Lasagna Soup
All the flavors of lasagna in a comforting, cozy soup with a dollop of ricotta goodness that gets melted right into the soup!
With the low temperatures settling in, I’ve been on a major soup kick lately. See, back in LA, we never really had a winter season so I was able to walk around in my flip flops throughout the year. But here in the Bay Area, I’m constantly wrapped up in sweats along with the electric blanket and a bowl of a soup to keep me warm and cozy.
And with my new home-grown basil, I just had to use it in this soup. Now, I’ve had many basil plants in the past years but somehow, Jason and I can’t seem take care of one. We either water them too much or completely neglect them!
But with my new AeroGarden ULTRA, Jason and I can manage to grow these gorgeous basil plants without being plant killers! AeroGarden is a fool-proof indoor garden, leaving you to grow plants all year long, from fresh flowers to butterhead lettuce for your salad.
All you need to do is add water and nutrients when indicated, and it even has programmable grow lights that turn on and off by itself to simulate the sun. Seriously, how easy is that? Not to mention, it’s incredibly clean too. There’s absolutely no weeds, no dirt, and no mess involved here!
So once that basil was ready for me, I set out to the kitchen to make this lasagna soup that’s been on my bucket list for at least a year now. It’s all the flavors of a lasagna in a glorious tomato-based soup!
But what makes this soup over-the-top is the ricotta center. With a simple dollop of a ricotta, Parmesan mixture and a sprinkling of shredded mozzarella, these cheeses get melted right in the soup into the most amazing ooey gooey, cheesy center.
It’s a form of lasagna without all the prep work and if you ask me, the soup version is a million times better!
Check out Kitchen PLAY for more AeroGarden basil recipes!Â
AeroGrow will be running its ‘12 Days of Deals’ for the holidays with discounts and special bundles for the season. Plus, get up to 20% on everything storewide when using promo code ‘Holiday20’ in the shopping cart at checkout.
Lasagna Soup
Ingredients
- 8 ounces elbows pasta
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 pound Italian sausage, casing removed
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 onion, diced
- 2 teaspoons oregano
- ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 6 cups chicken stock
- 1 28-ounce can fire roasted diced tomatoes
- 2 bay leaves
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- ¼ cup fresh basil leaves, chiffonade
For the ricotta mixture
- 8 ounces ricotta
- ½ cup grated Parmesan
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- In a small bowl, combine ricotta, Parmesan, salt and pepper, to taste; set aside.
- In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta according to package instructions; drain well.
- Heat olive oil in a Dutch oven or large pot over medium high heat. Add Italian sausage to the skillet and cook until browned, about 3-5 minutes, making sure to crumble the sausage as it cooks; drain excess fat. Add garlic, onion, oregano and red pepper flakes. Cook, stirring frequently, until onions have become translucent, about 2-3 minutes. Stir in tomato paste until well combined, about 1 minute.
- Stir in chicken stock, diced tomatoes and bay leaves; season with salt and pepper, to taste. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer until slightly thickened, about 30 minutes. Stir in pasta.
- Serve immediately with a heaping spoonful of the ricotta mixture, sprinkled with mozzarella and basil.
Did you make this recipe?
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Disclosure: This post is sponsored by AeroGarden and Kitchen PLAY. All opinions expressed are my own.
I have made this recipe so many times, and it is always a hit. I use as many local products as possible, and it makes it next level! I have also done a vegetarian version with peppers and zucchini noodles cut with a potato peeler for the texture of fettuccine…I love every version, thank you so much for sharing!!
Do you, by chance, have the nutrients list for this soup?
Definitely a crowd pleaser.
Thanks for sharing.
This is absolutely delish! Living in CO, I make a lot of soups in the winter. This is a go to for family of four.Â
Love this recipe! I’ve made it a zillion times. I like to add in carrots and spinach too.Â
Sooooo GOOD! I don’t even like lasagna but loved this soup! Simple recipe that came together quickly and was DELICIOUS! Replaced elbow pasta with ditalini!Â
This has been a recipe staple for years now – so easy to make and so delicious!
I love this soup and make it often. I use half hamburger/half italian sausage since my family doesn’t like a lot of strong Italian sausage flavor.
Instead of elbow noodles I add broken up, uncooked lasagna noodles when you get to the “simmer until thick” point of the recipe.
This recipe is always a hit; great for doubling or tripling when you have a crowd to feed.
