With spicy sausage, tender noodles, and a melty cheese topping, this Lasagna Soup recipe has all your favorite Italian ingredients simmered together in one pot.
A steaming hot bowl of Lasagna Soup makes everybody happy at dinnertime.
Soup season is in full swing and I couldn’t be more excited. Since we moved to Ohio, I’ve been looking forward to meals full of all my favorite Soups and Stews as the temperatures drop.
I already have a feeling we’ll be eating many more bowls of this tasty soup on cold nights all winter long!
What is Lasagna Soup?
Lasagna soup is everything you love about a classic Italian lasagna simmered in soup form. My family loves lasagna with lots of meat in it, so I used both hot sausage and ground beef in this soup.
After browning the meat, I added onions, garlic, and tomatoes along with Italian Seasoning. After simmering everything in chicken broth and adding curly mafalda noodles, the soup finishes with the best ingredient of all: lots of cheese.
For the cheese topping, I use a blend of three different kinds of Italian cheeses. The mix of Ricotta, Parmesan, and Mozzarella cheese adds rich, creamy flavors to this soup.
A big scoop of the cheese topping on my bowl of soup made me very happy indeed. Every spoonful of soup was full of tangy tomato, hot sausage, perfectly cooked noodles, and gooey cheese.
Everyone in my family loves this Lasagna Soup. Most of us went back for a second bowl!
Easy Lasagna Soup
Perhaps the best thing about this delicious Italian soup is how easy it is. Sometimes you want lasagna without all the steps of boiling noodles, browning the meat and placing everything layer by layer in a casserole dish.
The noodles in this soup cook right in the pot with the other ingredients, so this recipe will save you both cooking and clean up time. Who wants to be stuck in the kitchen doing dishes when you could be digging into a big bowl of delicious soup?
You can make this soup ahead of time, too! Follow all the directions up to adding the noodles and store in an airtight container in the fridge or freezer.
Once ready to serve, bring the soup to a simmer again, add the noodles and cook until tender. Waiting to add the noodles if you prep the soup in advance ensures that they won’t get mushy.
I love the way my Homemade Italian Seasoning tastes in this recipe, but your favorite store-bought Italian herb blend will work beautifully as well. If you like a spicier soup, feel free to increase the amount of red pepper in the recipe.
Likewise, if you want a little less heat, reduce the red pepper flakes by as much as you like. We all loved the taste of hot Italian sausage in this Lasagna Soup recipe but other types of sausage would likely taste good too.
If you find yourself with extra tomato paste here are some tip for freezing your leftovers.
Mafalda Noodles
What are Mafalda noodles? They’re a miniature flat noodle with curvy edges, just like a miniature lasagna noodle.
These small Mafalda noodles are absolutely perfect in Lasagna Soup, and these longer Mafalda noodles caught my eye when I was buying the others and now I can’t wait to try them too.
Using these flat curvy noodles really makes this soup feel like a spin on lasagna. If you can’t find Mafalda noodles, pretty much any curly noodle will work in the Lasagna Soup recipe. Play with it and make it your own.
Lasagna Soup Recipe
- In a large soup pot or Dutch oven, cook and crumble the sausage and ground beef over medium-high heat. Add the onions and the garlic to cook along with the meat. Sprinkle with Italian seasonings and red pepper flakes as everything cooks.
- Add the tomato paste, diced tomatoes, chicken broth, salt, and pepper. Stir and increase heat to high. When soup begins to simmer, reduce to medium-high once again and add the pasta. Stir and simmer until noodles are soft, 8-10 minutes. Taste the broth and adjust spices as needed.
- Remove from the heat when the noodles are tender but still chewy. While the pasta is cooking, stir together the ricotta, Parmesan, and Mozzarella in a small bowl.
- Scoop the soup into bowls and top with a generous scoop of the cheese mixture.
Soup Recipes
Make Lasagna Soup part of your meal rotation this fall and winter along with Italian Sausage and Vegetable Soup and this Hearty Minestrone Soup. Served with slices of crusty Italian bread, this soup is guaranteed to warm you on a cold night!
Looking for even more filling soup recipes for winter? If you like this Lasagna Soup recipe, you’re also sure to love Italian Herb Meatball Soup and Creamy Turkey Noodle Soup.
If you love Italian meals, check out my Spicy Italian Stuffed Bell Peppers. It’s one of my family’s all time favorite meals and inspired this {Slow-Cooker} Stuffed Pepper Soup.
I’m also looking forward to trying this One Pot Beef Stroganoff Soup posted by Belly Full!
