Slow Cooker Lasagna Soup
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This cozy lasagna soup has all the flavors of lasagna but made so easily in the slow cooker! Simply set and forget. No layering, no nothing!
Why you’ll love slow cooker lasagna soup
- Cozy lasagna flavors with minimal effort. You’ll have all the cozy, rich flavors of traditional lasagna with minimal work in the most comforting soup. And there is zero layering required – no stacking, no nothing!
- Set-and-forget dinner. The soup gets cooked low and slow for 7-8 hours, letting you come home to a ready-made dinner. And the house just smells like pure heaven as it cooks all day long.
- Completely customizable. You can easily substitute your desired protein or add in leafy greens for sneaked in nutrition for those picky eaters.
- That cheesy finish. Each bowl is topped with a dollop of fluffy ricotta for that classic lasagna taste in every single bite!
What is lasagna soup?
Lasagna soup is a deconstructed, one pot meal that incorporates all the classic flavors of traditional lasagna into a rich tomato-based broth, topped with dollops of ricotta.
Key Ingredients
- Base: crushed tomatoes, petite diced tomatoes, and beef stock
- Aromatics: garlic, onion, Italian seasoning, and dried basil
- Meat: ground beef and Italian sausage (mild or spicy)
- Pasta: campanelle pasta
- Topping: ricotta and parsley
How to make slow cooker lasagna soup
- Crumble the meat. Brown and crumble the ground beef and Italian sausage in a large cast iron skillet over medium high heat, draining the excess fat. Stir in the garlic and onion until the onions are tender and translucent.
- Combine. Combine the meat mixture, crushed tomatoes, diced tomatoes, beef stock, Italian seasoning, basil, salt, and pepper into a 6-qt slow cooker.
- Cook. Cover with the lid and cook on low heat for 7-8 hours or high heat for 5-6 hours.
- Add the pasta. Stir in the pasta and cook on high heat for an additional 30 minutes. Pro tip: stir in leafy greens here to boost nutrition.
- Top and serve. Ladle the warm soup into bowls and top each bowl with a dollop of ricotta, garnished with parsley. Serve warm with crusty bread.
Tools For This Recipe
Slow Cooker Lasagna Soup: Frequently Asked Questions
Absolutely! Skip the ground beef and sausage, use vegetable stock instead, and add extra veggies such as mushrooms, zucchini, or spinach during the last 30 minutes of cooking.
Use broken up lasagna noodles (for a classic look) or small pasta shapes such as campanelle, penne, rotini, or bowties.
Not at all! The uncooked pasta will cook during the last 30 minutes, soaking up the rich broth.
Yes! Lasagna soup freezes very well without the pasta or ricotta topping, keeping in the freezer for at least 3 months.
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days, gently reheating on the stovetop with a splash of water or stock.
Slow Cooker Lasagna Soup
Video
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ pound lean ground beef
- ½ pound Italian sausage, casing removed
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 medium sweet onion, diced
- 2 (15-ounce) cans crushed tomatoes
- 1 (15-ounce) can petite diced tomatoes
- 6 cups beef stock
- 1 (3-inch) Parmesan rind, optional
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 ½ cups campanelle pasta
- ½ cup whole milk ricotta cheese
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
Instructions
- Heat olive oil in a large cast iron skillet over medium high heat. Add ground beef and sausage, and cook until browned, about 5-8 minutes, making sure to crumble the beef and sausage as it cooks; drain excess fat.
- Stir in garlic and onion. Cook, stirring frequently, until onions have become translucent, about 2-3 minutes.
- Place ground beef mixture into a 6-qt slow cooker. Stir in crushed tomatoes, diced tomatoes, beef stock, Parmesan rind, if using, Italian seasoning and basil; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Cover and cook on low heat for 7-8 hours or high heat for 5-6 hours.
- Uncover and stir in pasta; cover and cook on high heat for an additional 30 minutes, or until tender; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Serve immediately, topped with dollops of ricotta and garnished with parsley, if desired.
Equipment
Notes
- Combine the meats. Use a blend of lean ground beef and sweet or hot Italian sausage for classic lasagna flavors.
- Use good-quality stock. The better quality your stock, the better your soup. Many brands love to pack in the salt so always opt for unsalted or a lower-sodium variety.
- Make it thicker. For a thicker stew-like consistency, reduce the beef stock to 4-5 cups.
- Save leftover Parmesan rinds. Get more out of those expensive Parmesan cheeses by using up the leftover rinds! Adding a Parmesan rind slightly thickens the broth and adds a level of nutty richness to the lasagna soup.
- Add in leafy greens. Sneak in those veggies and stir in spinach or kale during the last 30 minutes of cooking.
- Serve with crusty bread. Serve with all the homemade crusty bread or garlic knots for dipping, sopping and dunking!
- Freeze without the pasta. The soup can keep in the freezer for at least 3 months without the pasta (or else they will get mushy) in individual freezer bags. To reheat, thaw overnight and gently reheat on the stovetop, adding freshly cooked pasta when serving with a dollop of ricotta.