Loved everything about  the recipe. East quick and delicious. Put the uncooked pasta in the pot and cooked it with the other ingredients.Â
Just made this tonight and it was really good. I did let it cook closer to an hour to let the flavors meld, and cooked the noodles directly in the pot. That seemed to help, otherwise would probably do maybe a cup less in chicken broth. You didn’t mention removing the bay leaves before serving, many may know that but as a recipe it should be stated.
Has anyone tried this recipe in the crockpot?
I make it in the crockpot. Works great.brown the sausage then add everything to the crockpot. Â I cook the noodles separately and add them right before serving.Â
This was awesome. The whole family loved this soup. I followed the directions exactly except I only used about two thirds of the chicken stock since I prefer less broth. It was the best soup (very hearty and delicious) and will definitely be on my regular rotation from now on. I served it with a loaf of fresh Italian bread. I like the fact that you can make it all ahead and just warm it up when you are ready. Also, I like the fact that it is UNIQUE! I’ve never heard of lasagna soup before! And as another reviewer said, you get all the flavor of lasagna without all of the work!
I also wanted to comment that I just discovered Damn Delicious this week. I made a different recipe from the website every night and every single one was GREAT. Prior to discovering Damn Delicious, I would try recipies, and maybe one out of three was good (and not necessarily great). So I LOVE Damn Delicious and will definitely be purchasing the cookbook. THANK YOU Chungah, for sharing your gift–your amazing ability to cook–with the rest of us. I love the pictures, the videos…all of it.
So. Very. AH-MAZING. I add some colorful peppers to it, and some Pepper Forrest Spice Company spices to heat it up a bit…but it is one of the best soups I have ever had. Thank you!!
I want to make this tonight! Can you do it in the slow cooker?! If so for how long!!!! Do you pre cook the sausage?Â
What a great idea! But unfortunately, without having tried this myself, I cannot answer with certainty. As always, please use your best judgment when making substitutions and modifications.
Amazing, delicious the best Italian food I’ve ever had
Great!
Easy to make and perfect for fall and winter! Oh yeah, did I mention bursting with flavor!! My family absolutely loved it… the familiar taste of lasagna in half the time! I made it my own…but the recipe is just as delicious!
This was delicious! Â One change I tested was cooking it all in one pot. Â I used Farfalle for the pasta, adding it to the pot, uncooked, 10-15 minutes before serving. Â The starch in the pasta seemed to help thicken the soup. Â
Hi, I was thinking of doing the same. You are happy with how it turned out? What temperature did you have it on for the last 15 minutes?
This is my favorite version of this recipe!! I made it for the 3rd time tonight- Thanks !
Oh my goodness what a delicious soup. Thank you for the recipe, this is our new favourite soup.
You’re so welcome Lee, thanks for sharing!
Is the pasta cooked before you add it in? Or do you stir in uncooked pasta and let it simmer a little while longer?
It’s says to in directions.Â
Love this another wonderful recipe!! Had to do it with ground beef because we don’t eat pork but it was just at delicious didn’t make any other changes. Love your recipes! keep them coming
I don’t have Italian sausage can I use ground beef instead?Â
Yes, of course.
Can u sub cottage cheese for ricotta cheese? Not a fan of ricotta! Or even cream cheese? Pics look delicious. Can’t wait to try!
Unfortunately, without further recipe testing, I cannot answer with certainty. As always, please use your best judgment regarding substitutions and modifications.
This soup is one of our favorites.
This recipe looks wonderful. I was wondering do you think I could use chicken broth instead of chicken stock?
Yes.
I know that this is an old post, but I just tried this for the first time last night and can not stop thinking about this recipe!
Let me start off by saying that my fiance and I are not big soup eaters, heck – we’re not even big lasagna eaters but something about this recipe told me that this would not be the typical thin, watery, soup that still left you hungry afterwards.
I followed this recipe pretty much exactly except that I used mini penne noodles and broiled the cheeses at the end, French Onion soup style. Well, this soup probably made about 8 or more servings so tell me how I went to work with just 2 measly containers while my fiance happily carried a whole cooler with a large container (just for him!) and several smaller containers for his coworkers??!! Hahaha I couldn’t even get mad because I was just happy enough that I was able to find a soup recipe other than French Onion that we both enjoy. Thank you for making us soup lovers again!