Hearty Lasagna Soup
Ingredients
Soup Ingredients
- 1 lb hot sausage (Italian sausage may be used as well)
- 1 lb ground beef
- 2 small onions, chopped into 1/2" pieces, about 2 cups worth
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tbsp Italian seasoning
- ½ – 1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
- 6 oz tomato paste
- (2) 14.5 oz cans diced tomatoes, with garlic (fire-roasted tomatoes are great, if you can find them)
- 8 cups chicken broth
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 6-8 oz mafalda pasta, or an alternate curly pasta
Cheese Topping Ingredients
- 8 oz ricotta cheese, about 1 cup
- 2 oz Parmesan cheese, about ½ cup
- 2 oz freshly shredded Mozzarella, about ½ cup
Instructions
- In a large soup pot or Dutch oven, cook and crumble the sausage and ground beef over medium-high heat. Add the onions and the garlic to cook along with the meat. Sprinkle with Italian seasonings and red pepper flakes as everything cooks.
- Add the tomato paste, diced tomatoes, chicken broth, salt, and pepper. Stir and increase heat to high. When soup begins to simmer, reduce to medium-high once again and add the pasta. Stir and simmer until noodles are soft, 8-10 minutes. Taste the broth and adjust spices as needed.
- Remove from the heat when the noodles are tender, but still chewy. While the pasta is cooking, stir together the ricotta, Parmesan, and Mozzarella in a small bowl.
- Scoop the soup into bowls and top with a generous scoop of the cheese mixture. Enjoy!
Nutrition
{originally published 11/11/19 – recipe notes and photos updated 10/27/21}
Daniel Burdick says
I made this soup fora family lasagna cookoff challenge and retained the wooden spoon award for best dish. Everyone loved it. Thanks for the great recipe. Will be making it again.
Mary Younkin says
Congratulations, Daniel! I’m glad that my recipe could help you win the prize. Enjoy the soup, and happy cooking!
Tanice says
This goes onto my favourite/regular soup list! Awesome dish for sure! I used gluten free noodles and I broke up the noodles on the edge of the cutting board and snapped off in 1” strips so every noodle had that curly edge, and bite size 🥰
Mary Younkin says
I’m so happy you loved the soup!
Heidi says
Love this recipe. I don’t think I will ever make regular lasagna again.
Mary Younkin says
That’s awesome, Heidi. I’m thrilled to hear that you love it!
Chris says
This was Delicious!! Everyone I made this for loved it!!
Mary Younkin says
Glad to hear that everyone’s loving the soup, Chris!
Shelley Miller says
What is the serving size?
Mary Younkin says
Hi, Shelley! A standard serving is just a bowlful, roughly a cup to a cup and a half.
Nichole says
Has anyone ever used cottage cheese instead of the Ricotta? No one is my house is a fan of Ricotta
Mary Younkin says
Hi, Nichole! I’m not sure how using cottage cheese would turn out, but you can just omit the ricotta in this recipe. It’s not necessary to make the cheese topping.
Antoinette says
Yes. I do it all the time. If you find the substance too course, just blend it.
Heidi L says
Can I make this in the crock pot?
Mary Younkin says
You likely could, Heidi, however I haven’t tested it that way. You’ll want to wait and add the pasta at the very end though, right before serving it.
Sandy says
Easy satisfying meal. We loved it!
Mary Younkin says
Glad to hear it, Sandy.
Linda Oliver says
Excellent will make this again. It was delicious and hearty, I used a different kind of noodles.
Mary Younkin says
Glad to hear that you were able to adapt the recipe to suit your needs, Linda. It’s a staple in our kitchen at this time of year. Happy cooking!
Deb says
Loved this soup and so did everyone else!! Added a lot more tomato paste cuz it seemed too runny. Less of the red pepper flakes which was plenty of heat! Topped it with cottage cheese and had garlic knots from Walmart. This was excellent!! Found the pasta at Festival but bet it would be at pick n save also.
Mary Younkin says
Cottage cheese and garlic knots sound like delicious foods to serve with the soup, Deb. I’m glad everyone loved it. Happy cooking!
Lore says
Very good recipe and family enjoyed! Thx for sharing.
Mary Younkin says
I’m glad you like it, Lore!
cheryl menzel says
It did have great flavor but I found it to be too much liquid , not enough noodles, and too much Italian seasonings
Mary Younkin says
Sorry to hear that the recipe wasn’t to your liking, Cheryl. Some people just like thicker soups. I hope your next recipe turns out well; happy cooking!
Amy says
Well, I mean, this IS a soup recipe so I’d imagine it to be more soupy than regular lasagna.
Barbara says
Does this soup freeze well?
Mary Younkin says
I freeze it without the pasta and it works perfectly. Just add the cooked pasta when you’re ready to serve it, Barbara.