, still delicious, soup.
Can I make it in a slow cooker?
Yes. Brown the beef and bloom the paste on the stove first (do not skip it), then cook everything except the noodles, cream and cheeses on Low for 6-7 hours. Add the broken noodles for the last 30-40 minutes on High, stir in the cream, and serve with the cheeses as written.
How do leftovers keep?
Up to 4 days in the fridge — with the caveat from the tip box: the soup thickens as the noodles absorb broth, so reheat with a splash of broth or water and it returns to soup. Store the ricotta and mozzarella separately and add fresh to each reheated bowl.
Can I make it lighter or vegetarian?
Lighter: ground turkey, skip the cream, and use part-skim ricotta — still deeply satisfying. Vegetarian: swap the beef for a pound of chopped mushrooms and zucchini (brown them hard), use vegetable broth, and add a can of white beans for body.