This was a total hit at the dinner table tonight. My VERY picky 4-year-old ate it up and even called me the best chef in the world. Wow!!Â
I added mushrooms (just a personal fav!) and substituted half the sausage for turkey Italian sausage to try to cut some calories, so more like a 50/50 of pork and turkey mix d together and was still absolutely DamnDelicious!!
Just made this soup. It was the best I’ve had in forever! Unbelievable recipe. All the components make it so delicious. Thank you!
Decided to make this dish today, and i can tell you it was very delicious. Definitely one for the cookbook.
Wow! This was delicious!! An easier, lighter-ish version of one of my fave Italian dishes. Though it killed me to do so, I left out the Italian sausage for my picky little eaters, but it was still amazing. Reheated the next day for lunch and it was just as good, if not better! Definitely a keeper. Thanks!!
I just made the soup and it is delicious !! Wondering about something….do you think I could add some of the ricotta mixture to the soup before serving ? or do you think it would curdle ?
Yes, I definitely worry about curdling!
Hi, made this tonight and it was easy and delicious. I don’t like Italian sausage so I used ground beef and added one teaspoon Italian seasoning to mixture to make up the difference in meats used. It was amazing and everyone said it is a Keeper!! Thank you so much, I can’t wait to try some of your other recipes.
YUM! This meal looked SO delicious in your photos — and I am happy to report it lived up to the pics! So flavorful, filling, and tasty. It made the whole house smell delish while cooking. I’m actually not a huge traditional lasagna fan so this was the perfect alternative for me. Will make it again!
I made this soup tonight and it was absolutely amazing! Everyone who at it, LOVED it!
Chungah, I know this post is almost a year old, but I just came across it on Pinterest. I was on my lunch break at work, just browsing around Pinterest when I saw this soup. Wow!! This looks absolutely amazing and I can’t wait to make it!
This looks amazing! Could I make it vegetarian, you think?
Georgianna, that is really up to you. I personally think the sausage and the Parmesan plays a huge roll in this dish but please feel free to make the appropriate substitutions to fit your dietary restrictions.
This soup is heavenly; comforting and super filling. Perfect for a windy fall day in NY. I lightened it up slightly with Italian style turkey sausage; next time I think I’ll add some spinach and carrots to sneak some extra veggies into my diet.
This looks very good, and I am interested in trying it. However, I am curious. Does it have any sort of a “tomato soup” flavour, or is it all lasagna flavour? I tried canned tomato soup once and hated it, so I don’t want to spend the money to make this if it’s like tomato soup any. Though your pictures make it look very delicious!
Amanda, as the recipe includes both tomato paste and fire roasted diced tomatoes, there is definitely a tomato flavor, but I can assure you that this tastes nothing like canned tomato soup!
Thanks for the quick answer! Really, I may just have to try it anyways, the pictures look too good to resist.
My wife is always on Pinterest . I never new why until I see all the different ideas. This is the 1st receipe I tried and thank you. Awesome tasting and not changing a thing. PS
Addicted to the sights just like the wife.
If you pre cooked the sausage, could you put all the ingredients in a crock pot and cook that way?
Nancy, please understand that it is very difficult to give exact conversion information to translate a traditional stovetop recipe to the slow cooker method without further recipe testing. I recommend using your own judgement to convert this recipe to utilize a slow cooker.
LOVED this recipe!
My mouth might be watering. This looks delicious!
This looks amazing!! Question can you freeze it minus the cheese of course! I want to make the batch then freeze the rest for lunches for the kids and hubby.
I’ve actually never tried freezing this myself – there were no leftovers left to freeze! I recommend using your best judgment for freezing and reheating.
I make a similar soup that freezes well if you leave out the pasta. I make just enough pasta for that night and stir the macaroni into each bowl. That way when you thaw out your leftovers you only have to make the pasta to add to it.
The cheese mixture freezes well. I spray an ice cube tray with non stick spray and freeze cheese mixture cubes. Just store them in a freezer bag when they’re solid. If the soup is hot enough you don’t even need to thaw them. Just add one right into the soup.
Made this last night for the bf, he is in love with it! Awesome soup
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This a really great recipe. I have a home for 6 mentally challenged adults and it’s a favorite. Serve with crusty rolls and a salad and you have a hearty meal!!
This was one of the best things I think I’ve ever eaten. I used ground beef and it came out wooonderfully. Great recipe!
Do you think this would be good with ground beef? I’m not a fan of sausage. Also, can chicken broth be substituted for chicken stock? If not, can I buy chicken stock at the store? I’ve only ever bought chicken broth.