Did you make this recipe?
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Damn girl! This was damn delicious! Super easy too. The only thing I did different was cook the noodles separately (Radiatore noodles as that is what I had, and they kind of looked like lasagna) and added them at the last few minutes before serving. The consistency was perfect, even the next day with what little leftovers we had. My teenage son really liked it too, as he does not always like my lasagna as it has crusty edges. This was so good! Thank you!
I love making this it’s a huge hit with my family and friends. I use bow tie noodles
It was just amazing! It’s so delicious! I couldn’t find the campanelle pasta, so I used small Fusilli instead. I didn’t add it to the slow cooker because I was afraid that it’d become too mushy, so I added it once the soup was done.
Thank you so much for sharing!
I’m rating this before trying it because I have a question. I’m sure it will be awesome based on the other reviews. But what other pasta would you recommend if we can’t find campanelle? Can’t wait to give this a try!
Can I use this recipe as a freezer meal and stick in the crock pot before work?
Don’t do the pasta in the crock pot. Pasty mess. It was an extra dish, but much better with pasta cooked on stove and then added. Great flavor though. Love your recipes.
This by far is my most favorite recipe! I have made the majority of your recipes and have your cookbook. Every recipe is always yummy, but this one, was AMAZING! Even my husband, who 100% Italian, went back for seconds. You can also add some hidden veggies in it too! Awesome!
oh my goodness was this ever good!!! I always love to add Romano cheese to Italian dishes and that is what I did to this recipe (after it was cooked). It really made it that much better. This recipe is a keeper for sure! Thank you so much for sharing!!
Hi, Wondering how to best adapt this to the instant pot? I’d love to only dirty one dish.
What a great idea! But unfortunately, without having tried this myself, I cannot answer with certainty. But if you get a chance to try it, please let me know how it turns out! 🙂
Did you try the instant pot version?
I’ve made several of your recipes and they are all delicious!!! My husband loves them!
Some recipes have more of an intense full bodied flavor but I love trying trying new recipes and I can always count on you to make something that’s amazingly delicious!!
We try to switch it up between light recipes and comfort meals – we love that you are liking it so far! Thanks, Anna!
This looks amazing!
I can’t wait to try it (still cold here in Canada)
I can’t tell you how good this recipe came out. My family likes corn, so I added a half cup to tof canned corn to the recipe. My friend used this recipe and added a half cup of diced carrots to the recipe. This recipe is so tasty with all the seasonings — and the taste of the Italian sausage made this soup . I have sprinkled with Parmesan or mozzarella cheese on top before I served this dish !!! Yum, yum, yum, !!!!
That sounds so good! I bet the corn added a nice crunch. Thanks for sharing!
Loved it!!!! I doubled recipe and pulled some spices from your “stove top” recipe for gas cook-top cooking, but i did use campanella pasta from 1st recipe only 2 cups. The other added ingredients from 2nd similar recipe were pepper flakes, soupbowl topping of mixed italian cheese blend +ricotta. Awesome!!!! Since we had leftovers, I ladeled off pasta to 2nd bowl to refrigerate and to not cause the main soup to become too mushy. The next evening reheated both and added more beef broth…..was wonderful! You could actually just reheat with more broth and add fresh pasta batch. The double recipe was perfect for 4 more large bowls with crusty sourdough and Caesar salad!(6-8 large bowls) 😀 Easy-Peasey lasagna!! Will definitely make again…..perfect for easy company dinner next to a fire!
That’s so great, Becky! Thanks so much for sharing your feedback with us!
Chunga!!!! This recipe is amazing! I couldn’t find campanelle pasta anywhere so I used cellentani instead and my soup turned out GREAT. This, like so many of your recipes, is a new family favorite.
So, after 25 minutes the pasta was way overcooked
Even my husband couldn’t finish it and he eats everything! I only used 4 cups of broth. What did I do wrong?
I’m so sorry to hear that! Did you use campanelle pasta as directed in the recipe?
So delicious! I used a little less broth and a little more pasta for a thicker soup. I also substituted chicken sausage because my store didn’t have any pork sausage 🙁 Still turned out amazing— Thank you!
Great!
I made a double batch today. Some for dinner now and later. I was a little worried it seemed kind of thin, but after cooking the pasta, perfect just perfect. I made some garlic Texas toast to go with it. Easy dinner done. Again very good, just with there was a way to stop the pasta from absorbing the liquid, as it cools it’s becoming mote like a lasagna chili, no complaints all good!
Sounds delicious! Thanks for sharing, Judy! 🙂
Wonderful soup!!! @cantstopcooking
Can this be adapted for just plain stove top?
You can try this recipe instead, Christina! 🙂
https://damndelicious.net/2013/12/14/lasgana-soup/
FWIW, I made this one (I liked the ingredients and ratios) in my Dutch oven on the stove top and it worked out great! I simmered it for less time and used only one carton of stock.
Thank you for your feedback, Alana! That’s great!
This looks delish! Going to make it soon. FYI still cannot print the recipe!