Yes, ground beef would work as a great substitute. Just be sure to crumble it as it cooks. You can certainly use chicken broth but I recommend using chicken stock for optimal results. You can easily find it at the grocery store.
I just served this tonight for our poker game and it is very very good! i will make this again for sure! Everyone that ate it loved it.
I just made this fabulous lasagna soup. Loving Italian foods I just could not make it with elbow pasta. Instead, I used ” Mafalda” pasta which kind of resembles little lasagna noodles. It was so delicious! This is certainly a keeper in my recipe file!
Hi Chung-Ah,
I made the lasagna soup tonight, which was delicious and noticed the recipe doesn’t say when to add the sausage back into the pot. I added back in with the chicken stock, tomatoes etc..
Thanks for letting me know, Angela. I have updated the recipe. And you can actually keep the crumbled sausage right in the pan as you continue on with your add-ons.
I noticed it to and thats what I did also 🙂
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Hi Chung-Ah
I made this soup a couple of nights ago and I can tell you this soup is AWESOME.
The dollop of ricotta cheese was just the right touch.. Thank you.. for such great and healthly recipes and did I mention they are easy to make, but yet they look so elegant.
Very good. Thanks for posting!
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I wanted to let you know that I made this soup for our Family Christmas eve celebration. Rave reviews and recipe handed out to many. Easy and delicious. it was the star of the meal!
thanks so much
Made this tonight. I only used half the crushed red pepper and it had TONS of flavor! My husband loved it 🙂 I will definitely make it again!
What’s not to like about this recipe. I have my spoon ready! Given all the cold weather we are all having, I featured this soup on my Friday Five – Soups & Stews over @ Feed Your Soul Too – http://www.feedyoursoul2.com/2014/01/friday-five-soups-stews.html
Thank you for the feature!
I can’t grow anything for the life of me too. Everything dies on me. I clearly have black thumb. Haha! Anyway, your lasagna soup looks fabulous. We love lasagna but sometimes feel it’s a little too rich with too much cheese. This seems like just about the best compromise.
What a gorgeous bowl of soup! It screams comfort & I can’t wait to try it!!
Please check the spelling of the Lasagna Soup on the recipe portion. It’s spelled “Lasgana”.
Thanks so much for pointing that out – it’s been fixed!
Oh my… Feeling like a midnight snack all of sudden! That looks so amazing!
I love the idea of lasagna soup! I’ve been intrigued for a while by the recipe from the Farmgirl’s dabbles, and now you have finally convinced me that I should make this! Pure comfort food!
Well, I’m hungry!
I am in love with this soup!!! Totally making this tonight!
Made this yesterday and it’s even better today. Both my husband and I LOVED it.
Thank you – this is a keeper.
That AeroGarden looks amazing! And why do I keep bending my forks trying to reach for a bite of your beautiful recipes through my computer screen? I’ll never learn! 😉
what a creative idea – and I love the Aerogarden – amazing!
OMG, Chung-Ah, that indoor basil looks perfect! I could have cried when the fall chill forced me to cut down my big basil plants. The baby basil are super cute, and I would SO use them all winter long. Going to check out that aero garden :). Oh, yeah, the lasagna soup sounds sooooo necessary right now. We are freezing our behinds off in the Midwest!
That garden is so cool! And this soup looks so hearty and delish!
Oh my! This looks SO good. I may have to figure out how to make a vegetarian version…
This is one gorgeous bowl of soup. And, how cool is that garden? Pinned.
Your photos are beautiful! This soup looks amazing and is going on my menu plan for next week!
Thank you, Kristine! Please do let me know how it turns out once you make this.
Oh yes! I so want this!!! This is such a genius soup creation!
I think I just found dinner for tonight. Amazing soup, amazing photos (as always), Chung-Ah! Pinning!
Wow, yum!
SUCH a gorgeous soup! I looove lasagna and all those lovely herbs!
You totally rocked this! I’d love a bowl 🙂 pinned of course!
Thank you, friend! And you know this shoot was a tough one but I’m so glad I did that reshoot!
This looks super delicious! Can’t wait to try it out for my family. Thanks!
Beautiful and delicious looking soup! I have trouble with keeping basil growing, too. I love this growing gadget! Looks foolproof.
Just beautiful! This screams comfort 🙂
Gorgeous, love that ricotta dollop!